Getting a Campaign Off the Ground -- How Much Prep Time?

[dextercorvia]

How much time do you usually spend before you feel ready to get a group together to start a campaign?

I've had a couple of ideas lately, but its been years since I've run a campaign, and I'm leery of investing in the front end work (not a lot of spare time).

[Kol Korran]

you're asking a VERY broad question. it depends a lot on the group, (play preferences, capability, meeting frequency and so on) yourself as a DM (do you work better by improvisation or by being well prepared. do you like to make intricate multi plots, one major long one, or a seies of lightly related adventures, also- how much time does it take you to prepare for a session), and lastly- the type of campaign and game you're intending to play (sandbox vs. more plot centered, established setrting or new homebrew world, starting at level 1 or 10 or 20, and so on...

i'll give examples:(note: i tend to improvise fairly poorly, so i like to prepare quite extensively, it helps me improvise better when i have a better feel of the "surroundings" of he characters)

current heroci campaign
for the campaign i'm currently running (about to end) i've used an established world- Eberron. so that saved some time. i had the general theme and main "set pieces" ready in my mind (this has been running through my mind for quite some time, and was meant to be more plot centered than a sand box), but for the start of the game i prepared the following:
- house rules (including some character specific rules)
- very basic info for the characters.
- the first adventure
- the main progress routes from then on (in case the party got ahead fast)
- the main villains of the possible next adventures, and a gnerela list of resources (check out the Giant's villain building article)
- in less defined or better defined the main villain's plan, and steps at making it (as a basis to changes once the PCs will mess it up in unknown ways).

i didn't prepare any more at that point, but always had thoughts of what might come ahead (much of it changed due to PCs actions). i've usually prepared for 2-3 session in advance (again if the PCs will move faster or through "PC shortcut", but i often changed my plans.

plan ahead as in knowing what the villains are up to and the step to it, but don't write things down as the PCs will mess that up. (and it's good that they do! :smallbiggrin:)

possible future pirate campaign
this is meant ot be far more sandboxish. for it i plan to prepare the world (homebrew) in a skeletal fashion. i'll prepared the following:
- the world so that you can always find out "new life, and new civilization" in it.
- the main cultures and mechanical aspects they present (different cultures use different races, classes, and even some slight rules).
- a mjor thing will be about places the crew of the ship can explore, and things they can do- lots and lots of hooks and some things to fit many (since i don't know what they'll choose. for example- some 2-3 common merhcant ships they could rob. stats for basic soldiers or other pirates?)

possible future spying in a wild west town campaign
another idea that might go on, in which the party are all members of an elite spy team sent to a wild west/ frontier kind of town. this will require quite a lot of preperation, and might be the most involved, simply because anything is far far more accesible to the PCs:
- main power groups in the town, including the major stats for the main NPCs. also this includes their plans, resources, possibly main locations/ buildings and defenses. this will probably consume the most part.
- to a lesser degree the 4 other smaller town in the area of the campaign (i'll develop them as the game goes along)
- rumors, lots of rumors.
- some generic stats and perconalities for "nameless NPCs" that might come up (there is a tribe of gnolls, another of Centaurs, some town shifters and so on.

again, this last one is probably the most involved preparatio wise.

[W3bDragon]

For me it usually starts with inspiration. Assuming it hits and I have a solid idea for a campaign, then I proceed as follows:

Example Idea:

The dwarven kingdom is fighting for survival against three sides. The drow, the duergar, and the surface goblins. The recent death of their legendary king and his powerful cohorts in a drow raid has emboldened their enemies to band together for a final war campaign to finish them once and for all. The PCs are part of a famous unit of elite dwarven fighters that haven't taken a single loss in the entire war campaign so far. With the chaos of being leaderless, and enemies on every side, much rides on their shoulders.

Once that's done, I then list out the major plot points from beginning to end.

Example plot points:

Module 1 Start: The dwarves are reeling from the loss of their leadership, which throws the perimeter defense into chaos as the remaining leaders squabble over what area needs to most defense. As such, one area, facing the Drow front, is broken through. The PC's unit leader decides to take matters into his own hands and goes to reinforce that front without orders.

