For context, this will be the 1st time I'm a DM. I was asked to create a story or take something from the internet. I preferred to write something of my own and possibly if I wrote something wrong, I would take it from the internet. I made such a story.
The players are sitting in the tavern looking for a quest. In the tavern there is a bartender, a priest, a broken woman and an old drunk guy. The bartender doesn't have anything for them but says ask around. The priest says the church heard something bad was coming and they sent him to investigate. A broken woman sits in a tavern and waits for her husband who left for the mountains a week ago and has not returned. An old drunkard will tell a story about a mighty king and his castle in the mountains when he gets a beer. They go to the mountains, on the way in the forest, while resting after a long way, something will attack them ( encounter 1). They continue on and reach the mountains. They see a castle on top of the mountains. As they make their way up the trail, lightning strikes the mountain and an avalanche falls on them. They reach the castle and see the gate. The great gate can be moved by one of them if he rolls the dice well because he has a lot of strength. Another possibility is, if I'm not mistaken, that he can throw a halfling from the party onto the walls, or they can just climb up when they buy a grappling hook. If they totally fail, the door will open by itself and and there is only a chill, a draft, and the candlesticks light up and give light. They can go left, right, up the stairs. Left, they go to the armory if they take something they will fight ( encounter 2). Right, then downhill and dungeons, fight with rats ( encounter 3). Dungeons - they hear a voice calling for help. the lost husband is there. there is no key. He begs for help and tells what he experienced. They search dungeons big skeletons have keys. They lie on the table and they sleep. 2 of the players are good at stealth, they can sneak up and steal them. If they succeed, they save the husband. If they fail, they awaken the skeleton and fight (encounter 4). Further down in the dungeons you can see barrels of TNT - a lot - if you **** it up, the whole castle will explode . Then some rooms with loot or enemies or both. Next, a vault with a trap and a mimic. They later meet the squad of skeletons ( encounter 5 and 6). There are portraits of the King hanging all over the castle, they know this character from somewhere. On the next floor, they enter the library. They read something about the magic of resurrection and the history of the lord of the castle. However, the records stop at some point and they start fighting with the guards ( encounter 7). 2 cultists want to revive an ancient demon threatening the world by sacrificing the dragon's remains, which still have a soul bond, and are located under the castle. Party can defeat them (encounter 8) or smash the castle and destroy the remains of the dragon, freeing the souls and taking away the ability to resurrect the demon if they want to fight 2 cultists. Then comes the old drunk guy from the tavern. Reveals that he is the king and ****s up 2 cultists together with the party.
encounter 1 - 4 gigant toad
encounter 2 - 3 Animated Armor
encounter 3 - 7 rat swarm
encounter 4 - 2 Minotaur Skeleton
encounter 5 - mimic
encounter 6 - 4 skeleton, 3 Warhorse Skeleton
encounter 7 - 8 gigant owl
encounter 8 - 2 Cult Fanatic, 5 Cultist
There will be at least 8 players, all level 2.
How does it look like? Any fixes? Maybe something from the internet? Remember, this is my 1st time as a DM, constructive criticism is welcome.
Sounds overall not bad, but the encounters are way too hard for a (presumably) 1st-level party. And remember: the players will always, without fail, do something you couldn't have possibly accounted for.
I'd heavily recommend running a pre-made starter adventure, instead of writing your own. Lost Mine of Phandelver is free on DDB, so I would start with that.
You'll learn so much more by trying your own story. Go for it!
Sure, you're likely to learn more if you make an adventure entirely from scratch, but as a new DM, it can be stressful even just running a pre-written one. And LMoP in particular has loads of sidebars and notes to guide new DMs. Personally, I had no idea what I was doing when I ran my first game, and I can't imagine having to make everything from scratch.
I agree with deadpan. But here is the beauty of the problem. You have done the front work to give yourself the flexibility to modify it in game depending on the strength/condition of your players. But seriously if you've got it together this well for a first time DM I bow to you my brother. You are writing stories, planning encounters which is so much more than many gm's even bother with. I hope you stick with it because you have the makings of an exceptional gm.
I agree with deadpan. But here is the beauty of the problem. You have done the front work to give yourself the flexibility to modify it in game depending on the strength/condition of your players. But seriously if you've got it together this well for a first time DM I bow to you my brother. You are writing stories, planning encounters which is so much more than many gm's even bother with. I hope you stick with it because you have the makings of an exceptional gm.
+1. Writing your own campaign leads to much more freedom. If your players skipped the awesome boss fight you planned? Use it later. They needed to go to one town but decided to go to another? Just reskin the town they were supposed to go to.
As syantific said, you've already done a lot of work on the front end, so you should be fine. While I would still recommend that new DMs run prewritten campaigns, if you can pull off one from scratch (and I'm sure you will), your players will have a blast.
