Hello, so I'm making a surprise campaign for my cousin to play in since he is ussually the dm and would like to hear if this sounds good/at all fun and any advice or improvements/conciderations. It will most likely be a one shot and i will use a couple of altered or custom creatures to accomodate the story and pc level which will be 1-5 most likely and 3-5 players probably.
So the party is journeying through a forest in search of a tomb to find possible artifacts where they hear a howling wolf (survival or perception check) wolves attack. The party moves to the mouth of a cave (chance to rest if they take it) the path through the cave has a few traps (probably a couple potions about in jars or something) in the final tomb before the party sees them they hear a few goblins bickering. The party either kills the goblins or takes one hostage for more information (if they think to do so) then the see a brightly glowing gem which is unussual for the small amount of light provided by torches. Its a gem of brightness. The party leaves the tomb then perception role as a group of bandits ambushes them and demands they hand over the loot. ( not sure if i should make the bandits a large group to encourage the use of the gem of brightness -5 ability or use diplomacy instead of a straight up fight).
The party returns the the nearest town where they see a fight breaking out between elves and dwarves whilst a large group is steadily growing. Gaurds break up the fight and upon further investigation through any of many means the party learns that elves and half elves as well as dwarves have been mysteriously dissapearing which has taken the already shaky racial relations to the brink of total collapse as they blame eachother. If the party continues to seek out rumors they will discover that more and more goblins have been found in the area but they havnt seemed to be recklessly attacking at every opportunity. The party will then encounter an npc dwarf or elf that either has a quest to search for a loved one from their home that was broken into or discover the means for the goblins in the area. (Id like to add some more npc's on town for charisma, deceptiln, stealth etc. Gameplay but not sure what to add yet.)
As the party tracks down the goblins or the missing loved one they make there way to a troop of goblims they see walk into a cave hidden in the side of a near by mountain as the entrance dissapears behind them. Upon further inspection the party discovers a hidden door that requires them to answer 3 riddles ( maybe a giant creature or some other looming threat if they dont answer correctly) the party makes their way through hidden goblin base and see a couple metal statues. As the party continues they find more statues the come to life and attack them, later they hear the clanking of metal on metal and hear hoblin singing in common whilst working at a forge making shackles. With a couple indications that this goblin wont need to be killed they can take it hostage and question it. A few more mechanical contraptions of growing complexity and goblin encounters will be found along with a few elf and dwarven bodies.
Finally the party will find a room overlooking a massive cavern with a series of forges with enslaved dwarves and goblin masters working them with captured elves habing their natural magic being sapped and used to embue and enchant weapons being created. The party will fknd there way to the throne room of Nizzet the goblin artificer who awakens his crudly made rusty iron golem ( heavily weakened) and attacls the party and will try to escape rather then die fighting. Surviving the encounter the party returns with help to free the enslaved dwarves/elves or fights the remaining goblins themselves etc. If they manage to capture Nizzet or enough goblins they can discover a more sinister plan from a goblin god for future play. Loot a plenty, families reunited back in town, hooza! Lol
Any help woild be appreciated to flesh this out more, it will be the first campaign ive dm'd but definitely want it to be a fun one. Also my cousins charachter will be a high charisma, swashbuckling rogue nd since my main reason for making this campaign is so he can play id like to make sure he can have slme more interactilns with npc's dialogue, stealth, subterfuge etc. And would love to hear some ideas on how to flush that aspect out more.
I kind of stopped reading when I realized you were outlining the whole campaign. It is hard to prepare for everything a player will try to do. Rather than focusing on the narrative, consider the setting and characters.
A couple of plot derails I've seen (one I DMed and the other I played) involved climbing a building and smashing a hole in the roof for entry, and punching the hallway walls to get a guard to chase us into an ambush.
A list of locations, events to occur at those locations, and multiple plot hooks to keep players moving to the next location is about as much as you can do as far as outlines go. Next might be to prepare setting and character descriptions, and always be ready to improve.
