Post/Author/DateTime	Post
the_faerie_princess 03-10-08, 10:49 AM	Hey there and thanks in advance for any help you can give me... I've been playing D&D since 2nd edition and for the past few months with a pretty big group (10+). We started the current group to introduce some of the regular groups kids to playing but with such a large number of us, it makes for very little character fleshing and role-playing and for much chaos (the kind that only pre-teens and teenagers can provide). We'd like to start another group of just our old group to play on alternate weekends but our DM doesn't want the stress of running two campaigns simultaneously and would really like to just sit back and play for once. I've never run a campaign but (stupid me) volunteered to try. We've got the following specs: 3.5 edition (probably goes without saying...) 4-5 players No class restrictions No race restrictions Alignment restricted to only neutral and lawful Would like a campaign to take us from beginning to lvl 10+ We're running a campaign in Greyhawk now, so maybe a campaign in a different setting would be good I've got until May to put together a campaign and I'm wondering the following: 1.) Can anyone make a recommendation for a good pre-made campaign and if so where can I find it? 2.) If I wanted to create a campaign from scratch, what's my first step? Thanks again!
Dog_O_War 03-10-08, 02:00 PM	Hey there and thanks in advance for any help you can give me... I've been playing D&D since 2nd edition and for the past few months with a pretty big group (10+). We started the current group to introduce some of the regular groups kids to playing but with such a large number of us, it makes for very little character fleshing and role-playing and for much chaos (the kind that only pre-teens and teenagers can provide). We'd like to start another group of just our old group to play on alternate weekends but our DM doesn't want the stress of running two campaigns simultaneously and would really like to just sit back and play for once. I've never run a campaign but (stupid me) volunteered to try. We've got the following specs: 3.5 edition (probably goes without saying...) 4-5 players No class restrictions No race restrictions Alignment restricted to only neutral and lawful Would like a campaign to take us from beginning to lvl 10+ We're running a campaign in Greyhawk now, so maybe a campaign in a different setting would be good I've got until May to put together a campaign and I'm wondering the following: 1.) Can anyone make a recommendation for a good pre-made campaign and if so where can I find it? 2.) If I wanted to create a campaign from scratch, what's my first step? Thanks again! First, I suggest you have class and race restrictions. While it might seem cool to play a goblin in an all dwarven party, or a bard/sorcerer/druid/rogue/monk/paladin, it is often detrimental to the party to do so (and creates unnecessary conflict). I'd offer them only the PHB races, and say only a maximum of 3 multiclasses and one prestige class. If you insist on a more "multicultural" selection, perhaps allow orcs, goblins, and hobgoblins. If you're allowing people to start at 2nd or higher level, then I'd consider aasimars and tieflings, but beyond these stuff gets quite cheezy. I cannot comment on the premades, as I've only really used a couple - tend to make all things up myself. If you're wanting to create a campaign from scratch, start with ripping stuff off (seriously). This gives you some framework to use; I'd choose some obscure game that no one has really played or remembered (ie: not WoW), or a fantasy setting that you can tweek enough to make it seem unique (ie: don't call the big evil god Takhisis, or have the party start in a tavern called Inn of the Last Home). Start simple; two to three greater gods to represent NG, N, and NE (this covers LG, CG, LN, CN, LE, and CE respectively as well). They don't have to have a whole lot of detail either, as you can use these to represent the multitude of religious factions. They could be depicted as 3 hooded and robed figures, perhaps all with the same face - there pantheon might be known as the Aspects of the Mortal; one in praise, one in meditation, and one in plot. Symbols might represent hand positions, with a "V" for good (praise), an "A" without the crossline for neutral (a pyramid; meditation), and an "O" or circle for evil (clasped hands or clenched fists; plotting). This is just one of the near-infinite ideas you could use for a quick selection of gods (if you don't want to use the ones in the PHB that is). Various factions of each god have access to different domains, and these could represent organizations your players come up with. For instance, one character is a rogue and as such his desires are generally selfish. He wants to join a guild of thieves, so he makes up a guild that is about stealing from the righteous, the pompous, and the mighty. You now have an organization template to work with, and you use that player's alignment to suggest a default outlook of that guild. The guild can have clerics, and these clerics are about trickery and selfish desires (they fall under the meditative neutral god, as they are not out to actively harm, but their focus is on the benefit of the individual over others). This is just an idea you could work with. After you've established a quick list of gods (either created or borrowed), I'd move on to an area; use a fairly small location, about maybe 50 by 50 miles to represent a a small kingdom. Use the DMG - roll up a small, central city for the power centre of the region, then roll up 3-5 towns, villages, and hamlets for the area. Most of these rural places will be within a 1/4 to a full days' walk (not ride) from one-another. Maybe one is abit isolated, and this one could be used as an established confict or "adventure" spot to begin. Maybe this kingdom is in a bowl-shaped plateau, ringed with low-lying hills and mountains. This town might be near an old and forgotten mine or dungeon of some descriptor. One thing to note when rolling up these towns and cities is to use