So first I have started to try and DM for the first time, and love the creation and freedom that D&D gives you, so I wanted to try and do sort of homebrew. I'm excited in creating my world, but am worried about falling into any '1st-timer pitfalls' in doing so. I'll post a pastebin of the world lore I have currently, with the first section being what the players are given at the start.
Basically, the campaign's arc is that they arrive on the island continent of Veera, and get the boat attacked by Assissins, who all have a weird brand on their necks. The end of the story will be a fight against a Warlock (who would be disguised as a friend and past exile of the magic school) while the Warlock is attempting to bring one of the Great Old Ones into the Material Plane, thus ensuing chaos. Thoughts? I have some ideas for character-tied quests if it potentially goes further than this arc, but they are more teasers to the main course.
Wow! You've got a ton already going for you world, which is a great place to start! You mentioned '1st-timer pitfalls', so I'll give you a bit of advice. Let your players discover the world that they're exploring organically. Don't over prepare too much, as that often leads to burnout. You want to know about your world, but you don't need to get super specific on what you think they might be doing session to session. If you know your world, you can make answers to their questions up as you're going!
I think the start and end of your campaign both sound great! You have an immediate plot hook with the brand on the neck of the assassins, which is very evocative. I'd sprinkle a few more in there as well, maybe as they get to their first settlement, you can start laying the groundwork for the big Warlock reveal!
Thank you very much! I can admit, I got a little overboard I feel with exactly what the world is, but as far as what the players would know, they each have specific reasons we hashed out to why they'd be heading towards the island continent. Some are searching for magical items, some worship etc.
I have a framework of the main arc adventures up to the lvl 5-7 area, but I'm still working on getting it from Point A.03 to Point B. So far, the main adventure consists of: Assassin's on the ship with brands -> doing a favor for the first town wizard to get info on the brand -> info leads them to a Green Hag, which is a seemingly 'end' to the arc -> sidequest time -> NPC favored by party kidnapped by a sorcerer and taken to a tower, where all her minions (couple animated armor suits, a flesh golem, and a Chimera boss monster), and she is able to flee from the group. (She may or may not turn out to be the Big Bad Warlock at the end, but I think may be more a subordinate)
After that last point, I have it so ALL of her minions have the brand as well, like some sort of sign of ownership or creator. Hopefully, that shows the party that where they thought they had won the first point, it all of a sudden becomes a much bigger problem. Then, they are tasked to head to the capital of the magic ares (Alfenheim in Mythraltis, from the lore paste) and the adventure on the way is the last part I made: depending on choice, they get lost in a magical forest or end up in a Kobold/Young Black Dragon trap.
All the rest of my ideas are kinda random NPC related side quests, but I'm unsure if that's too much or too 'go this way or the campaign ends' type of thing.
You really have a great outline! Like you said though, be sure to be flexible. If they don't take the bait right off the boat help the first wizard, don't panic! My favorite part about DMing is that the players never know what you had planned. So if they don't jump right on your quest line, that's fine, let them decide to do something else, wonder off into the woods and adventure if they like, but they may still end up encountering the Green Hag! That's why I mentioned having multiple hooks earlier, because they might not latch onto your first idea, but they will bite eventually, and they didn't know that both hooks ended in the same quest!
Also, I have to say, the Young Black Dragon is probably my favorite monster to use. I love the imagery of the old school Black Dragon with the horns on the side of it's head. Be sure to really roleplay the dragon. The last time I used one, my group was a little more powerful than I realized and rolled right over it before I could really roleplay with it, so don't be afraid to beef yours up if they slam on it too quickly!
Fair point, I'm gonna do what I can to be flexible during each session (we started last week and are doing it weekly) and one of the 3 in the group took a major disliking in character to the wizard guy, so I'm excited to play that out a bit. I'm hoping that they don't wander off too far in the 'side quest' section of the main arc, just so its not too much stretching of improv to get them onto the path again.
There's a possibility of another friend (who has never played) joining the group after his school term is over, so I'm trying to give enough space between the Hag section and the Kidnapping section, for him to catch up and figure out what he's doing after his own Session 0.
And I'm super hyped to do the Black Dragon, and like if they go that path, they get a decent amount of loot, but if they go the other way, they have a chance of finding NPC allies for later. Either way, I'm hoping to have a better grasp by then, but still need to figure out how to tie in that section to the Climax of the arc...
I prefer to get a few sessions in before really hammering the "main arc" into place. I'll start with a general idea of how I want the campaign to go, but it helps to actually see your player characters, how they interact with each other and the world, and how they play out their motivations. What you think of as a "side quest" may actually point you toward a more satisfying arc for everyone involved than trying to shoe horn in a pre- determined main arc.
That's not to say throw out any preparation, just look for the places you can fit your ideas in organically while your PCs explore what you currently consider a "side quest".
