For context, this will be the 1st time I'm a DM. I was asked to create a story or take something from the internet. I preferred to write something of my own and possibly if I wrote something wrong, I would take it from the internet. I made such a story.
The players are sitting in the tavern looking for a quest. In the tavern there is a bartender, a priest, a broken woman and an old drunk guy. The bartender doesn't have anything for them but says ask around. The priest says the church heard something bad was coming and they sent him to investigate. A broken woman sits in a tavern and waits for her husband who left for the mountains a week ago and has not returned. An old drunkard will tell a story about a mighty king and his castle in the mountains when he gets a beer. They go to the mountains, on the way in the forest, while resting after a long way, something will attack them ( encounter 1). They continue on and reach the mountains. They see a castle on top of the mountains. As they make their way up the trail, lightning strikes the mountain and an avalanche falls on them. They reach the castle and see the gate. The great gate can be moved by one of them if he rolls the dice well because he has a lot of strength. Another possibility is, if I'm not mistaken, that he can throw a halfling from the party onto the walls, or they can just climb up when they buy a grappling hook. If they totally fail, the door will open by itself and and there is only a chill, a draft, and the candlesticks light up and give light. They can go left, right, up the stairs. Left, they go to the armory if they take something they will fight ( encounter 2). Right, then downhill and dungeons, fight with rats ( encounter 3). Dungeons - they hear a voice calling for help. the lost husband is there. there is no key. He begs for help and tells what he experienced. They search dungeons big skeletons have keys. They lie on the table and they sleep. 2 of the players are good at stealth, they can sneak up and steal them. If they succeed, they save the husband. If they fail, they awaken the skeleton and fight (encounter 4). Further down in the dungeons you can see barrels of TNT - a lot - if you **** it up, the whole castle will explode . Then some rooms with loot or enemies or both. Next, a vault with a trap and a mimic. They later meet the squad of skeletons ( encounter 5 and 6). There are portraits of the King hanging all over the castle, they know this character from somewhere. On the next floor, they enter the library. They read something about the magic of resurrection and the history of the lord of the castle. However, the records stop at some point and they start fighting with the guards ( encounter 7). 2 cultists want to revive an ancient demon threatening the world by sacrificing the dragon's remains, which still have a soul bond, and are located under the castle. Party can defeat them (encounter 8) or smash the castle and destroy the remains of the dragon, freeing the souls and taking away the ability to resurrect the demon if they want to fight 2 cultists. Then comes the old drunk guy from the tavern. Reveals that he is the king and ****s up 2 cultists together with the party.
encounter 1 - 4 gigant toad
encounter 2 - 3 Animated Armor
encounter 3 - 7 rat swarm
encounter 4 - 2 Minotaur Skeleton
encounter 5 - mimic
encounter 6 - 4 skeleton, 3 Warhorse Skeleton
encounter 7 - 8 gigant owl
encounter 8 - 2 Cult Fanatic, 5 Cultist
There will be at least 8 players, all level 2.
How does it look like? Any fixes? Maybe something from the internet? Remember, this is my 1st time as a DM, constructive criticism is welcome.
If you enjoy it, you should write your own story. In my experience it is much easier to adjust your own story on the fly during the game, because you know it really well. Making someone else’s story your own is really hard. It is easy to find something on the internet, but making it your own is not.
Your story is a decent start, and you can learn how to improve it for your group only by playing it with that group. Good luck and be ready for players doing stuff you did not anticipate:)
So, it's an amazing start. You've got a really clear idea for a single location and what it is filled with. That's more than I had when I ran my first session way back -[REDACTED]- years ago! It's really beautifully fleshed out too. I feel like you know the layout of this castle down to the last pebble. There is a single thing I would offer advice on however.
However, the big weakness here is that what happens if the players don't go to the mountains? What happens if they decide not to rest in the forest? What happens if the players decide instead to go hunting for some food or game? What happens if someone manages a successful survival check to find some animal checks? What happens if the party give up on the castle when they see the gate is closed? What happens if at the opportunity to go left or right, they do both (i.e. split the party). What happens if someone insists that they should be able to remove just one TNT barrel and demands to make a slight of hand check? What happens when they flee from encounter?