Module 1 Finish: A new perimeter is established on the drow front by the PC's unit, but it is a bigger area and harder to defend. The area the PCs were supposed to be defending suffers heavy losses but holds. This compounds the problem of perimeter defense. The PC's unit leader is punished for working without orders and relieved of duty. One of the PCs is promoted in his place.

Module 2 Start: The PCs are reassigned to the goblin front. They face a cunning attack by goblins that is far above their usual level of tactics.

Module 2 Finish: The PCs find a drow captain secretly leading the goblins. Revelations of possible alliances between the drow and goblins ensue.

Module 3 Start: The PCs report their findings to the war council, which is headed by the same general that dismissed their old leader. The war council grudgingly decides to attempt a truce with the duergar so they can face the drow/goblin threat. The PC's unit is assigned to escort an emissary to the duergar to discuss the truce.

Module 3 Finish: The PCs meet with a duergar general. He seems amiable to the idea and declares a one week truce while he arranges to meet with the dwarven war council for further discussions.

Module 4 Start: The dwarves reassign some much needed support to the drow and goblin fronts and prepare for the arrival of the duergar delegation. One week after the meeting with the general, instead of a peace delegation, a duegar warband, supported by goblin shamans, attacks the dwarves, signaling the duergar alliance with the drow/goblins.

Module 4 Finish: The dwarves completely abandon large swathes of their territory to create a smaller, more defensible front. The PC's unit is tasked with holding the path to the dwarven armories long enough for the weapon supplies to be evacuated. They face a unified drow/goblin/duergar attack.

Module 5 Start: The war council sets orders to dig in and prepare for a final fight to the death. The PCs are tasked with breaking through enemy lines, reaching the surface, and finding allies any way they can.

Module 5 Finish: The PCs arrive at the surface and find a large dwarven force made up for allied dwarven clans. They arrived two months ago to help their cousins, but have been kept from entering the mountains by a strong goblin/drow defense.

Module 6 Start: The PCs inform their cousins where the new dwarven perimeters are, and the dwarves start digging to reach them. The PCs realize that their cousins have enough numbers to let the dwarves hold for a long time, but not enough to make any headway. They need more allies.

Module 6 Finish: The arrive at one of the nearby human cities to ask for help. They find that the humans are in no mood to help them.

Module 7 Start: The humans are in enough trouble on their own, being attacked by a recently awoken dragon. The humans think the dwarves' mined too close to the dragons lair and woke it up. The PCs are told that if they fix the problem they supposedly caused, the humans might help them.

Module 7 Finish: The PCs find that the dragon was in fact awoken by drow. They have a deal with him to pester the nearby humans just in case the dwarves go to them for help.

Module 8 Start: The PCs deal with the dragon and return to the humans. The humans are still reluctant about helping the PCs, but proof of the drow involvement would seal the deal.

Module 8 Finish: The PCs are sent by the humans to scout out current goblin movements while the humans muster up their armies.

Module 9 Start: The PCs have several skirmishes with goblins on the foothills of the mountain. During one of them, they find a missive carried by one of the goblins to be delivered to a neighboring tribe of ogres, offering fabulous riches in exchange for their help against the mustering human armies.

Module 9 Finish: The PCs realize they must either ensure that no missive reaches the ogres, or they must deal with the ogres themselves, with words or weapons.

Module 10 Start: The PCs attempt to deal with the ogre threat any way they see fit.

Module 10 Finish: If they deal with the ogres, they'll find the human armies ready to march. If they don't, then the humans will need to be convinced to risk a clash against the ogres on their home terrain in the foothills of the mountain.

Module 11 Start: The ogres are dealt with one way or the other, and the PCs march with the humans to start attacking the goblin strongholds.

Module 11 Finish: The drow-led goblins put up a stiff fight, and the PCs are tasked with targeting and killing the drow captains in every engagement.

Module 12 Start: The goblins have finally been beaten enough to abandon their fronts against the dwarves and scatter in the mountains. The humans call it a job done and go home. The PCs go looking for the closest dwarven front to report.

Module 12 Finish: The PCs are received well by the dwarves. They managed to hold, suffering heavy losses, but are taking the reprieve from the goblin front to focus on the others.