Agreed with DxJxC. When I first started DM'ing, I too fleshed out entire plotlines to the T. I had everything planned out, what each NPC would do and say, where they would go and what exactly would happen once they got there. It took about three sessions before I scrapped about 15 hours worth of work. The thing to remember is that the players are unknowns. They are the extraneous variables in your storyline, and as such it needs to be flexible and adaptable to the choices the players make. Not that that is a bad thing though! The freedom allowed in D&D is one of the most appealing aspects of it, and it is what draws in so many people.
When you have a town, the things you really need are the shops and major NPC's. After that, most of the town can be filled in by the imagination of the players combined with a little storytelling from you. Most towns are made up of houses, and giving a quick snippet about how the houses are built, the players will picture them spread around town as they're walking. For the NPC's, it's okay if most of them have similar personalities. You are only one person, after all, and it can be hard roleplaying so many different people. Try just having one unique NPC, perhaps the dwarf or elf that the party will meet after the fight in town is broken up. It can be cool to have pre-made encounters outside of the players, but just be prepared for the players to try and step in to help, which may throw some things off. Or, if they step in to help, have one side (maybe the dwarves) find offense that these strangers would interfere with their business, while the other side (the elves, in this scenario) welcomes the help, and the side that welcomes the help is where the unique NPC comes in, and give the party the quest.
When handling encounters, it is important as well to allow the players chances to try their own things. For example, when the Bandit group ambushes the players, if one of them wants to try diplomacy while the Rogue sneaks around behind them, let them roll for it! A combined Persuasion/Deception check for the talker (depending on what they say to the bandits) with a Stealth check from the Rogue that is contested by a Perception check from the Bandits. The Bandits could have disadvantage on the Perception check if the player succeeds in their Persuasion/Deception check, or if they do super bad the Bandits might have advantage on the check. One thing I always tell myself is that as a DM I am not there to fight against the players, but to help them. The encounters I set up are meant to be tough if approached head on, but often times the players will find ways to circumvent parts of the encounter or set themselves up for interesting roleplay options. Try to be encouraging with the players, and encourage them to find out of the box solutions! Some of the best encounters can have little to no combat involved.
All in all, it may seem like a lot to take in at once, and it is. DM'ing is a very time-consuming process, and even for a one-shot it can be a lot of work. But just remember to have fun with it! If you have fun writing the story, then the players will have fun adventuring through it. Who knows, your one-shot may turn into the start of your own campaign! And if it does, fantastic! But if not, you've at least dipped your toes into the prospect and have a better idea of what to expect from your players.
I have to agree 100% with what has been said before.
It looks like you have a good imagination, and the definite beginnings of an adventure, but you are putting your creative efforts in the wrong place ( I believe ).
What you are writing is not a campaign, you are writing a short story - since you are choosing, and assuming the outcomes of what the party does, and where they'll go next. You simply can't do that. The Party will not behave in the way you predict, unless you force them, and that absolutely isn't fun for the Players.
A different approach is to not write any plot, but make a highly detailed situation, NPCs, setup, and figure out the NPC reactions at each step.
NPC Factions
Nizzet the local goblin enchanter
Goblin tribe
Local Bandits
Wolves - these last two really fall under random wilderness encounter possibilities than plot factions.
Elven Faction ( presumably 1 or more Elven leaders, or notable community leaders)
Dwarven Faction ( presumably 1 or more Dwarven leaders, or notable community leaders)
Town guards ( presumably a local sheriff, reeve, or mayor. Also, does the village have a temple or local mage? Might need a wizard or cleric NPC to aid the party in town but not go on the adventure with them ).
Elf ( or Dwarf ) with missing family, who can't trust the locals ( why? ), and thus looks to the Party for help ( quest giver )
For each of these ( with the possibly exceptions of the Bandits and Wolves - reasons noted above ), work them out in detail. The questions you - as the DM - need to know are: Who are they? what is their goal? What are their capabilities and resources ( e.g. Nizzet absolutely would have weapons and magic, but he also has a tribe under him to command, so that counts as a resource or capability )?; what is their personality - what are their go-to tactics and actions, what are the actions and tactics they'll avoid unless they are forced into them ( e.g. Nizzet is using the captives, so he needs them, he's unlikely to try and kill them, but will he if the Party is going to shut down his operation? ); what are the tactics they'll never try ( Nizzet will probably never voluntarily let the captives go unless forced to do so or be killed).
