Mercurius
Legend
This is the second branching off of the "We're Getting Old" thread, specifically post #79 in which I started discussing the "labor of love" that is DMing, which led to two separate (although loosely related) inquiries, one of which I elaborated further here.
Anyhow, here's what I want to do in this thread. I want to invoke the collective wisdom of ENWorld to guide me in designing a campaign. To give some context, my group has been on hiatus for about a year mainly because I'm the only person who can (and really likes to) DM, and I've been super busy with work (teaching), family (two kids and a wife), and the icing on the cake, grad school (went back for a Master's). Anyhow, I have a between-semester break in grad school from January to April so I figure that if I can take some time over the next couple months setting up a campaign, and then get it up and running in January, it might have enough momentum to carry on afterwards.
So these are the basic parameters for the campaign:
Rules: I'm hoping to use the D&D Next playtest rules and then, once the game comes out, update everything
Setting: I'm designing a setting from scratch, but porting over a lot of stuff from a setting I used for 4e and own a ton of setting material so can borrow liberally from different books
Type: I want to combine elements of sandbox, short site-based adventures, which would eventually turn into a larger adventure path plot.
Campaign Trajectory: I'd like to start the game off small with a small town or large village ala Shadowdale as a base for the adventures, and create a "sandboxy" region for them to explore for a bit as they advance through early levels, via a combination of hexcrawling and dungeons.
Once they get to the level 3-5 range, I'd like to start dropping hooks and threads to weave together which would gradually turn into a larger plot with a quest-vibe--say, around 7-10th level--perhaps eventually Saving the World from some Ancient Evil that is awakening (levels 12+)...you know what I'm talking about.
To put that another way, the players start off as pure adventurers seeking gold and glory. A major component of the campaign would be them gradually putting together a back story based on an intricate history and mythology, a kind of "Secret History of the World." My task would be to drop hints without seeming, at least at first, like they are anything more than bits of setting color. But gradually they would start figuring out this deeper story, and then find that they are enmeshed in something that has been unfolding for millenia. In a way you can say its a "from sandbox to metaplot" campaign, although hopefully retaining the freedom of the former even as the latter reveals itself.
The local region itself is roughly similar to something between Conan's Hyboria and the North of the Forgotten Realms, a wilderness on the edge of civilization - fairly standard stuff. The world itself has a deep history, so there are layers upon layers of lost civilizations and races, thus plenty of ruins, treasures, etc. Eventually the game will span beyond this region, but for now that will be the focus of my design with everything else just broadly sketched out.
What I Want From You:
To put it into two words: guidance and resources. I've got tons of resources in the form of hundreds of game books of varying kinds, D&D and non-D&D, but I'm hoping to get some ideas as to how to put it all together, and especially in a way that will be manageable for my busy schedule. What I *don't* want to do is save time by taking the creative component out of my hands, that is simply by running pre-made adventures in a published setting. That's fun but not nearly as inspiring as creating the world and story myself. I love world building (I've actually taught a course on it at the high school I work at) and wouldn't want to deny myself that pleasure, but I'm also looking for short-cuts - things to port into the setting, whether it be site locations, encounters, means of organization, etc.
What I Have:
As said, I've got a fairly sizeable collection of game books, including anything from dozens of different campaign settings to the rule books for all editions and many other RPGs, to plenty of campaign setting books and resources, from the Ultimate Toolbox to Paizo's Gamemastery Guide to Rob Conley'ssandbox creation guidelines. I also own quite a few adventures, from classics like Lost Caverns of Tsojcanth to Paizo's Runelords compilation...and a ton of other stuff. But the point being, I've got a lot to work with.
I'm open to suggestions, even if there's a good chance I own the product; but I'm not only, or even primarily, interested in specific book suggestions (although those are good too), but guidance on how to put all of this together in a campaign that is both A) self-designed, and B) relatively easy to run.
I'm willing and wanting to put in the time in the next few months to get things set up so that when we start in January, I don't feel harried or unprepared - I can probably find a few hours each week, so if we're talking November to mid-January, that's about 20-30 hours total. At that point I'd like to at least have the sandbox set up, with a bunch of sites loosely defined, and a few more detailed sites (perhaps modified pre-published adventures).
Some Specific Questions:
With regards to the sandbox, what's a good size for a starting region? As said previously, I'm thinking for the first few levels the PCs would be hexcrawling with a few more detailed sites. Given that our group won't be able to play more than twice a month, I like level advancement to be relatively quick - maybe one level every two sessions for the first few levels and then slowing down to one per 3-4 sessions.
I'm especially looking for good, low-to-mid level encounters and short adventures - stuff that is atmospheric, focuses on exploration, has interesting tidbits of lore, and is easily adapted to my setting. What do you recommend?
What are some suggestions for short-cuts in terms of the nuts and bolts of setting up a viable sandbox region? Specific resources, etc?
