I'm the permanent DM for a group and am finishing running a campaign all the way to level 20. I decided to write a Campaign to play through next I have already come up with the major bullet points, but I am wondering if anybody has some tips on writing a campaign and world development?
The biggest advantage to writing your own campaign is you can style your prep work exactly as you need. For some folks, that means writing extremely detailed outlines of their expected sessions; for others it means just coming up with the broad strokes and coming up with the rest on the fly. Neither option is better or worse than the other--it all comes down to the individual DM. Since you have DMed another campaign before, you have the advantage of knowing some things you liked and did not like about how the campaign you ran was written--that should give you some idea of what level of prep work to do.
More generally speaking, the most important thing with a homebrew is to avoid being so married to your story and so lost in the details that you become inflexible or micromanage the campaign. That is a threat with any campaign, but can be particularly prevalent with homebrew since it is the DMs own brainchild--which can lead to feelings of protectionism. Be warry of that, and be ready to abandon large swaths of your plan--or even the entire thing--if something is not quite working.
... avoid being so married to your story and so lost in the details that you become inflexible or micromanage the campaign. That is a threat with any campaign, but can be particularly prevalent with homebrew since it is the DMs own brainchild--which can lead to feelings of protectionism. Be warry of that, and be ready to abandon large swaths of your plan--or even the entire thing--if something is not quite working.
This. Ultimately, let your players decide where they will go and what they will do. Less experienced players will be less likely to lead the charge, so to speak. But feel free to ask them out of character what they want, what they like, and what they don't want.
Don't feel the need to have every little detail written out in advance - I've generally found it's enough to have the details of whatever quest they're dealing with in the present moment - that lasts usually for a few sessions and if I know where my players are headed next, I'll write that up too.
Following on from the above, you don't need more than a vague idea for most places - get into detail when your players actually go that way or look like their going that
Don't feel the need to make your world Critical Role size - I've a large world and my players have barely seen half of it
Do try to have a vague idea of what important features/monsters are in a place; it will make your preparations simpler.
Personally, I recommend finding a fantasy map generator, for starters. You don't have to start off making a whole world with it, if you want. You can stick with just a town. From that town, make the people in the town. Where do the people live? What kind of shops and temples are there? Are there local gangs? Who's in charge of this place, and how do they manage to stay in charge? How does that town barter with nearby allies? Do they have nearby enemies? Keep asking the kinds of questions that the players might ask, keep answering those questions, and very soon, you'll have a whole in-depth city for your PCs to traverse. And from there? Ask yourself what the rest of your world looks like.
You don't have to have a stringent plan when it comes to quests either. I find that a lot of it your story can auto-generate itself, by letting your players explore the world you've created. Non-descript NPC in the corner seem oddly suspicious to the players? Maybe he was planning to perform a nefarious escapade, and it's only thanks to the players that he was stopped just in the nick of time. Some fancy Noble rub the party the wrong way, thanks to his uppity attitude? Maybe he's plotting on secretly taking over the town, and the players come across hints of an upcoming coup, that only they can stop. Also, don't worry about if your town isn't complete. Players ask why a certain shop or building isn't in the town? It wasn't that you accidentally forgot to place a temple of worship on the map, for the party Cleric to pray at. It's because... ummm... oh! The High Priest was recently kidnapped by a group of cult members, and it's up to the party to save him. While there is a temple of worship in the city (one that you're hastily doodling into place), it's hard to run such a location, when the guy in charge is kidnapped (you swear). A-as such, go rescue him, and... (scribble scribble scribble) ...and save him from being sacrificed to the Dark Lord... uhhh.... the Dark Lord Drol-Krad!
I'm the permanent DM for a group and am finishing running a campaign all the way to level 20. I decided to write a Campaign to play through next I have already come up with the major bullet points, but I am wondering if anybody has some tips on writing a campaign and world development?
P.S. I am using an adapted Forgotten Realms.
I think as you DM you will continue to evolve.
