I've played 4e all my life, and my group and I are finally making the switch to 5e. I wanna kick off the new "season" if you will with an awesome, involved, extremely fleshed out campaign. I of course want the story to revolve around my party and whatever they decide to do, but I don't know exactly where to start the genesis for this new world. I have some okay ideas concerning specifics, like making memorable NPCs and diabolical villains, but again, I don't know where to start. Any feedback I could get from experienced DMs or seasoned players who have been through worlds that they loved would be very much appreciated! Thanks!
My experience is that building an awesome, involved, extremely fleshed out campaign world is an act of futility (unless you are going to publish it). Just like in an adventure, your players will inevitably miss out on large chunks of it and dig into things you didn't anticipate.
My suggestion is to just flesh out the starting area (village or town and some nearby surrounding stuff) and then create and build new content as needed. This is a lot less work for you and in this way nearly everything you put effort into actually gets used and experienced.
Thank You! I really appreciate this, and it definitely takes away the overwhelming aspect of it all. Thanks for the tip, a developing campaign makes a lot more sense!
I'm going to second RealityStorm's advice - start small, and keep it as small as you can, only expanding when and where the players actually take things.
I've built dozens of worlds for my groups over the years, and nothing was ever more disappointing or frustrating than putting in hours of time making up cool stuff and no one else even learning about it, let alone actually caring.
I'm also getting back into building a campaign setting after a long while of not having anyone to run a game for. I've got some notes about the major political players in the world, and some on the regions, but the thing I have the most fleshed out is the first dungeon where the players will test themselves together and learn their playstyles in situ, and that's really just a list of the concept, the types of enemies they'll face in combat encounters, and a basic layout for them to go through with some notes on descriptive elements and the like. Starting small, focused on a single town with a single dungeon, and then building outwards as the players explore is probably the best way to run a game, IMO. You don't have to know all the details at the start, just enough for them to want to go out and explore.
I'm going to second RealityStorm's advice - start small, and keep it as small as you can, only expanding when and where the players actually take things.
I've built dozens of worlds for my groups over the years, and nothing was ever more disappointing or frustrating than putting in hours of time making up cool stuff and no one else even learning about it, let alone actually caring.
Mark this down as a moment that AoB and I agree on something. Start small! And build only what you reasonable think you will use. Also remember that there is a big difference between a campaign and a setting.
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As for me, I choose to believe that an extinct thunder lizard is running a game of Dungeons & Dragons via Twitter!
I tend to work in the opposite direction, while still starting small. I'll start with a theme - a quick idea about the campaign and how the players will interact with it. For one campaign that started with me and one other player the theme was "The hero is destined for a heroic (in the old Greek sense of the word) death". My current campaign started with the idea "Post Revolution America with high fantasy magic".
From there I'll build the setting - a quick outline of the history of the world leading up to where I want my players to start out. Any nations or people that would have an immediate effect on the PCs. The religion of the world. And so on.
If inspiration strikes, I might go more in-depth on the backstory of the world - it doesn't matter to me if I have stuff the players will never see or hear, if the myth of St Caldwell never comes up in play - this isn't wasted effort any more than a player's 20 page background is. It's all stuff that helps me as a DM to present a "realistic" (as in, logically coherent) and fleshed-out world and helps the players with "the willing suspension of disbelief". However, this part is not necessarily needed and if it's "work" then it can be scrapped. I'm just saying if it does happen, if you start writing and a whole bunch of cool stuff comes to mind, embrace it. Write it down. Don't feel resentment if your players never delve into it, enjoy it for what it is - something that helps you stay in character - not as an NPC, but as the world. Worlds have character as well - Tolkien's Middle Earth is a different place from Martin's Westeros, Forgotten Realms is not Eberron, etc.
Once I have the broad strokes painted, then I work on the smaller details of where we start. One city or village, with ideas for the surrounding region. I make the connection between my outline of world history and the current state of the immediate area and connect the dots where needed. I note the important NPCs and close locations and come up with a few plot-hooks. I tend to start sandboxy - especially if I'm playing with a new group (like I am now), where I don't necessarily know everyone's play style - and let things like story develop from the PCs actions.
I create an outline of what happens in the world for the next month or so - not a list for every day, but the important things - the things that PCs are likely to overhear in the tavern as they rest up from the last dungeon crawl ("D'you hear that Holdencamp got sacked by pirates last week?" "Aye. And they say that the goblins are getting bolder on the East Highway." "Lord Sonso is raising taxes to fund a larger guard, but with the way the crops are this year, I don't know how I'll afford it." "Troubled times"). The events that happen closest to the start date of the campaign most likely are inevitable, while those further out toward the end of the month are barring PC intervention, some are connected with larger plot ideas, and some are just events like a famine or plague or a new sect of religion getting started. Once I've got the world up and moving, I throw the PCs in and let them have at it.