what your players want to play - if one guy wants to be a dwarf, then let one of the communities be mainly dwarves. If one guy is an elf, then let a village be mainly elven, and excetera for the other players. I recommend having this kingdom be mainly forest, with small plots around the various population centres as growing fields - this allows for slowed travel (movement in trackless forests is 1/2, so going from town to town won't be bad, but finding and exploring adventure sites is slowed to allow the illusion of distance). Now that you have your gods, some organization templates (which you can develope later using various methods - I recommend using what's laid out in the DMGII, the PHBII, and other splatbooks for ease of creation), and an area, move on to what your players want (or can) do. It is easy to think of the end-mark of the game, like fighting a giant red dragon on a ruined castle high in the mountains - but try hard to stay away from these thoughts (for now). Think small; think of what a group of low (1st to 4th) level characters is capable of doing. Maybe there is a pass through the mountains to a dwarven city that no one knows about, but a dwarven trader has descovered it; unfortunately it houses a small goblin tribe, of which their leader has a wyvern enslaved (maybe they keep its clutch of eggs at ransom). The dwarf doesn't want to share this information with the community because this will double his profits over his competitors, so he hires outsiders to clear the pass for him. Offer a seemingly substancial reward - 5000 gold pieces, to get this job done (while that might seem like a fortune, it is devided amoungst x number of players, and the reward probably won't be gained until they are about 4th level, and could possibly handle a wyvern in a fight. Note about the wyvern though, they could "defeat" it by instead learning about the ransomed eggs, and rescue the eggs - allowing the wyvern to turn on his slavers). From here you have all the framework of religion, region, origin, and adventure. If you want more ideas and such, just mention them; I seem to conceptualize and hammer out ideas for other people better than I do for my own setting.
Orchomenos 03-10-08, 02:11 PM	1) I would suggest the Free Original Adventures (http://www.wizards.com/default.asp?x=dnd/oa/20030530b), but since you're a bunch of old-timers, you've probably seen a lot of these adventures... Beside, take a look at this Useful "What's A DM To Do?" Links (http://forums.gleemax.com/showthread.php?t=967256). The Master DM Competitions have a lot of stuff, some of this might be useful. And check these Random Encounters (http://www.wizards.com/default.asp?x=dnd/arch/re) and Vicious Venues (http://www.wizards.com/default.asp?x=dnd/arch/vv) for additional ideas! 2) Try this Netbook of Plots (http://www.complang.tuwien.ac.at/alex/Handbooks/WWWPlots/index.html), it can give you some good ideas.
celloshane 03-11-08, 01:19 PM	Dog o War gives some great advice for world creation and starting a campaign from scratch, but I don't think that's exactly what the OP is looking for. For your first pass in the DM seat I'd recommend using published material since learning to handle the DM role and creating a setting at the same time can be overwhelming. Since you mention wanting to try a new setting, I would suggest checking out Eberron. There are several published modules for the setting, and it's a completely different feel from Greyhawk. If you think that would be too different for your group, consider picking up one of the adventure paths like Shackled City. You can drop those into nearly any setting, so your group could explore a completely new section of Greyhawk or try Faerun or any other setting you like.
the_faerie_princess 03-12-08, 11:48 AM	Thanks for all the great advice. I am indeed probably leaning towards something published (although not Shackled City as that's the campaign our usual DM is currently running us through) but I am definitely interested in building a campaign from the ground up. I may possibly run something published when we start to give me time to build something and learn more about how to DM and get more familiar with all the rules and such. I appreciate any help though and thanks! Celloshane - Where can I find the published Eberron materials?
celloshane 03-12-08, 02:30 PM	err... umm... Amazon.com? http://www.wizards.com/default.asp?x=products/eberron/864000000 http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Eberron#Adventures sorry, I'm not sure I'm used to people following my advice and then asking for more, it might take some getting used to.
Werral 03-12-08, 07:53 PM	Draw a map and have everyone describe their hometown, so for a party of four you've got 4 ready made locations. Start them off somewhere small and add stuff as they explore (just have some vague stuff like "Northerners like drinking and magic, when they combine the too there's trouble" or Endrinan's are very close to the elves and their nobles are mostly half-elves but Truni despise elves and the Endrian's for consorting with them") You don't need to know much more than that - if a player wants to play an Endrian have them help fill in the details. As to limitaions - ust have the group make characters together and let them make sure they gel as a group (you can play a goblin if the group can accept a goblin but not if another character is going to attack the greenie with an axe first time round).
AngeloftheNight 03-13-08, 01:31 PM	I personally drew up a large world map first, I then picked a continet that would work came up with a plot hook, and set the PCs to work. I allow all alignmets exept for Chaotic-Evil so the first thing I did was have them be conscripted into an army to fight a Lich. Then, cause a lich is insane for a bunch of 7th level charactors, I gave them a much lower level adversary to fight. I just built from there. I have now got a city mapped out very heavily and a persistent world that my players love. -angel
taradusis 03-21-08, 12:23 PM	Paizo.com is selling the Pathfider series. They have commited to doing 3.5 modules as well.