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View Full Version : Noob campaign-homebrewer in need of pointers for a 1-20+ campaign



danzibr
2012-05-13, 11:47 AM
For a tl;dr skip to the bottom.

In the past I've made a campaign or three but I've never much looked into pre-made campaigns. Then the other day I read about Tomb of Horrors and Red Hand of Doom. Tomb of Horrors didn't do much for me, but man, Red Hand of Doom seems amazing. I've been sitting on a campaign idea for a long time, and now I'd like to start really making said campaign, but I need some advice, basically because it seems like my old campaigns kind of sucked. They lacked depth, I think, on multiple levels. The plots were rather weak, simply going from quest to quest without any real purpose, and the towns weren't very thought out (all faults on my part).

So here's my idea. Have the characters go 1-5 leading into a Red Hand of Doom type situation, carry out the Red Hand of Doom type situation, getting them to about level 15, have them infiltrate Dispater's fortress, getting them to about level 20, then kill Dispater. Before a more detailed breakdown, here's the setting and whatnot:
Generic D&D. That is, not Faerun nor Eberron or anything, though players may use material from those books if desired. Speaking of players, I'll run this with all books available, 32-point buy, non-evil.

I'm going to need to come up with a region map, as well as a few detailed towns and cities, and a couple dungeons.

Perhaps most importantly, there's a huge fortress on the horizon, though its direction changes and no matter how far you walk it never gets any closer. It's been around for several years at the least, but it doesn't seem to be causing any problems, so people kind of forgot about it.
From the DM's point of view:
That fortress belongs to Dispater. He did something to make Asmodeus mad, but instead of kill Dispater, Asmodeus banished him to the material plane and stripped him of some of his powers. Now Dispater is attempting to do something (undecided, probably involves conquering and killing) to regain favor and get back to hell.
Levels 1-5
I'm not quite sure what to do here. Probably have the people run some errands and do minor quests in a few towns to introduce them to the world. At the end some weak devils are going to appear, letting the players know something's up.
Levels 5-15
Here we roughly do the RHoD scenario, with some major changes. They'll be fighting a lot of devils rather than dragons, and the main dude is a Half-Fiend rather than Half-Dragon (I'm thinking maybe even son of Dispater). For his build he'll be a crit-happy Disciple of Dispater. In fact, it'll be revealed that all was done for Dispater.
Levels 15-20
Knowing Dispater is ultimately the one to blame, the party needs to figure out how to get to his fortress, kill his dudes, then go after the man himself.
tl;dr
Any general pointers on how to make an engaging campaign designed to go from level 1 to level 20? In particular, with the 5-15 part being an adaption of Red Hand of Doom?

Chronologist
2012-05-13, 02:09 PM
Here's some advice based on experience.

1) Don't start the party at level 1, start them at level 3 or so. At that level they can take a hit or two without dying, you can throw CR 1 enemies at them without worrying about overwhelming the party, and everyone has a pretty decent idea of what their character can do. Having access to 2 spell levels will also make the casters a little more diverse in what they can do (except the sorcerer, who should outlast them all.

2) If you can, try and run the game using Pathfinder. The classes are a little better balanced than 3.5, and there's a LOT less material to work with. Plus, combat maneuvers like Trip and Disarm are much easier to handle in Pathfinder. Trust me.

3) I'd start with a small, isolated adventure for levels 3-5 so everyone can get a hang of playing, and so that you can get a hang of DMing. I'm assuming that most of the players will be fairly inexperienced, so it'll be a learning experience for all of you.

4) Before you start a huge epic module like The Red Hand of Doom, check that your players are cool with that. Some players like a tight story with combat encounters and less roleplaying. Some like intrigue and espionage over break-down-the-door mentality. A lot of players don't like to be "railroaded" to a single campaign plot thread, so they might prefer a series of smaller adventures over one big inflexible adventure path.

5) Prepare in advance. Make maps. Write notes to hand to the players. Figure out who the NPCS are, why they're there, what their motivations are, what they sound like. If it's in the module, you should know it.

6) This is the most important thing. At some point, your players are going to do something you never planned for them to do. Maybe they want to take on the villain directly. Maybe they capture an enemy that was supposed to escape. Maybe the party decides they don't care about this adventure and want to go investigate the creepy forest. It is inevitable that they will "jump the rails" and go off in a way you didn't expect.

Don't panic.

Weave the events into the story. The forest is really a haven for Fey creatures who have made an alliance with the Red Hand, and the group now has to barter for safe passage. The captured enemy is really a double agent who joins the group and leads them to an enemy encampment. The villain was really one one of three generals, and the army is still coming, although with lower morale.

Don't punish the players if they succeed in ways you didn't anticipate, or if they make choices that aren't in the manual. Think on your feet, find a way to tie their choices to the main plotline, and if they still resist, ditch the quest and think up a new one.

It might sound tough at first, and it is, but with practice the players won't even know they've gone off the rails; they'll think you're a masterful DM who planned everything out.

7) When in doubt, WOW the players. The find a waterfall that hides a cavern into the Underdark. The town the stumble into is being taken over by vampires, and half the town is thrall to them - but who? The village south of them is burned to the group, leaving only blackened corpses and huge talon marks going west. They interrupt a ritual sacrifice to an Elder God. If it sounds like a dangerous, cool adventure, you can be sure the players will want to investigate.

That's just my two cents.

danzibr
2012-05-14, 09:43 AM
Hmm thanks. I definitely will be starting at level 3. Honestly, I may never play this game in person, but put it on the forums some day many months from now.

It also occurred to me that there are many villages and cities in various books to use as samples.

Beyond that, I think I did an alright job DMing in the past, handling encounters and crazy things players do and whatnot, but I just felt my plot was on the weak side.

In any case, if I happen to get some good updates I'll post back in this thread (assuming it won't be necromancy).

Chronologist
2012-05-14, 09:55 AM
I always prepare at least 3 alternate adventures of appropriate level for the party to go on in case they aren't interested in the main plot. Sometimes they're tied in to the overarching narrative, but sometimes people just want to go dragon hunting or tomb robbing, you know?

You'll find that Pathfinder largely tones down the crazy, if only by restricting player options to a couple of books. The base classes are also a lot more interesting to play, and desirable to single-class all the way to level 20.

Anyway, good luck with your game. If you're planning to run it on a forum, I might have an opportunity to participate. It sounds fun.

danzibr
2012-05-14, 07:56 PM
I always prepare at least 3 alternate adventures of appropriate level for the party to go on in case they aren't interested in the main plot. Sometimes they're tied in to the overarching narrative, but sometimes people just want to go dragon hunting or tomb robbing, you know?

You'll find that Pathfinder largely tones down the crazy, if only by restricting player options to a couple of books. The base classes are also a lot more interesting to play, and desirable to single-class all the way to level 20.

Anyway, good luck with your game. If you're planning to run it on a forum, I might have an opportunity to participate. It sounds fun.
Good point. I'll have to make the format of the campaign very clear. It'll probably take me a couple months to plan it out as much as I wish, but feel free to sign up whenever I post it on the board. Thanks!