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Message: <blockquote data-quote="Lanefan" data-source="post: 7087475" data-attributes="member: 29398">On storyboardingIt occurs to me I should define a bit better what I mean by storyboarding for a campaign, and why I do it.First, why do it at all?  Well, my primary goal for any campaign is that it have enough depth, breadth, and potential for adventuring that it can last for the rest of my life assuming a) there's people willing to play in it, and b) the system mechanics hold up over the long run.  I don't run these things as one-year wonders*, nor do I really want to; and the prep for a very long campaign is - I think - much different than for a short one or a single adventure path.  And I really don't like doing things twice. <img src="https://cdn.jsdelivr.net/joypixels/assets/8.0/png/unicode/64/1f642.png" class="smilie smilie--emoji" loading="lazy" width="64" height="64" alt=":)" title="Smile    :)"  data-smilie="1"data-shortname=":)" />* - after a year (both as DM and player) I'm usually just nicely settling in to a campaign - can't imagine it already being over!Another thing I have to keep firmly in mind is that in a long game there's inevitably going to be some player turnover and loads of character turnover.  No plot protection here for PCs, and no guarantee of survival.  So, not only can't I rely on basing a story around a character, I can't even rely on basing it around a player.  Thus, any plot has to be independent of such and also able to survive such.So with that in mind I'll come up with a series of things - game world history, politics, maps, villains, deities, cultures, inspirations, etc., etc. - which I can then mine a few long-term or really-big-picture storyline possibilities out of, and figure out if or how said possibilities might interweave or where else they might lead to.Next I'll look for what specific adventure ideas might fit with this big picture, and make notes; I'm also looking to see if a story, or part of a story, can become a mini-adventure-path within the greater campaign as those always seem to work out well.  I've also got an eye out for what levels these various adventures are suited for as I know I'll need a good spread.Then I make a list of possible adventures that could be run as one-offs within the campaign - good fun adventures that don't really have anything to do with anything but that can be used to keep things going or even just give a chance to earn some more xp.At this point I've got the basics for a storyboard, so I draw it up...in full awareness that it's absolutely going to change as time goes on.  The only near-certainty is what the first adventure will be.And all this happens before I know who will be playing in the campaign, whether there will be one party or several (and how many parties per week I'll be running), what sort of characters they'll have, how much infighting will happen, how serious or not the game "vibe" will be, and so forth.  I also don't entirely know how interested the players will be in whatever story I've dreamed up or whether they'll have their own ideas (experience tells me to usually expect a combination of both).Then during the campaign I update the storyboard now and then, to see what sort of "legs" the game has left and whether I need to come up with more ideas.  If there's two years worth spun out in front of me at any given time, all is good. <img src="https://cdn.jsdelivr.net/joypixels/assets/8.0/png/unicode/64/1f642.png" class="smilie smilie--emoji" loading="lazy" width="64" height="64" alt=":)" title="Smile    :)"  data-smilie="1"data-shortname=":)" />Lan-"I'd type more but lunch is calling"-efan</blockquote>

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