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The way I start my campaigns is I decide who the big bad is going to be. Pick your main villain. Decide their motivation and goals. That'll be your basic plot for the characters to follow, stopping that.
Then I break it down into arc (I aim for 3-4 but however many you think is appropriate) Pick a lesser villain for these arcs who are subservient to your main villain to keep your campaign consistent. And from there build up each arc with side quests, dungeons, loot, etc to gear up your characters for each boss fight, eventually leading to your main bossfight.
I try to prep no more than one arc ahead at a time so if my players make weird decisions I don't have to scrap a ton of work, and I don't usually build my villains until a session or two before my players are due to fight them, but have your basic goal in mind and that'll really help you keep consistency and add in some good forshadowing while building tension.
Maybe consider starting with a premade adventure and then create your own stuff from there. It'll give you and your players a feel for what to expect.
I would second Matt's and the Geek and Sundry tips. I'm pretty sure its mentioned in one of those tips deciding what kind of Dm you'd like to be. Personally, I feel that my job as DM is to set a stage for players to be all they can be. I think it's in the tips mentioned above about creating a world your players can be heroes in. I've also played in games that have been DM vs Players and that can be fun too. Very competitive spirit but not my favorite style.
What I've noticed playing some campaigns with less experienced DM's is that they feel they have to control everything. I think an important part of running a good campaign is realizing that you have to let go, sometimes of major story arcs, because your players just didn't do what you thought they would do. You need to think on your feet and be prepared for anything and everything to go exactly in a way you weren't prepared for. There are ways you can wrangle a group back towards their (well your) directive but sometimes players just have their own ideas of how things should go.
My advice. As Ishliayaq said, come up with a main goal and I would suggest to start small. Create a map of the area and include a couple random locations even if they don't have anything to do with the main goal right away. Create a couple, few key NPC's in that map and a very simple story for each of your locations on the map. Creating campaigns this way (for me) ensures that if for some reason a player decides he's doesn't want anything to do with that half orc by the stable and runs west I know where he ends up. I also know that the iron the half orc uses to make horse shoes comes from the mine in the west that the player happens to run to. And guess what...
For some reason there hasn't been any recent shipments from that mine recently. The foreman has sent several messages but hasn't heard anything back. If only there was someone who was willing to go see what's going on he'd be willing to pay.
Eventually they would have ended up checking out the mine anyway. Everyone in the area has suffered in some way by the mine not producing.The cleric notices their seems to be an awful lot of sick people in this town or the other. The fighters guild is complaining about the quality of steel. If you can add in a few key NPC's they can steer your party in the direction they should go. It also keeps the game fluid. Instead of having to say something like "You see a very suspicious looking fellow who glances at you and hurries away. Do you follow him" You can tell the players what the town is like and ask them where they want to go. No matter where they go you'll be prepared.
Now that I'm writing this I guess it could seem like more work, but it actually makes game play smoother in the long run and builds a more enriched world. It is more, for you as DM, to keep track of but hey, you're the one who wants to DM :)
What I really like about DM'ing is creating many paths for the players to achieve an overall storyline. Using this approach, many times the players end up creating their own stories within the overall storyline and it just makes the game better.
I'm a new DM, trying to put together a campaign for my friends and me. I have no idea where to start, can anyone help me out? Thanks!
I might advise against putting together a whole campaign all at once - take it one adventure at a time.
You also might seriously consider starting with one of the introductory published adventures - learn to DM, and learn to build adventures separately.
I'd carefully read the Creating Adventures section of the DMG - all of the DMG really, but that's the section tied to adventures.
I'd also check out Matt Colville's Running the Game series - here: https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLlUk42GiU2guNzWBzxn7hs8MaV7ELLCP_
I'd also check out GM Tips on Geek and Sundry here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6XikjjQok5Y&list=PL7atuZxmT9570U87GhK_20NcbxM43vkom
But really - start small, and start with as much pre-created material as you can, until you get your feet under you.
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.
Thank you so much!
The way I start my campaigns is I decide who the big bad is going to be. Pick your main villain. Decide their motivation and goals. That'll be your basic plot for the characters to follow, stopping that.
Then I break it down into arc (I aim for 3-4 but however many you think is appropriate) Pick a lesser villain for these arcs who are subservient to your main villain to keep your campaign consistent. And from there build up each arc with side quests, dungeons, loot, etc to gear up your characters for each boss fight, eventually leading to your main bossfight.
I try to prep no more than one arc ahead at a time so if my players make weird decisions I don't have to scrap a ton of work, and I don't usually build my villains until a session or two before my players are due to fight them, but have your basic goal in mind and that'll really help you keep consistency and add in some good forshadowing while building tension.
Maybe consider starting with a premade adventure and then create your own stuff from there. It'll give you and your players a feel for what to expect.
If you need it, I can homebrew it.
I would second Matt's and the Geek and Sundry tips. I'm pretty sure its mentioned in one of those tips deciding what kind of Dm you'd like to be. Personally, I feel that my job as DM is to set a stage for players to be all they can be. I think it's in the tips mentioned above about creating a world your players can be heroes in. I've also played in games that have been DM vs Players and that can be fun too. Very competitive spirit but not my favorite style.
What I've noticed playing some campaigns with less experienced DM's is that they feel they have to control everything. I think an important part of running a good campaign is realizing that you have to let go, sometimes of major story arcs, because your players just didn't do what you thought they would do. You need to think on your feet and be prepared for anything and everything to go exactly in a way you weren't prepared for. There are ways you can wrangle a group back towards their (well your) directive but sometimes players just have their own ideas of how things should go.
My advice. As Ishliayaq said, come up with a main goal and I would suggest to start small. Create a map of the area and include a couple random locations even if they don't have anything to do with the main goal right away. Create a couple, few key NPC's in that map and a very simple story for each of your locations on the map. Creating campaigns this way (for me) ensures that if for some reason a player decides he's doesn't want anything to do with that half orc by the stable and runs west I know where he ends up. I also know that the iron the half orc uses to make horse shoes comes from the mine in the west that the player happens to run to. And guess what...
For some reason there hasn't been any recent shipments from that mine recently. The foreman has sent several messages but hasn't heard anything back. If only there was someone who was willing to go see what's going on he'd be willing to pay.
Eventually they would have ended up checking out the mine anyway. Everyone in the area has suffered in some way by the mine not producing.The cleric notices their seems to be an awful lot of sick people in this town or the other. The fighters guild is complaining about the quality of steel. If you can add in a few key NPC's they can steer your party in the direction they should go. It also keeps the game fluid. Instead of having to say something like "You see a very suspicious looking fellow who glances at you and hurries away. Do you follow him" You can tell the players what the town is like and ask them where they want to go. No matter where they go you'll be prepared.
Now that I'm writing this I guess it could seem like more work, but it actually makes game play smoother in the long run and builds a more enriched world. It is more, for you as DM, to keep track of but hey, you're the one who wants to DM :)
What I really like about DM'ing is creating many paths for the players to achieve an overall storyline. Using this approach, many times the players end up creating their own stories within the overall storyline and it just makes the game better.
That's what happens when you wear a helmet your whole life!
My house rules