DM in a jam

[Duenta]

Alright so I'm a bit cocky when I stated to my players that I could devise a campagin to take them from 1st to 40th level. This I guess is a DMs nightmare. Anyway what I'm asking from you good people are tricks, tips even down right nasty things to do inorder to keep my players intrested in the game and eachother. more than likely I'll be looking at a thief, a fighter, and a mage of some type, I think I've got the first few objectives to go through that should get them to level 4 or 5. its around the 6th level mark that I like to get more devious with my DMing not so much with the creatures but with riddles and traps things normal hack and slash players dont think of avoiding however my players are from from normal since theyve played with me for about 4 years now so you know they know my tricks and stuff. Anyway thanks in advance for the help.

 

[Mark]

This should help -

http://www.enworld.org/forums/showthread.php?t=47525

 

[WanderingMonster]

Make kobolds worth 2,000xp a piece. With Cleave, your fighter should reach 6th level after the first combat.

 

[MarauderX]

Give one of them lycantropcy when they least expect it. Arrange a 'random encounter' fight when they get bored, then a month down the road spring the saves on them to control the shape change. Sometimes it's nice to hear this from your players:

"Wha...? Why? Did I make it? What was it for?"

Then you cautiously describe something stirring inside them, something that is yearning to take over, it needs to free itself, to take over, and...feed...
Muscles tense; keeling over, you feel your body growing, your clothes tear loose from your now bulking frame as you hunch your back to the air in agony. Your jaws flex and you feel your skin burning, nearly tearing, as your bones elongate to hold your new body. Free of your constrictions, you arch your back and howl at the glowing full moon beaming down upon you.

Player(s) new response: "Um, cool...maybe... how did I get that? What do I do now?? The next morning we'll have to assess the damage wrought!"

And too make it more interesting throw in that they shape change into different animals... think lycantrope zoo...

 

[Mystery Man]

Depending on how often you play and what edition your using your looking at a couple years or more worth of D&D playing. Group members will come and go, perhaps even campaign settings. Just take it one level at a time, don't think that if you don't hit 40 your going to fail them. They most likely don't care and just want to play.

 

[Belen]

Yeah, I just finished a 1-30, myself. My advice.....RUN AWAY!!!!!!!

 

[BiggusGeekus]

Alright so I'm a bit cocky when I stated to my players that I could devise a campagin to take them from 1st to 40th level.

Wow.

Well, normally I'd say just buy a copy of Return to the Temple of Elemental Evil and run that while you plan the rest of the game out during the next year you have while running that game. But you said you were doing it yourself. Ouch.

As always, when giving DM plot advice on the internet, I tend to get a little generic. Have an invasion. Last year there was an issue of Dragon that featured a Githyanki invasion that was meant to go from level 1-20. If you start that plot around level 6, it will probably be better. From there figure out the "greater evil", the force driving the Githyanki invasion.

You have a lot of time to figure out what you want to happen after level 15. For now work on your 1-6 game. There's no point in statting out a level 40 bad guy when your group has barely rolled up their characters.

 

[Calico_Jack73]

My advice? Unless you want to do a lot of homework pick up a module like Return to the Temple of Elemental Evil. It takes the group from 4th to 14th level. That is at least 10 levels where you don't have to worry about coming up with stuff on a weekly basis.
If you can pick up Ruins of Undermountain that might be an idea as well. It was written for 2E but is easily adaptable and will satisfy any dungeoncrawling desires your group may have. I've never heard of anyone who has actually "played" through the entire thing.
To keep your players interested have a far reaching goal for them to aspire to. Give them a supreme villain to war against. They will be too weak in the beginning but the whole campaign can be a quest to become powerful enough to directly deal with him. Along the way they can thwart his underlings who progressively become more powerful. I believe Dragonlance did this.

If you want to do it all yourself then quit your job and work on the campaign full time.

 

[Ghostwalker_Daishi]

Here's a nifty little trick I just sprung on my players. When they're starting to get bored, or just running around to get xp, find a way to teleport them somewhere on the other side of the planet. Break a few spell rules if you have to. My characters have almost completely forgotten about power gaming and are now intent on finding and slaying the person who did this to them so casually. I could easily make this quest to find and kill him go on for a half-dozen levels without much effort. The trick is to not give them an easy way out of their situation. If they can just Greater Teleport back home, then there's no adventure hook.

Just my two centimes.

 

[Steverooo]

Curse scrolls that send them to (insert location here).