It's still a good idea to have a look through LMoP for the sidebars and advice, though I'm sure you and your players will have a great time regardless.
you have a really strong intro. Having multiple people at the bar leading the characters to the story instead of just one is a good instinct. As you go on, you seem to do something I did quite a lot in some early planning, where you try to say what the players will do in a given situation. and most times, they simply won't. However, this is collaborative storytelling, so you can influence and point them the way they should go (for instance, your bar scene where the townspeople point them to the mountains). Plan encounters and expect players to take paths and do things you didn't totally expect or prepare for. In those times, improvise, and have rooms, encounters, and npc ideas that can be easily moved or modified to fit the scenario the players create.
Don't stress too much. As long as you know the basics, and both sides are committed to having fun, you will do fine.
final tip for combat, use a notebook to track initiative and health. With a group this big, it's easy to lose count.
Reveals that he is the king and ****s up 2 cultists together with the party.
How does it look like? Any fixes? Maybe something from the internet? Remember, this is my 1st time as a DM, constructive criticism is welcome.
A few things to think about.
Find ways to connect the encounters, so they don't feel random. I usually look at the monster manual for ideas.
So for example, recently the party rescued an elf from a prison.
She revealed she was from the Fey Wild tracking down two trolls that came into the mortal plane from the Fey Wild.
These are not ordinary trolls. One has been blessed by the dark god of venom; whose venom is so noxious that it kills plants and people quickly. The other has a disease on its skin that, if it comes in contact with people will cause them to fall ill and die within 24 hours if it's not cured. (This is essentially a Venom Troll and a Rot Troll - the Rot Troll had a small modification of CON saves or be diseased. Disease does 1d4 damage every hour until cured). She wanted to help the party, but she was hurt by the troll and needs time to recover.
So the main quest was hunting these two trolls down. Now it was a woodland area, so I put down some ideas for random encounters: Winter Wolves, Marauders (Bugbears), etc.
Had the party begin tracking the trolls - the trolls traveled together - but separated - and the venom troll was easier to track since it was dropping venom everywhere. So Survival Checks to track it at advantage. Party finds it - fights it - and discovers any damage it takes, it sprays venom from its bubbly mass. This impacted melee people who were taking more damage than they were delivering. But they beat it. Went back to the other tracks where the trolls parted ways - and began tracking. I introduced a random encounter. They fought it and won. And continued the search for the other troll.
So finding ways to connect the monsters (track these two trolls) and making sure other encounters make sense (for the area they're in).
Second, and potentially the bigger thing, is having the "drunk guy show up and reveal he's a king" and start kicking ass.
It's important (to me) to never have the NPC deliver a killing blow in a fight - even if, they actually "do the damage that could kill it" - never take away from your players.
For context, this will be the 1st time I'm a DM. I was asked to create a story or take something from the internet. I preferred to write something of my own and possibly if I wrote something wrong, I would take it from the internet. I made such a story.
The players are sitting in the tavern looking for a quest. In the tavern there is a bartender, a priest, a broken woman and an old drunk guy. The bartender doesn't have anything for them but says ask around. The priest says the church heard something bad was coming and they sent him to investigate. A broken woman sits in a tavern and waits for her husband who left for the mountains a week ago and has not returned. An old drunkard will tell a story about a mighty king and his castle in the mountains when he gets a beer. They go to the mountains, on the way in the forest, while resting after a long way, something will attack them ( encounter 1). They continue on and reach the mountains. They see a castle on top of the mountains. As they make their way up the trail, lightning strikes the mountain and an avalanche falls on them. They reach the castle and see the gate. The great gate can be moved by one of them if he rolls the dice well because he has a lot of strength. Another possibility is, if I'm not mistaken, that he can throw a halfling from the party onto the walls, or they can just climb up when they buy a grappling hook. If they totally fail, the door will open by itself and and there is only a chill, a draft, and the candlesticks light up and give light. They can go left, right, up the stairs. Left, they go to the armory if they take something they will fight ( encounter 2). Right, then downhill and dungeons, fight with rats ( encounter 3). Dungeons - they hear a voice calling for help. the lost husband is there. there is no key. He begs for help and tells what he experienced. They search dungeons big skeletons have keys. They lie on the table and they sleep. 2 of the players are good at stealth, they can sneak up and steal them. If they succeed, they save the husband. If they fail, they awaken the skeleton and fight (encounter 4). Further down in the dungeons you can see barrels of TNT - a lot - if you **** it up, the whole castle will explode . Then some rooms with loot or enemies or both. Next, a vault with a trap and a mimic. They later meet the squad of skeletons ( encounter 5 and 6). There are portraits of the King hanging all over the castle, they know this character from somewhere. On the next floor, they enter the library. They read something about the magic of resurrection and the history of the lord of the castle. However, the records stop at some point and they start fighting with the guards ( encounter 7). 2 cultists want to revive an ancient demon threatening the world by sacrificing the dragon's remains, which still have a soul bond, and are located under the castle. Party can defeat them (encounter 8) or smash the castle and destroy the remains of the dragon, freeing the souls and taking away the ability to resurrect the demon if they want to fight 2 cultists. Then comes the old drunk guy from the tavern. Reveals that he is the king and ****s up 2 cultists together with the party.
encounter 1 - 4 gigant toad
encounter 2 - 3 Animated Armor
encounter 3 - 7 rat swarm
encounter 4 - 2 Minotaur Skeleton
encounter 5 - mimic
encounter 6 - 4 skeleton, 3 Warhorse Skeleton
encounter 7 - 8 gigant owl
encounter 8 - 2 Cult Fanatic, 5 Cultist
There will be at least 8 players, all level 2.