When I first DMed - I was very, very, very railroady. I had a ton of metric ideas and great stories - and I needed the players to follow a very specific path.
Now?
I make up the session usually the day before. And it's typically just scribbling very general notes of ideas.
Where did they leave off last time?
What can are some things, based off the previous sessions, would they be interested in?
What monsters can I put there that fit?
What NPCs? What are some interesting ideas these NPCs might have.
For example, two sessions ago - the party was approached by an NPC they'd befriended. He said, "Hey a friend of mine, a ranger who lives out in the caves - he came to me looking for help and I thought of you guys." The party tracks down the ranger in the woods (a few frivolous / easy random encounters on the way). He explains he saw an elf, like he'd never seen before trapped - he'd gone to help her - but was wounded by some floating armored guardian.
Party goes - and discovers - there's an elf that seems to change rapidly representing various seasons, inside of a force field - and a armored monster patrols it.
They fight the creature (Helmed Horror) and free the elf (an Eladrin).
That's where that session ended.
I had no idea what was next.
Two weeks later, before the game started, I opened the Monster Manuals, and saw Venom Troll and Rot Troll.
Said. "Okay, these trolls were touched by their god to wreak havoc and poison the land and spread disease. She chased them from the Feywild to the mortal plane, where someone imprisoned her. But they need to go find the trolls."
So that was the next session. Them hunting down these two trolls.
The one thing I can say when I first started DM'ing, make sure you have rough backup plans if your plothook it not taken. Make sure you have several in fact of varying sizes from the simple hey kill some rats for me to help take down the necromancer rebel leader. You never know how a party of ca... I mean adventurers will react to a particular hook.
The one thing I can say when I first started DM'ing, make sure you have rough backup plans if your plothook it not taken. Make sure you have several in fact of varying sizes from the simple hey kill some rats for me to help take down the necromancer rebel leader. You never know how a party of ca... I mean adventurers will react to a particular hook.
Very true. You can start to "predict" what they will go for/do after a few sessions and you get a feel for how they will play their characters. But it's going to be rough at first because it will be unpredictable and new territory for you and them.
DMing is like sitting at a gambling table.
You look around and watch for everyone's tell-tell signs - what it is that drives their character. What choices do they make in certain sessions?
You lose a few rounds, sometimes on purpose, just to understand the table.
Then once you have them figured out - it's a winning situation (for everyone!) going forward.
I'm the permanent DM for a group and am finishing running a campaign all the way to level 20. I decided to write a Campaign to play through next I have already come up with the major bullet points, but I am wondering if anybody has some tips on writing a campaign and world development?
P.S. I am using an adapted Forgotten Realms.
The biggest advantage to writing your own campaign is you can style your prep work exactly as you need. For some folks, that means writing extremely detailed outlines of their expected sessions; for others it means just coming up with the broad strokes and coming up with the rest on the fly. Neither option is better or worse than the other--it all comes down to the individual DM. Since you have DMed another campaign before, you have the advantage of knowing some things you liked and did not like about how the campaign you ran was written--that should give you some idea of what level of prep work to do.
More generally speaking, the most important thing with a homebrew is to avoid being so married to your story and so lost in the details that you become inflexible or micromanage the campaign. That is a threat with any campaign, but can be particularly prevalent with homebrew since it is the DMs own brainchild--which can lead to feelings of protectionism. Be warry of that, and be ready to abandon large swaths of your plan--or even the entire thing--if something is not quite working.
This. Ultimately, let your players decide where they will go and what they will do. Less experienced players will be less likely to lead the charge, so to speak. But feel free to ask them out of character what they want, what they like, and what they don't want.
Don't feel the need to have every little detail written out in advance - I've generally found it's enough to have the details of whatever quest they're dealing with in the present moment - that lasts usually for a few sessions and if I know where my players are headed next, I'll write that up too.
Following on from the above, you don't need more than a vague idea for most places - get into detail when your players actually go that way or look like their going that
Don't feel the need to make your world Critical Role size - I've a large world and my players have barely seen half of it
Do try to have a vague idea of what important features/monsters are in a place; it will make your preparations simpler.
