New to the forum—not sure if this is best suited for this section, or the Homebrew? I can move if need be…
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I’m working on a homebrew story for my first ever campaign (yikes) and am trying to unearth, and then address, as many possible plot-holes in my story as I can before starting. I have the story’s basic framework but this is very much just a work in progress for now.
I’ll do a brief intro email to set up the story and world prior to character creation. But I’m planning for the real ‘call to adventure’ to consist of mailing (irl) each of my players individual letters once we have toons and names down. The premise of the story is that unnatural blights are afflicting seven small villages outside the region’s main city, so each player will receive a different cry for help from an NPC in each of these towns. Each of the blights is different, and the main town seems unaffected. The letters will clarify that [main good-guy NPC] told the sender “you may be able to help” (in other words). The letter would end by saying “[main good-guy NPC] was here to see my town’s strange happenings, and wants [the player character] to meet him in the main city at noon on [a certain date] to discuss the concerning ongoings” (or whatever)—which is how we get each of the seven characters converging in the same town to meet with [main good-guy NPC] at the same time. That's how I'd like to start off the first session.
The plot hole I’m running into is: why our player characters? How would [main good-guy NPC] know of our players, and why would he recommend/ call upon them? They don’t know each other, they don't know [main good-guy NPC], and they will be starting off at level 1, so “you are all the region’s most renown, toughest adventurers that I’m calling upon to fight off the afflictions” doesn’t work.
Any ideas?
TL;DR - Before we dive into the first session, how can I establish a relationship between a protagonist NPC and the party, if the party's characters are all starting at level 1 and don't already know of one another either?
You are doing work that might be better off being done by the players. What if you were to tell each of your players ahead of the first session that an unnatural blight is afflicting a small village outside the region’s main city? You could come up with seven different situations and provide a description of the blight that is affecting the village that pertains to them, then tell the players to fill in the blanks themselves as part of their character's background. That doesn't seem to railroadish to me. Let them design the characters and backgrounds they want, then let them decide how they came to this place where you are starting the first session. You don't even need to tell each of them about the way the story affects the other players. In fact, if you don't, then each character will have something to tell the other players about as they do their introductions. I think this idea fits in with most of the common character backgrounds as well.
(Not going to hit all of these, but here are some examples) Anthropologist: While in the field living among the locals in a village, a blight popped up and you're helping them figure it out Charlatan: You were run out of a village when the blight happened and they mistakenly took you as the cause of it Refugee: You're displaced by the blight that has consumed your small village Criminal: You saw a chance to commute your sentence by volunteering to uncover the cause of the blight that is affecting the village where you were jailed Entertainer: A village you just passed in your travels is affected by a mysterious blight Far Traveler: You heard tales of a blight in a small village that resembles one that affected your homeland and you want to find the cause Folk Hero: Your village was affected by a mysterious blight and they are relying on your to figure it out and fix things Hermit: You've been roused from your peaceful and solitary existence by displaced villagers on the run from a mysterious blight affecting their village Mercenary: You heard some villagers were in trouble and it looks like there may be some coin in resolving these problems Sailor: You've returned home after a long voyage to find your village consumed by a mysterious blight Urchin: Your life has never been worth much, but with this blight affecting a nearby village, you've found your chance for fame and glory
Each player picks their background and then that informs the way the blight affects their character and why they have come to the big city to meet up with each other and with the friendly NPC.
If it were me, I’d start with just the one blight. The players hear a rumor of a town in need, or they take a job, or they just stumble into the town, then take care of it. This catches the attention of the higher entity that set the blights upon the towns.
Perhaps after curing the first town, a lesser king calls for the characters’ aid, because three towns within his dominion are also experiencing similar signs of the blight. Then maybe the blights will form a pattern, and the players might be able to find another town as the blight begins, or right before.
As much as Phandelver is a good starter campaign, it can be a little rough and can be a bit trudging at times.
You are doing work that might be better off being done by the players. What if you were to tell each of your players ahead of the first session that an unnatural blight is afflicting a small village outside the region’s main city? You could come up with seven different situations and provide a description of the blight that is affecting the village that pertains to them, then tell the players to fill in the blanks themselves as part of their character's background. That doesn't seem to railroadish to me. Let them design the characters and backgrounds they want, then let them decide how they came to this place where you are starting the first session. You don't even need to tell each of them about the way the story affects the other players. In fact, if you don't, then each character will have something to tell the other players about as they do their introductions. I think this idea fits in with most of the common character backgrounds as well.
