Hello, I'm very new to D&D Beyond and DnD in general. I'm writing a campaign for some friends of mine, and the general idea is that a party of adventurers (affectionately referred to as The Partiers) have been trying to defeat a dark lord, but they're causing lots of problems in the kingdom along the way. Every battle has ended in the destruction of some town, and some people from these towns have banded together to try to get back at The Partiers. These people are the main party.
What I'm worried about is that this is too boring or simple of a plot, and I want to know how to spice it up, sort of. Right now all I really have is "We don't like The Partiers," and I don't really know how to make a really interesting story and plot that will depend on characters. Any recommendations from some more experienced DMs that actually know what they're doing? Edit: grammar fix
Maybe the Partiers aren’t really responsible for all of the destruction. Maybe they’re being framed.
In their first major fight with the dark lord, they did accidentally destroy a town, so the dark lord decided to use them as a scapegoat, pinning the destruction of future villages on them, using illusion tech. This will complete two goals at once: get the Partiers out of the way, and amass enough destruction to activate his Nefarious Plan.
That's really smart! Thank you so much, this definitely helps a lot. I was hitting a brick wall and I feel you like you just took out an umbrella and opened Diagon Alley :)
This could take a million different twists and turns. I'm sure others will chime in with awesome ideas but I have some small thoughts.
Your group is trying to track down The Partiers (TP) because their towns were destroyed. But in addition to that TP also looted personal items from your families' vaults, or inadvertently killed a loved one, or anything you can think of to link the situation to any of your players' backstories. It might be more fun if they are personally invested. Maybe they stole a very powerful relic from one of your temples. They mean to use it on the dark lord but a town elder of yours thinks the relic is dangerous and tells you to get it back at all costs.
Your party travels around cleaning up messes left by TP. When they are about to catch up to TP the dark lord comes across them. The dark lord could easily wipe your party out but TP join in the battle and save them.
TP convince your group they meant well and that they only wanted to destroy a greater evil. TP give you the relic back along with a tome that explains if the relic is combined with other pieces then a great weapon can be made that will help destroy the dark lord. TP realize they must go back to a few towns to try to repair some of the harm they caused. Your party continues on with new missions to get the pieces of the weapon. You are supposed to meet up with TP at a later time and place but find out the dark lord killed them. If your group has come to respect TP then they agree to carry on their mission and get rid of the dark lord.
Your group is trying to track down The Partiers (TP) because their towns were destroyed. But in addition to that TP also looted personal items from your families' vaults, or inadvertently killed a loved one, or anything you can think of to link the situation to any of your players' backstories. It might be more fun if they are personally invested. Maybe they stole a very powerful relic from one of your temples. They mean to use it on the dark lord but a town elder of yours thinks the relic is dangerous and tells you to get it back at all costs.
I'm a huge fan of this idea. I'm definitely going to use the powerful relic idea, because I have a side character I'm planning that effectively works with a mafia boss and is absolutely determined to destroy TP after they stole something from him. So I'm certainly going to try to use this to get my adventurers more invested in the story.
Your party travels around cleaning up messes left by TP. When they are about to catch up to TP the dark lord comes across them. The dark lord could easily wipe your party out but TP join in the battle and save them.
The funny thing about your second suggestion is, I'm absolutely certain my group is going to try to team up with the dark lord. Even if the dark lord is trying to kill them, the bard would try to seduce him and my rogue would try to befriend him. There's no doubt about it, considering they're a chaotic bunch. So I don't think I'm going to try to introduce the dark lord as a definite, real and tangible villain, and more as a public figure that only exists as an antagonists in the society, almost like the government's villain in 1984, Emmanuel Goldstein. This is a really nice suggestion, though! I can see a battle happening where someone gets wounded and TP tries to heal them. I really like this idea a lot. Thank you so much for all of your advice! I'm happy that more experienced players are willing to help out a newbie like me lol so thank you a TON!!
You could just add random encounters like an ambush with sleep darts and get them to wake up someplace entirely different or a dragon flies by overhead, you know something quick and vague with potential consequences something that catches there curiosity and let it be the judge of there actions being good or bad.
One thing (to make it personal to The Partiers) is if the party has latched on to an NPC. Maybe that person turns against them when they look to them help or advice. If that person is important, or has some sort of sway it might be a good story pivot to somehow convince this person that they are still on the side of good. If they succeed, the NPC could renew their efforts to clear the Partiers' names.
