deltadave
First Post
http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/tg/detail/-/0766133206
all the plots you could ever use with examples from film and liturature.
all the plots you could ever use with examples from film and liturature.
List your favorite plots here!
- Thread starter Oberyn
- Start date
Mystery Man
First Post
I like the one where you go in, kill everything and take all their stuff. 
IronWolf
blank
I lean towards the keep it simple method. Start with some basic premise (perhaps from the links others have posted) and work up from there. Over time add a layer here and a layer there. These layers can be from ideas you have based on character actions or simply afterthoughts along the way. The next thing you know after several sessions you have taken what was initially a rather basic plot and turned into something much more complex.
This also helps avoid railroading as the basic plot is easier to adjust based on what the character's do.
This also helps avoid railroading as the basic plot is easier to adjust based on what the character's do.
Felikeries
First Post
If this is to be a great campaign,then the whole plot refrence from the characters beginning
history is a good place to start.
~what family friend arrives at a village the character starts a bar fight to win money at
~why is there a hate of a certain church that the very first Master dude asks them to
infiltrate or some other task
~if the group gets short handed for some items etc being purchased,the history of why certain players favour one reaction,or item to make good for rather than the other may tell the tale of their interests that could effect every situation in the rest of the campaign at least as a roll player
~bragging about a skill or some other extra a charcter has will fall upon the player in a situation the DM considers well and good for this reason,the player then is led to a new roll playing attitude,about their charm,power etc....
~a lover girl etc reappears and has some info that can only be granted if the player can figure who's side she's on,or some similar effect
~the need for coss refrenced new character class in the party,begins with a deluge from the deveopling charcter history(as previousely suggested) then arrival of the need as the campiagn states,as well as the social or character reasons coincides,bonding the party or making certain elemnts of the game more intrigiung
~don't forget that rnd rollers for ,old aquintances,stereotype NPC's,or maps and special items,will make the players and or chracters from the first of the campaign think in greater depth about what it means to be involved with this scenario at a more battle strewn or difficult time at a later situational
history is a good place to start.
~what family friend arrives at a village the character starts a bar fight to win money at
~why is there a hate of a certain church that the very first Master dude asks them to
infiltrate or some other task
~if the group gets short handed for some items etc being purchased,the history of why certain players favour one reaction,or item to make good for rather than the other may tell the tale of their interests that could effect every situation in the rest of the campaign at least as a roll player
~bragging about a skill or some other extra a charcter has will fall upon the player in a situation the DM considers well and good for this reason,the player then is led to a new roll playing attitude,about their charm,power etc....
~a lover girl etc reappears and has some info that can only be granted if the player can figure who's side she's on,or some similar effect
~the need for coss refrenced new character class in the party,begins with a deluge from the deveopling charcter history(as previousely suggested) then arrival of the need as the campiagn states,as well as the social or character reasons coincides,bonding the party or making certain elemnts of the game more intrigiung
~don't forget that rnd rollers for ,old aquintances,stereotype NPC's,or maps and special items,will make the players and or chracters from the first of the campaign think in greater depth about what it means to be involved with this scenario at a more battle strewn or difficult time at a later situational
Silver Moon
Adventurer
Start with a halfling village, then toss in an old human mage, a dwarf and a human prince. Send them off on a quest against evil and.....what, heard that one before?
How about this. Ask your players what type of story they'd like to play, find a module that matches that, and just have fun.
How about this. Ask your players what type of story they'd like to play, find a module that matches that, and just have fun.
Rel
Liquid Awesome
Oberyn, I think it might help if you gave us some ideas of what you have to work with and what you want to work toward.
Do you own/plan to buy a lot of modules? If so then I'd say that what you need to work on is the "connective tissue" between them to give the whole thing a good overall flow. Or, simply get a series of mods that are already linked together. The Freeport mods by Green Ronin are like this and I highly recommend them.
If you want to build from scratch then you've got more work ahead, but also more control. I find that the easiest and most organic way of developing adventures that way is to simply put together your big bad evil (or not so evil) guys first. Figure out what they want, why they want it and how they intend to get it. Who will try and stop them and how? From there I find that the adventure will often write itself.
I'll make up a bad guy. He's an exceptionally smart Goblin Chieftain named Krood. What does Krood want? He wants to unite all the Goblin tribes in the Firefist Hills under his rule. Why? Because he's seen generation after generation of his people die to the Orcs to the west and the humans to the east. So what's he going to do about it? He will first need to show that he means business to the other tribes.
He decides to go after the Liprip Tribe who lives near the humans. They're fairly weak and not well liked among the other tribes (because they mutilate the lips of their captives). So he gathers his warband and invades their caves, killing some and forcing the rest to swear allegience to his cause. Now he's got a new base of operations near the human coastal city and that's good because he will need to attack their fleet at some point. For now he'll have his men start doing bandit raids on the Coast Road to capture valuables that he can trade to the other tribes to get them aboard.
