What makes a good campaign plot?

[Mathew_Freeman]

I'm starting up my own campaign world (which shall be on the website!) and I'm wondering about good long term plots. What are the basics of starting them?

How do you keep them rolling?

What sort of challenges do the Pc's need to face?

The only information you need to know about my campaign world is that there are relatively few weird monsters, eg lots of orcs, giants, etc but not much in the way of ythrak, outsiders, dragons, ankhegs and so on. It also features at some point a very large war

So then, the basics of creating good long term plots! Thanks!

 

[Maldur]

How involved do you want the players to end?
Mighty movers and shakers?

Do you want them fighting in the war?

 

[BiggusGeekus@Work]

For my money there's nothing wrong with a good old fashioned war. The only trick is to plan it so that the war doesn't start until around 13th - 15th level.

If you're planning things out:
1-3 standard adventures: core rules, or "core setting" rules. Don't get fancy, the players are still learning how your world works.
4-6 start introducing the "flunkies": orcs, draconians, whatever. The lower tier of what's going to be making the Evil Army in the future. They should be "bosses" at level 4 and graduate to being half the encounters at level 6
7-10 The players are now a strong unit in and of themselves. They should be introduced to the politics of your world. In Tolkien-esque fantasy, the forces of good are typically diverse while the forces of evil are unified. Here is where you decide what the cause of the war is. Are the reasons black-and-white (revenge of the Gawdz) or more subtle (resource contention issues)? The playes should be dealing with the commanders of the flunkies. Trolls/Ogres/Uruk-hai/whatever.
10-13 The war hasn't started, but it's up to the players to head it off! Ideally, this should end in failure. But make it clear that the players have put the forces of good in a position to win as opposed to being sure victims of the upcoming big fight.

Just some suggestions.

 

[Mathew_Freeman]

How involved do you want the players to end?
Mighty movers and shakers?

Do you want them fighting in the war?

My philosophy for this campaign is like this:

5th level - famous in their country
10th level - famous in their continent
15th level - world famous
Epic - ?

But yes, I'd like for them to be movers and shakers, and I'd like for them to be in the war. I think it's going to be my Orcs (my orcs are like normal orcs would be if they were Lawful and had a civilisation like the ancient Romans ) versus the other continent. I can't quite remember by geography yet, since my map is about 100 miles away from me at the moment on a different computer

Oh, and I've stolen Sepulchrave's Injunction idea - no wizards or sorcerors involved on battlefields. Of course, this leaves druids and clerics free...

 

[Pelosan Emperor]

Two words: recurring villains!

A recurring villain can really add flavor to a campaign. After a certain point, he's not just a villain... he's a nemesis!

For example, consider the NPC Sagiro in Sagiro's Storyhour.

 

[Hand of Evil]

What do you as the storyteller/DM see as the end of your campaign? This would be the story arc. Now build your path backwards in a timeline, now come up with events that will have your players cross over that timeline.

At first the party will cross the timeline's path very rarely, as they move down the timeline it should start crossing more and more.

Use rumors and NPCs to keep the players close to the story arc.

------------

Now, this needs to be moved to the Plots & Places forum...

 

[ced1106]

How do you keep them rolling?

By keeping the game sessions fun for the players. Ultimately, if the players aren't interested in the campaign, you're not going to have one regardless how good it is. Also, pick up NPC Essentials for the ever-important recurring villain.


Cedric.
aka. Washu! ^O^

 

[Salad Shooter]

Try asking your players...they usually know what they want. Throw in some puzzles of various degrees of difficulty, maybe a small dungeon or two, a cave in a hillside or something, a run-down manor house, and, of course, you need various encounters, small fights, maybe one or two that the characters will barely escape (to keep their blood flowing and the players on their toes). If the players want something more combat, less RP involved, make it like that. While its your campaign, you need the players, and if they get bored, they might fire you (not that your making any money...losing it is more like it)

 

[Desdichado]

Keep it general until the last minute when you need specifics for just one setting. That way, you can incorporate what the PCs do and what they want. To me, nothing is worse than a campaign where the story is so rigid that it doesn't really matter what I do.

Then again, that doesn't mean that the story is totally dependent on my PCs -- the evil army still attacks even if the PCs don't care about that particular threat. But, that's background, even if it is significant background that leads to all kinds of problems and complications. The campaign plot, ultimately, focuses on the PCs themselves, and for the players to have fun, you need to focus plot elements on the PCs, their own personal backgrounds, motivations and desires.

 

[Psion]

Good long campaigns are like onions. They have layers.

Actually, I am being totally serious. Players like a lot of continuity, but they also like resolution, so in general I find an effective method is to make events and foes related. At low levels, the character might take on the goblins plaguing the farmlands, find out the they are a problem because they have been displaced by bandits in the woods. When they defeat the bandits, they find a clue indicating that the bandits are really in the employ of the rebelious lords in the south plotting a coup. After defeating his army, they find that he is really just a pawn to the world spanning alliance of liches and undead illithids...

Uh, I hope nobody in my game is reading this...