How far ahead do you plan your campaigns?

[DnDegenerates]

Hey D&Ders,

In the past I've never had to plan much more than a session or two to keep the game going.

However, now I'm designing a Homebrew world and storyline for an upcoming Podcast project and I find that I feel it necessary to flush everything out more than ever before because it's not only for our enjoyment. There is an entirely different element on top of it all now.

Even going so far as to write out vastly differently themed story Archs that all tie together.

Looking at what I have now, especially with the far off of the rails sandboxy nature of Homebrew, I think I have well over a year of weekly gaming.

This is a pretty satisfying feeling, yet it's also a bit overwhelming. That's a lot of information to tie together when you're used to just winging it!

How far ahead do you more experienced tabletoppers tend to plan your games?

For those who have planned out entire plots like this, or even more expansive, how did it pan out for you?

Any general advice?

Thanks in Advance! It's much appreciated.

- Dungeons & Degenerates

[2D6GREATAXE]

my last campaign I planned from start to finish and it ran for 9 months at -9 hours per session.
Yet the best session are the one I made up on the fly, asked for the players feedback and all of them chose ones where I had decided to make stuff up on the fly.

[ciarannihill]

It varies depending on the group. I've had groups where the players seemingly all just want to be parts in a greater narrative, and I've had groups that want a sandbox style campaign. The former I'll plan out broad strokes more heavily in advance, the latter I'll usually plan 1-2 sessions ahead based on what the players are talking about their goals being and what they seem to be interested in finding.

[JeenLeen]

Here's what I try to do and what my usual DM does really well. He thinks up the major players in the city/region/wherever-PCs-might-go and what the major plots are. Then he maps out what will happen if the PCs do not interfere.

That gives you a guiding structure for the plotline. (Even if you're going fairly pure sandbox, there's presumably some dukes or necromancers plotting something, so the idea stands.)

For folk that the PCs might never interact with and aren't MAJOR powers in the realm, he doesn't do detailed stats or even necessarily names. It might just be "there's vampires in Waterdeep" or "a Vecna cult is here", and flesh it out if the PCs go there or their paths somehow intertwine. Just be able to wing rough stats for a fight or have some dummy templates made up, should the PCs suddenly get involved with NPCs you didn't anticipate them interacting with yet.

In our games, the PCs usually have some personal goals, but generally are something like "we were doing our own thing, and then a clue to this came up, so we investigate, and..." and that leads to one of the major schemes going on. Or leads to something that leads to it.

What I like about this method is that there is stuff the PCs can ignore, and it doesn't bring the game to a halt. Like, if you want your players to investigate the Lore of McGuffin, have 5 or more people interested in it. As long as the PCs eventually interact with one, you're good. Things could include a vampire scholar who has records of it in his library (which the PCs might loot), a wizard college master who wants the PCs to investigate it or will trade his lore if they find some, etc.

I think he'd have about 2 games mapped out in advance, based on what it is most likely the PCs would do. "Mapped out" as in dungeon maps visualized, NPCs built, etc.

---

Also, let the players know OOC how realistic the law is and the power level of NPCs is. If they kill random thugs in town, what happens? What if they kill a corrupt guard? Or Vecna cultists who, as far as the cops know, are just honest citizens?

How special are adventurers? Are some fights going to be "too powerful", like if you challenge the Vampire Prince near the start of the game?

That way the players and you have similar expectations.

[Darth Ultron]

In a general sense, I know vaguely want will happen for about a year in the future for the current plot and story. I always keep events in the background, and work the 'news' into the game play.

[DMThac0]

I have almost nothing planned for my game, but I have tons of notes...and somehow I know what's going to happen no matter what my players are going to choose to do. It's an open world, I react to my player's choices, and I rarely force them down a path. The campaign is over 2 yrs old, and we're looking at streaming it...

There's a lot of information to an open world game, the hundreds of possible NPCs, the dozens or more cities, the untold number of plots, side quests, and stories that the players have available to them...or maybe not.

Some simple bits of information that make open worlds super easy to run, the posters above have mentioned as much, will do the trick. All of this information can simply be written down in a notebook, on the computer, or a wall full of post it notes, whatever works best for you. I just use a bullet point list, similar to this, as my collection, it helps to simply have the information to grab things from.