(Not going to hit all of these, but here are some examples) Anthropologist: While in the field living among the locals in a village, a blight popped up and you're helping them figure it out Charlatan: You were run out of a village when the blight happened and they mistakenly took you as the cause of it Refugee: You're displaced by the blight that has consumed your small village Criminal: You saw a chance to commute your sentence by volunteering to uncover the cause of the blight that is affecting the village where you were jailed Entertainer: A village you just passed in your travels is affected by a mysterious blight Far Traveler: You heard tales of a blight in a small village that resembles one that affected your homeland and you want to find the cause Folk Hero: Your village was affected by a mysterious blight and they are relying on your to figure it out and fix things Hermit: You've been roused from your peaceful and solitary existence by displaced villagers on the run from a mysterious blight affecting their village Mercenary: You heard some villagers were in trouble and it looks like there may be some coin in resolving these problems Sailor: You've returned home after a long voyage to find your village consumed by a mysterious blight Urchin: Your life has never been worth much, but with this blight affecting a nearby village, you've found your chance for fame and glory
Each player picks their background and then that informs the way the blight affects their character and why they have come to the big city to meet up with each other and with the friendly NPC.
Thank you! I really like this idea. We have a couple of players who get really into character creation and back stories, so I anticipated this would happen naturally to a certain extent. The main concern is establishing the players' relationship with this one introductory NPC, which I have to figure out how to get them to latch on to without giving too much away.
Well, I think you got some story problem but first I want to give this advice. Being a DM is like herding cats, you are not in control. And 7 players? Wow, that is a lot of players you got there. It is going to be quite a mess, I shouldn't go above 5 or 6. Remember that you need to be able to see and recognize all characters, no playing favorites.
The problem I have with the story is that the villain is the story. Sure the plot hook might be that a bunch of blights have started to harass towns, but why are they harassing the towns? Who is the mastermind behind it? Where do you go after the plot hook? Is the plot hook all there is? In the classic new player module Lost Mine of Phandelver there is a Evil Dark Elf (Drow) that is trying to get to magical knowledge that remains within a old mine named Wave Echo (there is a underground lake of water and volcanic activity which creates the sound of waves), and the characters are hired by a man that recently found out the location of the mine near the town of Phandelver but ofc get attacked by the Goblins that are under the Dark Elfs command as they raid for supplies. In the story of Curse of Strahd the characters can get into the country of Barovia in multiple ways (my way is that they get caught in the mist which is controlled by Strahd) and they can not leave unless Strahd allows them (which will not happen) or until they kill Strahd. You NEED to make a reason for why your villain do something and why. For the Dark Elf in LMOP he just wants the knowledge and the characters are interrupting him, and for Strahd he just wants to toy and torment adventurers for fun, he has no good left and he just find it amusing as the supreme overlord of Barovia. Strahd also wants to capture a famous vampire hunter, find the reincarnation of his dead wife, and find a successor among new adventurers (which he will eventually figure out that no one is good enough to replace him). Who is behind these attacks?
Also as TexasDevin says. Do not do the work for the players. This isn't your story, this is yours and their stories. D&D is a collaborative story telling game, your job as a DM is to drive the plot and main stories while the players controls the directions and details of how they do stuff. Do not railroad players into doing what YOU want them to do, let them decide what they want to do. If they want to go to a druid that hangs around in a forest smoking weed all day, let them, but then after a while make it so that the local government is cracking down on weed so they can have a political fight to legalize weed. Your job as a DM is to be a judge, drive the plot, reward and punish the players. You shouldn't tell the characters what to do, you should provide the setting and where the characters can start. Tell them some backstory about the world (not to much) and tell them what type of game they should expect to play.
In all honesty, I should recommend going with the Lost Mine of Phandelver module as a start before you make your homebrew world. But if you are up for it up are up for it. As a new DM you will always have issues. Remember, the players are cats and you are supposed to herd them. You simply can't do just quit, the best way to control them is with treats.
Thanks for the reply! A couple things...
