Pathfinder 1E Needing Help With New Campaign Ideas

[Forgottenhelm]

Hey Guys, Im starting a Campaign with Pathfinder at first LvL. I have played 3rd edition for ages and read alot of Fantasy, Game of Thrones as well as R.A. Salvatore. I have alot of ideas zooming around in my head, i tryed to come up with a campaign a couple of months ago but just became overwhelmed! As you can tell this will be my first time to attempt to GM, my idea from the get go was to start off with a story arc campaign where i had 2-3 campaigns that slowly tied together creating one big story arc. Is this too difficult for a Green GM or is it possible. Just needing some help with this and maybe just some very rudimentary 1st LvL campaign ideas. I dont want to do an Adventure Path i would like to make it my own. HELP!!!!

 

[Gilladian]

I would not try to tie 2-3 plots together or even plan for more than one plot this early in the campaign.

I would set up a small region (a village or town, a bit of countryside) with some rumors and at least two potential adventures, and a reason or three for adventurers to be in the area (for example, the town could be a trade center, and caravans stop there; pcs could have arrived and stayed to rest before planning to move on, and instead stay to adventure).

Make the locale fun, and the plots will brew themselves. When the PCs decide to do something (maybe they hear about orcs raiding the caravans and decide to hunt for their lair) then tie that back to what you originally wanted to be the theme/metaplot of the campaign (the orcs are working for a necromancer, bringing him the bodies of the slain to turn into his skeletal army, which won't appear until much later in the campaign). And the friendly bartender at the local watering hole? He's the necromancer's cousin, and has always hated the little punk!

 

[S'mon]

I would start with one campaign plot and one locale. Eg for a Game of Thrones style campaign you could start at a regional power centre like Winterfell with the 1st level PCs as young nobles, retainers etc. They initially deal with local events such as brigands, raiders, border clashes, wandering monsters, and local politics. Let the players get to know their PCs, gain XP and a few levels, maybe to ca 3rd or 4th level.

You can then in the second chapter start to broaden it out with national-scale events, eg the King sickens and there is turmoil at court. You would then have the option of moving the centre of action to a national court like King's Landing, possibly bringing in some new PCs. Intrigue and double-dealing can again cover a few levels, perhaps to 6th or 7th.

As things come to a head and the crisis deepens, the action broadens again in chapter three, perhaps to large-scale warfare, a civil war or invasion, with PCs as military commanders, trying to hold things together or create a new order. Some of these may be new characters, perhaps grizzled veterans, while others may be starting PCs from the first chapter. This phase can bring the PCs to 9th or 10th level and culminate in a resolution of the immediate crisis, one way or another, and set the stage for possible high level play in chapter four and above.