So as I said in the title, I am a new DM. I have minimal experience of actual playing, about 1 month. Also I have listened to D&D podcasts for the last year though so I somewhat have an understanding of how the game works. What I am hoping to get out of this post is some feedback on my campaign idea.
The adventure will begin with my PCs being captured and taken to the king for punishment for the heinous crimes they committed in our last campaign. The king will give them an option of either execution, or to help him with a task. (Since they proved their worth in public arena combat in the last campaign, it is reasonable he would think that they could help with this.) The task is to recover a set of 5 ancient coins that would complete his deceased father's coin collection. He warns them if they try to run or escape during the mission, he will send word to every kingdom that they are murderous outlaws that need to be killed on sight.
If they accept the mission, they will be given a map by the cartographer, and asked to set sail. The 5 coins are located on 5 different islands, known as the Digitos Islands. Digitos is Latin for fingers, and the islands together kind of look like 5 fingers. Each island will pose a different type of challenge to retrieve each coin. They can pick wherever they'd like to go first. I will try to use NPCs to give vague hints as to what is going on for each island when they arrive there.
The Islands - Described from right to left based on the posted picture.
The far right island will revolve around riddles and strange combat encounters that require thinking. For example a room that spawns monsters that have to be killed in a certain order based on the first letter in their names, or else they revive. The riddle will be hinted at in another room by being given a 3 letter word that is essentially the key to this puzzle.
The next island from the right will be a murder mystery town, less focused on combat and more on finding clues and figuring out who the murderer is, at which point the town mayor will give the coin to the adventurers.
The middle island will be a stealth based mission, involving smuggling villagers from the outlying regions into the rich upper class city that their farms supply. (still working on the details of that one)
The second from the left I have not figured out yet.
The island on the far left will just be a very dangerous dungeon with high level monsters. To get this coin they basically fight their way through some kind of dungeon with traps.
My questions:
1. Does this campaign sound too on rails? I know they are essentially being forced to go on this quest, but they can tackle the challenges in whatever ways they see fit.
2. Are there any major things I am missing? Motivating factors? Gaping plot holes they could take advantage of?
3. Does this campaign sound like it will get repetitive in any way?
4. Do you have any other input or suggestions for me?
Also - 2 of the 3 players have only played one short (1 month) campaign, so they are as new as I am. The third has a bit more experience.
A lot of people are going to tell you that rail roading is bad, and if you are forcing players to do something they don't want to do, then it is bad. However if you tell your players that your game is linear, but with options and consequences, then they will know what they are getting into. If everyone is pretty new, they can be paralyzed by options.
Whether you intended this or not, your campaign serves as an advertisement for the various pillars of play. Dungeon crawling, exploring, puzzle solving, this campaign is a great way to introduce them to all of this. Be careful with the stealth mission, it only takes one bad roll for it to become a failed mission or a "kill everything" mission. Maybe make it involve more Role play? If the smuggling fails maybe turn to diplomacy, and if that doesn't work try good old fashion intimidation and black mail. I might recommend that the Island you dont have any ideas for be a series of skill challenges. Maybe an Olympics Style contest is being held on an island and the "metal" is one of the coins. Either have them compete themselves, or have them help a local competitor win, and in return he gives them the metal.
Not every campaign has to be a sandbox, and if you have a linear path, then you're going to be better prepared and everyone including your players arw going to have a better time. The seems like a fun campaign that will hone your skills and their skills and whet everyone's appetite for more ambitious campaigns down the road.
P.s. Make them aware of the "spirit" or "vibe" of the game. Otherwise why can't they kill the mayor and take the coin. This game is a thing that you made for them, if they appreciate that they won't play against the spirit of the game.
P.p.s. Oh, also keeping track of EXP is burdensome and not a lot of fun. I'd let them level up after they complete each island. Also, make sure to include bits of there back stories. Maybe the person that was murdered or the main suspect of the murder is connect to one of the PCs past for example. This will give them motivation to do the things you want to do. Mine those back stories, on each island let one of the PCs have a connection to someone or something. Your players have probably put as much thought into their character as you have your campaign, respecting their Creations will help them respect yours.
Thank you for taking the time to make such a well though out response!
I will definitely tread carefully if I decide to leave a stealth based mission in, as I am not sure how I would resolve it if it went poorly. I do enjoy the idea of having some kind of diplomatic solution in place or maybe something where they have to resolve some kind of political feud within the city.
I like your suggestion of an island based on skill challenges, Olympic style! I think after the introduction and whatnot they will understand what I am asking of them, and take part in the “spirit” of what I had in mind. Luckily they don’t seem like the type to intentionally derail the suggested narrative set forth!
And as far as XP goes, I am not going to keep track. It seems like a lot to keep up with. I will probably just level them up every couple sessions or maybe every island like you suggested, depending on how quickly they move through it.
I got a lot of work to do before the session next Tuesday. Again, I can’t thank you enough for taking your own time to help me out, I really do appreciate it.
