Campaign flow

[Gamezdude]

How do you structure your campaign flow in terms of missions and overarching story?

Do you pick up where the players were last on the map?

Do you railroad their missions until you reach the climax of the campaign?

Do you not have a campaign at all and do the adventures willy-nilly or a hybrid of both?

I just want to know what others are doing/have done.

[The Kool]

Well recently I've been playing a group that, due to the group structure, requires episodic sessions. There might be a two-part adventure, but for the most part it's a new convening every time. I do have experience outside that though.

When running an arching campaign, most events will be a back-to-back flow. Some transitions may be mostly narrated, but for the most part I prefer sandbox-ish play and let the players pursue their goals in the flow they choose. I will say that railroading is, in my experience, undesirable. When it comes to designing the flow of a specific adventure, I prefer an outline approach that leaves room to adapt it to what's happening without completely ditching the story.

[Albions_Angel]

There is railroading and then there is railroading. If the story is strong, giving your players one objective, and when they solve it, giving them another, is generally fine in my experience.

"Ok, you have been hired to go and kill this thing"
"great, heres your pay. And this guy heard of your exploits and wants you to do this"
"oops, turns out that thing you took belonged to this guy. Good news is, he is evil. Go kill him to save yourselves, then bring his head here for a nice reward"

If your players deviate, well, thats what random encounters are for, and you can always get them back on track. Let them solve each objective how they want though.

Sandbox can work great, but I think you need to be a much better DM than I am to pull it off.

So for me, sessions all run into one another. I might give a weeks downtime for crafting or whatever, as the story allows, but I play out most travel, because its a chance for me to relax and rely on random encounter tables.

Hope that helps!

[The Kool]

Sandbox can work great, but I think you need to be a much better DM than I am to pull it off.

I used to say the same! The difference is experience. If you play regularly, it will come faster than you think. Familiarity and comfort with the system lend more strength to your ability to make numbers up without looking at anything and still have a fair encounter, familiarity with your players and your world allow you to be more reactive in what your party chooses to do. If you can come up with scenarios on the spot, fantastic, but the sandbox DM I admired most kept a folder of plot hooks and notes on his world, and would flip over and reference his notes for an area when the party went there so he knew what was around and what was going on. A small secret for you: We sandbox DMs don't know much more about the world than the players do. We have a basic shape in our heads and a few scribbled notes about what's in the area, some potential stories in the folder waiting to be found, but that's pretty much it. A lot of it is just referencing memories. "Oh, I remember one time I had a new year's festival in this city, why don't I pull them back out? Yeah that'll add some flavor. That'll also add some basic caravan plot hooks, maybe a dispute that needs mediating... There could be a murder that needs solving? Or a theft. Let's give each of those a basic outline." And suddenly you have a sandbox. Players choose to walk away? Okay, what cities are nearby? Random encounter table time, and the journey can take long enough for you to figure out an answer to that!

But I digress. I usually don't have a Grand Plot.

[Torpin]

usually i have one long story arc to take them the entire campaign, but not always apart of every sessions story, as far as railroading vs sandbox. I give them pretty much free reign, sometimes you gotta railroad certain consequences. For instance right now my player are exploring a massive shrine to orcus and about 3 weeks ago they got to the point of no return, it had ruins on the door that they translated as something along the lines of "once you pass this point there is no way out" and 2 weeks ago they tried to leave but couldnt.

now my thing about my big story arc is the events continue to happen in the world whether or not they choose to participate in it. about 4 or 5 years ago i gave one of my players a vision of an army of giants coming to destroy one of the kingdom. when they opted to go become pirates instead of trying to stop the army the kingdom got taken over.

[The Kool]

now my thing about my big story arc is the events continue to happen in the world whether or not they choose to participate in it. about 4 or 5 years ago i gave one of my players a vision of an army of giants coming to destroy one of the kingdom. when they opted to go become pirates instead of trying to stop the army the kingdom got taken over.

This is actually really important if you want your world to feel like a living breathing setting, and not just an unmoving world like in an MMO.

[Quertus]

So, structure? Hmmm...

I prefer to run games where I've got dozens of "plots" running, and the party can learn about and interact with them (or not) as they see fit. And at just a handful (of different types and sizes) are easily seen at the start of the game.

All of these plots advance "in real time" / on an expected timeframe. That said, the PCs can easily influence that timeframe (giving the McGuffin Book to the cult that needs it advances their timeframe; burning that book may well kill their plot (or, perhaps, make their searches more desperate)).

[Troacctid]

I think the key to a good sandbox is a strong main goal with lots and lots of sidequests and not a lot of time pressure. Storm King's Thunder is the best one that I've personally DM'd. Last time I did it, there were like ten pins in the map at all times. It's also important, I think, that it doesn't start as a sandbox—the first chapter drops the players right into the action, and then after saving the town, the villagers have some requests that just so happen to involve tromping around the Sword Coast.

