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Kamber
Acolyte
South Africa
10 Posts |
 Posted - 18 Oct 2005 : 15:56:09
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Hi All,
Well forgive me if I ramble during this post but I just want to get some ideas from people.
I am going to be dm'ing my first campaign for only 2 PC's when we are finished with our current campaign (which will be in a while as we are only 10th level at the moment), I am going to be running a Underdark campaign with the characters aligned towards good (I am disallowing paladins due to some things that may occur).
I have the following books at my disposal:
FRCS
PGtF
Underdark
DMG 3.5
PH 3.5
MM
MM 2
Lords of Madness
Silver Marches
And i am going to be buying Lords of Darkness at some point in the near future.
My campaign will start with the PC's being captured by some slave traders en route to Gracklstugh (i think thats how you spell it) when the caravan is attacked by some drow who then make the PC's a deal, which is that they will free the slaves from captivity in exchange for 1 years service to them (the drow are actually an outpost of Bregan D'aerthe who are based near Gracklstugh and wreak havoc with their slave trade due to the current war with Menzobarranzen), during this year of service I will have the drow use them for attacks on slavers, finding items relevant to the drow's cause but allowing the pc's to take their spoils from what the drow do not require.
I plan for them to be free at about 5th level and to pursue their own interests in the underdark until about 10th level where I will take them to the surface in the Silver Marches area, when the exit the Underdark i will basically have them either see a battle between some humans and a monster of sorts and see if they join the fray to help the humans, or else have them leave via a trading caravan and establish friendly relations with someone on the surface so they can adventure and have a base of operations, but my main focus and climax to the campaign is that i want to incorporate the city of shade into this and I want the PC's to have a major hand in thwarting the Shadovar in what their scheme may be.
Now i know no-one has the details of what the Shades are up to and it is also where i might need help as i do not want the PC's to assault or infiltrate the City of Shade but i would like them to stop whatever fiendish plot they have planned.
Any feedback or ideas will be greatly appreciated.
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Arivia
Great Reader
Canada
2965 Posts |
Posted - 18 Oct 2005 : 16:07:52
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Lords of Darkness has some details on what the shades are up to.
However, my best suggestion would be to have the PCs thwart a shade plan to gain access to some sort of Netherese artifacts, as they are searching for those-perhaps in the Underdark, maybe in Philock? That would be one way the players could directly interfere with the shades, without going anywhere near Shade itself.
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Mystery_Man
Senior Scribe
USA
455 Posts |
Posted - 19 Oct 2005 : 00:05:38
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So you've decided to run a campaign:
My advice, don't plan out your entire campaign right now. Things will take a turn and all your planning will be for nought. Keep it one adventure at a time. Here's some quick guidelines I've always found useful (but can't remember where I found them).
1. Keep It Tight
You should be able to sum up the whole concept of the adventure in a sentence or two. If it takes more than that, either you need to clarify and refine your idea more, or it's too complicated or too much of a mish-mash. Like with descriptive text, a short and sweet concept presented in an intersting way is better than lots of well-written prose that the players won't remember. Here's an example "mission statement" from my adventure:
The players protect a foreign ruler's throne in his absence and are mistaken for divine saviors by the public. What do they do?
2. Prepare for the Unexpected
While great adventures can be had off-the-cuff, if you're taking the time to write out a complete adventure, you'll need to prepare for the unexpected. A lot of writing done in the Introduction section which helps a GM tweak the adventure to their group is key.
1. Include any playtest notes that are important.
2. Provide a couple different character hooks.
3. Provide a few ideas for how the adventure can be woven into an ongoing campaign.
4. Provide a GM with a couple different "themes" - sort of adventure templates which give suggestions about how to emphasize a theme like redemption, leaving a legacy, mistaken identity, etc.
5. A sidebar about low, middle, and high magic variants to the adventure.
6. A sidebar about how the adventure fits into various pre-published campaign worlds is always a good idea; this is absolutely a must if the adventure is set in a specific cultural or game setting.
7. Many GMs mine adventures for ideas, and providing a section which provides ideas of what can be mined (without running the whole adventure) and where to look for it are helpful.
8. Include a sidebar for a GM who is rushed; what are the most important sections to read if you can't read the whole adventure?
9. What supplementary material could help this adventure? For example, if it incorporates lots of horseback chases, you might recommend Hot Pursuits as a good source.
10. Keep notes on important plot twists/ monkey wrenches the PCs could throw into the adventure - these will be your sidebars. For example: What if they use divination? What if a PC dies? What if someone is ressurected? What if they decide to split up? What if they are captured? How do they get all this treasure out of here? What if they refuse to cede the throne to the Shah? What if they try to switch clothes with the guards?
3. Organize Your Scenes
Make a flowchart. This is much easier for a linear adventure, but it is possible (albeit with much sweating ) for a matrix adventure. Once you know what scenes can occur, write up a Scene Block for each major scene. A scene block includes information on:
1. One-liner - What is this scene about (in one or two sentences)?
2. Triggers - What gets the scene rolling? What must happen first in order for the scene to occur? This may be a certain result in another scene. For an adventure which incorporates pacing, this could be a certain number of scenes (e.g. after 10 scenes the Shah returns home). It may be coming to a certain place at a certain time.
3. Motives - What various motives propel the PCs into this scene? Why do they get involved?
4. Complications - What plot twists would be interesting? What could go wrong?
5. Connections - What scenes might come before? Which ones might come after?
Sample Scene Block: The Royal Hunt
Invited on a hunt for the Dragon-Boar with Prince Sanjar, the PCs find their prey is ferocious, but the men they travel with may be the greater danger.