1) I will soon-ish (I hope!) be a new DM, but I'm not a new player. A different member of the group has lead us all through Phandelver, and a few others.
2) I'm aware 7 is on the larger end of the group-size spectrum. We've all been playing together for a couple years now and are very comfortable with personalities, play styles, preferences, what appeals to whom, etc. I'm not saying I'll be perfect in the role, but I am saying group size is not my main concern.
3) I appreciate the concern for the villain(s) and their motivations! I actually have all that worked out. That wasn't the point of my post, which is why I didn't mention it. I only mentioned the blights to give you enough information to understand why the players are receiving letters from a good NPC to start off the first session. This post is about looking for ideas on how to establish a relationship between a good NPC and the party before the actual questing begins.
If it were me, I’d start with just the one blight. The players hear a rumor of a town in need, or they take a job, or they just stumble into the town, then take care of it. This catches the attention of the higher entity that set the blights upon the towns.
Perhaps after curing the first town, a lesser king calls for the characters’ aid, because three towns within his dominion are also experiencing similar signs of the blight. Then maybe the blights will form a pattern, and the players might be able to find another town as the blight begins, or right before.
As much as Phandelver is a good starter campaign, it can be a little rough and can be a bit trudging at times.
Thanks! I tried to keep the original post short and sweet so I didn't go into the entire story arch. To your point, seven blights is a lot. But the loose framework I have in mind is that while the players will be learning about seven blights initially, they of course won't need to visit or defeat all of them to advance the plot. It's just a premise that conveys 'something is drastically off' in the normal landscape, and that it's not all uniform from location to location. I mean, I'm ready with notes if they decide they want to, but the blights themselves and the number of them aren't a main factor in being able to move the plot forward.
Have you considered having the NPC controlled by someone else? Perhaps coerced into gathering these people for some evil reason?
Another idea would be that this NPC is a hero that used to lead a party and who had a major injury to his head that resulted in him being a little off. He could be just gathering random people for the greater good and they come to find out that he's doing it because "Mr. Rock" told him to.
Honestly, I'd say it depends on the tone you want. As a writer, if I have something more specific in mind, I always try to determine the feeling I want to evoke first, and then follow it up with situations that will evoke this feeling. It seems like you have an idea what you want the result to be, you just don't know how to get there, so I'd suggest using this method and working backwards to get the most accurate idea for your story.
Hope this helps!
thechimericalcookie
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New to the forum—not sure if this is best suited for this section, or the Homebrew? I can move if need be…
---
I’m working on a homebrew story for my first ever campaign (yikes) and am trying to unearth, and then address, as many possible plot-holes in my story as I can before starting. I have the story’s basic framework but this is very much just a work in progress for now.
I’ll do a brief intro email to set up the story and world prior to character creation. But I’m planning for the real ‘call to adventure’ to consist of mailing (irl) each of my players individual letters once we have toons and names down. The premise of the story is that unnatural blights are afflicting seven small villages outside the region’s main city, so each player will receive a different cry for help from an NPC in each of these towns. Each of the blights is different, and the main town seems unaffected. The letters will clarify that [main good-guy NPC] told the sender “you may be able to help” (in other words). The letter would end by saying “[main good-guy NPC] was here to see my town’s strange happenings, and wants [the player character] to meet him in the main city at noon on [a certain date] to discuss the concerning ongoings” (or whatever)—which is how we get each of the seven characters converging in the same town to meet with [main good-guy NPC] at the same time. That's how I'd like to start off the first session.
The plot hole I’m running into is: why our player characters? How would [main good-guy NPC] know of our players, and why would he recommend/ call upon them? They don’t know each other, they don't know [main good-guy NPC], and they will be starting off at level 1, so “you are all the region’s most renown, toughest adventurers that I’m calling upon to fight off the afflictions” doesn’t work.
Any ideas?
TL;DR - Before we dive into the first session, how can I establish a relationship between a protagonist NPC and the party, if the party's characters are all starting at level 1 and don't already know of one another either?