You'll need to flesh that out a lot more, and you have room for a ton of color character NPCs who could really bring the adventure to life: members of the Elven/Dwarven community; the local guards and reeve; a few notable and interesting goblins you can use if the Party thinks to interrogate any goblins; interesting goblin captives who can be used for color, or might even have a surprise capability or two that can aid the party if the Party can free them ( the local locksmith has been captured - can help open doors, or the local healer has been captured, etc.).
Be aware that you might be called upon to improvise NPCs as well, on the fly, if the Party decides to do something, go somewhere, and interact with people you didn't expect them to.
NOTE - no one has done anything yet! No action has occurred, and no action is planned ( yet ). You just know who everyone is, what they want, and how they tend to act. Nothing more.
Locations
You've got a good idea where the action will occur, so you'll need to flesh those out ( and/or find generic versions of them online if you Google around )
Local village ( also probably some of the major buildings: tavern, temple, blacksmith shop - minimal detail, just know roughly that they exist, and what the party can get there - make up the rest on the spot )
The local woods ( which apparently has wolves, and bandits for random encounters ).
One - or more - goblin lairs
Hook
How does the party get involved? You have them starting looking for a tomb, but why? Were they hired by someone to do that? If so, maybe pull back to a different town/Inn and role-play that out. The party is travelling from Northville to Southtown, and they stop for the night at the Inn in Middleton, when the mysterious stranger approaches them with an offer of work to retrieve an artifact from a mysterious tomb rumored to be near Questington ... ( better make the local tomb as well, in case they actually find it ).
When the party travels to Questington near where the tomb is supposedly located, they have an encounter with goblins in the forest, but the goblins aren't expecting them and flee. When the party gets to Questington, they run into a the local race riot as the two racial factions blame each other for the disapparances. One of the faction NPCs ends up approaching the party for help...
Now you have the initial setup laid out for the players - they know the local situation, and have been made aware of all the main local factions.
How to Proceed
OK. Actors are set up, the initial hook has been planted. How to proceed?
The trick here is that you don't - it's now all up to the Players.
The Players have a goal
The other factions have a goal
Has anyone reached their goal? Yes? Adventure over.
Has every faction but one stopped acting? Yes? Adventure over.
Are we still going? Time to work out the next move for everyone.
Figure out what every faction/notable NPC knows and/or believes
Figure out what every faction/notable NPC wants next
Figure out what they will try to do next to get what they want
Figure out where everyone's moves are going to collide
Figure out what happens where those moves collide
Describe what's happening to the Players
They tell you what they are trying to do - adjudicate if they succeed or not
Figure out how that impacts what everyone else is doing or trying to do
Jump to step #3
That's all you have to do. Figure out what all the NPCs will try and do next, figure out what the Players are trying to do next, sort it out, figure out if the adventure is still going. Rinse. Repeat.
If you do it this way, the Players can't derail what you've planned, because you didn't plan any plot - but what you have created is a framework where you and the Players get to invent and discover a plot as you go along.
Disclaimer: This signature is a badge of membership in the Forum Loudmouth Club. We are all friends. We are not attacking each other. We are engaging in spirited, friendly debate with one another. We may get snarky, but these are not attacks. Thank you for not reporting us.
Seems like a decent little campaign. If you want a nice adventure that pretty much lines up perfectly with your opening, consider looking into The Delian Tomb. It's a free short dungeon that has some goblins to fight and a magical item at the end as well as some traps and puzzles. You can swap out whatever the magic treasure at the end is for the Gem of Brightness.
As for your city, I find it helpful to get a hold of a city map somewhere and then start populating it to fit my campaign. Venatus Maps on Tumblr really makes some good city maps with fun name keys that help aid developing the town. For what you are looking for, I'd suggest his maps for the towns of Longsaddle or Rockmount as a good starting point. A lot of the named places on those maps clearly need NPCs to interact with players, which should help develop your campaign.
