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Message: <blockquote data-quote="jgsugden" data-source="post: 2231024" data-attributes="member: 2629">#1: Good D&D is like good a TV drama.  Each session should be like an episode of a good drama, like Alias, Babylon 5, Lost, Gilmore Girls, Buffy or Angel.  Each spisode/session should have an individual plot that can be begun and finished in a single sitting.  Further, there should be underlying storylines that take a few episodes/sessions to resolve and in depth, long term storylines that take many sessions, perhaps even years of gaming to resolve.Your first session in a campaign should be a completely self contained adventure that hints at two or three other longer storylines, one of which should be very long term.  An example: The PCs are hired by a local wealthy merchant to recover a shipment that was ambushed by thieves and stolen on the road to town (single adventure story).  The thieves were hired by a nearby baron who wanted something in the shipment that was necessary for a ritual.  (A secondary storyline that can be concluded in a later adventure when the PCs hunt down the baron).  The ritual is used to summon a powerful demonic force that eventually will possess the king, corrupt the entire govenment and force the entire nation into a war against other goodly nations (long term storyline).  Finding and dealing with the thieves is the entire first adventure, but hints are hidden throughout the adventure that lead into the later adventures.#2: Pet the puppy.People get off on success and are turned off by failure.  Make sure you design the first adventure so that each PC gets a chance to shine, each PC gets a reward and everyone has fun.  Design the first adventure so that the PCs will get enough experience to advance a level ... about 1250 experience per character (in case they miss some experience along the way).  People love to go up a level.  Make sure each PC has something they can do that is important.Example: Let's say the 5 PCs are a cleric, a druid, a rogue, a barbarian and a wizard.    Present a challenge that is easily overcome by the wizard's spell, but would be hard for others (like a chasm that can be passed with a jump spell).  Put skeletons in the adventure so that the cleric has a chance to make use of her turning ability.  Put in a locked door that the rogue needs to open.   Put in guard animals that the druid can use their wild empathy upon.  Fighter types usually get a chance to shine, so you don't need to worry about them too much. There should be some interesting magic items for each of the PCs somewhere along the way.  Players love getting cool magic.  Especially if it is distinctive and interesting.  A +1 longsword is fine, but a +1 longsword that hastes the user for 1 rd per day as a swift/free action is very cool, but not overly powerful.  A wand of burning hands is a fine magic item for a low level wizard, but if the wand also allows the wizard to cast prestidigitation at will#3:  Guide the newbies ...New players often have no idea what to do.  The best way to get them involved at the start is to give them subtle suggestions to help them out.  For instance, suggest solutions to the party in the form of questions.An example: The PCs make their way to the thieve's hideout and discover that the yard is being guarded by 3 fierce attack dogs.  To help the PCs figure out an easy way to try to get past the challenge, the DM could ask the druid: "Do you want to use your enimal empathy to try to calm the dogs before they start barking?"#4: All roads lead to Rome ...Make sure there are many ways to achieve the goals of the party.  If the stolen shipment idea I gave above, make sure there are a half dozen or so ways for the PCs to find out where the thieves might be hiding.  Maybe they'll track the thieves back to their hiding spot.  Maybe they'll pick up some rumors at the local tavern.  Maybe they can get a description of one of the thieves from a survivor of the caravan ... and can run into that thief in town.  Maybe they can just search the area near where the caravan was ambushed and they can find a clue, like a discarded waterskin imprinted with the design from an old abandoned inn (where the thieves are hiding out).#5: Bring the people into their characters.  Know your audience.  Make adventures that they will enjoy.  If your 19 year olds all watch Alias and love spy stories, filter in spy aspects to the game.  If the girls love animals, make it a wilderness adventure.  If the girls love a particular movie, steal ideas from that movie.#6: Know the rules and the game yourself.Make sure you know how to build an adventure that is balanced for the PCs.  If you're not sure it is fair, write it on the computer and ask someone on these boards to evaluate it to make sure it works.  Nothing turns people off quicker than an adventure that is too difficult to survive or is too easy and boring.</blockquote>

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