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Message: <blockquote data-quote="Bran Blackbyrd" data-source="post: 1965108" data-attributes="member: 1710">One problem I've had with my campaign world; working sequentially. I've got the outline for the story arc and that's great, but I always seem to come up with more material for things that won't happen for another 20 sessions.Once you've plotted the major arc from A to Z, concentrate on points A-G. Put the rest in a drawer or something. Reference them if you need to visualize the arc as a whole then put them away again. I have failed to do this and I'll tell you where it's gotten me; I have a ton of material regarding the mid to late game, and almost nothing that will help me write the next session. If you can't get to the next session then it doesn't matter how many epic battles and earth-shattering revelations you have planned for the players down the road.The closer you stick to a "normal" D&D world, the easier you'll make it on yourself. This is especially true in regards to magic! If you goof around with magic or the way magic works you are inviting a world of hurt upon yourself. So, keep it simple if you aren't ready to tackle that particular juggernaut.Make lists of names for: People, Cities and Locations (this includes geographical features like forests, oceans and rivers, etc.), Businesses, Organizations and Conveyances (like ships, boats, air-ships or whatever). You don't have to come up with backgrounds for them (though if inspiration strikes, feel free), just have them ready if you need a name.Nothing taints a game like having to come up with a name for something on the spur of the moment and you blurt out something stupid. Your players will remember a silly name or a name that is easily subjected to innuendo and puns INSTANTLY and they will do it (intentionally or not) instead of remembering what you sweated over for hours.A DM of mine once told us the NPC we were talking to was named Gael (pronounced Gay-El). What do you suppose the focus of the conversation was for the next half hour? That's right, Gael the Gay Elf. He also named a kingdom Lorfensaurius (I don't remember the exact spelling, but that's close enough). No one cared why we were supposed to go to that kingdom, they only cared that it sounded like a breed of retarded dinosaur. We had some young players in that game too, which made it worse. He changed the name to Laustaurius or something, but that only made the old name stick out more and no one ever forgot it. Every time the new name was mentioned, a player said the old one.In addition to helping you avoid those scenarios, having ready-made names makes it look like you really put some time and care into your world (one would hope), and your players will pick up on that, appreciate it and care about the world too (again, one would hope).There's much more flavor in having your characters go to "The Laughing Lord", an inn which has a sign depicting a king laughing so hard he's falling out of his chair to spend the night than there is in staying at "The Town Inn" and it only takes a few seconds to come up with the name and descriptive bits.This also helps the DM in the end, because players are more apt to roleplay without being pushed every step of the way if they have some idea of what's going on. A really good player will try to make do with what he's given, but a beginner or a shy player will find it much easier to roleplay if they are fed a few details and you roleplay too.If you tell a player, "You're in a tavern.", they'll probably tell you, "I ask around for information about Uber-Villain."If you tell a player, "You step into 'The Winning Hand', a tavern known for boisterous card games, and its rowdy but friendly customers. The barkeep gives you a friendly nod and says, 'What can I do for you?’ they might just say, "I approach the barkeep and say, 'A pitcher of ale for my friends and I, good sir. This establishment was recommended to us by a man traveling this way. I believe he said his name was Uber-something... maybe you've seen him...."You never know. <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=";)" /> At any rate, a little bit of description goes a long way. Oh, and make sure the players know that they don't have to speak in a stupid accent when they roleplay. The assumption that you have to try and speak in a faux-british, scottish, irish, or whatever accent (Hello to you UK EN-Worlders! <img src="https://cdn.jsdelivr.net/joypixels/assets/8.0/png/unicode/64/1f600.png" class="smilie smilie--emoji" loading="lazy" width="64" height="64" alt=":D" title="Big grin    :D"  data-smilie="8"data-shortname=":D" />) in order to be in character has probably kept more shy people from trying to really roleplay than all of the anti-D&D press you've ever heard. If you're bold enough to ham it up without feeling like a moron, that's fine, but a lot of people feel stupid affecting an accent and they lock right up. After all, no one wants to feel stupid. That's more of a DMing rule in general, rather than a campaign creation tip, but it's free so... <img src="https://cdn.jsdelivr.net/joypixels/assets/8.0/png/unicode/64/1f61b.png" class="smilie smilie--emoji" loading="lazy" width="64" height="64" alt=":p" title="Stick out tongue    :p"  data-smilie="7"data-shortname=":p" /></blockquote>

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