Im making a DND campaign. Its gonna be somewhat short (possibly finishable on a 2-3 day cabin-trip), but ive never really made anything in DND before. Ive only played one campaign, and so im wondering if you guys had some suggestions?
I have some rough ideas about the world and some concepts for cities, but im mostly curious about specific ideas for dungeons and puzzles, or just any other suggestions in general. Some neat ideas you guys have seen, that I could include in some way? Pretty much just any suggestion in general
Thanks!
Connor Fisher
Do you know what your players are looking for/expecting?
Blake Sullivan
This is the key question. Nothing matters as much as this.
Hunter Ward
>subforum
Matthew Miller
Well, not really, most havent really played before either. We did like a 10 hour short campaign that was basically a 90s point-n-click puzzlegame that I made, just to test it out and get familiar with the mechanics
The story isnt going to be very serious (one town will consist kindof entirely of stupid clones of irl-versions of one of the guys playing), but im hoping to get som serious dungeons & some very good puzzles that can be on any scale. Simple one-room puzzles, or puzzles that are more about like making an entire population do something specific. Puzzles are what I find the most interesting, I think
I can write out everything I have planned so far, if its relevant
Hunter Collins
Also, >the world really won't matter for a brief thing like you're describing. You'll be stretching things to have them get across a whole duchy. Don't worry about the big-ticket world things.
Jackson Ramirez
Alright, so I think they are expecting a story that wont be too serious. I have some pretty silly ideas for the overall world. I want a very thin overall plot that will drive them, but to make it not that linear, so they can go about solving that overall goal however they want
But everyone playing has either only played D&D once before, or never. Me and two of the guys who will be playing have read up a bunch, and ive watched a bunched of other games, and most of us have read the players handbook (and i read a lot of the dungeon masters guide), but we're all noobs, so i think the expectations are just for it to be funny and intellectually challenging.
Aaron Ward
okay. The "world" is pretty small, though. I just have an idea for two specific cities (one is all clones of a guy who will be playing there, just to kinda make fun of him, who tell the players a witch cursed them. they have a barrier around the town, and ask the players to go to her spot and get a thing to cure them. but the witch will tell the players the entire town is evil, and they have to choose whether to help her massacre it, or to kill her and cure it. if they cure them, its revealed they were all goblins before being cursed. either way, the town is massacred)
the other one is basically a "communist utopia" on top of a mountain, where its super nice and pleasant and grassy fields, and a wizard runs a city thats so isolated that the people there have never experienced anything horrible at all. im gonna stretch it out a bit, and its basically just an entire town full of SJWs who are so sensitive that they will get upset if the players curse or do anything even mildly upsetting
Gabriel Powell
You don't need to write out what you have. We can do without.
My biggest suggestion to you is scrap it. Run a premade module. It'll make things easier on you. If 3.5, I would recommend White Plume Mountain; I use it when introducing newish players and it has a great mix of traps, combat, and puzzles. 5e also has some pretty good premase stuff.
Kayden Flores
Alright, i think we are gonna play 5e, but ill definetly look up White Plume Mountain. Maybe ill tweak it to make it my own. I was strongly considering that, just to make it easier. Thanks
Benjamin Hernandez
Toss in a sphinx with some riddles
Landon Watson
Got any specific ones?
If theres any complete, premade dungeons that I can just squeeze into my world (if i dont end up using something completely premade), that might come in handy too
Ryan Parker
>(i hope this is the right subforum) Is this some kind of subtle bait?
Matthew Peterson
yes?
Ok im adding White Pume Mountain to my campaign, im reading about it, and its sounds perfect. But i cant have them going there till they get level 5, so ill have to have some other shit before that point
Owen Sanders
Why not just start them at level 5?
Adam Baker
Well, maybe. But again, only 2/5 players have played it before, so might be more manageable for them to start at level 1, to get the hang of it slightly? And then insert the mountain into a certain context, and just make some shit for them to do before getting there. Getting them to level 4 shouldnt take long at all
Josiah Hughes
Pick a great scene from a movie. Tweak it so that it's not immediately recognizable.
Play that.
Examples:
- navigating the mines of moria from Fellowship
- the masquerade ball from Van Helsing
- the opening scene with the tree in the arctic from that Vin Diesel movie with the witches
- the attack on Port Royal from the first Pirates of the Carribean
- Navigating the various magical puzzles to find the philosopher stone like in Harry Potter 1
Jace Bailey
Interesting. Duly noted!
But, with someone like the attack on the port royal, how exactly do I handle having so many things happening at once? Any, like, rough tips for managing such a high amount of things happening at once?
Charles Long
Remember that story is all about the characters.
The player characters are not all over the port, they're not in every building. Follow their story and work with where they go.
Draw a map and break it into imaginary sections. When they walk into a new section, roll on a random encounters table of your own making.
There may be four pirates, but instead of running and attacking the party, they may be looting a shop, and what the players do is up to them.
... unless they're the ones attacking the port.
With large scale warfare, you can describe what's going on, but the players are obviously not involved with all aspects. Use the description of sounds in the distance or the aftermath of a small brawl in an alley to describe the atmosphere.
"As you duck around a building, you come across a gruesome scene. Four bodies lay scattered and rent, blood pooling beneath them. As you take a step, your foot slides ever so slightly on the cobblestone, now slick from the dark ichor around. The smashed windows and splintered door draw your gaze towards a building when *explosion sound effect*, the distant thunder of cannon fire snaps your attention back to the present situation. Down the street, a small squad of guards jog past, headed for the port as distant screams and yells fill the air...."
Brandon Collins
Great, very helpful. Thanks!
Bentley Lewis
It sounds like you're going to be running it for friends, who are mostly inexperienced. Honestly, it'll be a new experience for most of y'all, so don't worry so much about a huge elaborate backstory and setting. Think in terms of set pieces, especially for such a short campaign. Chances are, you have to actively be out to screw your players in order for them not to enjoy themselves, especially if they are your friends,
Kayden Nguyen
Yawning Portal has White Plume Mountain for 5e doesn't it?
Robert Hernandez
At least he didn't say subreddit
Hudson Nguyen
Alright cool
Ive just made a pretty simple story about catching a badguy who steals their mojo, kindof. Go through some caves (including White Plume Mountain, which im totally stealing) and some simple-ish scenarios. Everyone is probably going to be high & tipsy the entire time, so ill just make some simple shits. thanks boys
i dont know what that is, but even if its an older version, ill just look up the included monsters from a 5e beastiary, and it shouldnt be hard to alter it? or?