Module 13 Start: The PCs, along with the dwarves and their cousins attack one of the duergar positions, only to find the deurgar are already on a retreat.

Module 13 Finish: They find out from the prisoners that they take that the drow had broken the alliance with the duergar the moment they learned that the ogres weren't going to stop the humans. They took a lot of territory from the duergar in a surprise attack, and the duergar and intent on getting it back. All of the fronts with the dwarves have been abandoned and the duergar and drow have retreated.

After that, I begin to estimate what level the PCs need to be for the encounters I have in mind, and set the start of the campaign accordingly. Then I simply detail the first few modules.

Example Module:

Module 1:

* The PCs start at the goblin front having heard of the drow breaking through in quadrant 3. Their captain had gone to the war council to ask permission to reinforce that area. Captain Delkas returns to them and takes the whole unit to the drow front, leaving Captain Telgar's unit to hold on this goblin front on their own.

* They arrive to find a few badly beaten dwarves trying futilely fight off an ooze that one of the drow had loosed on them. The drow can be seen in the distance laughing as they enjoy the show. It seems this ooze had already killed several dwarves.

* The drow prepare for an assault the moment the ooze is dispatched. The PC's unit is attacked from both sides of the tunnel, realizing that their must be another tunnel nearby that got taken as well.

* The drow aren't interested in taking any losses and, after going a few rounds with the dwarves, back off and let them have this tunnel and the other one they used to surround the unit.

* If the unit ventures further, they find that both tunnels converge on a large cavern that is holding several units of drow. The joker drow keeps loosing more ooze at them until they retreat. The have no choice but to hold the two tunnels independently.

* Captain Delkas keeps the majority of his unit holding these two tunnels while he takes the PCs with him to go report. He knows he'll probably be relieved, and as such he brings with him a few worthy successors for the council to pick from. The PCs still don't know that they went without orders.

* General Kregg severely admonishes Delkas in front of the PCs. Any PCs that speak up to defend Delkas get discounted by Kregg as possible successors. General Kregg picks one of them to replace Delkas, and Delkas is reassigned to a small unit tasked with guarding the armories.


This whole thing took me about 2 hours. I would probably want to detail at least 2 to 3 modules before starting the actual campaign. Then I detail them as I go. As for actual encounters, I'd probably set those up an hour before the session, or earlier if possible.

So there you go, about two hours of work to get ready for a new campaign assuming the idea is there. I'd say at least one more hour to finely detail the first few encounters. After that, perhaps two or three hours between each session to detail the next few modules and encounters.

As long as you remain organized and know your overall plot with all its possible twists and turns, you'd be able to prepare for the sessions with ease while simultaneously remaining flexible about what the PCs want to do.

For example, in Module 4, it is assumed that the PCs will retreat with the rest of the dwarves. However, if the PCs decide to be stubborn and hold their spot at any cost, you then have the option to separate them from the main dwarven forces and have them get herded to the surface as they face overwhelming numbers. Even if they manage to hold against overwhelming numbers, eventually they'd need food, supplies, repairs. Any of these will push them out to the surface. They then meet their cousins and come up with the idea of needing support on their own or by advice from their cousins. After that, the plot continues as normal.

[molten_dragon]

Back when I was running homebrew stuff, I found myself spending one to two times as much time per week prepping as we did actually gaming. So for a 5-hour gaming session, I would spend 5-10 hours on prepwork. It got to be too much, which is why when I run now, it's mostly adventure paths.

[dextercorvia]

you're asking a VERY broad question.

I recognize that. That's why I was asking for personal preferences/behaviors.

Thanks for the responses so far. Of course since I just picked up about 8 dozen plot hooks from your posts, so it might have the inverse of the intended consequence and increase my prep time.:smallbiggrin:

[missmvicious]

Quick and Easy: 5 min or less.
Turn D&D into Hero Quest. Write a bit of fluff to explain why they're at the dungeon, and let them delve. It will buy you a session or two to build a story off this slapped-together dungeon-diver, plus it's a great way to get reacquainted with combat mechanics.

Phone It In: 30 min to 1 hour.
Just buy a script, look it over, and scribble in any changes you want to make.