Write down the major civilized areas
-Names of cities, hamlets, villages, and necessary plot locations. That's it, just the names.
-General description: Eastcliff, port town, major commerce to and from the capital
-Any plot hook or unique information you might want to have there: possible pirate problem, population worships bones of a kraken

Write down some major plot/story arcs
-These events happen whether the players are involved or not
-These events can happen simultaneously, one after the other, or both
-These events are not related to the players, instead they're simply just happening
--Villain/Group's name
--The goal
--The method

Write down important locations
-Plot locations based on 2's information
-Landmarks you want the players to use as world lore
-Exploration locations for random "just because" things

Create a simple story arc for your players
-Ask for a back story from each player
-Tie the back stories into the world
-Create new locations or alter locations to accommodate the stories
-Let the players' actions influence where the story goes

Flesh out the city/location the players are in right now
-City/Location Name
-NPCs
-Important buildings/locations in the area
-Any plot hooks
-Any encounters

Begin detailing surrounding areas where the players may go
-Start adding to the information you have from #1 and #3 if they're near by
-If you know where the players are headed, give it all the attention

Craft at least 3 different NPCs to use as your in game "Go this way" actors
-One NPC in a "home/hub" location
-One NPC that roams the world
-One NPC that can mysteriously pop up anywhere

Just as with games like Fallout, Red Dead Redemption, Grand Theft Auto, and all those other "Open World" games: you can miss out on tons of content and still spend hundreds of hours in the game. The game doesn't have to render those images, the game doesn't have to trigger any of those events, and the game doesn't have to use any of it's energy on the stuff that isn't on screen. Some of those events are still happening, and you'll see the progress, but all that's happening is a little clock is ticking, the players still don't know anything beyond the visible changes. You have a notebook, post it notes, and a computer to track the stuff that your players are unaware of, and until they make it important, you don't have to put a lot of energy into it.

[hymer]

It depends rather on what you mean by 'plan'. Before first session, I usually have a pretty good idea of the major factions and individuals, their relationships, and a likely direction the whole thing is likely to take. But I rarely make the tactical maps, staff the dungeons, or fill the treasure chests more than a session or at most three in advance. It cuts down on wasted work, and allows me to be more responsive to what the PCs do, and what the players are likely to want.

An exception to that are the most sandboxy of my campaigns. In those I plan and detail until I can't stand it any more, and then I start the campaign. Then I add further stuff when I find the creative juices to do it. In my previous campaign, I think I detailed about 15% of the adventure sites before the camapign started. It lasted nearly two years.

[Sigreid]

About 5 minutes. It's a sandbox campaign so I don't usually know what the players will decide to do.

[PhoenixPhyre]

I run arc-based (rather than fixed-goal) campaigns, so...

Pre-campaign
I run a persistent world with multiple active campaigns. Each one modifies the world (although technically there's a canon timeline and a bunch of alternate branches that get incorporated back into the mainline periodically). So I'm continually incorporating the effects of one campaign (including NPCs and events) into the world.

This includes coming up with a bunch of current conflicts. These usually aren't world-shaking; more like long-running consequences of other previous actions.

At the beginning of the arc
Together with the players, we choose a theme and/or conflict. Call this an adventure seed.

Recent seeds:
* Strange creatures (some with draconic aspects) have been sighted in <location>. Local savage tribes are also becoming more restless/migrating. The local authorities have requested a team to investigate. [Theme: dragons/jungles]

* The Honorable Society for the Preservation and Recovery of Historical Relics are sending a team to begin the excavation of a ruined city, once the most holy city in the area. They've requested Sanctioned Adventurer backup. [Theme: demons/outdoor dungeon]

* The dwarven authorities in <city> have requested a team with a dwarven member to assist with a "sensitive matter of internal concern". [Theme: dwarves/dungeons]

From this I have a selection of chunks (usually a primary actor and rough locations on the world map, plus a few key points along the way).

Throughout the arc
I don't plan anything in particular until about a session or two in advance. And even then I leave blanks, because my players continually surprise me. I plan situations, rather than plots. Maps, encounters, etc. I try to allow multiple routes through, and try to be open to Gordian knot solutions.