As for the later parts of the campaign, It's okay not to plan them out so much right now. You know that there needs to be a another dungeon nearby and that it mostly features goblins and constructs with a Boss Goblin and a Boss Construct of sorts. I wouldn't worry about that part yet until you see how your players take to the adventure up to that point.
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"The mongoose blew out its candle and was asleep in bed before the room went dark." —Llanowar fable
I am also quite new DM but I have spent lot of time thinking what can happen next. I have also created content for computer games so I know how open world in D & D can feel quite overwhelming. I am thinking D & D much like Baldur's Gate / Fallout4 / Skyrim / World of Warcraft. As a result I have created location based campaign. It can help you to get your content more structured but that does not make improvisation skills unnecessary. Good structure just makes improvising easier.
Agreed with DxJxC. When I first started DM'ing, I too fleshed out entire plotlines to the T. I had everything planned out, what each NPC would do and say, where they would go and what exactly would happen once they got there. It took about three sessions before I scrapped about 15 hours worth of work. The thing to remember is that the players are unknowns. They are the extraneous variables in your storyline, and as such it needs to be flexible and adaptable to the choices the players make. Not that that is a bad thing though! The freedom allowed in D&D is one of the most appealing aspects of it, and it is what draws in so many people.
When you have a town, the things you really need are the shops and major NPC's. After that, most of the town can be filled in by the imagination of the players combined with a little storytelling from you. Most towns are made up of houses, and giving a quick snippet about how the houses are built, the players will picture them spread around town as they're walking. For the NPC's, it's okay if most of them have similar personalities. You are only one person, after all, and it can be hard roleplaying so many different people. Try just having one unique NPC, perhaps the dwarf or elf that the party will meet after the fight in town is broken up. It can be cool to have pre-made encounters outside of the players, but just be prepared for the players to try and step in to help, which may throw some things off. Or, if they step in to help, have one side (maybe the dwarves) find offense that these strangers would interfere with their business, while the other side (the elves, in this scenario) welcomes the help, and the side that welcomes the help is where the unique NPC comes in, and give the party the quest.
When handling encounters, it is important as well to allow the players chances to try their own things. For example, when the Bandit group ambushes the players, if one of them wants to try diplomacy while the Rogue sneaks around behind them, let them roll for it! A combined Persuasion/Deception check for the talker (depending on what they say to the bandits) with a Stealth check from the Rogue that is contested by a Perception check from the Bandits. The Bandits could have disadvantage on the Perception check if the player succeeds in their Persuasion/Deception check, or if they do super bad the Bandits might have advantage on the check. One thing I always tell myself is that as a DM I am not there to fight against the players, but to help them. The encounters I set up are meant to be tough if approached head on, but often times the players will find ways to circumvent parts of the encounter or set themselves up for interesting roleplay options. Try to be encouraging with the players, and encourage them to find out of the box solutions! Some of the best encounters can have little to no combat involved.
All in all, it may seem like a lot to take in at once, and it is. DM'ing is a very time-consuming process, and even for a one-shot it can be a lot of work. But just remember to have fun with it! If you have fun writing the story, then the players will have fun adventuring through it. Who knows, your one-shot may turn into the start of your own campaign! And if it does, fantastic! But if not, you've at least dipped your toes into the prospect and have a better idea of what to expect from your players.
Thanks! I guess the way i layed out the summary of the campaign seemed rigid but i fully intend to have the players due what they want, i was just hoping to come up with more ways to provide opportunities for out of the box solutilns other than fightkng and i do have a general story id like to have unravel i guess im looking for more ways to help nudge them back if they veer off and more ways for problem solving outside of combat. For the fight part i actually already have some dialogue possibilities worked out. After most of the outlines were finished I found out my cousins characher is a half elf so the racial issues should lead to some cool dialogue and i figured id have some dwarves call him pointy or dagher ear and see what happens lol.
