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SillyBee
2010-08-26, 08:22 PM
Playground,

I consider myself a relatively humble person. I come to you now in the humblest of manners in order to beseech any person willing to aid me. I have run out of ideas. I am fully aware of the addage that there is nothing new under the sun, but at this point everything I think of in relation to ideas for a campaign/story arc/D&D world seems completely trite and contrived.

Those still paying attention can surmise my intent here. Please help me come up with a few ideas to bring to the table for a campaign.

Potential necessary knowledge:
3.5 D&D
4 players including myself
Focusing on 'standard' roleplay dynamics: heroes, bad guys, world rescuing, personally affecting characters, etc.

No known classes/characters as of yet. I am coming to the table to jumpstart the group into having ideas(I know, I know. I have to depend on others in order to assist those that depend on me).

Please Playground! Aid a maiden in distress!

Vitruviansquid
2010-08-26, 08:29 PM
One idea is to go read some books or watch some movies that seem to be about the genre. You don't have to rip the whole game from their plots, but doing this always gives me ideas for what what to set my next campaign in.

Personally, I'd suggest watching the Dark Knight, which very much has a good vs. evil vibe, but manages to make it extremely interesting regardless of predictability.

Noneoyabizzness
2010-08-26, 08:53 PM
the flaw in your question is there seems to be too little data. time for soem clarifying questions:

how much rule experience has the group had?
is it a homebrewed or premade world? if premade, which?
how attached are you to being the goodguys? one of the best points of view is to consider the evil campaign of saving your world since your stuff is there.


as far as trying to spark some of the best d&d mindset in people, yes the dark knight is brilliant for putting forth good vs evil but even moreso law vs chaos. other suggestions for slightly atypical d&d inspiration sources are cemtery man, burn notice, watchmen, john carpenter's assault on pnt 13, the first mummy movie, league of extraordinary gentlemen (the movie is really a cheezy epic level d&d in victorian era game), and death note. the middle story arc of a group of people tryign to figure out who is essentially playing god and killing people globally is a brilliant idea, butmade more intriguing by the fact one of them is the killer.

Keld Denar
2010-08-26, 09:05 PM
Play a Dragonfire Adept (Dragon Magic). No particular reason, just that they are AWESOME. That is all.

NeoRetribution
2010-08-26, 09:24 PM
"There is nothing new under the Sun because it leaves often to make room for the Night."


Without going into the D&D Setting it seems as if you are asking for nouns. So my suggestion is to think of at least one non-player character, one place, and one object that neither you or your players have ever seen before. Also, if you plan heroes versus villains, use something else other than what you have been using.

For example, change the search parameters, if any. Or have the villain invite the heroes to dinner. Or plan to make the villain one of the heroes at the last moment. Or use some kind of time pressure where the heroes need to perform their deeds within a certain temporal frame.

Add a myth! It doesn't matter whether it fully fits the setting or not. Local folk tales that have hints of truth to them might be useful to the player characters.

Also, try to think back onto the things that you have done most in your campaigns and do not do them. Maybe not always the reverse, but force yourself to make alternatives to what you have done the most in the past.


A proper villain that a DungeonMaster has never used before can help. But it sounds to me like you are searching for a problem instead of a villain. Perhaps a side effect of something the villain has done? A side effect of conflicting interests or economic pressure? Did the Prince mint his gold coins before his coronation and cause an uproar?

More importantly, it might be a good idea to give up D&D for a few hours before you do any of this. A good and rested preparation would be better than starting in a haggard state.

The game may involve a tea shop, a massage parlor, or Great Aunt Gertha's Quilt Emporium, but it should be fun for you also.


If all else fails you could also turn to random generators around the Internet to help with nouns and verbs. Something might catch your interest. But you must not give up. The answers will come to you if you search for them.

Vitruviansquid
2010-08-26, 09:37 PM
Also, ask yourself what themes what you'd like to include besides just "good guys" and "bad guys."

Take, for example, the Lord of the Rings and the epic of Gilgamesh. Sure, there's the good guys and the bad guys in both stories, but in Lord of the Rings, "goodness" is tied to nature and the natural world while "evilness" is tied almost inextricably to technology and industry. However, in Gilgamesh, "goodness" is tied to technology and industry while "evilness" is tied to the natural world.

So, even though you're going with a "standard" roleplay dynamic of good guys saving the world from the bad guys, ask yourself, who, exactly, are the good guys in the story? Who are the bad?

Kaww
2010-08-27, 03:46 AM
Well, this is a tough issue. You want to be more or less original and you seek advice about it. Is this correct? If not than this is a spam. If it is you could do the following:

Chose one afternoon, start playing a game on your computer that has a required attention/brain usage 0% and just start making a story.

