As I am building my campaign, I will be “blogging” my creative process. It might help others to build their first 5e campaign. So, I’ll go ahead and post it regularly as I finish each piece of the process. Please feel free to comment, commend, or critique. I’m an attention “courtesan” and thrive on it. With that said, let’s get down to business.
Step 1 The Concept
This is my first 5e campaign and I’m planning on taking everyone to level 20. It’ll be set in the Forgotten Realms because it is a great setting and I am highly knowledgeable of the Realms. I want to start everyone at 0-level and shoehorn them into knowing each other in that way. After that, I want to get them into a quick and dirty campaign up to level 5 and take them into the greater world.
I find a 0-level game easier to get the characters together in a natural way and get them to know who their characters are outside of their class. It also helps me learn how the players play and how the characters interact. As such, I did some research at Dungeon Masters Guild and found a mission called Flight from Fallston (by Dave Zajac). It’s a 0-level game with almost all of the things I was looking for. It needs a little changing, but I’ll get into that later.
The quick and dirty campaign will be Lost Mines of Phandelver. I’ve played it twice with two different groups and think it’s a great way for a new DM to cut his teeth, as it were. I’ll be modifying it and beefing it up a little, but it’s a great base and a great way for the characters to build a reputation in the area.
Finally, I think I’ll run the now 5th-level characters through the Tyranny of Dragons campaign setting. They can use their reputation built in the Phandelver campaign, it has some lower-level stuff for them to get into the swing of things, and it feels like the classic epic campaign that players look for. Also, I found out that none of the players have ever played and the only person to read any of it (Horde of the Dragon Queen) was the DM who ran me through Phandelver.
So, there’s my concept for the run. Three sets of work (well four, since Tyranny has two books) that will take characters from 0- to 20th-level. Now, let’s get to those pesky characters.
Step 2 Character Building
Every DM needs to know what kind of character options he or she will allow in their campaign. Do you want to stick to PHB only? Do you want to use DDAL-rules? Are you open to anything? What about homebrew content? Well, that’s all handled through the second step of your campaign preparation.
For me, I don’t like to limit my players in what they want to do. I’ll let them run pretty much anything if they can build it (as long as it is not too OP). Because of that, I’ll let them use any race, background, and class published (to include Unearthed Arcana). For this one, I don’t want my players to play homebrew classes or races. Though, one of my players told me he’d love using a Kai Warrior class for the next game and I’ll let him.
With that said, it’s time to help the characters build their 0-level characters. I love starting players like this, but it’s a strange rule that some have never heard of. So, I wrote up a quick list of how the players build their characters.
Ability Scores. Their ability scores will be determined by rolling 7d6 and ignoring the lowest die. If the characters have fewer than two dice over 4 or roll two 1’s, then they will roll the entire set again. They then add those rolls to 10, 9, 8, 7, 6, and 5. This will give them a beginning Ability Score set between 6(-2) and 16(+3). When they reach 1st-level, they will add 2 to each score.
Proficiency Bonus. Each character will begin with a Proficiency Bonus of +1. It will rise to +2 when they reach 1st-level.
Race. At this point, they add their racial bonuses and make any racial selections they need to. My only specifier for this campaign is their age, which begins at their base age for adulthood (because of the first mission I’ll be running). Finally, if their character has a flight speed, they won’t be able to use it at 0-level (but will have the equivalent of Feather Fall if they are conscious).
Background. The character gains all their Background skill proficiencies, languages, tool proficiencies, and equipment. They do not gain their feature or their background characteristics. At 1st-level, they gain their features and background characteristics.
Hit Dice. The character Hit Die is considered one die lower from their normal Hit Die (maximum roll plus Con modifier for beginning hit points). At 1st-level, the character rolls their class Hit Die and adds it to this total with their Con modifier (reroll 1’s and 2’s).
Class. The character receives their class proficiencies as normal. The character also receives half their Class Features or weaker Class Features for their characters. At 1st-level, they get their normal 1st-level features and such.
