DMG/Planning/Pre-Made

[Feldarove]

Hello fellow Giants!


I just got the DMG and have been planning my first 5e campaign. As I formulated ideas at work, I decided to type them out, instead of my normal scribbling notes. I then found myself pretty much creating a pre-made adventure. Once I realized I was doing this, I decided to go all in with it. After a few hours I realized, its a lot more work. I have been using the DM tables to flesh out NPCs in town, and a few other stuff. I am even writing Flavor Text and DM notes.

I am curious, has anyone tried to create their own pre-made adventure for their groups? Was it worth the trouble. Any tips?

[pwykersotz]

Yes, all the time. As has just been mentioned in another thread though, no adventure survives first contact with the players.

Pre-planning an adventure works best with characters who love a good railroad station, or when you can disguise the rails appropriately. It has a harder time with players who prefer sandbox games. That said, as long as your comfortable with your ability to hook them and have enough flexibility to keep the adventure going when the unexpected happens, you should be good to go.

Also, in my experience it's only worth the trouble as long as you love doing it. You sound like you're having a good time, so that's probably fine.

The best advice I can give is don't bet on PC reactions. You don't know if they will fight or flee, purchase or steal the Macguffin, succeed or fail in their social rolls, or anything else. Set up the world to operate without them and let them decide how to interact with it.

[Freelance GM]

Here's my two cents of advice: focus on the setting, not the story.

Stories can be derailed by 1 dead NPC. Messing up a location is harder.

Besides, if you're writing it "for publication," a site-based adventure leaves room for as much or as little plot as the DM wants.

A good example would be the 5E playtest's adaptation of the Keep on the Borderlands. It included some sample plots constructed from elements already present in the original module.

For example, I've run that module twice. The first time, the monsters in the Caves of Chaos were thralls to the Cult of Evil Chaos, and were used to create an army to crush the Keep on the Borderlands. The second time, the Medusa in the Cult's jail was the original ruler of the united monster tribes, and the monsters were locked in a bloody feud over whether or not they would stay loyal to her or submit the Cult.

It sets up two very different scenarios- which had two very different themes and results. The first was a straight-up, high fantasy monster fight, culminating in an LOTR-themed siege. The second time involved more sneaking and negotiating- the PC's actually brokered a truce with the Orc tribes, and then infiltrated the Cult.

But it was the exact same adventure, both times. Same material, same dungeon rooms, two radically different stories.

By having a setting with example plots, instead of a linear story, you're giving the DM more freedom for customizing the adventure to his or her players' interests, and giving the module replay value- even if the same DM runs it, it's never the same way twice.

Good luck!

[mr_odd]

Yes, all the time. As has just been mentioned in another thread though, no adventure survives first contact with the players.

Pre-planning an adventure works best with characters who love a good railroad station, or when you can disguise the rails appropriately. It has a harder time with players who prefer sandbox games. That said, as long as your comfortable with your ability to hook them and have enough flexibility to keep the adventure going when the unexpected happens, you should be good to go.

Also, in my experience it's only worth the trouble as long as you love doing it. You sound like you're having a good time, so that's probably fine.

The best advice I can give is don't bet on PC reactions. You don't know if they will fight or flee, purchase or steal the Macguffin, succeed or fail in their social rolls, or anything else. Set up the world to operate without them and let them decide how to interact with it.

I spent the whole summer creating npc's, adventures, locations, plots, etc. all of which have been torn to pieces. Some aspects work really well, some got twisted into something completely different, and some have yet to appear.

Just remember these two points: only spend the time to put in all of that work if you love doing it. Secondly, don't get discouraged when things don't go according to plan. Save original ideas or things that never got implemented for another day.

[Daishain]

Freelance said some of this, but I'll add my two cents regardless.

Unless doing a short term railroad campaign (which have their place, but can get frustrating after a time), you are better off writing about a world rather than a specific story.

For instance, in the capital of kingdom A:
-Senior councilmember lord giantputz has been murdered and replaced by a doppleganger. Said doppleganger has been influencing the rest of the council towards going to war with kingdom B, and may have ties with kingdom C.
-The sewers of the Capital are being overrun by otyughs, there have always been a few down there, but their numbers are swelling at a worrisome pace.
-Rumors of a necromancer in a nearby tomb are circulating among the populace due to disturbed graves. Its actually just a carrion crawler.
-Rumors that a particular high ranking official has been seeing a succubus in secret are circulating. This is entirely false.
-Rumors are circulating that lizardfolk have been kidnapping and eating people from outlying villages in the night. This one is actually true, but the particular tribe that is being blamed for it is innocent.
-A member of the city guard is a spy from kingdom C, and has been quietly keeping tabs on this strange group of adventurers people are talking about. He's also having an affair with the local baker's wife. The baker knows about the affair, but is pretending to be oblivious because said guard scares the crap out of him.
-A nutty mage living under a seemingly abandoned home has been breeding otyughs.
-At time stamp X, a particular tavern will catch on fire. No nefarious plot involved, but if it isn't put out quickly, this year's supply of the best ale for miles around will be lost. An incredible disaster as far as the local dwarves are concerned (if party is absent, they'll come back to a burnt out husk)

The items I've listed should be just the tip of the iceberg. You don't have to flesh everything out, but do be prepared to tie details together depending on what the party is looking into.

The party might latch onto one thing, and follow it all the way to the end, become aware of the multiple problems going on and try to allocate their efforts accordingly, or catch onto a rumor of rampaging orcs in the mountains and go charging off into the sunset. The important thing is to give them options, and be prepared to be flexible when they choose none of what you had in mind.

[Feldarove]

Thanks for the feedback.

I spent a decent amount of time world-building, which I typically always do. Usually I jot some notes about what I want to do for the next session. I've DM'd enough to know that you can't always count on the PCs taking the bait.

I wrote up about half of my "pre-made" before the first session, and found that the PCs general stayed within the realm of its usefulness. After the session I went back and added some notes, and things that came up.

Overall I can say that I have enjoyed writing it, so I think I will keep it up. The group I am running it for includes 2 first time players, so they are pretty easily railroaded (for now!).

Once we finish up with the first part of the adventure I'll post it up on here for any folks to use.

Suggestions where on giantitp forums to put it?