I would suggest outlining over writing (and perhaps you're already doing that) for several reasons. First, your players will do things you didn't expect/plan for and you need to allow space for that. Second, anywhere your players deviate from your original written story, everything there after changes - maybe only slightly or maybe massively and that's potentially a lot of work that is suddenly out the proverbial window. Third, be aware that writing a lot of history and/or lore probably won't help you much and your players will only care if it effects them directly, so don't do work that you don't need to do.
Not sure why you would need to add in stats for monsters unless you are homebrewing them, just look them up as you need them while you run the campaign (and if you're homebrewing, make sure that you really need those special stat blocks; often reskinning an already existing monster/creature will do the job just fine). As for NPCs (if you want actual characters to hand out to players, you can use the character generator tool here on DDB, either 'premade' or 'quick build') you don't really need stat blocks for NPCs most of the time unless they are going to be in combat.
My Recommendation Is a loose plan to the story. I may disagree with do not plan any lore concept but that is only because my campaign is totally lore based. The players are going to have to uncover various lores in order to progress the story. Than when the majority of the lore is uncovered they will see what the true plot of the campaign is. It gave a very open world and investigative feel to the campaign to keep the players trying to do more than just follow a set plan I put in front of them. On the rail campaigns work well for parties that are all new to the game but I feel that they are not all that good for the more experienced player.
Players having to uncover various bits of lore to discover the plot is lore that effects them directly. In my experience a lot of DMs creating homebrew campaigns for the first time think that if the group is (or might be) going to visit a city, that they need extensive history, government type, activities of the thieves guild, etc. when just a list of key shops and important NPCs will suffice (and the rest can be improvised if the players ask about things that are unlikely to impact them or their adventure/quest). Players won't care that a city is governed by a council of 7 who are made up of wealthy merchants unless they have to interact with that group or use that information in some way.
As a side note, it's also a good idea to always try to have two or three ways that characters can learn world information or lore that is crucial. This way if your players make choices for the characters that you didn't expect they don't accidentally bypass the one way you created for them to receive that lore. (They didn't talk to that cleric NPC in the temple that seemed so obvious to you as the DM, etc.)
That is why I have not created NPC's for the specific role of delivering the lore but rather left open ideas for them to find the lore. They are going to actively look for the lore so that they can determine what they need to do next to fulfill their own goals. I have tied all their backstories to the lore so that as they try to develop their characters they dive into the lore. The dive into the Lore they learn that there is another Plot hidden in the lore. It has worked out well in the past to keep the players focused on their own goals to fuel the story
Rollback Post to RevisionRollBack
To post a comment, please login or register a new account.
Hello,
Im writing my first adventure. its been really fun, but starting to become alot work. Anyone else just doing this for the first time?
im considering just paying someone to add in the stats for chacter and monsters.
im jeff, im in Rockwall Texas.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=e-YZvLUXcR8&list=PLlUk42GiU2guNzWBzxn7hs8MaV7ELLCP_&index=1
Watch that.
"Sooner or later, your Players are going to smash your railroad into a sandbox."
-Vedexent
"real life is a super high CR."
-OboeLauren
"............anybody got any potatoes? We could drop a potato in each hole an' see which ones get viciously mauled by horrible monsters?"
-Ilyara Thundertale
Being a DM is so much more work than being a player.
Im running a premade campaign and its still a lot of work just prepping the combat maps and reviewing everything before the session
I try to find stuff online that i can use so i dont havr to create stuff. But i dont know of any silver bullet
I would suggest outlining over writing (and perhaps you're already doing that) for several reasons. First, your players will do things you didn't expect/plan for and you need to allow space for that. Second, anywhere your players deviate from your original written story, everything there after changes - maybe only slightly or maybe massively and that's potentially a lot of work that is suddenly out the proverbial window. Third, be aware that writing a lot of history and/or lore probably won't help you much and your players will only care if it effects them directly, so don't do work that you don't need to do.
Not sure why you would need to add in stats for monsters unless you are homebrewing them, just look them up as you need them while you run the campaign (and if you're homebrewing, make sure that you really need those special stat blocks; often reskinning an already existing monster/creature will do the job just fine). As for NPCs (if you want actual characters to hand out to players, you can use the character generator tool here on DDB, either 'premade' or 'quick build') you don't really need stat blocks for NPCs most of the time unless they are going to be in combat.
My Recommendation Is a loose plan to the story. I may disagree with do not plan any lore concept but that is only because my campaign is totally lore based. The players are going to have to uncover various lores in order to progress the story. Than when the majority of the lore is uncovered they will see what the true plot of the campaign is. It gave a very open world and investigative feel to the campaign to keep the players trying to do more than just follow a set plan I put in front of them. On the rail campaigns work well for parties that are all new to the game but I feel that they are not all that good for the more experienced player.
Just my thoughts
Players having to uncover various bits of lore to discover the plot is lore that effects them directly. In my experience a lot of DMs creating homebrew campaigns for the first time think that if the group is (or might be) going to visit a city, that they need extensive history, government type, activities of the thieves guild, etc. when just a list of key shops and important NPCs will suffice (and the rest can be improvised if the players ask about things that are unlikely to impact them or their adventure/quest). Players won't care that a city is governed by a council of 7 who are made up of wealthy merchants unless they have to interact with that group or use that information in some way.
As a side note, it's also a good idea to always try to have two or three ways that characters can learn world information or lore that is crucial. This way if your players make choices for the characters that you didn't expect they don't accidentally bypass the one way you created for them to receive that lore. (They didn't talk to that cleric NPC in the temple that seemed so obvious to you as the DM, etc.)
That is why I have not created NPC's for the specific role of delivering the lore but rather left open ideas for them to find the lore. They are going to actively look for the lore so that they can determine what they need to do next to fulfill their own goals. I have tied all their backstories to the lore so that as they try to develop their characters they dive into the lore. The dive into the Lore they learn that there is another Plot hidden in the lore. It has worked out well in the past to keep the players focused on their own goals to fuel the story