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I've played 4e all my life, and my group and I are finally making the switch to 5e. I wanna kick off the new "season" if you will with an awesome, involved, extremely fleshed out campaign. I of course want the story to revolve around my party and whatever they decide to do, but I don't know exactly where to start the genesis for this new world. I have some okay ideas concerning specifics, like making memorable NPCs and diabolical villains, but again, I don't know where to start. Any feedback I could get from experienced DMs or seasoned players who have been through worlds that they loved would be very much appreciated! Thanks!
My experience is that building an awesome, involved, extremely fleshed out campaign world is an act of futility (unless you are going to publish it). Just like in an adventure, your players will inevitably miss out on large chunks of it and dig into things you didn't anticipate.
My suggestion is to just flesh out the starting area (village or town and some nearby surrounding stuff) and then create and build new content as needed. This is a lot less work for you and in this way nearly everything you put effort into actually gets used and experienced.
Thank You! I really appreciate this, and it definitely takes away the overwhelming aspect of it all. Thanks for the tip, a developing campaign makes a lot more sense!
I'm going to second RealityStorm's advice - start small, and keep it as small as you can, only expanding when and where the players actually take things.
I've built dozens of worlds for my groups over the years, and nothing was ever more disappointing or frustrating than putting in hours of time making up cool stuff and no one else even learning about it, let alone actually caring.
I'm also getting back into building a campaign setting after a long while of not having anyone to run a game for. I've got some notes about the major political players in the world, and some on the regions, but the thing I have the most fleshed out is the first dungeon where the players will test themselves together and learn their playstyles in situ, and that's really just a list of the concept, the types of enemies they'll face in combat encounters, and a basic layout for them to go through with some notes on descriptive elements and the like. Starting small, focused on a single town with a single dungeon, and then building outwards as the players explore is probably the best way to run a game, IMO. You don't have to know all the details at the start, just enough for them to want to go out and explore.
As for me, I choose to believe that an extinct thunder lizard is running a game of Dungeons & Dragons via Twitter!
I tend to work in the opposite direction, while still starting small. I'll start with a theme - a quick idea about the campaign and how the players will interact with it. For one campaign that started with me and one other player the theme was "The hero is destined for a heroic (in the old Greek sense of the word) death". My current campaign started with the idea "Post Revolution America with high fantasy magic".
From there I'll build the setting - a quick outline of the history of the world leading up to where I want my players to start out. Any nations or people that would have an immediate effect on the PCs. The religion of the world. And so on.
If inspiration strikes, I might go more in-depth on the backstory of the world - it doesn't matter to me if I have stuff the players will never see or hear, if the myth of St Caldwell never comes up in play - this isn't wasted effort any more than a player's 20 page background is. It's all stuff that helps me as a DM to present a "realistic" (as in, logically coherent) and fleshed-out world and helps the players with "the willing suspension of disbelief". However, this part is not necessarily needed and if it's "work" then it can be scrapped. I'm just saying if it does happen, if you start writing and a whole bunch of cool stuff comes to mind, embrace it. Write it down. Don't feel resentment if your players never delve into it, enjoy it for what it is - something that helps you stay in character - not as an NPC, but as the world. Worlds have character as well - Tolkien's Middle Earth is a different place from Martin's Westeros, Forgotten Realms is not Eberron, etc.
Once I have the broad strokes painted, then I work on the smaller details of where we start. One city or village, with ideas for the surrounding region. I make the connection between my outline of world history and the current state of the immediate area and connect the dots where needed. I note the important NPCs and close locations and come up with a few plot-hooks. I tend to start sandboxy - especially if I'm playing with a new group (like I am now), where I don't necessarily know everyone's play style - and let things like story develop from the PCs actions.
I create an outline of what happens in the world for the next month or so - not a list for every day, but the important things - the things that PCs are likely to overhear in the tavern as they rest up from the last dungeon crawl ("D'you hear that Holdencamp got sacked by pirates last week?" "Aye. And they say that the goblins are getting bolder on the East Highway." "Lord Sonso is raising taxes to fund a larger guard, but with the way the crops are this year, I don't know how I'll afford it." "Troubled times"). The events that happen closest to the start date of the campaign most likely are inevitable, while those further out toward the end of the month are barring PC intervention, some are connected with larger plot ideas, and some are just events like a famine or plague or a new sect of religion getting started. Once I've got the world up and moving, I throw the PCs in and let them have at it.