I'm using this now for a 4E campaign, to try to better learn the structure. It's my first time to use a script, and I like it, but I don't love it. I appreciate the fact that my time is freed up to better focus on the mechanics and rules side of the game so that I don't look like a total ditz each session.

Keeping it Simple: 2 hours to a Day.
Grab a setting and go.

Forgotten Realms is great for this (in theory) because the resources for towns, maps, encounters, and notable PCs are seemingly endless. All the grind work is done for you so you can have a deeply developed campaign without putting in nearly as much work.

Putting your mind to it: a few hours each day per week.
Make a simple campaign idea with potential to build:

DMG pgs 12-13 help describe the steps you would go through to set up something like this

Pouring your heart and soul into it: It consumes nearly all your free time and may (often the case for me) even dig into your sleep time.

This is largely during the building stage. But it takes me a solid 2 to 4 weeks (of as much free time as you can spare) to build up a truly awesome campaign enough to where it is playable. Building these worlds never truly ends, if you really want it to be a sandbox. I've been working on one for over a year, and my husband has been working on one for 2 years... we're playing his right now, and I'm a crafter Wizard in it. By Wee Jas, it is freaking epic, and I'm only at level 6 right now. The campaign is supposed to take us from L1 to God-Mode. Anyways... he still has to hammer out a detail here, and roll up background or behind-the-scenes subplots there to each week. Thanks to the extensive preparation time, he only puts in about 1 to 6 hours a week on the campaign now, depending on how much out-of-the-box thinking we did, but it devoured his life before then.

TL;DR
5 min for light-hearted fun

30 min to an hour to make it look good

2 hours a day during setup + an hour or 2 per week afterwards to build a srs campaign

4+ hours a day for several weeks during setup +2 hours a day per week afterwards to maintain your masterpiece campaign.

[KoboldCleric]

Zero. I spend the first handful of sessions offering the players a variety of different plot hooks. After the first 2-5 little one-off adventures (out of 25 or 30) I'm familiar with the characters and the party dynamic and I can determine what sort of game they're looking to play by what sorts of hooks they take. This also means I can ease their characters into the world from level 1-3 and not start a real solid story until the characters are sturdy enough to handle it.

My current game has become a horror campaign (almost CoC in a fantasy setting); this is the furthest thing from what I had originally expected or intended, but after seeing the way the PCs interacted with each other and the npcs, and after seeing them migrate towards adventures involving terror, mystery, & suspense, it was natural that they should find those little one-off cases had more in common than they (or I) had originally thought :)

[Noctani]

I usually spend about 50-80 hours worth of writing, referencing, and character creating prior to a campaign.

After that its all improvising with the exception of one hour prior to each session.

[ngilop]

to get teh campaign off the ground and for me that meanbs basic framework its a while

case in point. im looking at an advenutre where you have to stop a cult from brigning a half diety demon lord into the realm and killing everything.

i designed the main adventure took the heros from 1 to 15/16 (dependant on if they did 'required' sidequests and by that i mean quests that are not directly involving the demon/cult but is very intregal to the plot.

and then i had mm 7 or 8 side dugneons that would take them up to level 20.

I also designed 1 dungoen mostly around 1 of the PCs apeice, I like to give each PC a 15 minutes of fame dungoen as I call them which incorpate thir backstory and character concept.

the basic framewokr the 5 MAIN quests and the 10 side quest took me about 2 to 3 hours a day for 10 dasy to maybe 2 weeks then i spent about 3 hours on each of the PCs 'self' dungeon. so thats 18-ish hours there.

i probably spent an hour on the side dungeons and quests so another 35-40 hours. so in the end i probably spent 100-120 hours on a full 1-20 campaign

(side note the players only did 1 side dugeon even though they had a map to an old dwarven stronghold that was filled with trasure and lost for generations and never decided to investigate it for mad crazy loots

ended up half the party died to the demon lord and cultists when they got to that point at lvl 16)

[Unusual Muse]

I really like the Prep-Lite (http://www.gnomestew.com/gming-advice/prep-lite-manifesto-the-template/) approach from Gnome Stew... this article lays out the idea, and there are several other articles on the site (search for them) that focus on the specifics.