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Message: <blockquote data-quote="Uller" data-source="post: 239541" data-attributes="member: 413">If I'm running a prefab adventure, then yeah...it's pretty much "Here's the adventure.  Go there or go home."But I rarely run prefab adventures.   They're usually just hack n' slash diversions from the norm (although I'm hearing such good things about the "Freeport" adventures, I may run those some time...)When I'm running a campaign, I start out writing a one or two page "flavor" document.  It is usually something very similar to the "intro" the the Fellowship of the Ring movie.   Something vague that establishes the feel of the setting and gives the players a starting location and/or event.  For location, it is usually an important city, a "home-base" village, etc.   An event may be the death of a king, the start (or end) of a war, the collapse of a nation, the aftermath of a plague or disaster.  Something to set the scene as desperate and interesting, yet sufficiently vague that I can mold the plot to the tastes and interests of the group as we go.Then characters (and one page backgrounds) are created and the group is assembled.   The first session will be nothing more than role-play with 3 to 5 adventure hooks for the PCs to discover and consider following (and probably one or two combat encounters just to keep things fun).  By the end of the session, it is usually clear which hook the party is going to follow (if not, I just ask them).   I make it clear to them that the decision they make will influence how I prepare for the next game, so they will be "held" to that decision.   Then for the second session, I flesh out that hook into a full-fledged adventure that will last 2 or 3 sessions.   As the players make their way through the adventure, they may uncover some new adventure hooks and some of the ones they chose not to follow may "dry up"...maybe some one else took care of it, maybe events just made them no longer valid, whatever.   Still others may have become MORE pressing (maybe the rumors of undead raiding the next village has turned into "no one from the next village has been heard from in two-weeks" because now the village is gone or cut off).  This gives them a feel that the world is dynamic and living.So essentially, I run my campaign like a "choose your own adventure" where the party is presented with 3-5 paths to follow from one adventure to the next(and they are certainly free to suggest other paths).   Once they choose, I ask them to stick to the prepared adventure as much as possible.  I spend a lot of time prepping and it is more fun to play through the prepared material than to force me to wing it.  They respect that.One thing I avoid is grand over-arching plot lines.   More often than not, those develope completely on their own as the players make their way through the world.   They anger a powerful NPC and that gives them a nemisis.  They discover his plans to do something dastardly and now we've got a simple plot.   To make things interesting, I'll give the NPC some allies (or a master) who want to prevent the PCs from interfering and now we've got a bit of mystery and intrigue...If I planned this all in advance, it would seem like I'm forcing the story and the PCs are just along for the ride.  But if I build the plot around the actions of the PCs, they feel like THEY are in the driver's seat.   That's they way it should be.Although...it is true that some times they like to be lead by the nose.   When the DM says: "Okay...you vanquished the Giant Thane and freed the Valley of Happy Squirrels.   Now you can do A, B or C or something else.   What do you do?"  and the PCs respond with blank stares and shrugging shoulders, that's a good sign that they would like you to just lead them by the nose...</blockquote>

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