How do You start..?

[Ravenknight]

Hi All..!

I´m a little curious where You (fellow DMs) start your adventurewriting.
Myself, I usually start my writing by making the BBEG in detail. I just love a great villian and from there I go with the plot, NPCs, stats and last if all the maps. Where do You start.?

 

[der_kluge]

That's a perfectly legitimate way to start a campaign. It also helps you create a fully fleshed out BBEG. Another thing I've done is to create a premise - "PC's explore a lost continent" or to use artifacts as the basis for the campaign - "Throw this ring into mount doom", that kind of thing.

 

[Psion]

My preferred way yo start is by considering what major powers in the game are up to and what plots they might be involved with that the players can trip over.

Second place goes to seeing picturing fun activities and then trying to see how I can realize them in play.

 

[Rl'Halsinor]

I take the same route much like Psion. The classic questions Who? What? Where? Why? and When? guide me in the development of my ideas into BBEG, NPCs, towns, geography, etc. The more I can fill them out the greater the depth and broader application of my adventure writing. I do the same thing when I think of the PCs but with not nearly the depth of the adventure. Usually all the players want to do is play; the questions will take care of themselves.

One other thing that explore is the impact of my adventure into what has gone before or is taking place now in my campaign. Of course, even the best laid plans get modified, sometimes heavily, often due to the PCs interaction.

 

[the Jester]

For an individual adventure? It varies. Sometimes I'll start with a vague plot idea ('find the Book of Ek!'), sometimes with an idea for a location ('the Asylum of Advanced Mental Treatment'), sometimes with a bad guy ('ooh, I'll have a god-slaver'), sometimes with a metagame idea ('I want to pit my epic party against another epic group of pcs') and sometimes with a situation ('you have 2 days to save the falsely accused peasant by bringing in the bandit he has been mistaken for').

The current adventure I'm working on started with a location, the town of Whitewater, which will be the setting for an experimental low-magic campaign I'm going to run.

 

[Ravenknight]

Of course, even the best laid plans get modified, sometimes heavily, often due to the PCs interaction.

And we love it.

 

[pjrake]

Hi All..!

I´m a little curious where You (fellow DMs) start your adventurewriting.
Myself, I usually start my writing by making the BBEG in detail. I just love a great villian and from there I go with the plot, NPCs, stats and last if all the maps. Where do You start.?

Can I ask a newbie question? What does BBEG stand for?

PJ

 

[The_Universe]

Can I ask a newbie question? What does BBEG stand for?

PJ

Big Bad Evil Guy (or Gal).

I start with basic assumptions as to how and why the game world works, follow by major players (powerful NPCs and organizations), and then a general "theme."

 

[ThirdWizard]

At the end of every adventure I ask where the PCs are headed next. Then I take that and decide what will happen with their new exploits. Toss in some old and new NPCs and most of the work is already done for me.

 

[Zappo]

I wait until something cool pops up in my mind. A scene, a creature, a spell, an item, a story, whatever. Then I build a plot around it. Then I add twists until it is sufficiently devious. Then I try to foresee the most likely actions that the PCs will take, and plan for them. Finally, I make sure that I have enough extra detail to fuel ad-libbing in case the PCs do something unexpected. Basically, I solve the problem of plot vs. railroading by brute force.