Experienced DM here, playing with people that have played 4+ campaigns and one former DM.
I have built a wild west like world. The biggest island is more like the American frontier. The second largest is more like Europe during the same time. I have flushed out the world and have some key characters as well as some mini quests. My big issue is that I have no idea what to do for the main quest. I am one of those DMs that functions best with a main quest line so I do need one but I swear I'm at a loss.
Since you are doing some wild west theme, maybe one of the things happening in your world is that because people are discovering technology, they are turning away from magic and the main quest would be to find a way to keep or bring back magic to the realm.
Otherwise, you could be inspired by another system called Deadlands where a major happening brought on monstrosities into your world and the ultimate quest is to find how to close that proverbial door for good.
As Naivara suggested, something railroad related where the players all work for one company in search of bringing their railroad first to the west. Diplomacy/intrigue/Spying/Sabotage are on the menu and the heroes are there to fight off threats and find answers (you could have the heroes follow this railway and stop wherever you feel like for adventuring) and have some interesting setting inside wagons as well (look at Snowpiercer for instance)
The long lost treasure hoard of a band of thieves is hidden in the west and finding + getting to it will become the main quest. Untold riches!!
Also, a thing that you could do is build off from your character's backstory. Looks like you have experienced players, so they should have goals for their characters, start with that and find some common ground and make that the main quest.
Perhaps there’s some extremely valuable resource native to these lands, but one person has figured out how to tap into it and draw even greater power from it, using it for evil. In a similar setting, I had a BBEG like that, literally crushing up the bones of dead gods and smoking them, allowing him to copy the powers of a god generate magical power from the belief of his followers, who revered him like a god, and using said power to extend his life.
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"Ignorance is bliss, and you look absolutely miserable."
How did you build a world without telling a story first? I think you probably came up with lots of different quest lines even if you didn't think of them that way at the time. Find the two parts of the world that most interested you when you were building it and smash them against each other. That's your central conflict. Now zoom in and find space in the wreckage for the characters to navigate. That's your main quest line.
Otherwise, you could be inspired by another system called Deadlands where a major happening brought on monstrosities into your world and the ultimate quest is to find how to close that proverbial door for good.
I've been really enjoying Deadlands (Classic) this past year as a player (a German photojournalist named Hans who was a terrible gambler; and, an Irish-American priest named Fr. O'Flynn who is a werewolf hunter). As Hunter alluded to, the overall metaplot is that there was a spiritual/paranormal cataclysm event that raised the dead and monstrosities suddenly into the world back during the Civil War (not a perfect game for a variety of mechanics and social/cultural unpleasatries that are better discussed independently of this threat).
Could totally work as an overall campaign for your world: legions of undead and abberations/monstrosities are suddenly appearing across the lands for reasons unknown, the party travels across the lands saving various towns, and eventually discovers the Reason and find a way to close up the Portal. In true D&D fashion, maybe this Portal was opened by a cult or evil Diety as revenge against the world. Every session could even be a One Shot in different locations of your continent, until eventually there's a big bad evil wizard who opened the Portal (or works to keep it open) to fight at an appropriate level and time...
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Boldly go
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Experienced DM here, playing with people that have played 4+ campaigns and one former DM.
I have built a wild west like world. The biggest island is more like the American frontier. The second largest is more like Europe during the same time. I have flushed out the world and have some key characters as well as some mini quests. My big issue is that I have no idea what to do for the main quest. I am one of those DMs that functions best with a main quest line so I do need one but I swear I'm at a loss.
Any suggestions??? Please!!!!
Western-style adventures, hmmm...
—The characters are hired to clear the way for a new railroad or wagon train crossing the continent
—The characters must bring frontier justice to a network of rustlers and outlaws
—The characters have to clear out an ever-expanding gold mine for prospectors
—The native elves who attacked the characters' fort harbor a dark secret the characters must uncover
—The characters are old-fashioned train robbers who flee from (and eventually confront) a powerful lawman
—The characters slowly assemble an oil empire from a map left behind by a prospector dwarf
Wizard (Gandalf) of the Tolkien Club
Perhaps there’s some extremely valuable resource native to these lands, but one person has figured out how to tap into it and draw even greater power from it, using it for evil. In a similar setting, I had a BBEG like that, literally crushing up the bones of dead gods and smoking them, allowing him to copy the powers of a god generate magical power from the belief of his followers, who revered him like a god, and using said power to extend his life.
"Ignorance is bliss, and you look absolutely miserable."
How did you build a world without telling a story first? I think you probably came up with lots of different quest lines even if you didn't think of them that way at the time. Find the two parts of the world that most interested you when you were building it and smash them against each other. That's your central conflict. Now zoom in and find space in the wreckage for the characters to navigate. That's your main quest line.
I've been really enjoying Deadlands (Classic) this past year as a player (a German photojournalist named Hans who was a terrible gambler; and, an Irish-American priest named Fr. O'Flynn who is a werewolf hunter). As Hunter alluded to, the overall metaplot is that there was a spiritual/paranormal cataclysm event that raised the dead and monstrosities suddenly into the world back during the Civil War (not a perfect game for a variety of mechanics and social/cultural unpleasatries that are better discussed independently of this threat).
Could totally work as an overall campaign for your world: legions of undead and abberations/monstrosities are suddenly appearing across the lands for reasons unknown, the party travels across the lands saving various towns, and eventually discovers the Reason and find a way to close up the Portal. In true D&D fashion, maybe this Portal was opened by a cult or evil Diety as revenge against the world. Every session could even be a One Shot in different locations of your continent, until eventually there's a big bad evil wizard who opened the Portal (or works to keep it open) to fight at an appropriate level and time...
Boldly go