I’m a fairly new Dm and will be starting my second campaign in 2-3 months, I have an idea of what I want it to be themed around, and I have to decide if it would be better to have a campaign where the final boss is foreshadowed or a campaign where the party is constantly on the run from the BBEG and they learn about them and how to defeat them. All input is appreciated, thank you.
Foreshadowing can be really tricky. It requires that you give just enough clues for the party to solve the puzzle, but not so many clues that they figure it out too easily. Even more, it depends upon the party paying close enough attention to all the story beats to recognize the clues when they find them. But, when their suspicions are finally confirmed it will give them a tremendous feeling of accomplishment. So it's high risk, and potentially high payoff, but it could mean the party misses the clues and all your work falls flat.
Establishing the BBEG early does remove a lot of the mystery from the campaign. But it gives you the chance to establish the stakes involved by showing them early on just how powerful the BBEG is. You can even have the BBEG just completely overpower the party when they are at a very low level, just to clarify to them that they are up against an existential threat. Keeping them on the run provides motivation for forward movement, and keeps them a little bit paranoid at all times, which is fun. The payoff comes much later in the campaign, when the party faces off against the BBEG again, only now they're at a level where they have a real chance of defeating the boss. That will be a really sweet "Look how far we've come" moment for the party, and their defeat of the BBEG won't just be a plot conclusion, it'll be a reckoning for the defeat the BBEG handed the party early in the campaign.
So your first option, foreshadowing, is tricky but has a chance for a big payoff. The second option provides a slower burn but is a lot easier to manage.
Seconding AnzioFaro I've always found foreshadowing really hard to do unless you've got at least one player who is likely to pay enough attention to pick up the hints. Using the classic Lost Mines of Phandelver as an example the BBEG Black Spider doesn't really appear until the end but is hinted at in various other encounters. The first time I ran it someone picked up all the hints and by the time of the showdown they had an emotional connection. The second time I ran it we got to the big reveal, the Black Spider appears, and everyone went "who is this then?"and the whole finale of the campaign fell flat because it was just some random mook and then done
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I’m a fairly new Dm and will be starting my second campaign in 2-3 months, I have an idea of what I want it to be themed around, and I have to decide if it would be better to have a campaign where the final boss is foreshadowed or a campaign where the party is constantly on the run from the BBEG and they learn about them and how to defeat them. All input is appreciated, thank you.
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ModeratorThe second sounds more intriguing to me, but have you asked your players which they prefer?
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I’m doing this for a group that has not been decided yet. Thank you for the input.
Foreshadowing can be really tricky. It requires that you give just enough clues for the party to solve the puzzle, but not so many clues that they figure it out too easily. Even more, it depends upon the party paying close enough attention to all the story beats to recognize the clues when they find them. But, when their suspicions are finally confirmed it will give them a tremendous feeling of accomplishment. So it's high risk, and potentially high payoff, but it could mean the party misses the clues and all your work falls flat.
Establishing the BBEG early does remove a lot of the mystery from the campaign. But it gives you the chance to establish the stakes involved by showing them early on just how powerful the BBEG is. You can even have the BBEG just completely overpower the party when they are at a very low level, just to clarify to them that they are up against an existential threat. Keeping them on the run provides motivation for forward movement, and keeps them a little bit paranoid at all times, which is fun. The payoff comes much later in the campaign, when the party faces off against the BBEG again, only now they're at a level where they have a real chance of defeating the boss. That will be a really sweet "Look how far we've come" moment for the party, and their defeat of the BBEG won't just be a plot conclusion, it'll be a reckoning for the defeat the BBEG handed the party early in the campaign.
So your first option, foreshadowing, is tricky but has a chance for a big payoff. The second option provides a slower burn but is a lot easier to manage.
Anzio Faro. Protector Aasimar light cleric. Lvl 18.
Viktor Gavriil. White dragonborn grave cleric. Lvl 20.
Ikram Sahir ibn-Malik al-Sayyid Ra'ad. Brass dragonborn draconic sorcerer Lvl 9. Fire elemental devil.
Wrangler of cats.
Seconding AnzioFaro I've always found foreshadowing really hard to do unless you've got at least one player who is likely to pay enough attention to pick up the hints. Using the classic Lost Mines of Phandelver as an example the BBEG Black Spider doesn't really appear until the end but is hinted at in various other encounters. The first time I ran it someone picked up all the hints and by the time of the showdown they had an emotional connection. The second time I ran it we got to the big reveal, the Black Spider appears, and everyone went "who is this then?"and the whole finale of the campaign fell flat because it was just some random mook and then done