Hello, so I'm making a surprise campaign for my cousin to play in since he is ussually the dm and would like to hear if this sounds good/at all fun and any advice or improvements/conciderations. It will most likely be a one shot and i will use a couple of altered or custom creatures to accomodate the story and pc level which will be 1-5 most likely and 3-5 players probably.
So the party is journeying through a forest in search of a tomb to find possible artifacts where they hear a howling wolf (survival or perception check) wolves attack. The party moves to the mouth of a cave (chance to rest if they take it) the path through the cave has a few traps (probably a couple potions about in jars or something) in the final tomb before the party sees them they hear a few goblins bickering. The party either kills the goblins or takes one hostage for more information (if they think to do so) then the see a brightly glowing gem which is unussual for the small amount of light provided by torches. Its a gem of brightness. The party leaves the tomb then perception role as a group of bandits ambushes them and demands they hand over the loot. ( not sure if i should make the bandits a large group to encourage the use of the gem of brightness -5 ability or use diplomacy instead of a straight up fight).
The party returns the the nearest town where they see a fight breaking out between elves and dwarves whilst a large group is steadily growing. Gaurds break up the fight and upon further investigation through any of many means the party learns that elves and half elves as well as dwarves have been mysteriously dissapearing which has taken the already shaky racial relations to the brink of total collapse as they blame eachother. If the party continues to seek out rumors they will discover that more and more goblins have been found in the area but they havnt seemed to be recklessly attacking at every opportunity. The party will then encounter an npc dwarf or elf that either has a quest to search for a loved one from their home that was broken into or discover the means for the goblins in the area. (Id like to add some more npc's on town for charisma, deceptiln, stealth etc. Gameplay but not sure what to add yet.)
As the party tracks down the goblins or the missing loved one they make there way to a troop of goblims they see walk into a cave hidden in the side of a near by mountain as the entrance dissapears behind them. Upon further inspection the party discovers a hidden door that requires them to answer 3 riddles ( maybe a giant creature or some other looming threat if they dont answer correctly) the party makes their way through hidden goblin base and see a couple metal statues. As the party continues they find more statues the come to life and attack them, later they hear the clanking of metal on metal and hear hoblin singing in common whilst working at a forge making shackles. With a couple indications that this goblin wont need to be killed they can take it hostage and question it. A few more mechanical contraptions of growing complexity and goblin encounters will be found along with a few elf and dwarven bodies.
Finally the party will find a room overlooking a massive cavern with a series of forges with enslaved dwarves and goblin masters working them with captured elves habing their natural magic being sapped and used to embue and enchant weapons being created. The party will fknd there way to the throne room of Nizzet the goblin artificer who awakens his crudly made rusty iron golem ( heavily weakened) and attacls the party and will try to escape rather then die fighting. Surviving the encounter the party returns with help to free the enslaved dwarves/elves or fights the remaining goblins themselves etc. If they manage to capture Nizzet or enough goblins they can discover a more sinister plan from a goblin god for future play. Loot a plenty, families reunited back in town, hooza! Lol
Any help woild be appreciated to flesh this out more, it will be the first campaign ive dm'd but definitely want it to be a fun one. Also my cousins charachter will be a high charisma, swashbuckling rogue nd since my main reason for making this campaign is so he can play id like to make sure he can have slme more interactilns with npc's dialogue, stealth, subterfuge etc. And would love to hear some ideas on how to flush that aspect out more.
I kind of stopped reading when I realized you were outlining the whole campaign. It is hard to prepare for everything a player will try to do. Rather than focusing on the narrative, consider the setting and characters.
A couple of plot derails I've seen (one I DMed and the other I played) involved climbing a building and smashing a hole in the roof for entry, and punching the hallway walls to get a guard to chase us into an ambush.
A list of locations, events to occur at those locations, and multiple plot hooks to keep players moving to the next location is about as much as you can do as far as outlines go. Next might be to prepare setting and character descriptions, and always be ready to improve.
Agreed with DxJxC. When I first started DM'ing, I too fleshed out entire plotlines to the T. I had everything planned out, what each NPC would do and say, where they would go and what exactly would happen once they got there. It took about three sessions before I scrapped about 15 hours worth of work. The thing to remember is that the players are unknowns. They are the extraneous variables in your storyline, and as such it needs to be flexible and adaptable to the choices the players make. Not that that is a bad thing though! The freedom allowed in D&D is one of the most appealing aspects of it, and it is what draws in so many people.