My point here is to prepare you, not criticise you. Players are preternaturally disposed to chaos. At some point in your DM career the players will do the thing you least expect. In fact they do that frequently. As such you can't prepare for everything that players will decide they want to do. I have players who wouldn't even go and ask around for quests, instead would seize the opportunity to go shopping, stealing, carousing, or basically anything other than seeking out quests. Usually, that's on me for not giving a very obvious quest hook.
The way I always explain it to new DMs is the following: You are not in charge of the story. It is not your job to create the story. You get the opportunity to build the world, the sandbox around players. The group around the table get to tell the story.
Bluntly, don't think of being a DM as creating the story. Instead set up the world that surrounds the party. Know what quests, hook or monsters are available but be flexible about where and how they encounter those. In doing so, when you inevitably get that player who decides to do the thing you least expect, you can drop the encounter, quest or hook directly in their path. Then it is the process of you interacting with your players that creates the story.
Finally, on rereading your post I do have a second comment: how long are your sessions? Eight encounters could take a long time. Encounters can for some DMs seem to be the thing that drags on for ages. While it is one of the three pillars of D&D, it often takes up more time than just one third. Now if this is designed for a few sessions that's all cool. You'll need to be prepared for the players wanting to bug out and find somewhere to rest (maybe to later return).
I agree with Aquilain. This is a great start to a campaign (probably not just one adventure).
The most difficult thing about writing is that it can't be linear. First event A, then B, then C is not ideal. Also, if the players do not follow along your prescribed path (and they rarely do) what happens? I put the onus on the players. You create the obstacles, encounters and monsters. They figure out how to get around them by fighting, bluffing, etc. My players rarely follow the plans that I think are obvious and they certainly do not proceed in the order that I think is logical.
Best of luck and prepare for the unexpected.
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Velstitzen
I am a 40 something year old physician who DMs for a group of 40 something year old doctors. We play a hybrid game, mostly based on 2nd edition rules with some homebrew and 5E components.
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For context, this will be the 1st time I'm a DM. I was asked to create a story or take something from the internet. I preferred to write something of my own and possibly if I wrote something wrong, I would take it from the internet. I made such a story.
The players are sitting in the tavern looking for a quest. In the tavern there is a bartender, a priest, a broken woman and an old drunk guy. The bartender doesn't have anything for them but says ask around. The priest says the church heard something bad was coming and they sent him to investigate. A broken woman sits in a tavern and waits for her husband who left for the mountains a week ago and has not returned. An old drunkard will tell a story about a mighty king and his castle in the mountains when he gets a beer. They go to the mountains, on the way in the forest, while resting after a long way, something will attack them ( encounter 1). They continue on and reach the mountains. They see a castle on top of the mountains. As they make their way up the trail, lightning strikes the mountain and an avalanche falls on them. They reach the castle and see the gate. The great gate can be moved by one of them if he rolls the dice well because he has a lot of strength. Another possibility is, if I'm not mistaken, that he can throw a halfling from the party onto the walls, or they can just climb up when they buy a grappling hook. If they totally fail, the door will open by itself and and there is only a chill, a draft, and the candlesticks light up and give light. They can go left, right, up the stairs. Left, they go to the armory if they take something they will fight ( encounter 2). Right, then downhill and dungeons, fight with rats ( encounter 3). Dungeons - they hear a voice calling for help. the lost husband is there. there is no key. He begs for help and tells what he experienced. They search dungeons big skeletons have keys. They lie on the table and they sleep. 2 of the players are good at stealth, they can sneak up and steal them. If they succeed, they save the husband. If they fail, they awaken the skeleton and fight (encounter 4). Further down in the dungeons you can see barrels of TNT - a lot - if you **** it up, the whole castle will explode . Then some rooms with loot or enemies or both. Next, a vault with a trap and a mimic. They later meet the squad of skeletons ( encounter 5 and 6). There are portraits of the King hanging all over the castle, they know this character from somewhere. On the next floor, they enter the library. They read something about the magic of resurrection and the history of the lord of the castle. However, the records stop at some point and they start fighting with the guards ( encounter 7). 2 cultists want to revive an ancient demon threatening the world by sacrificing the dragon's remains, which still have a soul bond, and are located under the castle. Party can defeat them (encounter 8) or smash the castle and destroy the remains of the dragon, freeing the souls and taking away the ability to resurrect the demon if they want to fight 2 cultists. Then comes the old drunk guy from the tavern. Reveals that he is the king and ****s up 2 cultists together with the party.
encounter 1 - 4 gigant toad
encounter 2 - 3 Animated Armor
encounter 3 - 7 rat swarm
encounter 4 - 2 Minotaur Skeleton
encounter 5 - mimic
encounter 6 - 4 skeleton, 3 Warhorse Skeleton
encounter 7 - 8 gigant owl
encounter 8 - 2 Cult Fanatic, 5 Cultist
There will be at least 8 players, all level 2.
