LostSoul
Adventurer
Questions For Starting a New Campaign
- Players
- Take a look at the player types listed in the DMG. Which type are you? How well does it match your style? Is there anything you'd like to add to it?
- What sorts of things do you hate to see in RPGs?
- What is your stance on metagaming?
- Anything else you'd like to add?
- Campaign Setting
- The Hook
Every good campaign setting as a juicy hook. What's ours? What about this setting would make you stop and take interest? What makes it ripe for adventure? What's the conflict? What must be dealt with? - Level of Fantasy
How much fantasy exists in the world? How do the fantastic elements interact with the mundane ones? How are the fantastic elements changing? How is the mundane world affected by this change? - Age of World
How old is the world? What has been left behind to explore? Where do dungeons come from? What is only known through myth and legend? What has just happened that everyone shares as a common experience? Is the past feared or glorified? - Creation Myth
Who created the world? How did it come into being? How does this reinforce the hook of the world? How does this give the PCs people, monsters, dungeons, and organizations to struggle against? What foul creatures can reach through time to harass the PCs? How can the gods help the PCs? How can they hinder them? - Divine Intervention
How often do the Gods interfere with mortals? Why do they do this? What challenges do they present to people? What boons do they offer? How are they worshipped? Why are they worshipped? What do they fear, and what do they want? Who opposes the Gods? - Frequency of Magic
How common is magic? How do people react to it when they see it? How do people feel about Wizards, Warlocks, Paladins, and Clerics? Is one type of magic accepted while another is not? - Level of Mystery
How far does civilization penetrate into the darkness? What secrets are waiting to be found? Is civilization ascending or declining? How fast? What's mapped? Where are the borders of the known world? What's waiting beyond them? - Monster Activity
How common are monsters? How often do they plague civilization? Are they a common sight or a rare and terrifying one? Are they organized (and if so, who leads them?) or do they wander like wild beasts? What places are avoided because of their activity? - Status of Adventurers
Why are the PCs special? Why are we focusing our time on them? What makes them different from the other inhabitants of the world? How do the NPCs treat adventurers - as hired killers, mercenaries, or heroes? What do the NPCs want from them? How powerful are they compared to the common man? - Racial Harmony
How do the PC races interact? Is there any animosity, any conflict? If not, why not? If they band together, what brought them together? Is there anything brewing that might set them at each other's throats? Anything that might heal old wounds? How cosmopolitan is the world - do dwarves only live in dwarf cities, or is each village an equal mix of each race? - Geography
What does the local area look like? What are some features about the area that everyone knows about? What are some mysterious places that people fear? What lies beyond its boundries? What far-off place do people dream about? What far-off place do people have nightmares about? What's the name of the most important place in the campaign - where does the adventure take place, what place is the fulcrum of the conflict? Why is this place so important?
- The Hook
- Classes
- General
Are the classes organized? What kind of political influence do they wield? What sorts of things do they do for common people? What do they want? How do they fit into the organizations of the rest of the world? - Wizards
How does a Wizard cast his spells? What makes an Orb special? What about the other implements? What makes a spellbook stand out in a room full of musty tomes? How flashy are the spells that Wizards cast? How does a Wizard apprentice? How long does it take? What does he have to give up to do it? - Warlocks
How does a Warlock cast his spells? What makes Fey, Star, and Infernal pacts different? How do people feel about the different pacts? Is the source of the pact personalized or a general "force"? What deal do Warlocks make gain their pacts? Why would they do this? - Paladins
How does a Paladin channel Divine magic? What oaths does he have to swear? What happens if he breaks these oaths? How do people see Paladins? What did he have to go through to get this power? Why would he do this? - Clerics
How does a Cleric cast spells? What mundane rituals did he go through? What mundane rituals must they perform?
- General
- PCs
- The Group
What do the PCs want as a group? Do they know each other? How did they meet? How do they feel about each other? Why did they get together? What are they all fighting for? - The Individual
What does your PC want? What is he willing to die for? How far is he willing to go to get it? How do the other PCs feel about your goal? - The Opposition
Who are the main antagonists? What do they want? Why are they opposing your goals? - Right Now
What does the group want to do right now? What does your individual PC want right now? Who is standing in your way? - Destiny
What is your PC's destiny? Where does he want to end up? What does he want to change in the world? How are his adventures going to make the world a different place?
- The Group