When you have a town, the things you really need are the shops and major NPC's. After that, most of the town can be filled in by the imagination of the players combined with a little storytelling from you. Most towns are made up of houses, and giving a quick snippet about how the houses are built, the players will picture them spread around town as they're walking. For the NPC's, it's okay if most of them have similar personalities. You are only one person, after all, and it can be hard roleplaying so many different people. Try just having one unique NPC, perhaps the dwarf or elf that the party will meet after the fight in town is broken up. It can be cool to have pre-made encounters outside of the players, but just be prepared for the players to try and step in to help, which may throw some things off. Or, if they step in to help, have one side (maybe the dwarves) find offense that these strangers would interfere with their business, while the other side (the elves, in this scenario) welcomes the help, and the side that welcomes the help is where the unique NPC comes in, and give the party the quest.
When handling encounters, it is important as well to allow the players chances to try their own things. For example, when the Bandit group ambushes the players, if one of them wants to try diplomacy while the Rogue sneaks around behind them, let them roll for it! A combined Persuasion/Deception check for the talker (depending on what they say to the bandits) with a Stealth check from the Rogue that is contested by a Perception check from the Bandits. The Bandits could have disadvantage on the Perception check if the player succeeds in their Persuasion/Deception check, or if they do super bad the Bandits might have advantage on the check. One thing I always tell myself is that as a DM I am not there to fight against the players, but to help them. The encounters I set up are meant to be tough if approached head on, but often times the players will find ways to circumvent parts of the encounter or set themselves up for interesting roleplay options. Try to be encouraging with the players, and encourage them to find out of the box solutions! Some of the best encounters can have little to no combat involved.
All in all, it may seem like a lot to take in at once, and it is. DM'ing is a very time-consuming process, and even for a one-shot it can be a lot of work. But just remember to have fun with it! If you have fun writing the story, then the players will have fun adventuring through it. Who knows, your one-shot may turn into the start of your own campaign! And if it does, fantastic! But if not, you've at least dipped your toes into the prospect and have a better idea of what to expect from your players.
I have to agree 100% with what has been said before.
It looks like you have a good imagination, and the definite beginnings of an adventure, but you are putting your creative efforts in the wrong place ( I believe ).
What you are writing is not a campaign, you are writing a short story - since you are choosing, and assuming the outcomes of what the party does, and where they'll go next. You simply can't do that. The Party will not behave in the way you predict, unless you force them, and that absolutely isn't fun for the Players.
A different approach is to not write any plot, but make a highly detailed situation, NPCs, setup, and figure out the NPC reactions at each step.
NPC Factions
For each of these ( with the possibly exceptions of the Bandits and Wolves - reasons noted above ), work them out in detail. The questions you - as the DM - need to know are: Who are they? what is their goal? What are their capabilities and resources ( e.g. Nizzet absolutely would have weapons and magic, but he also has a tribe under him to command, so that counts as a resource or capability )?; what is their personality - what are their go-to tactics and actions, what are the actions and tactics they'll avoid unless they are forced into them ( e.g. Nizzet is using the captives, so he needs them, he's unlikely to try and kill them, but will he if the Party is going to shut down his operation? ); what are the tactics they'll never try ( Nizzet will probably never voluntarily let the captives go unless forced to do so or be killed).
You'll need to flesh that out a lot more, and you have room for a ton of color character NPCs who could really bring the adventure to life: members of the Elven/Dwarven community; the local guards and reeve; a few notable and interesting goblins you can use if the Party thinks to interrogate any goblins; interesting goblin captives who can be used for color, or might even have a surprise capability or two that can aid the party if the Party can free them ( the local locksmith has been captured - can help open doors, or the local healer has been captured, etc.).
Be aware that you might be called upon to improvise NPCs as well, on the fly, if the Party decides to do something, go somewhere, and interact with people you didn't expect them to.
