I'm a new DM who has already started his first campaign. I'm worried that my players aren't getting enough random encounters and quests that'll help them level up and grind. It almost feels like a railroad that even I'm not controlling as we're just going through the steps I laid out. This is why I've decided that all the store owners within a specific town that they're staying in for a while will all have quests available. Unfortunately, no so good at these. This one is a rumor from the tavern of, "The Tipsy Goblin."
A star has fallen from the heavens being spotted by a caravan. From the trajectory, they could only assume it crashed somewhere within the coral canyons.(a four days journey from their town.) AND BLANK. Can't wait to see how creative this gets.
The obvious reference here is "stardust" by Neil Gaiman.
So in this case the fallen star is actually a person or being. The party is initially tasked with finding the star for a reward but now is faced with an ethical dilemma.
That being said, one of the best ways to come up with "random quests" is to listen to what the players are talking about, steal ideas. Find the elements of the world that they engage in, unfortunately, this may not always be what your "grand story" is. Players may say, "that DM was great", but they rarely say "that story was great", they more often say "let me tell you what my character did."
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"An' things ha' come to a pretty pass, ye ken, if people are going to leave stuff like that aroound where innocent people could accidentally smash the door doon and lever the bars aside and take the big chain off'f the cupboard and pick the lock and drink it!"
I had my players find the diary of a dead treasure hunter, so like if I ever need a side quest I can be like “you notice a mountain in the shape of a drunk goat, you recall something from the diary about a drunken goat shaped mountain, finding the page it talks of a X and a X that contains an X”
The falling star is actually a fragment of consciousness from a malevolent entity from the Far Realm. Its impact has created something of a tunneled dungeon as strange monsters drawn to it have been mutated by its weird emanations and created a maze-like warren around its resting place. Nearby villages are having issues with strange developments in their crops and animals, and the hill-people have become monstrous cannibals.
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"The mongoose blew out its candle and was asleep in bed before the room went dark." —Llanowar fable
If the root problem you’re trying to solve is them not having enough xp, just give them more. You can call it story xp or whatever you like, but just give them more. And not to make too much of it, but D&D should never be a grind. There’s no one setting arbitrary level targets before entering certain zones, or if there is, its you and you can change them. Seems a bit like a video game mentality creeping in.
As for the star thing, tie it in with the main storyline. The thing is a creature summoned by the big bad. Or the big bad needs some of the metals or crystals or something in the meteorite and is sending some minions to fetch them.
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I'm a new DM who has already started his first campaign. I'm worried that my players aren't getting enough random encounters and quests that'll help them level up and grind. It almost feels like a railroad that even I'm not controlling as we're just going through the steps I laid out. This is why I've decided that all the store owners within a specific town that they're staying in for a while will all have quests available. Unfortunately, no so good at these. This one is a rumor from the tavern of, "The Tipsy Goblin."
A star has fallen from the heavens being spotted by a caravan. From the trajectory, they could only assume it crashed somewhere within the coral canyons.(a four days journey from their town.) AND BLANK. Can't wait to see how creative this gets.
I haven't seen insufficient random encounters being a serious problem, but the obvious tradition is star spawn.
The obvious reference here is "stardust" by Neil Gaiman.
So in this case the fallen star is actually a person or being. The party is initially tasked with finding the star for a reward but now is faced with an ethical dilemma.
That being said, one of the best ways to come up with "random quests" is to listen to what the players are talking about, steal ideas. Find the elements of the world that they engage in, unfortunately, this may not always be what your "grand story" is. Players may say, "that DM was great", but they rarely say "that story was great", they more often say "let me tell you what my character did."
"An' things ha' come to a pretty pass, ye ken, if people are going to leave stuff like that aroound where innocent people could accidentally smash the door doon and lever the bars aside and take the big chain off'f the cupboard and pick the lock and drink it!"
I had my players find the diary of a dead treasure hunter, so like if I ever need a side quest I can be like “you notice a mountain in the shape of a drunk goat, you recall something from the diary about a drunken goat shaped mountain, finding the page it talks of a X and a X that contains an X”
The falling star is actually a fragment of consciousness from a malevolent entity from the Far Realm. Its impact has created something of a tunneled dungeon as strange monsters drawn to it have been mutated by its weird emanations and created a maze-like warren around its resting place. Nearby villages are having issues with strange developments in their crops and animals, and the hill-people have become monstrous cannibals.
...my gosh that's an awesome plotline.
If the root problem you’re trying to solve is them not having enough xp, just give them more. You can call it story xp or whatever you like, but just give them more.
And not to make too much of it, but D&D should never be a grind. There’s no one setting arbitrary level targets before entering certain zones, or if there is, its you and you can change them. Seems a bit like a video game mentality creeping in.
As for the star thing, tie it in with the main storyline. The thing is a creature summoned by the big bad. Or the big bad needs some of the metals or crystals or something in the meteorite and is sending some minions to fetch them.