Later he'll want to turn west and capture one of the Orcs easternmost iron mines so that he can produce better quality weapons for his troops and lots of them. Once that is done he can fortify on that front, pay off the closest of the Orcs with his loot stolen from the humans and then seek to destroy the human navy. And so on and so forth.
That took me maybe 10 minutes to gin up and I've already got at least a half dozen good adventure ideas and plots suggesting themselves.
Banditry on the Coast Road
Disappearance of the Liprip Goblins
Increasingly dangerous Goblin raiders
Goblin scouts casing the docks at the human city
An emissary from one of the stronger Goblin tribes seeking help against Krood
A decrease in iron ore coming out of the Orcish mountains
And that's just a single bad guy. If I began to consider what the Necromancer of Icinghill and The Demon Lord of Baxix Pass are doing, I've got an entire campaigns worth of ideas. I think that if you write good bad buys then the rest of the campaign writes itself almost.
Good luck and keep coming back to ENWorld. It's the best roleplaying resource on the net.
Do you own/plan to buy a lot of modules? If so then I'd say that what you need to work on is the "connective tissue" between them to give the whole thing a good overall flow. Or, simply get a series of mods that are already linked together. The Freeport mods by Green Ronin are like this and I highly recommend them.
If you want to build from scratch then you've got more work ahead, but also more control. I find that the easiest and most organic way of developing adventures that way is to simply put together your big bad evil (or not so evil) guys first. Figure out what they want, why they want it and how they intend to get it. Who will try and stop them and how? From there I find that the adventure will often write itself.
I'll make up a bad guy. He's an exceptionally smart Goblin Chieftain named Krood. What does Krood want? He wants to unite all the Goblin tribes in the Firefist Hills under his rule. Why? Because he's seen generation after generation of his people die to the Orcs to the west and the humans to the east. So what's he going to do about it? He will first need to show that he means business to the other tribes.
He decides to go after the Liprip Tribe who lives near the humans. They're fairly weak and not well liked among the other tribes (because they mutilate the lips of their captives). So he gathers his warband and invades their caves, killing some and forcing the rest to swear allegience to his cause. Now he's got a new base of operations near the human coastal city and that's good because he will need to attack their fleet at some point. For now he'll have his men start doing bandit raids on the Coast Road to capture valuables that he can trade to the other tribes to get them aboard.
Later he'll want to turn west and capture one of the Orcs easternmost iron mines so that he can produce better quality weapons for his troops and lots of them. Once that is done he can fortify on that front, pay off the closest of the Orcs with his loot stolen from the humans and then seek to destroy the human navy. And so on and so forth.
That took me maybe 10 minutes to gin up and I've already got at least a half dozen good adventure ideas and plots suggesting themselves.
Banditry on the Coast Road
Disappearance of the Liprip Goblins
Increasingly dangerous Goblin raiders
Goblin scouts casing the docks at the human city
An emissary from one of the stronger Goblin tribes seeking help against Krood
A decrease in iron ore coming out of the Orcish mountains
And that's just a single bad guy. If I began to consider what the Necromancer of Icinghill and The Demon Lord of Baxix Pass are doing, I've got an entire campaigns worth of ideas. I think that if you write good bad buys then the rest of the campaign writes itself almost.
Good luck and keep coming back to ENWorld. It's the best roleplaying resource on the net.
NewJeffCTHome
First Post
IronWolf said:
Agreed. If you keep it simple, it is so easy to just add a bit of depth or color to a new NPC's background when you need it. The current group I am with on an on-and-off basis has a DM that is really good at this. A while back, he was telling me that the two brothers that were innkeepers were just two guys in his mind and nothing special when he was planning the adventure. However, they "clicked" with the party in game and pretty soon they became valuable NPCs in a sense that they provided valuable information and contacts, as well as somebody that could be trusted in a place where that was very rare.
Dr. Strangemonkey
First Post
Personally, I like simple reasons for PCs, complicated for the rest of the world.
I like to have the PCs run into hideously complicated stories that don't initially involve them, but which they become compelled to resolve.
That lets the PCs determine how simple or complicated they want to take it.
I like to have the PCs run into hideously complicated stories that don't initially involve them, but which they become compelled to resolve.
That lets the PCs determine how simple or complicated they want to take it.
Sigurd
First Post
Oberyn said:
The thing to remember though is that of all the modules you will ever use the most valuable will be the first. Deconstructing a module is a great way to learn organiziation, player expectations, and style.
Of course DM's can do anything they choose but I recommend:
1) Start with Wizards of the Coast free mini modules. If you feel inventive modify them.
2) After you've played 3 mini modules ask around for the best module you can beg, borrow or buy for the game you are playing. Is it well organized? What makes it a good module? If you can run it.
3) Did you enjoy being the DM? Did your players enjoy playing? This is where I recommend people start thinking about writing their own adventures. I personally think 3E & D20 are much more work to write adventures for. Bought modules are looking better and better.
S
