So, my first dnd group has finished their first session, which was just a barebones dungeon with a couple of hints of lore that was mostly just me bullshitting something up, haha.
The only concrete things they know are that the dungeon is the ruins of a temple of an order of knights that fought against a force of evil (?) but also went against the Raven Queen. A group of goblins tried to break in a magically sealed room by sacrificing a human kid. The players rescued the kid but didn't manage to open the room.
So, i think they'd probably want the story to continue from here, but honestly i have no idea how to start writing an actual campaign. I thought maybe a member of the order of knights became a lich and was sealed in that room? Or maybe the Raven Queen sent her own warriors to wipe out the knights because they were messing with necromancy, but now something far worse is loose and the knights are not here to protect the world from it anymore?
Honestly i'm clueless. I'd really appreciate any ideas and advice. Or should i just run a prewritten campaign?
Try not to get to carried away with writing a full campaign. Having some idea or backstory is fine though. Just continue to build on your world as the game progresses. It will save you a lot of time. Focus more on the adventure and have quests/plots set up for them but keep in mind you players will do as they want, as they should. Just make corrections to you game in between sessions because your players could very well look past any plot/quest you have tossed at them. You can always rework your game during this time. Just dont toss those skipped quests because you can use them later in one form or another. Personally I feel that its better to build on the world as the game progresses. You could have a ton of work ahead of you if you find that you want to re-write the world due to the way the players acted out in your world. Let the players write the game as you weave in your ideas.
I agree with BrokenDM completely, if you're comfortable with improv it shouldnt be too much of an issue. Just be sure to get down key plot points/NPC roles (can name them when they meet them) so you actually have a direction. As they mentioned, players are very likely to do their own thing or miss plot points but thats where the magic of the DM screen and mystery comes into play. they avoided the dirt road leading to the abandoned castle? move the castle to where they are heading. thats why not creating the whole world before hand can work in your favor. between sessions you can make some plot hooks and there are tons of sources to find mini quests to entertain the players while you work out the main one. dont let the fact that the game is so much of a literal sandbox overwhelm you, just have enough notes prepared so that you dont have to wing an entire session. oh and the last tip, STEAL FROM EVERYTHING haha, books and movies are amazing sources for your campaign. you can tweak them to fit the narrative and if done right can provide sessions of fun and intense dice rolling. Hope this helps! good luck
Kind of with you there mossguy. I could never find a game to play in so I decided to GM. Came up with a story and off I went. Writing session 3 this week.
Your players saved the kid and possibly returned him. Questions to ask are why was that kid taken? Is he somehow special? Can the room be opened with some other magic? If so what's inside? Opening the door can lead to where the players can go next.
Write up the lands their in. The villages and towns. Add in some taverns and shops. Let the players explore the world around them. If you want to give players things to do then perhaps a small village has their supplies being stolen and hires they players to look into it.
Start small with little things while you work out the big adventure. It could involve the raven queen and the knights. Perhaps one of the knights is held inside that room in a magical stasis. Once released he can continue his quest against the queen.
Plenty of paths to go. You can also look up one page adventures for ideas and the like. Being a GM is fun but also the hardest thing to do. Especially when you're writing your own campaign.
The room can only be opened by shedding the blood of a knight of the order and the kid is the descendant of the head of the order. Traditionally just a pin prick or something, but you know goblins are a crazy bunch. The goblins might have something on them about the secret to enter, or maybe the adventurers have to go back to their lair to find out how. This would be a better option cause it buys you a bit more time to plan things out.
I also agree with BrokenDM. I also like to refer to tables to randomly generate some aspects of my campaigns such as towns, shops, and a few NPC's. I like to use them to pull inspiration from. I also like to take a inspiration or aspects from movies, shows, books, or other adventures. And try to have fun with it.
Listen to the feedback of the players and feed off that. Did the players want to return the kid and then go back to the dungeon to figure out how to open the door, or do they consider that adventure complete now that they've rescued the child. Maybe they get back to the child's home and find that one of the parents has gone off on his own rescue mission and not returned...
If they're interested in the room, figure out a way to compel them toward that. Compel the kid to want to finish the dungeon quest. Maybe give him some sort of aid that will help them get into that room.
