Veteran DMs, I need your help!

[gfunk]

So I have always run published modules for all of my PC's adventures. But all this talk of Dark Sun on this board got me excited. I just picked up the old DS 2nd ed box set and was very impressed with the world of Athas.

Anyway, I would like to create my own adventures for my PCs (who'll be starting with new characters). So I was wondering what suggestions or resources you guys might have. Thanks!

 

[Murrdox]

I don't know ANYTHING about Darksun... but I've done a lot of DMing over the years, and I've only run 2 very short pre-written adventures. Everything else I've done is home-brewed.

I've had good campaigns and really crappy ones. Here's some basic advise that you won't find in the DM's Guide on how to make an Adventure.

1) Start with the adversary. Answer Who, What, Why, and How. WHO are the PC's going to be fighting against? WHAT are they going to be fighting for? WHY will they be fighting? HOW will they get there?

These questions need more or less thought depending on how advanced your campaign is... a simple answer would be:
The Evil Wizard Flockinbald. He's kidnapped the local Princess. The PC's want to claim the reward. The Lord of the Lands will tell the PC's the location the Wizard's tower is located.

Coming up with a really cool-sounding villain is great... but if you have NO idea how the PCs are gonig to run into him... he's useless. Similarly, if the PCs don't have any strong motivation for fighting him, your playing sessions are suddenly going to be filled with "Okay, WHY are we going into this dungeon again? Who cares about getting this stupid Grail back?"

I have a lot more advise, but I'll leave it at that for now... you may be trying to ask questions about Dark Sun specifically, and I don't even know what that IS..

 

[gfunk]

Thanks for the response. I don't necessarily need Dark Sun specific advice, though it would be nice. I'm generally looking for the communal wisdom of DMs in general.

 

[Garmorn]

For a long term campaign that is starting at 1st or 2nd level, use an adventure or two that is designed to give the players a feel of the local area. Stress things like the lack of water, et. Introduce the major friendly NPC's. Don't make to hard very difficult if you have a new group and/or new players.

A good design for the first adventure is a simple puzzle/errand mission that has one scene designed to highlight each of the party members personalities and abilities if you can learn what the characters before hand. This will help fuse the party and help the players adjust to the new campaign.

You can also use the first two or three to set the tone for the whole campaign.

 

[Desdichado]

If you're looking for generic campaign advice, I'd say hop over to the Wizards website and read the Dungeoncraft articles that have been posted online. I don't agree with every word of it, but it's pretty good stuff, especially for someone new to the job of GMing.

 

[Murrdox]

I tend to run very linear campaigns, but some DMs do not. Some DMs prefer more open-ended campaigns.

Linear campaigns are nice, but they have drawbacks and difficulties. To clarify, in linear campaigns, the characters generally know "What do I do now?" and have a distinct path to follow.

The things you have to watch for is #1, leading them too much. If you drop hints right on the player's nose too often, they quit roleplaying, and just wait for you to throw the next quest at them. #2, not leading them ENOUGH. A player can quickly get frustrated if they have no idea of what "they're supposed to do" , ie "NOW WHAT???"

Usually, you can keep players from asking the "NOW WHAT??" question by keeping them motivated. For example, if the party just got through defeating a band of undead lead by a Vampire that was plaguing a local city, the Paladin of the party will be eager to take on a quest to find out why this Vampire was starting up trouble (if there is evidence of a larger plot). A fighter who is simply playing a traveling adventurer/mercenary with no huge desire to smite evil simply because it's evil will need more motivation as to why the hell he should follow this Paladin around (perhaps reveal to him the Vampire's hidden lair has rumors of riches, or that this Vampire is responsible for killing his father, mother, girlfriend, whatever)

Basically, EVERY character should be involved in the plot. It's okay to have a "lead" character that is central to the main events of your campaign, but keep the other characters interested.

And for God's Sake! Prepare enough game ahead of time so that you don't have to "DM by the seat of your pants" very often.

Also, have contingecy plans on hand for if/when your characters deviate from the expected path.


The worst deviation I ever had was when the characters returned back to a town they had left on a minor quest. A noble that they had a brief protection contract with was about to be beheaded in the town square. I expected the PC's to try to convince the local magistrate to hold off sentencing... or SOMETHING. Instead the Evil druid of the party commenced Call Lighting on the city guard. This began a battle that resulted in many many casualties, the characters fleeing the city, blah blah blah, it was awful.

 

[Kyramus]

http://www.athas.org/


the only link i use for Dark Sun, of course there might be more but I found that it's the only one I need.