Post/Author/DateTime	Post
lifespeed 02-27-06, 05:22 PM	I'm run five adventures so far in the campaign I'm running and they've all been pretty modular, with nothing to really connect them together. As it stands I've now converted the world over to Forgotten Realms, and have the PCs en route to Sundabar and have some ideas for the Sivler Marches and the Underdark. I notice a lot of people talk about these huge, over-arching storylines they have planned out for their campaigns. I've never done this because it's always seemed to me that, if you plan out a whole big storyline like that, things will probably backfire on you, and your PCs won't want to do that story or that the group will fall apart or something. However, I find myself with a group now that's pretty easy going, and will go along with pretty much anything I want to run. I was wondering how those of you that have run large storyline type cmapaigns have done it then. How have you worked the group into the story, dealt with problems along the way, and so on. I'm especially interested because, when we finaly get around to playing again (EXTREME SHCEDULE CONFLICTS! WOOO!), there are a few interesting NPCs in the dungeon that will hopefully be able to come back and involve the PCs in some fun concerning drow and orcs. Which brings me to another subject. I was for a while trying to run every weekend, with a new adventure each time and I got burned out. Subsequently, the Exalted game I play in was running every week for a while and that was getting to be a bit too much as well. However, we played a little D&D the Saturday night before last, and in four hours we got some reintroductions don, introduced the new character, had a huge blow out in a tavern and one fight that took an hour and a half. Admittedly, I wasn't well prepared and we were kind of tired, but I'm concerned about trying to cram entire adventures into single sessions. So, I'm wondering how differant DMs handle this situation as well.
Zarron 02-27-06, 05:39 PM	First- get out of the dungeons. At least, traditional, hole in the ground dungeons. You can have a "dungeon" that is a boat the PCs have stowed away on and are now trying to get topside to escape. It feels and plays like a dungeon, but you have a story now. Second, why not try and get your PCs to agree to know (and trust) each other from the start. This will let you do a bit more. Third, while your first few adventures will have definitely evil characters, after awhile, move away from that (or use primarily Lawful and Neutral Evil). You want your PCs to pick sides, but not to be able to discern that the undead thing leading more undead things is the BBEG. Fourth, the world waits for no man (or party of men). Just because they don't go to the festival doesn't mean that the princess won't be attacked at the festival. What I do is create a "shadow party," or the group that is going to be where the PCs -would- be (or are off elsewhere). That way they feel like they have rivals going around and doing heroic things. They can even be friends, all that matters is that they do what you would expect the PCs to do (or are at least in the area to tell the PCs what happened because they -weren't- there.) Fifth, people die. When a PC dies, if they can't come back, your PCs should have a relatively easy time finding a new friend. Sixth, a TPK doesn't end the plot. You pick up- chronologically- at roughly the same spot as the last party. You just happen to be working for a different end now. Seventh, remember that, at first, all that has to connect adventures are NPCs and places. You don't need a complex story filled with political intrigue. If there are a bunch of crazy people in the town who are fun to interact with, that can make a deep story (just imagine the local alchemist's wife always complaining about this or that, or the armor-smith who loves to gossip).