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Hello all,
So first I have started to try and DM for the first time, and love the creation and freedom that D&D gives you, so I wanted to try and do sort of homebrew. I'm excited in creating my world, but am worried about falling into any '1st-timer pitfalls' in doing so. I'll post a pastebin of the world lore I have currently, with the first section being what the players are given at the start.
Basically, the campaign's arc is that they arrive on the island continent of Veera, and get the boat attacked by Assissins, who all have a weird brand on their necks. The end of the story will be a fight against a Warlock (who would be disguised as a friend and past exile of the magic school) while the Warlock is attempting to bring one of the Great Old Ones into the Material Plane, thus ensuing chaos. Thoughts? I have some ideas for character-tied quests if it potentially goes further than this arc, but they are more teasers to the main course.
Lore Paste: https://pastebin.com/HJxp5LMs
Wow! You've got a ton already going for you world, which is a great place to start! You mentioned '1st-timer pitfalls', so I'll give you a bit of advice. Let your players discover the world that they're exploring organically. Don't over prepare too much, as that often leads to burnout. You want to know about your world, but you don't need to get super specific on what you think they might be doing session to session. If you know your world, you can make answers to their questions up as you're going!
I think the start and end of your campaign both sound great! You have an immediate plot hook with the brand on the neck of the assassins, which is very evocative. I'd sprinkle a few more in there as well, maybe as they get to their first settlement, you can start laying the groundwork for the big Warlock reveal!
Regardless, I think you're off to a great start!
Thank you very much! I can admit, I got a little overboard I feel with exactly what the world is, but as far as what the players would know, they each have specific reasons we hashed out to why they'd be heading towards the island continent. Some are searching for magical items, some worship etc.
I have a framework of the main arc adventures up to the lvl 5-7 area, but I'm still working on getting it from Point A.03 to Point B. So far, the main adventure consists of: Assassin's on the ship with brands -> doing a favor for the first town wizard to get info on the brand -> info leads them to a Green Hag, which is a seemingly 'end' to the arc -> sidequest time -> NPC favored by party kidnapped by a sorcerer and taken to a tower, where all her minions (couple animated armor suits, a flesh golem, and a Chimera boss monster), and she is able to flee from the group. (She may or may not turn out to be the Big Bad Warlock at the end, but I think may be more a subordinate)
After that last point, I have it so ALL of her minions have the brand as well, like some sort of sign of ownership or creator. Hopefully, that shows the party that where they thought they had won the first point, it all of a sudden becomes a much bigger problem. Then, they are tasked to head to the capital of the magic ares (Alfenheim in Mythraltis, from the lore paste) and the adventure on the way is the last part I made: depending on choice, they get lost in a magical forest or end up in a Kobold/Young Black Dragon trap.
All the rest of my ideas are kinda random NPC related side quests, but I'm unsure if that's too much or too 'go this way or the campaign ends' type of thing.
You really have a great outline! Like you said though, be sure to be flexible. If they don't take the bait right off the boat help the first wizard, don't panic! My favorite part about DMing is that the players never know what you had planned. So if they don't jump right on your quest line, that's fine, let them decide to do something else, wonder off into the woods and adventure if they like, but they may still end up encountering the Green Hag! That's why I mentioned having multiple hooks earlier, because they might not latch onto your first idea, but they will bite eventually, and they didn't know that both hooks ended in the same quest!
Also, I have to say, the Young Black Dragon is probably my favorite monster to use. I love the imagery of the old school Black Dragon with the horns on the side of it's head. Be sure to really roleplay the dragon. The last time I used one, my group was a little more powerful than I realized and rolled right over it before I could really roleplay with it, so don't be afraid to beef yours up if they slam on it too quickly!
Fair point, I'm gonna do what I can to be flexible during each session (we started last week and are doing it weekly) and one of the 3 in the group took a major disliking in character to the wizard guy, so I'm excited to play that out a bit. I'm hoping that they don't wander off too far in the 'side quest' section of the main arc, just so its not too much stretching of improv to get them onto the path again.
There's a possibility of another friend (who has never played) joining the group after his school term is over, so I'm trying to give enough space between the Hag section and the Kidnapping section, for him to catch up and figure out what he's doing after his own Session 0.
And I'm super hyped to do the Black Dragon, and like if they go that path, they get a decent amount of loot, but if they go the other way, they have a chance of finding NPC allies for later. Either way, I'm hoping to have a better grasp by then, but still need to figure out how to tie in that section to the Climax of the arc...
I prefer to get a few sessions in before really hammering the "main arc" into place. I'll start with a general idea of how I want the campaign to go, but it helps to actually see your player characters, how they interact with each other and the world, and how they play out their motivations. What you think of as a "side quest" may actually point you toward a more satisfying arc for everyone involved than trying to shoe horn in a pre- determined main arc.
That's not to say throw out any preparation, just look for the places you can fit your ideas in organically while your PCs explore what you currently consider a "side quest".