D&D plot discussion [New DM]

[Goddess Kairos]

Hello, this will be my first time as DM and I'm not sure if im putting too much effort into my campaign or not. I plan on mapping out every city and making it to where they have to roll to find even places within the city. Likewise there will be opportunities for many side quests ranging from finding lost kids, wild animal attacks, thieves, assassinations, and stealing. The kind of jobs they take will directly effect their alignments and reputation. i don't know if that is too much....


My other question pertains to plot.

in my central city of Redmoore, The festival of the red dragon is underway. the streets are clogged with outsiders and vendors and the such. There is also a tournament with a reward. there are many paths they could go. I'm really trying to think of the main plot.

A) At the conclusion of the tournament someone rushes from the crowd, stabs the king and runs off before anyone could catch them. this assassin is a member of an underground group seeking to send the realm into war.

B) They take a quest to retrieve a set of incriminating documents from the duke who is in cahoots with the underground band.

or something like that... i dont really know. Any suggestions would be greatly appreciated.

[Luphey]

You shouldn't write a plot (IMO) for your players to follow unless they are expressly okay with it. Plotting out a whole story can turn out poorly since players can de-rail a "plot" quite easily, you may also end up railroading them through their game which can end up very unenjoyable for the players.

My suggestion. Plot scenarios. Write things that can happen in certain areas, or at certain times rather then writing a straight up story line. Let the players write the story as they play.

However, don't let this change what you want to do. Try out your idea and if it works it works. If it doesn't then this may be useful to you.

I will try to post a link to an article you might find stimulating.

EDIT: Found it:

http://thealexandrian.net/wordpress/4147/roleplaying-games/dont-prep-plots

[Goddess Kairos]

Luphey

You shouldn't write a plot (IMO) for your players to follow unless they are expressly okay with it. Plotting out a whole story can turn out poorly since players can de-rail a "plot" quite easily, you may also end up railroading them through their game which can end up very unenjoyable for the players.

My suggestion. Plot scenarios. Write things that can happen in certain areas, or at certain times rather then writing a straight up story line. Let the players write the story as they play.

However, don't let this change what you want to do. Try out your idea and if it works it works. If it doesn't then this may be useful to you.

I will try to post a link to an article you might find stimulating.

EDIT: Found it:

http://thealexandrian.net/wordpress/4147/roleplaying-games/dont-prep-plots

Yes thanks, so there doesn't need to be an over general plot (even if there was, i'd have something pertaining to the plot wherever they went) but more like say mini quests?

[Luphey]

RaInBoWdAsHiNg

Luphey

You shouldn't write a plot (IMO) for your players to follow unless they are expressly okay with it. Plotting out a whole story can turn out poorly since players can de-rail a "plot" quite easily, you may also end up railroading them through their game which can end up very unenjoyable for the players.

My suggestion. Plot scenarios. Write things that can happen in certain areas, or at certain times rather then writing a straight up story line. Let the players write the story as they play.

However, don't let this change what you want to do. Try out your idea and if it works it works. If it doesn't then this may be useful to you.

I will try to post a link to an article you might find stimulating.

EDIT: Found it:

http://thealexandrian.net/wordpress/4147/roleplaying-games/dont-prep-plots

Yes thanks, so there doesn't need to be an over general plot (even if there was, i'd have something pertaining to the plot wherever they went) but more like say mini quests?

Present your players with opportunities that can end up sending them where you want them to go (assuming they take that opportunity.). This gives them something to do while maintaining the feeling of freedom since they have a choice to take that opportunity. Its not bad to have a BBEG (Big Bad Evil Guy) In fact, most campaigns revolve around one. But try not to prepare a step by step on what the players are gonna do.

[Goddess Kairos]

Luphey

Alrighty, thanks very much! It's a very good article. But I have another question. Say an event was planned at a location: Somehow the group will receive an item. The item in question will be an item that a secret group wants because there are 7 special items that together can be used to release something. Haven't decided what yet. They can get this item through several different ways depending on what they decide to do. Winning a tournament, stealing, and maybe one other way that i havent thought of. I assume from there I would have to see what they decided to do before moving on and determining what will happen next? I think a cult of some sort is involved.

[Luphey]

RaInBoWdAsHiNg

Luphey

Alrighty, thanks very much! It's a very good article. But I have another question. Say an event was planned at a location: Somehow the group will receive an item. The item in question will be an item that a secret group wants because there are 7 special items that together can be used to release something. Haven't decided what yet. They can get this item through several different ways depending on what they decide to do. Winning a tournament, stealing, and maybe one other way that i havent thought of. I assume from there I would have to see what they decided to do before moving on and determining what will happen next? I think a cult of some sort is involved.

Not necessarily. Its good to have a general idea of how you want an event to go, or how an event comes up.You just need to be ready for anything to happen, since your players are controlling the story( mostly ). If something happens that you aren't prepared for then just improvise a little. After a bit, you'll get used to thinking of things to happen on the fly.

Hope that answered your question ha ha.