Artificers receive Magic Item Analysis
Barbarians receive Rage (1/long rest, +1 damage) and Unarmored Defense
Equipment. The characters receive something resembling their normal gear, but not quite as powerful. If they would receive a Martial Weapon, they instead get a Simple Weapon (melee or ranged). If they would receive a Simple Weapon, they instead get an Improvised Weapon. If they would receive Heavy Armor, they instead receive Hide Armor. If they would receive Medium Armor, they instead get Padded Armor. If they would receive a Shield, they instead get an Improvised Shield (+1 AC). Finally, they are able to select a number of equipment pieces from their available Packs equal to their Starting Gold depending on their class (2d4 for Barbarian and Druid, 3d4 for Sorcerer; 4d4 for Artificer, Rogue, Warlock, Wizard; and 5d4 Bard, Cleric, Fighter, Monk, Mystic, Paladin, Ranger). Each item is considered a separate piece (i.e. 2 days of rations are considered 2 items). At 1st-level, they get lose this gear, get their normal starting package, and receive the previous roll in GP.
Step 3 Decide Homebrew Rules
After reading and playing 5e, there are some rules that I think should have been implemented. I may find more later on, but these are the big ones that will keep characters from being too powerful and will boost others that have penalties on them.
Small characters. Small characters receive a +1 to their AC to offset the penalties to the characters because of their size.
Flight. Flight will be limited at lower levels for those characters with a natural flight score. The higher they go in level the more powerful their flight ability will be. At 1st-level they can move their flight speed, but end it on the ground, they can also grab another character while falling and both are granted resistance to the falling damage. At 5th-level, they can be airborne for a number of rounds equal to their Con modifier, can use Dash as if it were two-rounds (for the Con modifier), and can grant Feather Fall to any character they grab. At 9th-level, there is no limit to how long they can stay airborne, can Dash for a number of rounds equal to their Con modifier, and can carry a character at half their move speed as a full action (at a cost of two Con). At 13th-level, they have no limit to their Dash and they can carry a character at half their move speed or Dash at their total move speed. At 17th-level, they can carry a character at their normal fly speed and can Dash normally while carrying a character.
Inspiration. Characters can accrue inspiration over the course of their travels. If they roll a natural 20, they receive an Inspiration Point. If they live up to their trait, ideal, bond, or flaw, then they get an inspiration point. Also, little other things can grant them. They lose half their Inspiration points between chapters/campaigns. They can spend them to modify any roll they want, after rolling and before learning whether it is successful or not. Basic Inspiration (1 point) grants Advantage. Bright Inspiration (2 points) grants Advantage +1d4. Brilliant Inspiration (3 points) grants Advantage +1d6. Savant Inspiration (4 points) grants Advantage +1d8. Genius Inspiration (5 points) grants Advantage +1d10. Enlightened Inspiration (6 points) grants Advantage +1d12. Divine Inspiration (7 points) grants an automatic natural 20 (critical hit). (names of the inspiration by Sam_Hain)
It sounds good to me. What I would add at the start of a campaign is considering how to invest the PCs more in the coming storyline through character creation.
For example, consider 5-10 key NPCs in the coming adventures. What can you, together with the players, weave into the PCs background? It can be old friend or foe, distant relation, a lover or ex, a master or famous Simone they emulate or wish to meet etc. It can be one person, several, a group or a whole organization.
Can you also add something else to each PC that is unique and will matter much down the line, but seem trivial at start? The more varied the connections and other bits are, the better. Then each PC can feel a bit more unique. Something in their heritage, a curse, a strange heirloom, forbidden knowledge, odd faith, etc.
It might not be necessarily to flesh this out in much detail, a short sentence or two can be enough. Both you and the players can benefit from some freedom later on as to what it actually means. It can come out in bits and pieces during play. You can even have flashback scenes in game.
For example: You’ve agreed with the player that the Druid has strange dreams she does not understand from time to time. In play, sometimes mention the strange dreams of the Druid about weirdly colored glades.Then, later, when she stumbles across a place where a portal to the Feywild exists, her memories of her true childhood in another realm as an orphan comes rushing back. Even later, fey creature greet her as “my lady” and the plot thickens further.
From a small start you’ve gotten an epic side story for one PC.
Unfortunately I have not read the adventures apart from LMP so I cannot give specific examples but there should be a number of fun options.
The Lost Mines campaign begins one year after the group finished the Fallston quest. In that time, they'll enter all of their background stuff and I'll be using that to pop up a special side-quest dedicated to each character over the length of the Tyranny campaign after Phandelver. However, I don't plan to just drop people into the middle of a running scene. There will be some build-up with how they got their background and why they are in their classes 0-level.