You are doing work that might be better off being done by the players. What if you were to tell each of your players ahead of the first session that an unnatural blight is afflicting a small village outside the region’s main city? You could come up with seven different situations and provide a description of the blight that is affecting the village that pertains to them, then tell the players to fill in the blanks themselves as part of their character's background. That doesn't seem to railroadish to me. Let them design the characters and backgrounds they want, then let them decide how they came to this place where you are starting the first session. You don't even need to tell each of them about the way the story affects the other players. In fact, if you don't, then each character will have something to tell the other players about as they do their introductions. I think this idea fits in with most of the common character backgrounds as well.
(Not going to hit all of these, but here are some examples)
Anthropologist: While in the field living among the locals in a village, a blight popped up and you're helping them figure it out
Charlatan: You were run out of a village when the blight happened and they mistakenly took you as the cause of it
Refugee: You're displaced by the blight that has consumed your small village
Criminal: You saw a chance to commute your sentence by volunteering to uncover the cause of the blight that is affecting the village where you were jailed
Entertainer: A village you just passed in your travels is affected by a mysterious blight
Far Traveler: You heard tales of a blight in a small village that resembles one that affected your homeland and you want to find the cause
Folk Hero: Your village was affected by a mysterious blight and they are relying on your to figure it out and fix things
Hermit: You've been roused from your peaceful and solitary existence by displaced villagers on the run from a mysterious blight affecting their village
Mercenary: You heard some villagers were in trouble and it looks like there may be some coin in resolving these problems
Sailor: You've returned home after a long voyage to find your village consumed by a mysterious blight
Urchin: Your life has never been worth much, but with this blight affecting a nearby village, you've found your chance for fame and glory
Each player picks their background and then that informs the way the blight affects their character and why they have come to the big city to meet up with each other and with the friendly NPC.
"Not all those who wander are lost"
If it were me, I’d start with just the one blight. The players hear a rumor of a town in need, or they take a job, or they just stumble into the town, then take care of it. This catches the attention of the higher entity that set the blights upon the towns.
Perhaps after curing the first town, a lesser king calls for the characters’ aid, because three towns within his dominion are also experiencing similar signs of the blight. Then maybe the blights will form a pattern, and the players might be able to find another town as the blight begins, or right before.
As much as Phandelver is a good starter campaign, it can be a little rough and can be a bit trudging at times.
Thank you! I really like this idea. We have a couple of players who get really into character creation and back stories, so I anticipated this would happen naturally to a certain extent. The main concern is establishing the players' relationship with this one introductory NPC, which I have to figure out how to get them to latch on to without giving too much away.
Thanks for the reply! A couple things...
1) I will soon-ish (I hope!) be a new DM, but I'm not a new player. A different member of the group has lead us all through Phandelver, and a few others.
2) I'm aware 7 is on the larger end of the group-size spectrum. We've all been playing together for a couple years now and are very comfortable with personalities, play styles, preferences, what appeals to whom, etc. I'm not saying I'll be perfect in the role, but I am saying group size is not my main concern.
3) I appreciate the concern for the villain(s) and their motivations! I actually have all that worked out. That wasn't the point of my post, which is why I didn't mention it. I only mentioned the blights to give you enough information to understand why the players are receiving letters from a good NPC to start off the first session. This post is about looking for ideas on how to establish a relationship between a good NPC and the party before the actual questing begins.
Thanks! I tried to keep the original post short and sweet so I didn't go into the entire story arch. To your point, seven blights is a lot. But the loose framework I have in mind is that while the players will be learning about seven blights initially, they of course won't need to visit or defeat all of them to advance the plot. It's just a premise that conveys 'something is drastically off' in the normal landscape, and that it's not all uniform from location to location. I mean, I'm ready with notes if they decide they want to, but the blights themselves and the number of them aren't a main factor in being able to move the plot forward.
Have you considered having the NPC controlled by someone else? Perhaps coerced into gathering these people for some evil reason?
Another idea would be that this NPC is a hero that used to lead a party and who had a major injury to his head that resulted in him being a little off. He could be just gathering random people for the greater good and they come to find out that he's doing it because "Mr. Rock" told him to.
Honestly, I'd say it depends on the tone you want. As a writer, if I have something more specific in mind, I always try to determine the feeling I want to evoke first, and then follow it up with situations that will evoke this feeling. It seems like you have an idea what you want the result to be, you just don't know how to get there, so I'd suggest using this method and working backwards to get the most accurate idea for your story.
Hope this helps!
thechimericalcookie