Have fun.
Good luck, hope this helps.
thanks
Personally, I recommend finding a fantasy map generator, for starters. You don't have to start off making a whole world with it, if you want. You can stick with just a town. From that town, make the people in the town. Where do the people live? What kind of shops and temples are there? Are there local gangs? Who's in charge of this place, and how do they manage to stay in charge? How does that town barter with nearby allies? Do they have nearby enemies? Keep asking the kinds of questions that the players might ask, keep answering those questions, and very soon, you'll have a whole in-depth city for your PCs to traverse. And from there? Ask yourself what the rest of your world looks like.
You don't have to have a stringent plan when it comes to quests either. I find that a lot of it your story can auto-generate itself, by letting your players explore the world you've created. Non-descript NPC in the corner seem oddly suspicious to the players? Maybe he was planning to perform a nefarious escapade, and it's only thanks to the players that he was stopped just in the nick of time. Some fancy Noble rub the party the wrong way, thanks to his uppity attitude? Maybe he's plotting on secretly taking over the town, and the players come across hints of an upcoming coup, that only they can stop. Also, don't worry about if your town isn't complete. Players ask why a certain shop or building isn't in the town? It wasn't that you accidentally forgot to place a temple of worship on the map, for the party Cleric to pray at. It's because... ummm... oh! The High Priest was recently kidnapped by a group of cult members, and it's up to the party to save him. While there is a temple of worship in the city (one that you're hastily doodling into place), it's hard to run such a location, when the guy in charge is kidnapped (you swear). A-as such, go rescue him, and... (scribble scribble scribble) ...and save him from being sacrificed to the Dark Lord... uhhh.... the Dark Lord Drol-Krad!
...Nailed it.
I think as you DM you will continue to evolve.
When I first DMed - I was very, very, very railroady. I had a ton of metric ideas and great stories - and I needed the players to follow a very specific path.
Now?
I make up the session usually the day before. And it's typically just scribbling very general notes of ideas.
Where did they leave off last time?
What can are some things, based off the previous sessions, would they be interested in?
What monsters can I put there that fit?
What NPCs? What are some interesting ideas these NPCs might have.
For example, two sessions ago - the party was approached by an NPC they'd befriended. He said, "Hey a friend of mine, a ranger who lives out in the caves - he came to me looking for help and I thought of you guys." The party tracks down the ranger in the woods (a few frivolous / easy random encounters on the way). He explains he saw an elf, like he'd never seen before trapped - he'd gone to help her - but was wounded by some floating armored guardian.
Party goes - and discovers - there's an elf that seems to change rapidly representing various seasons, inside of a force field - and a armored monster patrols it.
They fight the creature (Helmed Horror) and free the elf (an Eladrin).
That's where that session ended.
I had no idea what was next.
Two weeks later, before the game started, I opened the Monster Manuals, and saw Venom Troll and Rot Troll.
Said. "Okay, these trolls were touched by their god to wreak havoc and poison the land and spread disease. She chased them from the Feywild to the mortal plane, where someone imprisoned her. But they need to go find the trolls."
So that was the next session. Them hunting down these two trolls.
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
The one thing I can say when I first started DM'ing, make sure you have rough backup plans if your plothook it not taken. Make sure you have several in fact of varying sizes from the simple hey kill some rats for me to help take down the necromancer rebel leader. You never know how a party of ca... I mean adventurers will react to a particular hook.
Very true. You can start to "predict" what they will go for/do after a few sessions and you get a feel for how they will play their characters. But it's going to be rough at first because it will be unpredictable and new territory for you and them.
DMing is like sitting at a gambling table.
You look around and watch for everyone's tell-tell signs - what it is that drives their character. What choices do they make in certain sessions?
You lose a few rounds, sometimes on purpose, just to understand the table.
Then once you have them figured out - it's a winning situation (for everyone!) going forward.
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