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As I am building my campaign, I will be “blogging” my creative process. It might help others to build their first 5e campaign. So, I’ll go ahead and post it regularly as I finish each piece of the process. Please feel free to comment, commend, or critique. I’m an attention “courtesan” and thrive on it. With that said, let’s get down to business.
Step 1
The Concept
This is my first 5e campaign and I’m planning on taking everyone to level 20. It’ll be set in the Forgotten Realms because it is a great setting and I am highly knowledgeable of the Realms. I want to start everyone at 0-level and shoehorn them into knowing each other in that way. After that, I want to get them into a quick and dirty campaign up to level 5 and take them into the greater world.
I find a 0-level game easier to get the characters together in a natural way and get them to know who their characters are outside of their class. It also helps me learn how the players play and how the characters interact. As such, I did some research at Dungeon Masters Guild and found a mission called Flight from Fallston (by Dave Zajac). It’s a 0-level game with almost all of the things I was looking for. It needs a little changing, but I’ll get into that later.
The quick and dirty campaign will be Lost Mines of Phandelver. I’ve played it twice with two different groups and think it’s a great way for a new DM to cut his teeth, as it were. I’ll be modifying it and beefing it up a little, but it’s a great base and a great way for the characters to build a reputation in the area.
Finally, I think I’ll run the now 5th-level characters through the Tyranny of Dragons campaign setting. They can use their reputation built in the Phandelver campaign, it has some lower-level stuff for them to get into the swing of things, and it feels like the classic epic campaign that players look for. Also, I found out that none of the players have ever played and the only person to read any of it (Horde of the Dragon Queen) was the DM who ran me through Phandelver.
So, there’s my concept for the run. Three sets of work (well four, since Tyranny has two books) that will take characters from 0- to 20th-level. Now, let’s get to those pesky characters.
Step 2
Character Building
Every DM needs to know what kind of character options he or she will allow in their campaign. Do you want to stick to PHB only? Do you want to use DDAL-rules? Are you open to anything? What about homebrew content? Well, that’s all handled through the second step of your campaign preparation.
For me, I don’t like to limit my players in what they want to do. I’ll let them run pretty much anything if they can build it (as long as it is not too OP). Because of that, I’ll let them use any race, background, and class published (to include Unearthed Arcana). For this one, I don’t want my players to play homebrew classes or races. Though, one of my players told me he’d love using a Kai Warrior class for the next game and I’ll let him.
With that said, it’s time to help the characters build their 0-level characters. I love starting players like this, but it’s a strange rule that some have never heard of. So, I wrote up a quick list of how the players build their characters.
Ability Scores. Their ability scores will be determined by rolling 7d6 and ignoring the lowest die. If the characters have fewer than two dice over 4 or roll two 1’s, then they will roll the entire set again. They then add those rolls to 10, 9, 8, 7, 6, and 5. This will give them a beginning Ability Score set between 6(-2) and 16(+3). When they reach 1st-level, they will add 2 to each score.
Proficiency Bonus. Each character will begin with a Proficiency Bonus of +1. It will rise to +2 when they reach 1st-level.
Race. At this point, they add their racial bonuses and make any racial selections they need to. My only specifier for this campaign is their age, which begins at their base age for adulthood (because of the first mission I’ll be running). Finally, if their character has a flight speed, they won’t be able to use it at 0-level (but will have the equivalent of Feather Fall if they are conscious).
Background. The character gains all their Background skill proficiencies, languages, tool proficiencies, and equipment. They do not gain their feature or their background characteristics. At 1st-level, they gain their features and background characteristics.
Hit Dice. The character Hit Die is considered one die lower from their normal Hit Die (maximum roll plus Con modifier for beginning hit points). At 1st-level, the character rolls their class Hit Die and adds it to this total with their Con modifier (reroll 1’s and 2’s).
Class. The character receives their class proficiencies as normal. The character also receives half their Class Features or weaker Class Features for their characters. At 1st-level, they get their normal 1st-level features and such.
