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Message: <blockquote data-quote="der_kluge" data-source="post: 4577864" data-attributes="member: 945">First, encourage your players to make up a backstory. That'll make things a lot more personal for them.  Killing brigands can be fun - but if the brigands have a clue on them regarding the whereabouts of the dastardly pirate Dread Roberts who also happens to be the guy who killed one of the PCs parents - then it suddenly becomes personal.  Remember that everything the party kills could have a story - well, maybe not mindless monsters, but everything should have a *reason* for being there. That makes the game more realistic.I think it's a great idea, and I do something similar. I use Action Points and I reward those for good role-playing or clever ideas. I don't use XP at all. My players don't track it, and I don't reward it. Spells that require it either don't exist, or I find other ways to limit their use, like with disadvantages, for example. I use alternative magic item creation rules to avoid the XP cost.I level the players up whenever they finish a story arc.Good start.I like to create a sort of "sandbox" environment (you'll see that term used on here sometimes) where there are various dungeons or story ideas all taking place simultaneously. Think about the Baldur's Gate games, if you've played them, think about how you could go in various directions and find adventure. Something like that. It requires a bit of up-front work, but you could buy a couple of published modules and then say that Dungeon A is to the east, and Dungeon B is in the west, and so long as both are roughly designed for the same level, the party could hear rumors of either dungeon, and instantly have a choice of where to go.  Another suggestion is to get a module like Nemoren's Vault which is a good introduction for bringing PCs together at the start of a campaign. I also like the Wilderlands of High Fantasy campaign boxed set, because the world is just filled with adventure ideas, and it makes this kind of campaign a lot easier. But the boxed set is a bit pricey.Well, you certainly need a reason for the furniture to animate. That kind of stuff usually just doesn't happen at random.I'd stick to published modules. There are so many good ones available. Nemoren's Vault is a good choice. I'm also a big fan of the Tomb of Abysthor by Necromancer Games.<a href="http://www.goodman-games.com/5100preview.html" target="_blank">Legends are Made, not born</a> is a great introductory module actually designed for 0-level NPCs. Goodman games also sells a lot of introductory Dungeon Crawl Classics modules. Most of these are available as PDFs if you can't find them in print.Hamlet of Thumble is good, too. A lot of really good GMs I know build entire campaigns by staggering various published modules and source material together to form a length campaign. This gets easier as you get older, because you tend to acquire a lot more ideas and modules that you can build off of.</blockquote>

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