Have chocolate/fruit/nuts/whateveryouliketoeat and munch on that and just think. You should know what your players like/dislike and try to work it in there somewhere. The story or at least its skeleton should be formed in couple of hours. I start by taking a cliche add a spin to it and then replace the cliche with something that will confuse my players totally.

Good lich (LM) is a great example, but use something like that once per group, not even per campaign... A dragon in distress, or a succubus, always a nice touch...

Making players think that they are the good guys when in truth they are bad guys (players playing from evil point of view and not knowing it). Example: you say that races are predetermined, and they kill the evil ones that plague their villages and settlements (heroes); dwarfs usurped your mines, you have to make them leave...

But you should just try and keep players never knowing what happens next...

hamishspence
2010-08-27, 04:35 AM
Take, for example, the Lord of the Rings and the epic of Gilgamesh. Sure, there's the good guys and the bad guys in both stories, but in Lord of the Rings, "goodness" is tied to nature and the natural world while "evilness" is tied almost inextricably to technology and industry. However, in Gilgamesh, "goodness" is tied to technology and industry while "evilness" is tied to the natural world.

true up to a point- but there are exceptions. Within LoTR, there are malevolent forces of "nature and the natural world"- the trees of the Old Forest, especially Old Man Willow, possibly the mountain Caradhras.

742
2010-08-27, 07:09 AM
well how tied are you to total heroes and total villians? what scale of world rescuing?

you could play a campaign heavy on the intrigue, or with at least a little of it. maybe the PCs need to prove that lord evilton is doing bad things or find out exactly what the hell is going on; and if its queen notanicelady, lord evilton, baron von ****you or the creepy old lady in the woods who the PCs can never seem to find when they want to. adding extra layers of complexity helps if its tailored to your groups paranoia level: if theyre naieve then maybe lord evilton did it
if theyre all completely paranoid then maybe mr. smith was framed-by himself, with meta-framing and counting the PCs being able to prove that, and that the threads of conspiracy would lead to someone else [recursive] while he executed his plan, which theyre all secretly in on working against the PCs who will be conveniently fed that tiny shred of evidence (or have the person theyre working for murdered due to internal conflicts) just before they get that pesky noble to the gallows and in fact one or two* of the PCs were recruited as spies for the various interested parties by the DM before character creation.

*maybe even all of them

shadow_archmagi
2010-08-27, 07:13 AM
Playground,
need ideas



Run a Generic Campaign. Have your players visit Pleasant Village, where they meet Gruff Innkeep and Mysterious Stranger.

Greenish
2010-08-27, 07:50 AM
Run a Generic Campaign. Have your players visit Pleasant Village, where they meet Gruff Innkeep and Mysterious Stranger.Standard Fantasy Setting. (http://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/Main/StandardFantasySetting)

Using, subverting and playing with those tropes should give plenty of material. That is, if you manage to find time to do anything after getting hooked to tv-tropes.

dsmiles
2010-08-27, 07:58 AM
Go for the GOLD!

Watch some old animated shows. We ran a campaign based off of the old tv christmas specials.

Watch some movies. We ran a Wizard of Oz campaign, and an Alice in Wonderland campaign (long before the latest version).

Listen to music. We ran a campaign based off White Zombie's "Living Dead Girl", another good one was the "Diary of Jane" (Breaking Benjamin) mystery/suspense campaign.

Read some books. Stan Nicholls "Orcs" is a great inspiration and it shakes up the standard "good guys vs. bad guys" routine.

Most of all, be original. Try things you've never tried with your players (as long as it's legal, that is :smalltongue:). Ask them what types of campaigns they've been involved in in the past. If they've only gamed with you, all you have to do is switch it up. Good Luck!

shadow_archmagi
2010-08-27, 08:21 AM
Standard Fantasy Setting. (http://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/Main/StandardFantasySetting)

Using, subverting and playing with those tropes should give plenty of material. That is, if you manage to find time to do anything after getting hooked to tv-tropes.

Use all the tropes you can. Refer to them by name.

"The Kingdom is inhabited by large swathes of Glibhi Hills; subject to Ayn Rand's Revenge"

GameSpawn
2010-08-27, 08:28 AM
First off, read this (http://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/Main/TropesAreTools?from=Main.TropesAreNotBad). Second off, ask yourself why a particular idea seems contrived. You could also simply start with a standard situation, or even a situation you want to see take place. Then try and find a reasonable way that situation could have come about (this will probably require you to change the initial idea some). Then figure out what the other people involved would reasonably try and do in that situation. Together, I think these strategies will make the situation(s) seem far less contrived.

