Burning Light Campaign Planning

[Science Paladin]

Hi all.

Been a watcher on the forum for a while, and also been a DM for a while. Lately I've been too busy to run a campaign and moved to being a lowly player whilst someone else runs his campaign in our shared world.

I want to get back to the DMing eventually, but want to keep planning for my next campaign quiet until I know things are working out, rather than announcing to the players that I'm scheming slowly, and then just not having the time to make anything decent.

So, I thought I'd do planning here, sorting background, NPCs, locations, encounters etc. where I can get a bit of feedback and engage with people! Also, if I have planning here I'll be more likely to keep up the slow progress, rather than forgetting it in some folder somewhere...

Thus far in the campaign there has been a large continent discovered to the east, and has had people going there for around 85 years at this point. Now when I first introduced this land the players realised something was off about it, that there was some evil around...but they got tangled up in some unplanned demon/devil stuff, which launched the entire campaign off to the side and spent months clearing up the mess they caused. It was a really good campaign, but the players are aware that they never worked out what was up with the new lands...so. This new campaign will take place about 90 years after the land was settled. No one stopped the evil when the land was first settled and it has worked it's quiet way into society.

They'll begin heading towards the Town of Valor, soon to see smoke on the horizon, then fire, as the Temple of Pelor is burning along with a good portion of the town...

[John Longarrow]

My advice is to first and for most create a bunch of stock encounter ideas. Things that you can easily pull out run when the players decide to go somewhere different than you'd planned.

These can be pretty simple to very complex, but should always be set that you know about what level they are for and how you will need to scale them.

Example of one such encounter I've used several times:
Party is going along and encounters a small hill with a small temple upon it. Temple doors open and an armored figure walks forward and issues a challenge. Figure is a medusa in heavy armor. It waits till the group gets fairly close then raises its helm. Fight starts there, normally.

Medusa guards a generic holy spot. Who ever defeats the medusa is offered the chance to replace it as holy guardian. Inside the temple is a well that leads down to the medusa's lair. Inside are potions that reverse the flesh to stone of THIS medusa.

Great little stock item to have that can cause the party to enjoy themselves for an hour or two while I'm working out what they are really getting to when they go their own way. Also gives a great out for any player that's looking to retire a character.

Having a bunch of ideas like this can give a depth and breath to your game that otherwise tends to be glossed over.