FR Campaigns [Archive] - Wizards Community

FR Campaigns [Archive] - Wizards Community

Post/Author/DateTime Post
Selcar Of Selendar
01-27-04, 10:07 PM Ok now i'm my groups DM, when it comes to D&D. But these past munths i have hit a rut when it comes to Dming and i need some help geting back to my feet.

Now i would like to know how you other DM's start, when it comes to writing adventurs. Do you start with a consept of what you would like to happen and go from there. Or do you do somthing else. All i really want to know is how do you other FR DM's make adventuer.Now i own all the 3.0 and 3.5 book's and i dont like DMing the published campaigns. So anyhelp would be cool
MoonWizard
01-27-04, 11:15 PM Because I love fantasy so much, I am thinking about it all throughout the day. I often become bored at my classes, often drift off into a fantasy world. I think of cool D&D scenarios and am *in* Faerun. I am always DMing and looking for ideas. Here's where I will write these imaginations on a sticky note so I can explore them when it comes to encounter/quest/campaign writing times. Therefore, I try to be as responsible for any fantasy ideas and epiphanies as I can.

I then begin a flowchart of events as a the quest's architecture comes into construction. Then a map, which I like to do quickly, and fill in the encounters and magic items later, in that order.

If your ideas aren't perfect, don't worry. Obviously, the best DMing means the players are enjoying the campaign. I've found that a few times, what you as the DM thinks the players would enjoy doesn't turn out just as fun, and conversely, sometimes they have a ton of fun in places you didn't expect. Therefore, I feel that it's sometimes out of your control. Your attitude, however, is your control. Players can even have fun while the campaign is slow if the descriptions of land features and monsters are passionate, intelligent, articulate, and most of all vivid.

A marriage of all this is how I attempt to DM. And I love it!
evilash
01-28-04, 04:32 AM You can find some good advice at RoleplayingTips.com (http://www.roleplayingtips.com/).

3 Tips For Writing And Running Adventures (http://www.roleplayingtips.com/issue175.asp)
6 Story-Making Tips (http://www.roleplayingtips.com/issue54.asp)
Adventure Writing Tips: The Goal Reversal & The 9-Act Format (http://www.roleplayingtips.com/issue36.asp)
Lashan
01-28-04, 04:45 PM I admit that I use a lot of old 1E, 2E, and some Dungeon magazine modules. I change them a lot to fit my home game, but they work in a pinch.
J. Grenemyer
01-28-04, 07:24 PM Hello Selcar,

I like to use a mix of material from older gaming supplements (like Lashan), new material from Dungeon Magazine and published adventures from Wizards of the Coast, Monte Cook and Sword and Sorcery Studios.

As for getting started on writing adventures: I like to begin by having my players tell me what it is they want their characters to accomplish in their adventuring careers, as well as what character concepts are important to them.

Then, I either wait for inspiration to take me –at which point I start writing a rough adventure outline– or I pick a module from my collection that seems suited to at least one of the character’s goals and start modifying it to fit my campaign.

For my current campaign, I’ve decided to have it follow the mystery of Ashardalon (as presented in WotC’s adventure path series) and have also borrowed adventures from Dragon Magazine that are set in the Forgotten Realms.

Lastly, the concept of portals: One of the neat ideas about FR is that it is riddled with magical portals that can take you halfway around the world. During the middle levels of my game (when my players were levels 8-12) I used the Dungeon Magazine Adventure, “The Door to Everywhere”, which allowed me to send my players on eight different mini-adventures throughout Northern Faerūn.

I recommend using portals to help jump-start your own adventures as needed.

:D
Selcar Of Selendar
01-28-04, 07:54 PM Ok, i like the ideas you guys/girls are posting. Keep them coming i'm slowly puting a style together from your ideas. Thanks:D :D
Autosponge
01-29-04, 02:09 PM For my last campaign, I started with an idea: what if the players were all half-celestial but didn't know it?

From there I picked a place for them to start: Silverymoon (just like the place, no reason really).

Then I started connecting the dots: Why/how would half-celestials with no knowledge of their nature be in SM? I came up with a background based on supplements from Cook that they were offspring of a dead god and to keep themselves safe from the group that is hunting thier father's followers (to keep him from ever coming back) they drank from the river styxx.

So then I went through my modules and sourcebooks to come up with "news of the day" type stuff. Some of it would be adventure hooks. Between adventures or in the middle of adventures that were too easy for the party, I would spice it up with some attacks from the "hunters"--slowly giving them clues as to who they are. But some of the information clashes with information they left themsevles (here is where the movie Momento became a big influence).

Just use what you have around you, comics, movies, random ideas, etc. and try to mix it. Sometimes it takes some working and there are always more than one way to connect two ideas, so if it doesn't fit quite right, table it for a bit and come back to it. Sometimes having just read something or had a conversation will give you a new perspective and therefore new ideas.
Kuje31
01-29-04, 02:40 PM I posted some thought on how I DM in this thread. :)

http://boards1.wizards.com/showthread.php?s=&threadid=144257
Desies
01-31-04, 01:48 AM that's funny Ronin is a friend of Sel's and mine (in real life)!