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- Manx (she/her)
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Hello, I'm very new to D&D Beyond and DnD in general. I'm writing a campaign for some friends of mine, and the general idea is that a party of adventurers (affectionately referred to as The Partiers) have been trying to defeat a dark lord, but they're causing lots of problems in the kingdom along the way. Every battle has ended in the destruction of some town, and some people from these towns have banded together to try to get back at The Partiers. These people are the main party.
What I'm worried about is that this is too boring or simple of a plot, and I want to know how to spice it up, sort of. Right now all I really have is "We don't like The Partiers," and I don't really know how to make a really interesting story and plot that will depend on characters. Any recommendations from some more experienced DMs that actually know what they're doing?
Edit: grammar fix
Mukkers :)
Maybe the Partiers aren’t really responsible for all of the destruction. Maybe they’re being framed.
In their first major fight with the dark lord, they did accidentally destroy a town, so the dark lord decided to use them as a scapegoat, pinning the destruction of future villages on them, using illusion tech. This will complete two goals at once: get the Partiers out of the way, and amass enough destruction to activate his Nefarious Plan.
Only spilt the party if you see something shiny.
Ariendela Sneakerson, Half-elf Rogue (8); Harmony Wolfsbane, Tiefling Bard (10); Agnomally, Gnomish Sorcerer (3); Breeze, Tabaxi Monk (8); Grace, Dragonborn Barbarian (7); DM, Homebrew- The Sequestered Lands/Underwater Explorers; Candlekeep
That's really smart! Thank you so much, this definitely helps a lot. I was hitting a brick wall and I feel you like you just took out an umbrella and opened Diagon Alley :)
Mukkers :)
This could take a million different twists and turns. I'm sure others will chime in with awesome ideas but I have some small thoughts.
Your group is trying to track down The Partiers (TP) because their towns were destroyed. But in addition to that TP also looted personal items from your families' vaults, or inadvertently killed a loved one, or anything you can think of to link the situation to any of your players' backstories. It might be more fun if they are personally invested. Maybe they stole a very powerful relic from one of your temples. They mean to use it on the dark lord but a town elder of yours thinks the relic is dangerous and tells you to get it back at all costs.
Your party travels around cleaning up messes left by TP. When they are about to catch up to TP the dark lord comes across them. The dark lord could easily wipe your party out but TP join in the battle and save them.
TP convince your group they meant well and that they only wanted to destroy a greater evil. TP give you the relic back along with a tome that explains if the relic is combined with other pieces then a great weapon can be made that will help destroy the dark lord. TP realize they must go back to a few towns to try to repair some of the harm they caused. Your party continues on with new missions to get the pieces of the weapon. You are supposed to meet up with TP at a later time and place but find out the dark lord killed them. If your group has come to respect TP then they agree to carry on their mission and get rid of the dark lord.
Just an idea... good luck with your campaign!
I'm a huge fan of this idea. I'm definitely going to use the powerful relic idea, because I have a side character I'm planning that effectively works with a mafia boss and is absolutely determined to destroy TP after they stole something from him. So I'm certainly going to try to use this to get my adventurers more invested in the story.
The funny thing about your second suggestion is, I'm absolutely certain my group is going to try to team up with the dark lord. Even if the dark lord is trying to kill them, the bard would try to seduce him and my rogue would try to befriend him. There's no doubt about it, considering they're a chaotic bunch. So I don't think I'm going to try to introduce the dark lord as a definite, real and tangible villain, and more as a public figure that only exists as an antagonists in the society, almost like the government's villain in 1984, Emmanuel Goldstein. This is a really nice suggestion, though! I can see a battle happening where someone gets wounded and TP tries to heal them. I really like this idea a lot.
Thank you so much for all of your advice! I'm happy that more experienced players are willing to help out a newbie like me lol so thank you a TON!!
Mukkers :)
You could just add random encounters like an ambush with sleep darts and get them to wake up someplace entirely different or a dragon flies by overhead, you know something quick and vague with potential consequences something that catches there curiosity and let it be the judge of there actions being good or bad.
One thing (to make it personal to The Partiers) is if the party has latched on to an NPC. Maybe that person turns against them when they look to them help or advice. If that person is important, or has some sort of sway it might be a good story pivot to somehow convince this person that they are still on the side of good. If they succeed, the NPC could renew their efforts to clear the Partiers' names.
- Manx (she/her)