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 Posted: Tue Jun 20, 2006 5:58 pm
I've been pondering creating a campaign for quite a while now, and I'm just going to ask the people beforehand what exactly they like to do in the world of Dungeons and Dragons. Obviously it was a Dungeons and Dragons campaign I was thinking of making.
So please, tell me what you want in a campaign, how it should be run, what the qualifications should be, etc. In other words, spill out your dream campaign.
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Posted: Tue Jun 20, 2006 6:18 pm
For me, the story MUST have the PCs as the "main characters". Don't have NPCs travelling along with the PCs and taking all the glory for themselves, no matter how "cool" the NPCs may be. Things might be going on in the world that are out of the PCs' control, but make sure the PCs feel like what they're doing is making some sort of difference.
However, don't use this as an excuse for bland NPCs. Make the DM run characters interesting... memorable even. It's one thing to go to the blacksmith to buy a sword, but when your player's say "Let's go see what Ivan Ashbeard down in the Dwarven District has in stock today," it makes the game more colorful and interesting, especially when the players see old Ivan Ashbeard has a hacking cough from all the coal dust he breathed in when he used to work in the coal mines of Dunedail Khevach.
Play the enemies the PCs are fighting with strategies that the PCs themselves might think of. Play the NPCs with a level of intelligence that befits them. A bunch of orcs aren't just going to rush the PCs in a blind fury (unless they're really mad). Instead, some will stay back and fire arrows while the others attempt to engage what they see to be the biggest threat all while protecting the archers. Likewise, kobolds, who are smarter than orcs, might set up elaborate ambushes involving traps, holding the high ground (something battle-trained orcs would also use), and maybe even spellcasting.
That's a few things that came to my mind. Perhaps later I'll have some other ideas.
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Posted: Thu Jun 22, 2006 3:50 pm
Also, don't make it all combat. Combat is nice, but if all the Players wanted was combat, they'd be a group of fighters and barbarians. Don't leave the Rogue out, who's got all those skills that won't do any good in combat. I think a campaign should be at least a third roleplaying, a third combat, and a third puzzles and the like. Give the PCs a chance to use their brains as well as their brawn. And the charismatic Bard gets no use if you make the game mostly combat. Likewise, the combat is an important part, so you can't skimp on it.
Then there's combat itself. Not every combat should be rough, barely scraping by encounters. Feel free to through a couple encounters that aren't too hard for the PCs in there. It makes it more realistic. The main thing to remember is, you want the PCs to enjoy the game. And take into account that they're using dice, so there's a little chance involved. Give them chances to make a rough combat much easier if they use their brains, or the chance to even talk their way out of it. Makes you feel good to get out of a potentially fatal battle. And you get experiance for defeating an encounter, but that doesn't mean it has to be via combat heh.
Oh, also, as far as levels go, if you only plan on running a kind of short campaign, I feel it's more fun to start at a higher level. 1st level characters are rather weak, and not as much fun unless you really get into your character's personality. If you don't plan on playing long enough for the characters to advance several levels, let them start a little higher. I like to go with 5. But if you do plan on playing a long campaign, first level is good, because you get to watch your character "grow". It lets the players get in to their characters more.
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Posted: Mon Jun 26, 2006 6:28 pm
The biggest problem I have with my real-world DM is that he is to closeminded and because of that, I can easily overpower him. For instance, My DM had us battle around a pit of poison. However, He did not think about what would happen if instead of treating the poison as a threat I dipped my blade into it. From that point on I could kill anything in a hit with that weapopn. (for a while anyway,) I believe it's important to inspect the challenge as if you yourself had to solve it or else you could end up with a problem you didn't expect. You should also be willing to change the script in order to keep things challenging. For instance, In response to my DM's earlier problem, he should have made me fight to keep my sword by putting us up against rust monsters or something similar. I find that in most cases the best solution unless it hinders the story is to alter the situation at hand.
Also, a crappy philosophy that the story revolves around tends to help. xp
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Posted: Fri Jul 28, 2006 10:56 am
remember to always make sure that you foresee what the PCs can do compared to what they would do. a lot of the time what I like to do is have a combat which is easy if they can figure out how to hit the enemy. lol
such as a magically enhanced, armored soldier zombie. you have to figure out what to do to get rid of the armor so you can cast a turn undead...etc
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Posted: Fri Aug 04, 2006 9:14 pm
im just starting a new campaign myself, as a first time DM(its harder than i thought) i like these ideas, but i found a pretty good step by step framework to build the actual world with. the guy that draws Order of the Stick gives advice on it, and i found it useful here
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