How does it look like? Any fixes? Maybe something from the internet? Remember, this is my 1st time as a DM, constructive criticism is welcome.
This is a solid start on your first adventure. Congrats on writing it, homebrew can be intimidating at first.
How many sessions is it designed for? If it's a one-shot 8 encounters might be a bit much.
If you enjoy it, you should write your own story. In my experience it is much easier to adjust your own story on the fly during the game, because you know it really well. Making someone else’s story your own is really hard. It is easy to find something on the internet, but making it your own is not.
Your story is a decent start, and you can learn how to improve it for your group only by playing it with that group. Good luck and be ready for players doing stuff you did not anticipate:)
Thanks for that and i will try my best to learn as much as possible for future!
So, it's an amazing start. You've got a really clear idea for a single location and what it is filled with. That's more than I had when I ran my first session way back -[REDACTED]- years ago! It's really beautifully fleshed out too. I feel like you know the layout of this castle down to the last pebble. There is a single thing I would offer advice on however.
However, the big weakness here is that what happens if the players don't go to the mountains? What happens if they decide not to rest in the forest? What happens if the players decide instead to go hunting for some food or game? What happens if someone manages a successful survival check to find some animal checks? What happens if the party give up on the castle when they see the gate is closed? What happens if at the opportunity to go left or right, they do both (i.e. split the party). What happens if someone insists that they should be able to remove just one TNT barrel and demands to make a slight of hand check? What happens when they flee from encounter?
My point here is to prepare you, not criticise you. Players are preternaturally disposed to chaos. At some point in your DM career the players will do the thing you least expect. In fact they do that frequently. As such you can't prepare for everything that players will decide they want to do. I have players who wouldn't even go and ask around for quests, instead would seize the opportunity to go shopping, stealing, carousing, or basically anything other than seeking out quests. Usually, that's on me for not giving a very obvious quest hook.
The way I always explain it to new DMs is the following: You are not in charge of the story. It is not your job to create the story. You get the opportunity to build the world, the sandbox around players. The group around the table get to tell the story.
Bluntly, don't think of being a DM as creating the story. Instead set up the world that surrounds the party. Know what quests, hook or monsters are available but be flexible about where and how they encounter those. In doing so, when you inevitably get that player who decides to do the thing you least expect, you can drop the encounter, quest or hook directly in their path. Then it is the process of you interacting with your players that creates the story.
Finally, on rereading your post I do have a second comment: how long are your sessions? Eight encounters could take a long time. Encounters can for some DMs seem to be the thing that drags on for ages. While it is one of the three pillars of D&D, it often takes up more time than just one third. Now if this is designed for a few sessions that's all cool. You'll need to be prepared for the players wanting to bug out and find somewhere to rest (maybe to later return).
DM session planning template - My version of maps for 'Lost Mine of Phandelver' - Send your party to The Circus - Other DM Resources - Maps, Tokens, Quests - 'Better' Player Character Injury Tables?
Actor, Writer, Director & Teacher by day - GM/DM in my off hours.
I agree with Aquilain. This is a great start to a campaign (probably not just one adventure).
The most difficult thing about writing is that it can't be linear. First event A, then B, then C is not ideal. Also, if the players do not follow along your prescribed path (and they rarely do) what happens? I put the onus on the players. You create the obstacles, encounters and monsters. They figure out how to get around them by fighting, bluffing, etc. My players rarely follow the plans that I think are obvious and they certainly do not proceed in the order that I think is logical.
Best of luck and prepare for the unexpected.
Velstitzen
I am a 40 something year old physician who DMs for a group of 40 something year old doctors. We play a hybrid game, mostly based on 2nd edition rules with some homebrew and 5E components.