Post/Author/DateTime	Post
jera 01-23-05, 07:08 PM	hi, im dm'ing a group with a monk(3rdlevel) paladin(4th level) fighter(3rd level) and a barbarian and a sorcerer may start playing next session(all pcs are human except the socerer) i have completly run out of ideas to complete the campaign ive racked my brain and dont know how to continue plz help whats happen so far the pc group(pcg) started looking for somthing called a bracken root(unimportant right now), we found a rumer of a braken root in the city of the dead and found a necromancer with legions of zombies that we had to fight and in the end somehow the pcg was able to beat him. but after a while i got us into a orc war(i know i know orc wars played to death but they wanted one) we joined the dwarves in there battle cause tehy were under seige our group was attacked and we were rescued by elfs how rescued the pcg and put them through a 2year training program and they had to be put through the trials of the blinkling( go through the forest of death(from naruto) and get the 2 keys to open the tower and fight a blinkling with a ring of blinking.) when they got done with that they went back to the elven city and found it completly destroyed. the pcs went north to reforge the master king sword that coud destroy the diety giving the orcs power and then i intro duced a marvelouse airship battle(reference final fantasy 4)(all of the air ships were destroyed) introducing the paladin and that is were i left off 2 hours ago and i have to think of a way to continue this campaign by next sunday and i have no idea on how to continue any help woud be nice
The_Cheat137 01-23-05, 07:30 PM	Well if you're completely at the end of your rope, then try downloading one of the free adventures on the Wizards website. Most of them can be fit well into any campaign with a little modification, and at the very least it will give your players something to accomplish while you have an extra week to think of something ^^. Often, running an adventure like that can give you some insight or ideas as to what you want to do next.
Damren 01-24-05, 12:51 AM	... a monk(3rdlevel) paladin(4th level) fighter(3rd level) and a barbarian and a sorcerer may start playing next session(all pcs are human except the socerer) ... whats happen so far ... the pcs went north to reforge the master king sword that coud destroy the diety giving the orcs power and then i intro duced a marvelouse airship battle(...) introducing the paladin Your PCs seems to have done quite a bit for being such a low level group. I'm assuming they actually did kill the orc'ish god. I don't think you actually said one way or the other. Also, what happened to the sword? Frequently, especially in comics & sometimes on TV, you have character episodes that are used to build background and provide more depth to the story. That might be a good idea for your next game. Allow each character to explore things a bit as you provide foreshadowing & story content to continue the game. Also, with new PCs coming in, this gives the group the opportunity to 'gel' without being in the thick of things. Your plot points indicate you have a campaign realm that should be in some disarray. You might have wandering orc bands, rumors of other airships (the PCs need never see them if it doesn't work for your plot), political unrest as the kingdoms try to reorganize themselves after the wars. A few ideas you might work in; The Paladin's order of knighthood and any mission he might be on. The PCs can be pulled into it, or simply paid to accompany him. If the 'king sword' has not been sorted out yet, the mission may involve returning it to the hands of the current king. Which, depending on how your plot worked out - could mean finding the current king. The barbarian could be an escaped slave who is being sought for having killed his evil master. Lots of role play possiblities here with the barbarian and the other PCs. Especially with the Paladin, as the barbarian killer may need to atone in the paladin's eyes. The sorcerers background could be of some interest if he is involved with any of the political factions of the recovering kingdom. Are there mystic societies? Is the sorcerer bloodline significant? Draconic? Elven? Is magic viewed with neutrality, distain or is it valued by society? The destroyed elven city might also provide some plot points. The displaced elves may be seeking to find a new home or have some greater problem left behind by the destruction of their city. This problem needs to be solved before they are able to rebuild. Last, but not least, during the 'gel' phase you could ask the PCs what they are interested in doing. The Monk might need help returning to the mountain monestary to train, the fighter may hear his hometown has suffered during the war and feel compelled to go there and see how his family is. I think you have a lot of possibilities that can be had from your previous plot points. What do you think? Good Hunting, Damren
