We will be playing our second session on saturday and I was planning on advancing the main plot. They will arrive at the castle at the request of the emperor but he isn't ready and wants them to join him for supper. About 12 hours after their arrival. Originally in was planning to skip over this 12 hours for the most part maybe spend 5 or 10 minutes on it.
But after talking to them a bit .... they want more time to be spent here they want a side quest or two at the castle before supper. And I have no idea what I should do. (My campaign has no magic in it if that matters)
Unless it steps on some plan where the Emperor is really corrupt and finding people opposed to his rule would reveal that too early in the campaign; maybe there's some kind of assassin who's gotten into the king's court? Maybe they had their plot uncovered and had to kill someone else to keep them quiet and now the adventurers need to play a game of Clue, or even prove a party member's own innocence.
That's all I can think of that would be relatively simple on short notice.
First of all I wouldn't just start dropping a meaningless side-quests all over the campaign. You said they arrived at the castle and have to wait for 12h - so how about you give them a tour around the castle and the city, show them around as some NPC (for instance the castellan) and give them more info about the world they're in. Especially that it's just the second session so they probably have no idea about the world they're in whatsoever.
A fun benchmark for your quest can be the one from Wither 3 when you visit Emhyr for the first time. If you hadn't play the game yet, feel free to watch first 5-7 min of it on youtube (i don't think it would spoil too much). So they might need to change clothes, tell more about themselves to the personal guards, learn some manners, understand how the court works and who is important there besides the emperor. I'm sure that it can give you an hour or two of fun and create an environment to explore the characters.
I would definitely avoid any kind of serious fighting scenes but you can use some mechanics and rolls for sports activities like horse race, wooden sword practice with guards, etc. etc.
I agree that side quests shouldn't be meaningless.
They can, however, be the beginning of a different plot thread. Nothing says you can't have more than one related plot thread underway at once. Nothing says you can't have more than one story/adventure unfolding at once.
You can drop a story hook using any denizen of the court, or the castle. Perhaps the Emperor's "master of spies" has an ongoing mission for them, which they can get the first encounter done in the 12 or so hours until their audience with the Emperor. Perhaps a highly placed court noble is under suspicion of treason, but the spymaster's operatives in the castle are known to the Noble's men, so the spymaster needs someone new on the scene. This may - or may not - have tie-ins to the main plot that will come out of the Emperor's audience. The suspected treason, and the storyline it entails, could be a totally separate story.
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First time DM here
We will be playing our second session on saturday and I was planning on advancing the main plot. They will arrive at the castle at the request of the emperor but he isn't ready and wants them to join him for supper. About 12 hours after their arrival. Originally in was planning to skip over this 12 hours for the most part maybe spend 5 or 10 minutes on it.
But after talking to them a bit .... they want more time to be spent here they want a side quest or two at the castle before supper. And I have no idea what I should do. (My campaign has no magic in it if that matters)
And help or ideas would be appreciated.
Unless it steps on some plan where the Emperor is really corrupt and finding people opposed to his rule would reveal that too early in the campaign; maybe there's some kind of assassin who's gotten into the king's court? Maybe they had their plot uncovered and had to kill someone else to keep them quiet and now the adventurers need to play a game of Clue, or even prove a party member's own innocence.
That's all I can think of that would be relatively simple on short notice.
First of all I wouldn't just start dropping a meaningless side-quests all over the campaign. You said they arrived at the castle and have to wait for 12h - so how about you give them a tour around the castle and the city, show them around as some NPC (for instance the castellan) and give them more info about the world they're in. Especially that it's just the second session so they probably have no idea about the world they're in whatsoever.
A fun benchmark for your quest can be the one from Wither 3 when you visit Emhyr for the first time. If you hadn't play the game yet, feel free to watch first 5-7 min of it on youtube (i don't think it would spoil too much). So they might need to change clothes, tell more about themselves to the personal guards, learn some manners, understand how the court works and who is important there besides the emperor. I'm sure that it can give you an hour or two of fun and create an environment to explore the characters.
I would definitely avoid any kind of serious fighting scenes but you can use some mechanics and rolls for sports activities like horse race, wooden sword practice with guards, etc. etc.
Check my new Warlock subclass - The Living Plane
I agree that side quests shouldn't be meaningless.
They can, however, be the beginning of a different plot thread. Nothing says you can't have more than one related plot thread underway at once. Nothing says you can't have more than one story/adventure unfolding at once.
You can drop a story hook using any denizen of the court, or the castle. Perhaps the Emperor's "master of spies" has an ongoing mission for them, which they can get the first encounter done in the 12 or so hours until their audience with the Emperor. Perhaps a highly placed court noble is under suspicion of treason, but the spymaster's operatives in the castle are known to the Noble's men, so the spymaster needs someone new on the scene. This may - or may not - have tie-ins to the main plot that will come out of the Emperor's audience. The suspected treason, and the storyline it entails, could be a totally separate story.
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.