NOTE - no one has done anything yet! No action has occurred, and no action is planned ( yet ). You just know who everyone is, what they want, and how they tend to act. Nothing more.
Locations
You've got a good idea where the action will occur, so you'll need to flesh those out ( and/or find generic versions of them online if you Google around )
Hook
How does the party get involved? You have them starting looking for a tomb, but why? Were they hired by someone to do that? If so, maybe pull back to a different town/Inn and role-play that out. The party is travelling from Northville to Southtown, and they stop for the night at the Inn in Middleton, when the mysterious stranger approaches them with an offer of work to retrieve an artifact from a mysterious tomb rumored to be near Questington ... ( better make the local tomb as well, in case they actually find it ).
When the party travels to Questington near where the tomb is supposedly located, they have an encounter with goblins in the forest, but the goblins aren't expecting them and flee. When the party gets to Questington, they run into a the local race riot as the two racial factions blame each other for the disapparances. One of the faction NPCs ends up approaching the party for help...
Now you have the initial setup laid out for the players - they know the local situation, and have been made aware of all the main local factions.
How to Proceed
OK. Actors are set up, the initial hook has been planted. How to proceed?
The trick here is that you don't - it's now all up to the Players.
That's all you have to do. Figure out what all the NPCs will try and do next, figure out what the Players are trying to do next, sort it out, figure out if the adventure is still going. Rinse. Repeat.
If you do it this way, the Players can't derail what you've planned, because you didn't plan any plot - but what you have created is a framework where you and the Players get to invent and discover a plot as you go along.
Best of luck!
My DM Philosophy, as summed up by other people: https://drive.google.com/file/d/1rN5w4-azTq3Kbn0Yvk9nfqQhwQ1R5by1/view
Disclaimer: This signature is a badge of membership in the Forum Loudmouth Club. We are all friends. We are not attacking each other. We are engaging in spirited, friendly debate with one another. We may get snarky, but these are not attacks. Thank you for not reporting us.
Seems like a decent little campaign. If you want a nice adventure that pretty much lines up perfectly with your opening, consider looking into The Delian Tomb. It's a free short dungeon that has some goblins to fight and a magical item at the end as well as some traps and puzzles. You can swap out whatever the magic treasure at the end is for the Gem of Brightness.
As for your city, I find it helpful to get a hold of a city map somewhere and then start populating it to fit my campaign. Venatus Maps on Tumblr really makes some good city maps with fun name keys that help aid developing the town. For what you are looking for, I'd suggest his maps for the towns of Longsaddle or Rockmount as a good starting point. A lot of the named places on those maps clearly need NPCs to interact with players, which should help develop your campaign.
As for the later parts of the campaign, It's okay not to plan them out so much right now. You know that there needs to be a another dungeon nearby and that it mostly features goblins and constructs with a Boss Goblin and a Boss Construct of sorts. I wouldn't worry about that part yet until you see how your players take to the adventure up to that point.
I am also quite new DM but I have spent lot of time thinking what can happen next. I have also created content for computer games so I know how open world in D & D can feel quite overwhelming. I am thinking D & D much like Baldur's Gate / Fallout4 / Skyrim / World of Warcraft. As a result I have created location based campaign. It can help you to get your content more structured but that does not make improvisation skills unnecessary. Good structure just makes improvising easier.
Clam Island: https://homebrewery.naturalcrit.com/share/By3s5Uqqf
Thanks! I guess the way i layed out the summary of the campaign seemed rigid but i fully intend to have the players due what they want, i was just hoping to come up with more ways to provide opportunities for out of the box solutilns other than fightkng and i do have a general story id like to have unravel i guess im looking for more ways to help nudge them back if they veer off and more ways for problem solving outside of combat. For the fight part i actually already have some dialogue possibilities worked out. After most of the outlines were finished I found out my cousins characher is a half elf so the racial issues should lead to some cool dialogue and i figured id have some dwarves call him pointy or dagher ear and see what happens lol.
Really appreciate the advice!
This is amazing, thank you!
Happy to help, good luck with the campaign!!