SmokeShadow 01-24-05, 01:10 AM	The most effective thing I've ever done is sat down with someone (just one person, and even that's optional, this person should absolutely not be one of your PCs from your campaign) and say "Let's play DnD, no dice." Here's some easy to follow steps for an original adventure: 1. You ask what they're playing (if you bothered to find someone to do this with), and give them a random town to be in currently (or the town your PC group is in). 2. If you've got an assistant, ask them what they do (they'll almost certainly go into a building, not knowing where to go). If you couldn't find someone to help, just try and remember where your PCs go during downtime, or to buy equipment, and use that place. 3. The first room/building they enter has something odd about it. It can be really subtle (a wall hanging depicting the [un]holy symbol of a god), or really obvious (like a dead body lying in a pool of blood). 4. Play from there. What about the wall hanging? Who/what does it depict? Do they have worshipers? Evil cult? Good pilgrims in need? The Bat-Signal? What about the murder? Whodunnit? Who is it? Foot prints? Murderer present with notes from mysterious employer? Victim not dead yet? 5. Play from there with your assistant (if you could find one), or write ideas about 'whys', 'whats' and 'hows', until you have a full adventure (don't stop writing, even if it sounds ludicrous, you can always not use it later). 6. Flesh it out with NPCs, crunchy monster/villian stats, and give them personality and life. 7. Play it out with your PCs and dice, and have fun. I find it best to have someone there with you, because if you take too long with what they find, they'll get bored and let you know. If you're not good under pressure, you might be better off without someone's help. If the person you are pseudo-playing with gets into any fights, they should automatically win to keep the story moving (don't do this with someone who'll fight anything they see). Good luck, -SmokeShadow
jera 01-25-05, 12:14 PM	we have not fought the orcish god yet they wont fight him till there about level 18 cause the god is like realy powerful the king sword is the only thing to get rid of his barrior so we can kill him to shadow thanks for the help but my group is the only group in 30 miles that i hanvt ****** off
jera 01-25-05, 12:15 PM	illl try and find a campaign on the dnd site that i like but ill still apriciate any help
Alynn 01-25-05, 12:32 PM	This is why I always require a background story to all my characters printed out and given to me, if I run out of things for the main campaign, its background probing time. It can be one hell of an emotional roller coaster (if played right) when the Paladin's mother (who raised him alone) suddenly becomes I'll with an unusual and unknown disease, one that seems to be turning her undead (think about that conundrum, find the source of the disease, or a cure, and if you can't, you'll probably have to kill your own mother)... Its things like this that make them memorable, most campaigns I've played in, I remember the gist of the campaign, but it was the character building adventures that I remember in the most detail.
jera 01-25-05, 09:02 PM	well the only thing that i can think of that runs off your idea is the paladins and the fighters felll in love with elves from the city that i burned down and no body realy has a family that i can think of cause i was there with the creaation of all charecters an i gave themm there back ground (far less variables to have to deal with) but i could make some one a great grandson of the warrior from my gunblade fanfic and use that to stir the group into searching for the gauntlet that will alow them to call the gunblade from the depps of the earth and i need to right this down thanks for the help more help is will be apriciated!!!1
philosofool 01-25-05, 10:13 PM	You could come up with something totally fresh, unreleated to the happenings thus far and use the Barbarian and Sorcerer characters as the hooks that make it happen. What happened to the two new characters just before the story? They show up in the inn--yes, that's a cliche--and are looking for hardy souls to assist them in some cause. If the cause is good, the paladin is in. Maybe you could build some other reward for the remaining characters that gets them in too, if they're not the sort of characters who are do good for its own sake. Barbarians work pretty well for adventure hooks since everyone who creates a barbarian has a basic character sketch in mind: primitive warrior who probably has a clan or tribal toward which that have some familial-type loyalty. If you like that, ask yourself "what just happened to the clan?" Make it the sort of thing that gets you to one lonely member of the tribe seeking the help of civilized folk and you've could build a mulit-session adventure from that.