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So, my first dnd group has finished their first session, which was just a barebones dungeon with a couple of hints of lore that was mostly just me bullshitting something up, haha.
The only concrete things they know are that the dungeon is the ruins of a temple of an order of knights that fought against a force of evil (?) but also went against the Raven Queen. A group of goblins tried to break in a magically sealed room by sacrificing a human kid. The players rescued the kid but didn't manage to open the room.
So, i think they'd probably want the story to continue from here, but honestly i have no idea how to start writing an actual campaign. I thought maybe a member of the order of knights became a lich and was sealed in that room? Or maybe the Raven Queen sent her own warriors to wipe out the knights because they were messing with necromancy, but now something far worse is loose and the knights are not here to protect the world from it anymore?
Honestly i'm clueless. I'd really appreciate any ideas and advice. Or should i just run a prewritten campaign?
Try not to get to carried away with writing a full campaign. Having some idea or backstory is fine though. Just continue to build on your world as the game progresses. It will save you a lot of time. Focus more on the adventure and have quests/plots set up for them but keep in mind you players will do as they want, as they should. Just make corrections to you game in between sessions because your players could very well look past any plot/quest you have tossed at them. You can always rework your game during this time. Just dont toss those skipped quests because you can use them later in one form or another. Personally I feel that its better to build on the world as the game progresses. You could have a ton of work ahead of you if you find that you want to re-write the world due to the way the players acted out in your world. Let the players write the game as you weave in your ideas.
I agree with BrokenDM completely, if you're comfortable with improv it shouldnt be too much of an issue. Just be sure to get down key plot points/NPC roles (can name them when they meet them) so you actually have a direction. As they mentioned, players are very likely to do their own thing or miss plot points but thats where the magic of the DM screen and mystery comes into play. they avoided the dirt road leading to the abandoned castle? move the castle to where they are heading. thats why not creating the whole world before hand can work in your favor. between sessions you can make some plot hooks and there are tons of sources to find mini quests to entertain the players while you work out the main one. dont let the fact that the game is so much of a literal sandbox overwhelm you, just have enough notes prepared so that you dont have to wing an entire session. oh and the last tip, STEAL FROM EVERYTHING haha, books and movies are amazing sources for your campaign. you can tweak them to fit the narrative and if done right can provide sessions of fun and intense dice rolling. Hope this helps! good luck
Kind of with you there mossguy. I could never find a game to play in so I decided to GM. Came up with a story and off I went. Writing session 3 this week.
Your players saved the kid and possibly returned him. Questions to ask are why was that kid taken? Is he somehow special? Can the room be opened with some other magic? If so what's inside? Opening the door can lead to where the players can go next.
Write up the lands their in. The villages and towns. Add in some taverns and shops. Let the players explore the world around them. If you want to give players things to do then perhaps a small village has their supplies being stolen and hires they players to look into it.
Start small with little things while you work out the big adventure. It could involve the raven queen and the knights. Perhaps one of the knights is held inside that room in a magical stasis. Once released he can continue his quest against the queen.
Plenty of paths to go. You can also look up one page adventures for ideas and the like. Being a GM is fun but also the hardest thing to do. Especially when you're writing your own campaign.
The room can only be opened by shedding the blood of a knight of the order and the kid is the descendant of the head of the order. Traditionally just a pin prick or something, but you know goblins are a crazy bunch. The goblins might have something on them about the secret to enter, or maybe the adventurers have to go back to their lair to find out how. This would be a better option cause it buys you a bit more time to plan things out.
I also agree with BrokenDM. I also like to refer to tables to randomly generate some aspects of my campaigns such as towns, shops, and a few NPC's. I like to use them to pull inspiration from. I also like to take a inspiration or aspects from movies, shows, books, or other adventures. And try to have fun with it.
Listen to the feedback of the players and feed off that. Did the players want to return the kid and then go back to the dungeon to figure out how to open the door, or do they consider that adventure complete now that they've rescued the child. Maybe they get back to the child's home and find that one of the parents has gone off on his own rescue mission and not returned...
If they're interested in the room, figure out a way to compel them toward that. Compel the kid to want to finish the dungeon quest. Maybe give him some sort of aid that will help them get into that room.