So as I said in the title, I am a new DM. I have minimal experience of actual playing, about 1 month. Also I have listened to D&D podcasts for the last year though so I somewhat have an understanding of how the game works. What I am hoping to get out of this post is some feedback on my campaign idea.
The adventure will begin with my PCs being captured and taken to the king for punishment for the heinous crimes they committed in our last campaign. The king will give them an option of either execution, or to help him with a task. (Since they proved their worth in public arena combat in the last campaign, it is reasonable he would think that they could help with this.) The task is to recover a set of 5 ancient coins that would complete his deceased father's coin collection. He warns them if they try to run or escape during the mission, he will send word to every kingdom that they are murderous outlaws that need to be killed on sight.
If they accept the mission, they will be given a map by the cartographer, and asked to set sail. The 5 coins are located on 5 different islands, known as the Digitos Islands. Digitos is Latin for fingers, and the islands together kind of look like 5 fingers. Each island will pose a different type of challenge to retrieve each coin. They can pick wherever they'd like to go first. I will try to use NPCs to give vague hints as to what is going on for each island when they arrive there.
The Islands - Described from right to left based on the posted picture.
The far right island will revolve around riddles and strange combat encounters that require thinking. For example a room that spawns monsters that have to be killed in a certain order based on the first letter in their names, or else they revive. The riddle will be hinted at in another room by being given a 3 letter word that is essentially the key to this puzzle.
The next island from the right will be a murder mystery town, less focused on combat and more on finding clues and figuring out who the murderer is, at which point the town mayor will give the coin to the adventurers.
The middle island will be a stealth based mission, involving smuggling villagers from the outlying regions into the rich upper class city that their farms supply. (still working on the details of that one)
The second from the left I have not figured out yet.
The island on the far left will just be a very dangerous dungeon with high level monsters. To get this coin they basically fight their way through some kind of dungeon with traps.
My questions:
1. Does this campaign sound too on rails? I know they are essentially being forced to go on this quest, but they can tackle the challenges in whatever ways they see fit.
2. Are there any major things I am missing? Motivating factors? Gaping plot holes they could take advantage of?
3. Does this campaign sound like it will get repetitive in any way?
4. Do you have any other input or suggestions for me?
Also - 2 of the 3 players have only played one short (1 month) campaign, so they are as new as I am. The third has a bit more experience.
A lot of people are going to tell you that rail roading is bad, and if you are forcing players to do something they don't want to do, then it is bad. However if you tell your players that your game is linear, but with options and consequences, then they will know what they are getting into. If everyone is pretty new, they can be paralyzed by options.
Whether you intended this or not, your campaign serves as an advertisement for the various pillars of play. Dungeon crawling, exploring, puzzle solving, this campaign is a great way to introduce them to all of this. Be careful with the stealth mission, it only takes one bad roll for it to become a failed mission or a "kill everything" mission. Maybe make it involve more Role play? If the smuggling fails maybe turn to diplomacy, and if that doesn't work try good old fashion intimidation and black mail. I might recommend that the Island you dont have any ideas for be a series of skill challenges. Maybe an Olympics Style contest is being held on an island and the "metal" is one of the coins. Either have them compete themselves, or have them help a local competitor win, and in return he gives them the metal.
Not every campaign has to be a sandbox, and if you have a linear path, then you're going to be better prepared and everyone including your players arw going to have a better time. The seems like a fun campaign that will hone your skills and their skills and whet everyone's appetite for more ambitious campaigns down the road.
P.s. Make them aware of the "spirit" or "vibe" of the game. Otherwise why can't they kill the mayor and take the coin. This game is a thing that you made for them, if they appreciate that they won't play against the spirit of the game.
P.p.s. Oh, also keeping track of EXP is burdensome and not a lot of fun. I'd let them level up after they complete each island. Also, make sure to include bits of there back stories. Maybe the person that was murdered or the main suspect of the murder is connect to one of the PCs past for example. This will give them motivation to do the things you want to do. Mine those back stories, on each island let one of the PCs have a connection to someone or something. Your players have probably put as much thought into their character as you have your campaign, respecting their Creations will help them respect yours.
Thank you for taking the time to make such a well though out response!
I will definitely tread carefully if I decide to leave a stealth based mission in, as I am not sure how I would resolve it if it went poorly. I do enjoy the idea of having some kind of diplomatic solution in place or maybe something where they have to resolve some kind of political feud within the city.
I like your suggestion of an island based on skill challenges, Olympic style! I think after the introduction and whatnot they will understand what I am asking of them, and take part in the “spirit” of what I had in mind. Luckily they don’t seem like the type to intentionally derail the suggested narrative set forth!
And as far as XP goes, I am not going to keep track. It seems like a lot to keep up with. I will probably just level them up every couple sessions or maybe every island like you suggested, depending on how quickly they move through it.
I got a lot of work to do before the session next Tuesday. Again, I can’t thank you enough for taking your own time to help me out, I really do appreciate it.
Any time friend!