Ruinix
2010-08-27, 08:30 AM
Playground,

I consider myself a relatively humble person. I come to you now in the humblest of manners in order to beseech any person willing to aid me. I have run out of ideas. I am fully aware of the addage that there is nothing new under the sun, but at this point everything I think of in relation to ideas for a campaign/story arc/D&D world seems completely trite and contrived.

Those still paying attention can surmise my intent here. Please help me come up with a few ideas to bring to the table for a campaign.

Potential necessary knowledge:
3.5 D&D
4 players including myself
Focusing on 'standard' roleplay dynamics: heroes, bad guys, world rescuing, personally affecting characters, etc.

No known classes/characters as of yet. I am coming to the table to jumpstart the group into having ideas(I know, I know. I have to depend on others in order to assist those that depend on me).

Please Playground! Aid a maiden in distress!

check the campaing Red hand of Doom.

is an awesome campaing and preatty much what u ask. good vs evil. hero like needed XD

Telonius
2010-08-27, 08:35 AM
Are you looking for a one-shot, or a months-long endeavor?

Possible ideas ...

Militant Druid cult has had enough of the damage that civilizations have caused. Druids and allied clerics of Obad-Hai start a massive re-naturalization project. It starts with a few elvish villages, and orcs are suspected. But then, whole swathes of the kingdom start becoming depopulated (citizens actually Polymorphed into natural creatures). The Druids also capture a few examples of each intelligent being - since they're animals too, after all - and start a plan of erasing their memories and releasing them back into the wild.

Curmudgeon
2010-08-27, 11:01 AM
Most D&D adventures involve the PCs going someplace and seeking out treasure/trouble/glory ─ basically, they're the aggressors. If you want a different sort of challenge, have them defend some place/person/group. Say there have been threats to kidnap one or more members of a large and prosperous merchant family. Your PCs would need to figure out ways to try to prevent that, and (assuming they fail) try to recover the victim(s) alive.

Lord Vampyre
2010-08-27, 02:09 PM
Playground,

I consider myself a relatively humble person. I come to you now in the humblest of manners in order to beseech any person willing to aid me. I have run out of ideas. I am fully aware of the addage that there is nothing new under the sun, but at this point everything I think of in relation to ideas for a campaign/story arc/D&D world seems completely trite and contrived.



Yeah, I tend to have similar issues when developing a campaign. The thing to remember is that it isn't the overall plot that you need to worry about. It's the presentation. As you present the story to the players, they will react to it in different ways. Often times you can predict how they will react based on how well they stick to their character concept. Although sometimes the players will throw you a curveball that is still completely with in their character. This will give you a chance to modify your general storyline to fit the characters.

Typically, I like to start off with a basic concept, and then adapt it as I go along.

kyoryu
2010-08-27, 03:22 PM
Steal. Steal shamelessly. Steal from as many sources as you can.

Indiana Jones stole mercilessly from pulp serials.

Star Wars stole from many sources - The Hidden Fortress, Dambusters, and more. It stole so blatantly that some of the space fight scenes are ripped off *shot by shot*.

This doesn't stop Star Wars and Indiana Jones from being great.

Yes, you'll have seen the individual components before, but that's okay - there's nothing new under the sun.

Immature DMs borrow material. Mature DMs steal.

Tyndmyr
2010-08-27, 03:49 PM
Potential necessary knowledge:
3.5 D&D
4 players including myself
Focusing on 'standard' roleplay dynamics: heroes, bad guys, world rescuing, personally affecting characters, etc.

You are the bad guys, who must stop these pesky heroes from rescuing the world. Seriously, they just don't stop coming up with ways to stop you, but the world really, really needs to die. It's time for the distrustful archvillians to band together to strike down the very concept of heroism for all time. Then of course, end the world.

In session one, you begin by constructing a dungeon with which you can occasionally place gold and monsters to study how heroes begin, and determine how best to end them.

As your homework, read the comic "Wanted". Not the movie, no. Definitely the comic.

Greenish
2010-08-27, 06:11 PM
You are the bad guys, who must stop these pesky heroes from rescuing the world. Seriously, they just don't stop coming up with ways to stop you, but the world really, really needs to die. It's time for the distrustful archvillians to band together to strike down the very concept of heroism for all time. Then of course, end the world.

In session one, you begin by constructing a dungeon with which you can occasionally place gold and monsters to study how heroes begin, and determine how best to end them.Reading some literature on the subject, it seems full attacks from dragons are pretty good at the job.