Starting New Cormyr Campaign...Need Help and Suggestions Quickly [Archive] - Wizards Community

Starting New Cormyr Campaign...Need Help and Suggestions Quickly [Archive] - Wizards Community

Post/Author/DateTime Post
Dungeon_Master5
01-24-08, 06:10 PM I'm starting a Cormyr campaign and im not sure how to tie the PC's into the storyline. The characters are:

Human Fighter

Human or Elf Rogue (he hasn't decided yet)

Gold Dwarf Cleric/Fighter

and another character in which the person hasn't decided on his class or race

I'm not sure how to get the plot hook out there in an interesting way considering we're going to have our party start out in Wheloon. and yes im a very new DM so any help at all would be greatly appreciated. Thanx for neone who posts!
Orloff
01-25-08, 02:50 PM As far as I can tell, there are two ways to get a party into a campaign. The first involves the illusion of free will, the second involves imposing the campaign upon the characters (those both came out sounding much more negative than I intended).

In the first method, you draw the interest of the characters by appealing to their desires. If your party is interested in wealth, include a large monetary reward and the implication of great treasure. If they quest for glory (does any group actually do this?), make sure they feel that their actions are sufficiently epic. If they quest for good, etc. etc.

The problem with this method arises if your characters have diverse or vague goals. If one of the characters wants to found a bardic school, one wants to be an infamous pirate, one is adventuring because he has nothing better to do, and so on, it'll be harder to attract all of their interest. Also, be wary of alignment issues ("we can't do that quest, it would be wrong!")

The second method works best for epic, large-scale, story-based campaigns. It's the type that you usually read about in literature: Frodo didn't decide one day to go out adventuring, he was forced into it. In this sort of campaign, the PCs find themselves swept into events far beyond their current ability to comprehend. Over the course of the campaign, they begin to gain power and the ability to fight back. The problem with this method is that players may feel that they're being forced into something against their will.

Just my thoughts on the matter.
Dungeon_Master5
01-25-08, 03:56 PM Thanks a lot for the suggestions! Hopefully the players will be intersted by this and hopefully we'll be able to get this campaign started. Thanks again!

Post/Author/DateTime	Post
Dungeon_Master5 01-24-08, 06:10 PM	I'm starting a Cormyr campaign and im not sure how to tie the PC's into the storyline. The characters are: Human Fighter Human or Elf Rogue (he hasn't decided yet) Gold Dwarf Cleric/Fighter and another character in which the person hasn't decided on his class or race I'm not sure how to get the plot hook out there in an interesting way considering we're going to have our party start out in Wheloon. and yes im a very new DM so any help at all would be greatly appreciated. Thanx for neone who posts!
Orloff 01-25-08, 02:50 PM	As far as I can tell, there are two ways to get a party into a campaign. The first involves the illusion of free will, the second involves imposing the campaign upon the characters (those both came out sounding much more negative than I intended). In the first method, you draw the interest of the characters by appealing to their desires. If your party is interested in wealth, include a large monetary reward and the implication of great treasure. If they quest for glory (does any group actually do this?), make sure they feel that their actions are sufficiently epic. If they quest for good, etc. etc. The problem with this method arises if your characters have diverse or vague goals. If one of the characters wants to found a bardic school, one wants to be an infamous pirate, one is adventuring because he has nothing better to do, and so on, it'll be harder to attract all of their interest. Also, be wary of alignment issues ("we can't do that quest, it would be wrong!") The second method works best for epic, large-scale, story-based campaigns. It's the type that you usually read about in literature: Frodo didn't decide one day to go out adventuring, he was forced into it. In this sort of campaign, the PCs find themselves swept into events far beyond their current ability to comprehend. Over the course of the campaign, they begin to gain power and the ability to fight back. The problem with this method is that players may feel that they're being forced into something against their will. Just my thoughts on the matter.
Dungeon_Master5 01-25-08, 03:56 PM	Thanks a lot for the suggestions! Hopefully the players will be intersted by this and hopefully we'll be able to get this campaign started. Thanks again!