Post/Author/DateTime	Post
Selcar Of Selendar 01-27-04, 10:07 PM	Ok now i'm my groups DM, when it comes to D&D. But these past munths i have hit a rut when it comes to Dming and i need some help geting back to my feet. Now i would like to know how you other DM's start, when it comes to writing adventurs. Do you start with a consept of what you would like to happen and go from there. Or do you do somthing else. All i really want to know is how do you other FR DM's make adventuer.Now i own all the 3.0 and 3.5 book's and i dont like DMing the published campaigns. So anyhelp would be cool
MoonWizard 01-27-04, 11:15 PM	Because I love fantasy so much, I am thinking about it all throughout the day. I often become bored at my classes, often drift off into a fantasy world. I think of cool D&D scenarios and am in Faerun. I am always DMing and looking for ideas. Here's where I will write these imaginations on a sticky note so I can explore them when it comes to encounter/quest/campaign writing times. Therefore, I try to be as responsible for any fantasy ideas and epiphanies as I can. I then begin a flowchart of events as a the quest's architecture comes into construction. Then a map, which I like to do quickly, and fill in the encounters and magic items later, in that order. If your ideas aren't perfect, don't worry. Obviously, the best DMing means the players are enjoying the campaign. I've found that a few times, what you as the DM thinks the players would enjoy doesn't turn out just as fun, and conversely, sometimes they have a ton of fun in places you didn't expect. Therefore, I feel that it's sometimes out of your control. Your attitude, however, is your control. Players can even have fun while the campaign is slow if the descriptions of land features and monsters are passionate, intelligent, articulate, and most of all vivid. A marriage of all this is how I attempt to DM. And I love it!
evilash 01-28-04, 04:32 AM	You can find some good advice at RoleplayingTips.com (http://www.roleplayingtips.com/). 3 Tips For Writing And Running Adventures (http://www.roleplayingtips.com/issue175.asp) 6 Story-Making Tips (http://www.roleplayingtips.com/issue54.asp) Adventure Writing Tips: The Goal Reversal & The 9-Act Format (http://www.roleplayingtips.com/issue36.asp)
Lashan 01-28-04, 04:45 PM	I admit that I use a lot of old 1E, 2E, and some Dungeon magazine modules. I change them a lot to fit my home game, but they work in a pinch.
J. Grenemyer 01-28-04, 07:24 PM	Hello Selcar, I like to use a mix of material from older gaming supplements (like Lashan), new material from Dungeon Magazine and published adventures from Wizards of the Coast, Monte Cook and Sword and Sorcery Studios. As for getting started on writing adventures: I like to begin by having my players tell me what it is they want their characters to accomplish in their adventuring careers, as well as what character concepts are important to them. Then, I either wait for inspiration to take me –at which point I start writing a rough adventure outline– or I pick a module from my collection that seems suited to at least one of the character’s goals and start modifying it to fit my campaign. For my current campaign, I’ve decided to have it follow the mystery of Ashardalon (as presented in WotC’s adventure path series) and have also borrowed adventures from Dragon Magazine that are set in the Forgotten Realms. Lastly, the concept of portals: One of the neat ideas about FR is that it is riddled with magical portals that can take you halfway around the world. During the middle levels of my game (when my players were levels 8-12) I used the Dungeon Magazine Adventure, “The Door to Everywhere”, which allowed me to send my players on eight different mini-adventures throughout Northern Faerūn. I recommend using portals to help jump-start your own adventures as needed. :D
Selcar Of Selendar 01-28-04, 07:54 PM	Ok, i like the ideas you guys/girls are posting. Keep them coming i'm slowly puting a style together from your ideas. Thanks:D :D
Autosponge 01-29-04, 02:09 PM	For my last campaign, I started with an idea: what if the players were all half-celestial but didn't know it? From there I picked a place for them to start: Silverymoon (just like the place, no reason really). Then I started connecting the dots: Why/how would half-celestials with no knowledge of their nature be in SM? I came up with a background based on supplements from Cook that they were offspring of a dead god and to keep themselves safe from the group that is hunting thier father's followers (to keep him from ever coming back) they drank from the river styxx. So then I went through my modules and sourcebooks to come up with "news of the day" type stuff. Some of it would be adventure hooks. Between adventures or in the middle of adventures that were too easy for the party, I would spice it up with some attacks from the "hunters"--slowly giving them clues as to who they are. But some of the information clashes with information they left themsevles (here is where the movie Momento became a big influence). Just use what you have around you, comics, movies, random ideas, etc. and try to mix it. Sometimes it takes some working and there are always more than one way to connect two ideas, so if it doesn't fit quite right, table it for a bit and come back to it. Sometimes having just read something or had a conversation will give you a new perspective and therefore new ideas.
Kuje31 01-29-04, 02:40 PM	I posted some thought on how I DM in this thread. :) http://boards1.wizards.com/showthread.php?s=&threadid=144257
Desies 01-31-04, 01:48 AM	that's funny Ronin is a friend of Sel's and mine (in real life)!