How to Hook

[LastCenturion]

I'm planning on starting a game with some old high school friends that I connected with recently, and as far as I can tell, they're interested, but I'm not sure how to get them invested. They all have various levels of D&D experience, ranging from "oh yeah, I think I've heard of it" to "oh yeah, you're starting up a game? Let's roll!" (the last one followed by [i]That Grin[i] (you know the one)) but none of them are serious optimizers. If anybody watches Matt Colville's YouTube stuff, I'm trying to write an adaptation email he references a bunch, that's like "The Baron of Beddegar is dead, his family murdered" or something. I haven't seen it in a while. I have a world set up for them, but no specific plot decided yet.

TL;DR: Need some help on a basic plot for a game, and a couple tips for introducing it.

Thanks for whatever tips, Playground :smallbiggrin:

[Puh Laden]

A good mystery can always makes a good introduction to the three pillars. I introduced a bunch of new players to 5th edition and tabletop RPGs in general with one using this (http://thealexandrian.net/wordpress/1118/roleplaying-games/three-clue-rule) as a guide. I introduced them to the plot as "you are a crack-team of individuals called in by the mayor to solve these mysterious deaths. You will of course be rewarded for solving them if you do." It was a fun first session and the rest of the campaign ended up great too. Though a mystery can easily last for more than one session depending on the mystery and how it's ran.

Past the first mystery-solving session I turned the party's backgrounds into plot-hooks for scenarios I wanted to run. I created an old druid mentor-type NPC for the druids in the party. He got kidnapped and taken to the underdark; that was a session. They rescued him and ran into the drow's mom who hired them to act as security for an art auction - another session. They left the underdark and went on a quest to the feywild to restore the dragonborn's clan's water supply. That one was two sessions, plus one more in the actual clan itself. A short string of adventures can be a great introduction for new players, especially if you or your players aren't sure how long of a longterm commitment your players can keep. If they take a liking to the game, you can go on big epic quests afterward.

[Idkwhatmyscreen]

Basic Plot

The Evil ______ (CR 5) has started his evil plot to _______.(Something Evil) To do so he has enlisted the help of the evil ______ (CR 2-3) and is army of ______ (CR 1/4) minions. In order for his plan to work he first needs a large amount of _______ (Resource). To collect this _____ (Adjective) resource, he uses the ______ ( Magical Thingamajig) in order to _____ (Ability).

Meanwhile, in the background, The Evil ______ (CR 13) has started his evil plot to _______.(Something Evil) To do so he has enlisted the help of the evil ______ (CR 7-8) and is army of ______ (CR 2-4) minions. In order for his plan to work he first needs a large amount of _______ (Resource). To collect this _____ (Adjective) resource, he uses the ______ ( Magical Thingamajig) in order to _____ (Ability).

Repeat and Repeat until Lv 20 or the campaign ends

[Cybren]

Traditionally you throw a hook with your lead hand, pivoting inwards on your lead leg. Your arm is bent close to a 90 degree angle and your fist is vertical (not horizontal, because you want the punch to land mainly with the two big knuckles otherwise you risk breaking the fourth or fifth metacarpal). I like to visualize the punch as a wave that propagates from your shoulder through your arm and into your fist, because you want to generate force from the rotation of your body and not your arm doing an impotent punch parallel to your chest

[LastCenturion]

Basic Plot

The Evil ______ (CR 5) has started his evil plot to _______.(Something Evil) To do so he has enlisted the help of the evil ______ (CR 2-3) and is army of ______ (CR 1/4) minions. In order for his plan to work he first needs a large amount of _______ (Resource). To collect this _____ (Adjective) resource, he uses the ______ ( Magical Thingamajig) in order to _____ (Ability).

Meanwhile, in the background, The Evil ______ (CR 13) has started his evil plot to _______.(Something Evil) To do so he has enlisted the help of the evil ______ (CR 7-8) and is army of ______ (CR 2-4) minions. In order for his plan to work he first needs a large amount of _______ (Resource). To collect this _____ (Adjective) resource, he uses the ______ ( Magical Thingamajig) in order to _____ (Ability).

Repeat and Repeat until Lv 20 or the campaign ends

1) I was going to say that this is cliche, but... so? It works. Thanks a ton.

2) This looks kinda like a Mad Libs. So much so, in fact, that in order to fill in all of the blanks, I think I'll ask one of my friends with much more D&D experience than the prospective party to help me fill in the blanks. Should be fun, so thanks.

[Sigreid]

First you'll need high heels, fishnet stockings and a short skirt. Then you find a street corner that's moderately busy, but ignored by the cops...

[Cespenar]

Stating the obvious here, but I think that template was an attempt at sarcasm. You shouldn't take it at face value.

If you have no ideas at all, why not get a premade module? Like the Starter set for 5e, the Mines of Phandelver. It can give you ideas for overarching plots as well as how to keep individual scenes interesting.