How does it look like? Any fixes? Maybe something from the internet? Remember, this is my 1st time as a DM, constructive criticism is welcome.
Sounds overall not bad, but the encounters are way too hard for a (presumably) 1st-level party. And remember: the players will always, without fail, do something you couldn't have possibly accounted for.
I'd heavily recommend running a pre-made starter adventure, instead of writing your own. Lost Mine of Phandelver is free on DDB, so I would start with that.
[REDACTED]
You'll learn so much more by trying your own story. Go for it!
Sure, you're likely to learn more if you make an adventure entirely from scratch, but as a new DM, it can be stressful even just running a pre-written one. And LMoP in particular has loads of sidebars and notes to guide new DMs. Personally, I had no idea what I was doing when I ran my first game, and I can't imagine having to make everything from scratch.
[REDACTED]
I agree with deadpan. But here is the beauty of the problem. You have done the front work to give yourself the flexibility to modify it in game depending on the strength/condition of your players. But seriously if you've got it together this well for a first time DM I bow to you my brother. You are writing stories, planning encounters which is so much more than many gm's even bother with. I hope you stick with it because you have the makings of an exceptional gm.
+1. Writing your own campaign leads to much more freedom. If your players skipped the awesome boss fight you planned? Use it later. They needed to go to one town but decided to go to another? Just reskin the town they were supposed to go to.
As syantific said, you've already done a lot of work on the front end, so you should be fine. While I would still recommend that new DMs run prewritten campaigns, if you can pull off one from scratch (and I'm sure you will), your players will have a blast.
It's still a good idea to have a look through LMoP for the sidebars and advice, though I'm sure you and your players will have a great time regardless.
[REDACTED]
you have a really strong intro. Having multiple people at the bar leading the characters to the story instead of just one is a good instinct. As you go on, you seem to do something I did quite a lot in some early planning, where you try to say what the players will do in a given situation. and most times, they simply won't. However, this is collaborative storytelling, so you can influence and point them the way they should go (for instance, your bar scene where the townspeople point them to the mountains). Plan encounters and expect players to take paths and do things you didn't totally expect or prepare for. In those times, improvise, and have rooms, encounters, and npc ideas that can be easily moved or modified to fit the scenario the players create.
Don't stress too much. As long as you know the basics, and both sides are committed to having fun, you will do fine.
final tip for combat, use a notebook to track initiative and health. With a group this big, it's easy to lose count.
Updog
A few things to think about.
Find ways to connect the encounters, so they don't feel random. I usually look at the monster manual for ideas.
So for example, recently the party rescued an elf from a prison.
She revealed she was from the Fey Wild tracking down two trolls that came into the mortal plane from the Fey Wild.
These are not ordinary trolls. One has been blessed by the dark god of venom; whose venom is so noxious that it kills plants and people quickly. The other has a disease on its skin that, if it comes in contact with people will cause them to fall ill and die within 24 hours if it's not cured. (This is essentially a Venom Troll and a Rot Troll - the Rot Troll had a small modification of CON saves or be diseased. Disease does 1d4 damage every hour until cured). She wanted to help the party, but she was hurt by the troll and needs time to recover.
So the main quest was hunting these two trolls down. Now it was a woodland area, so I put down some ideas for random encounters: Winter Wolves, Marauders (Bugbears), etc.
Had the party begin tracking the trolls - the trolls traveled together - but separated - and the venom troll was easier to track since it was dropping venom everywhere. So Survival Checks to track it at advantage. Party finds it - fights it - and discovers any damage it takes, it sprays venom from its bubbly mass. This impacted melee people who were taking more damage than they were delivering. But they beat it. Went back to the other tracks where the trolls parted ways - and began tracking. I introduced a random encounter. They fought it and won. And continued the search for the other troll.
So finding ways to connect the monsters (track these two trolls) and making sure other encounters make sense (for the area they're in).
Second, and potentially the bigger thing, is having the "drunk guy show up and reveal he's a king" and start kicking ass.
It's important (to me) to never have the NPC deliver a killing blow in a fight - even if, they actually "do the damage that could kill it" - never take away from your players.
They should feel like the heroes. Not your NPCs.
Check out my publication on DMs Guild: https://www.dmsguild.com/browse.php?author=Tawmis%20Logue
Check out my comedy web series - Neverending Nights: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8Wr4-u9-zw0&list=PLbRG7dzFI-u3EJd0usasgDrrFO3mZ1lOZ
Need a character story/background written up? I do it for free (but also take donations!) - https://forums.giantitp.com/showthread.php?591882-Need-a-character-background-written-up