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Message: <blockquote data-quote="Quickleaf" data-source="post: 1964774" data-attributes="member: 20323">I'll emphasize what TerraDave said. (i feel there should be an exclamation after your name, like TerraDave! is here to save the day!). Focus on what the first adventure will be about. It sounds like you already have a slightly fleshed out skeleton of the overall campaign - good, that's all you need. Remember the story is about the PCs. When they wake up in the morning what do they hear? Birds chirping by a babbling brook? The sound of archers firing a volley? Who are the influential people in the adventure, like mentors, enemies, or contracted help? What is the PCs' motivation? Who will stand in their way? What twists and turns will your adventure take? Answer these micro questions. Make a really good adventure. Use a healthy dose of description. Convey the feel of the world. Do this, and I guarantee your players will forgive you forgetting to name such-and-such village or minor inconsistencies.A quick story....I GMed for my friend and his girlfriend for two sessions. It was short, but I wanted an immersive setting that was true to traditional fantasy fiction. I had 3 days to prepare. I knew I couldn't make an entire world, so I focused on an adventure that gave off the feel of a complete world (versilimitude  <img src="https://cdn.jsdelivr.net/joypixels/assets/8.0/png/unicode/64/1f609.png" class="smilie smilie--emoji" loading="lazy" width="64" height="64" alt=";)" title="Wink    ;)"  data-smilie="2"data-shortname=";)" /> ) These were the steps I took:(1) I borrowed a city map with several rivers converging in a port town, waterfalls pouring past several distrcits, a great natural stone arch over the port of entry. I then traced out a rough map of the city districts on lined paper, but I used colored pencils, which made it much more impressive!  <img src="https://cdn.jsdelivr.net/joypixels/assets/8.0/png/unicode/64/1f609.png" class="smilie smilie--emoji" loading="lazy" width="64" height="64" alt=";)" title="Wink    ;)"  data-smilie="2"data-shortname=";)" />  (2) Next I determined what was around the city. A tower where wizards were trained. A mystical and forbidden forest. And so on.(3) I thought about NPCs next. Who would be in this world? I wanted wizards to be truly powerful and mysterious. I thought of a well-dressed man who could speak with two voices at once and who wouldn't hesistate to unleash a plague on the entire city to perform his duty to the wizard tower as he saw it. I also thought of a scheming noblewoman with a soft streak in her heart who is interested in marrying her daughter to gain political leverage over the current ruler (who is opposed by a council of nobles). So, I had two powerful NPCs. While the mage would start off as an "enemy" and the noblewoman an "ally" these individuals are definitely playing the PCs for their own purposes.(4) I knew both their characters - an apprentice mage and a healer. So I decided the adventure would focus on magic & healing. The mage was wounded fleeing his school after being framed and would be found floating in the river near death. The noblewoman, hoping to profit from the mage' misfortune, contracts the healer to care for him. The well-dressed archmage comes looking for the young apprentice and political chaos ensues. Voila! An adventure that gives the feel of a well-thought out world with minimal work.</blockquote>

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