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Message: <blockquote data-quote="jgsugden" data-source="post: 9252842" data-attributes="member: 2629">When all else fails, steal.The first adventure I run for a new group in my primary homebrew steals a huge amount of design from Babylon 5.  Not so much that the PCs get a blueprint on how to win out, but enough that you can see the weaving.  However, the first five levels have a lot in common with the first season of Babylon 5, levels 6 to 16 essentially take them through the end of the Shadow War.  Then levels 17 to 20 are a tighter way to tie everything up.  Many a DM right now might steal the model of BG3.  Your PCs face a problem at low levels.  Around level 5 they start to see who is behind it ... but realize around level 9 or 10 that there are greater forces at work and they need to deal with those greater issues.  They spend the rest of their career on the hunt for the greater threats... but you can see how the threads of their entire adventuring career was leading up to that point through foreshadowing, misdirection and solid storytelling.I try to not dictate the story to the PCs.  In my homebrew there is a clear danger - but there are a lot of players involved in the story that can end up being forces for good, forces for evil, or just chaotic interference.  The direction they take will often be influenced by what the PCs do.  Some people have called it 'shades of grey' characters, but I tend to think of them as black and white outlines that the PCs will color in with their impact.  As such, they could become villains, or they could become powerful allies.  Similar to Essek Theyless - someone that Matt Mercer introduced into the campaign in a dark role, but that became a powerful ally of the PCs, my NPCs can be developed by the PCs to go in a variety of directions.</blockquote>

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