Equipment. The characters receive something resembling their normal gear, but not quite as powerful. If they would receive a Martial Weapon, they instead get a Simple Weapon (melee or ranged). If they would receive a Simple Weapon, they instead get an Improvised Weapon. If they would receive Heavy Armor, they instead receive Hide Armor. If they would receive Medium Armor, they instead get Padded Armor. If they would receive a Shield, they instead get an Improvised Shield (+1 AC). Finally, they are able to select a number of equipment pieces from their available Packs equal to their Starting Gold depending on their class (2d4 for Barbarian and Druid, 3d4 for Sorcerer; 4d4 for Artificer, Rogue, Warlock, Wizard; and 5d4 Bard, Cleric, Fighter, Monk, Mystic, Paladin, Ranger). Each item is considered a separate piece (i.e. 2 days of rations are considered 2 items). At 1st-level, they get lose this gear, get their normal starting package, and receive the previous roll in GP.
Step 3
Decide Homebrew Rules
After reading and playing 5e, there are some rules that I think should have been implemented. I may find more later on, but these are the big ones that will keep characters from being too powerful and will boost others that have penalties on them.
Small characters. Small characters receive a +1 to their AC to offset the penalties to the characters because of their size.
Flight. Flight will be limited at lower levels for those characters with a natural flight score. The higher they go in level the more powerful their flight ability will be. At 1st-level they can move their flight speed, but end it on the ground, they can also grab another character while falling and both are granted resistance to the falling damage. At 5th-level, they can be airborne for a number of rounds equal to their Con modifier, can use Dash as if it were two-rounds (for the Con modifier), and can grant Feather Fall to any character they grab. At 9th-level, there is no limit to how long they can stay airborne, can Dash for a number of rounds equal to their Con modifier, and can carry a character at half their move speed as a full action (at a cost of two Con). At 13th-level, they have no limit to their Dash and they can carry a character at half their move speed or Dash at their total move speed. At 17th-level, they can carry a character at their normal fly speed and can Dash normally while carrying a character.
Inspiration. Characters can accrue inspiration over the course of their travels. If they roll a natural 20, they receive an Inspiration Point. If they live up to their trait, ideal, bond, or flaw, then they get an inspiration point. Also, little other things can grant them. They lose half their Inspiration points between chapters/campaigns. They can spend them to modify any roll they want, after rolling and before learning whether it is successful or not. Basic Inspiration (1 point) grants Advantage. Bright Inspiration (2 points) grants Advantage +1d4. Brilliant Inspiration (3 points) grants Advantage +1d6. Savant Inspiration (4 points) grants Advantage +1d8. Genius Inspiration (5 points) grants Advantage +1d10. Enlightened Inspiration (6 points) grants Advantage +1d12. Divine Inspiration (7 points) grants an automatic natural 20 (critical hit). (names of the inspiration by Sam_Hain)
So, what do you think?
It sounds good to me. What I would add at the start of a campaign is considering how to invest the PCs more in the coming storyline through character creation.
For example, consider 5-10 key NPCs in the coming adventures. What can you, together with the players, weave into the PCs background? It can be old friend or foe, distant relation, a lover or ex, a master or famous Simone they emulate or wish to meet etc. It can be one person, several, a group or a whole organization.
Can you also add something else to each PC that is unique and will matter much down the line, but seem trivial at start? The more varied the connections and other bits are, the better. Then each PC can feel a bit more unique. Something in their heritage, a curse, a strange heirloom, forbidden knowledge, odd faith, etc.
It might not be necessarily to flesh this out in much detail, a short sentence or two can be enough. Both you and the players can benefit from some freedom later on as to what it actually means. It can come out in bits and pieces during play. You can even have flashback scenes in game.
For example: You’ve agreed with the player that the Druid has strange dreams she does not understand from time to time. In play, sometimes mention the strange dreams of the Druid about weirdly colored glades. Then, later, when she stumbles across a place where a portal to the Feywild exists, her memories of her true childhood in another realm as an orphan comes rushing back. Even later, fey creature greet her as “my lady” and the plot thickens further.
From a small start you’ve gotten an epic side story for one PC.
Unfortunately I have not read the adventures apart from LMP so I cannot give specific examples but there should be a number of fun options.
The Lost Mines campaign begins one year after the group finished the Fallston quest. In that time, they'll enter all of their background stuff and I'll be using that to pop up a special side-quest dedicated to each character over the length of the Tyranny campaign after Phandelver. However, I don't plan to just drop people into the middle of a running scene. There will be some build-up with how they got their background and why they are in their classes 0-level.