Motives: (1) Hunting the Dragon-Boar. (2) Tracking the White Deer. (3) Learning Sanjar's motives. (4) Impressing Sanjar to ensure his aid.
Triggers: (1) Invited by Sanjar. (2) Come seeking the White Deer.
Complications: (1) The hunting party is split up when the White Deer lures a group of hunters away from the main party. (2) Horse thieves strike the party while they sleep. (3) Sanjar's men and the PCs get into a fight.
Connections: The PCs might join the quest soon after Reception at the Apadana or they might perform a side quest in which they learn of the White Deer. During the adventure, they might be called upon to perform a side quest such as Dragon Blocks Flow of Creek. If the PCs reveal to Sanjar their true purpose, it might hasten Sanjar's Coup.
4. Create a resource list
Write down all those things that help you in designing an adventure, and have them nearby for those moments when you suffer brain freeze. For example, other adventures which you've taken inspiration from. Movies/books that've inspired you to write the adventure. Phone numbers of friends who like to hear your ideas and provide feeback. A list of new uses for old skills (something I'm working on). A brainstorm chart of one-line ideas that you came up with during the brainstorming phase of the adventure. Pictures of period architecture/ clothing. Your own sketches & maps.
For outside resources (outside of FR)check out Plot and Poison, A Guidebook to Drow by Green Ronin. Some nasty, nasty stuff in there. :) |
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Faramicos
Senior Scribe
Denmark
468 Posts |
Posted - 19 Oct 2005 : 07:44:23
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| A good hint i will give you, that i have learned from painfull experience is that you dont wan to have everything that is going to happen fixed from the beginning. You need to provide your players with several options to the happenings in the session, giving them the feeling that they have a bit of influence on the game... And dont be overly detailed in your preparation. The players will most likely make some desitions you didnt think of in your planning and you will be caught of guard... In this case you need to have studied your general game-geographics and know the area in detail... And as i always tell my friends if they ask me to help them with a session... If something unexpected happen.... Just roll with it, improvise and see where it takes you, and then you can bring the players back on track later... My favorit advise is: "improvise when unexpected things happen and just roll with it"... It works. |
"When dragons make war, worlds can only tremble in the shadow of angry wings" |
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Snotlord
Senior Scribe
Norway
476 Posts |
Posted - 19 Oct 2005 : 17:46:28
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quote:
Originally posted by Kamber
My campaign will start with the PC's being captured by some slave traders en route to Gracklstugh (i think thats how you spell it) when the caravan is attacked by some drow who then make the PC's a deal, which is that they will free the slaves from captivity in exchange for 1 years service to them
Keep in mind that some players would rather fight to death than be captured. Players are stubborn, and freedom of choice is important for a fun game. Your campaign could rerail even at this early stage, if you push slavery-thing to hard.
The others covered lots of good stuff, and I can only stress one thing: if the players tries something unexpected, let them have a fair shot at it. Thats when the fun begins.
Good luck! I liked your ideas, and keep us posted. You may want to mine City of the Spider Queen and Queen of Spiders for ideas. Also, the fantastic computer game Baldur's Gate II has some wonderful underdark chapters, if you don't mind dated graphics. |
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Faramicos
Senior Scribe
Denmark
468 Posts |
Posted - 19 Oct 2005 : 20:02:17
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| I forgot one thing... Good luck with your DM debut... Would love to hear how it goes... |
"When dragons make war, worlds can only tremble in the shadow of angry wings" |
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Kamber
Acolyte
South Africa
10 Posts |
Posted - 20 Oct 2005 : 21:37:59
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quote:
Originally posted by Snotlord
Keep in mind that some players would rather fight to death than be captured. Players are stubborn, and freedom of choice is important for a fun game. Your campaign could rerail even at this early stage, if you push slavery-thing to hard.
The others covered lots of good stuff, and I can only stress one thing: if the players tries something unexpected, let them have a fair shot at it. Thats when the fun begins.
Good luck! I liked your ideas, and keep us posted. You may want to mine City of the Spider Queen and Queen of Spiders for ideas. Also, the fantastic computer game Baldur's Gate II has some wonderful underdark chapters, if you don't mind dated graphics.
I did bounce the idea off the players that they would be 'tasked' to someone for a period of time and they said that they are cool with that, on the other hand if they do try to escape i will not stop them, i will roll with it and see how they fare.
As for C0tSQ, i will read through it but not for a while yet as we are currently building up to play that at the moment, we are at 9th level now.
But thanks for the ideas, and if there are any more then keep 'em coming! |
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Kamber
Acolyte
South Africa
10 Posts |
Posted - 20 Oct 2005 : 21:46:14
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quote:
Originally posted by Snotlord
Keep in mind that some players would rather fight to death than be captured. Players are stubborn, and freedom of choice is important for a fun game. Your campaign could rerail even at this early stage, if you push slavery-thing to hard.
The others covered lots of good stuff, and I can only stress one thing: if the players tries something unexpected, let them have a fair shot at it. Thats when the fun begins.
Good luck! I liked your ideas, and keep us posted. You may want to mine City of the Spider Queen and Queen of Spiders for ideas. Also, the fantastic computer game Baldur's Gate II has some wonderful underdark chapters, if you don't mind dated graphics.
I did bounce the idea off the players that they would be 'tasked' to someone for a period of time and they said that they are cool with that, on the other hand if they do try to escape i will not stop them, i will roll with it and see how they fare.
As for C0tSQ, i will read through it but not for a while yet as we are currently building up to play that at the moment, we are at 9th level now.
But thanks for the ideas, and if there are any more then keep 'em coming! |
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My First Campaign