I've got to go - my daughters are having some drama that requires intervention - but I look forward to any responses. Sorry for the length of this, but I wanted to give as accurate a picture as possible.
Anyhow, here's what I want to do in this thread. I want to invoke the collective wisdom of ENWorld to guide me in designing a campaign. To give some context, my group has been on hiatus for about a year mainly because I'm the only person who can (and really likes to) DM, and I've been super busy with work (teaching), family (two kids and a wife), and the icing on the cake, grad school (went back for a Master's). Anyhow, I have a between-semester break in grad school from January to April so I figure that if I can take some time over the next couple months setting up a campaign, and then get it up and running in January, it might have enough momentum to carry on afterwards.
So these are the basic parameters for the campaign:
Rules: I'm hoping to use the D&D Next playtest rules and then, once the game comes out, update everything
Setting: I'm designing a setting from scratch, but porting over a lot of stuff from a setting I used for 4e and own a ton of setting material so can borrow liberally from different books
Type: I want to combine elements of sandbox, short site-based adventures, which would eventually turn into a larger adventure path plot.
Campaign Trajectory: I'd like to start the game off small with a small town or large village ala Shadowdale as a base for the adventures, and create a "sandboxy" region for them to explore for a bit as they advance through early levels, via a combination of hexcrawling and dungeons.
Once they get to the level 3-5 range, I'd like to start dropping hooks and threads to weave together which would gradually turn into a larger plot with a quest-vibe--say, around 7-10th level--perhaps eventually Saving the World from some Ancient Evil that is awakening (levels 12+)...you know what I'm talking about.
To put that another way, the players start off as pure adventurers seeking gold and glory. A major component of the campaign would be them gradually putting together a back story based on an intricate history and mythology, a kind of "Secret History of the World." My task would be to drop hints without seeming, at least at first, like they are anything more than bits of setting color. But gradually they would start figuring out this deeper story, and then find that they are enmeshed in something that has been unfolding for millenia. In a way you can say its a "from sandbox to metaplot" campaign, although hopefully retaining the freedom of the former even as the latter reveals itself.
The local region itself is roughly similar to something between Conan's Hyboria and the North of the Forgotten Realms, a wilderness on the edge of civilization - fairly standard stuff. The world itself has a deep history, so there are layers upon layers of lost civilizations and races, thus plenty of ruins, treasures, etc. Eventually the game will span beyond this region, but for now that will be the focus of my design with everything else just broadly sketched out.
What I Want From You:
To put it into two words: guidance and resources. I've got tons of resources in the form of hundreds of game books of varying kinds, D&D and non-D&D, but I'm hoping to get some ideas as to how to put it all together, and especially in a way that will be manageable for my busy schedule. What I *don't* want to do is save time by taking the creative component out of my hands, that is simply by running pre-made adventures in a published setting. That's fun but not nearly as inspiring as creating the world and story myself. I love world building (I've actually taught a course on it at the high school I work at) and wouldn't want to deny myself that pleasure, but I'm also looking for short-cuts - things to port into the setting, whether it be site locations, encounters, means of organization, etc.
What I Have:
As said, I've got a fairly sizeable collection of game books, including anything from dozens of different campaign settings to the rule books for all editions and many other RPGs, to plenty of campaign setting books and resources, from the Ultimate Toolbox to Paizo's Gamemastery Guide to Rob Conley'ssandbox creation guidelines. I also own quite a few adventures, from classics like Lost Caverns of Tsojcanth to Paizo's Runelords compilation...and a ton of other stuff. But the point being, I've got a lot to work with.
I'm open to suggestions, even if there's a good chance I own the product; but I'm not only, or even primarily, interested in specific book suggestions (although those are good too), but guidance on how to put all of this together in a campaign that is both A) self-designed, and B) relatively easy to run.
I'm willing and wanting to put in the time in the next few months to get things set up so that when we start in January, I don't feel harried or unprepared - I can probably find a few hours each week, so if we're talking November to mid-January, that's about 20-30 hours total. At that point I'd like to at least have the sandbox set up, with a bunch of sites loosely defined, and a few more detailed sites (perhaps modified pre-published adventures).
Some Specific Questions:
With regards to the sandbox, what's a good size for a starting region? As said previously, I'm thinking for the first few levels the PCs would be hexcrawling with a few more detailed sites. Given that our group won't be able to play more than twice a month, I like level advancement to be relatively quick - maybe one level every two sessions for the first few levels and then slowing down to one per 3-4 sessions.
I'm especially looking for good, low-to-mid level encounters and short adventures - stuff that is atmospheric, focuses on exploration, has interesting tidbits of lore, and is easily adapted to my setting. What do you recommend?
What are some suggestions for short-cuts in terms of the nuts and bolts of setting up a viable sandbox region? Specific resources, etc?
I've got to go - my daughters are having some drama that requires intervention - but I look forward to any responses. Sorry for the length of this, but I wanted to give as accurate a picture as possible.