The key to a bad sandbox, of course, is to start with a weak main goal and then supplement it with weak sidequests.

Personally, I prefer an episodic style, where each chapter is a self-contained adventure in itself that also ties into an overarching story.

[Gamezdude]

Ok

The way im currently structuring them is...
1) The players are at this location because thats where the last adventure taken place.
2) The players must now move to this other place in reaction to the last adventure even if the link is really weak but tries to serve the story.

I feel the above is really weak when it comes to an overarching story (one player likes a story...) and it makes the whole thing feel railroaded. And it doesnt give me much wigge room when I come up with another adventure as it makes the connection odd-to-non existent in terms of story.

Eg. 'This Lich has risen an army thats going to invade the kingdom, but first you must deal with a crime investigation.' Or. 'You must go to this place to find a clue to the villains plans, but oh no. Theres no clue, oh well, heres another adventure.' <--- Seriously I ended up doing that. I deserve worst GM award for that. And I would accept it.

What I feel like doing is just finishing the story ASAP and just doing adventures that have no connection to each other nor an overarching story whatsoever. I feel things would run more smoothly. Although there's still the problem of, 'You were here, now your going to trek 20miles to this other place'

*Insert frustration here*

[DarkSoul]

I have the main plot for the campaign advancing whether the PC's interact with it or not. There are also several other things happening with minor groups in whatever area they're in that can be dealt with, and these minor events may or may not tie back into the main plot. It depends on how far off track the group has gotten. If they're way out in left field I'll start tying things back to the main plot in their current adventure, or I'll have some important milestone be reached in the main plot and let them find out about it and react however they want. Usually the bad guys making progress toward their goal is enough to bring the PC's back to the main story.

[Eldariel]

I prefer to run sandboxy but with the players I've gotten I've occasionally been forced to give them a guiding hand too. There are players who relish the chance to interact with a living world and there are players who'd much rather see a quest given to them and just go through the motions. For the former, it takes a lot more prep but the game can be so much more rewarding and unpredictable while with the latter, you get much what you expect and e.g. premade adventure modules are often sufficient (with some tinkering anyways).

[Mars Ultor]

What I feel like doing is just finishing the story ASAP and just doing adventures that have no connection to each other nor an overarching story whatsoever. I feel things would run more smoothly. Although there's still the problem of, 'You were here, now your going to trek 20miles to this other place'

*Insert frustration here*


Because of our schedules and the fact that all six players can't always show up, I have an episodic campaign. Each session is usually one adventure, occasionally it will take two sessions to finish up.

All of their adventures are in the same kingdom or a neighboring one. There's some travel involved, but it's not a big deal. I make a list of adventures that I'd like to run and then figure out the best order for them. I also think about introducing recurring villains and how they can fit into the campaign.

Let's say I have a bunch of adventure ideas, collecting an ossuary from a chapel possessed by a demon, getting an item from lost tomb, defending a town from bandits, rescuing people from a sacrificial cult, visiting an elf city, and a murder mystery. I thought about where these adventures were taking place geographically, if there were any threads that would lead from one to the other, and how I could keep the PCs moving from one to the other without questioning why they were doing so. I have to connect six adventures.

I told the Cleric's player that the last time he was at the cathedral, they asked him to collect the bones of a bishop from a chapel several days ride away. He told the rest of the PCs that he had to fulfill a mission, they all joined in. As they were leaving the city, they saw a noble NPC they knew, he asked them to escort him home. He lived near the chapel, so they agreed.

I've already set up two adventures, the players have mentally committed to both missions. They continued along to the chapel and while traveling came across the cultists, rescued the potential sacrifices, and learned about the cult (which they'll encounter again). That was Adventure 1, they just fell into it, it seemed like a random encounter on the road.

Adventure 2, is what they already agree to. They continued along to the chapel, and when they got there, they were informed a demon had possessed the church. They defeated it, and had to rest up. The decision was made to leave the bishop's bones there, the holy relic had been keeping the demon away.

Adventure 3, while they were resting a villager came rushing to the new bishop for help. There were bandits in the area, a town was being attacked right then. The party rushed off, fought the bandits and learned a little more about them, they'd encountered them before.

Adventure 4, they're taking the lord home, and it starts raining. They stay at his house overnight, wake up in the morning and have to solve a murder mystery. They realize that the victim had a connection to the bandits, and that the news they had heard about rebellion in another kingdom might be tied in. I'm not even sure what that adventure is going to be, but they've already decided to get involved because they hate the bandits.

Adventure 5, when they got home, there was a messenger waiting for the elf. Her family knew she had traveled to a city and made friends there. She had to come home, their king had died, there was going to be a civil war over who would take power.

Adventure 6, there was a cursed ring that had caused the war, they learned they'd have to return it to the lost tomb (get an item, take an item, the tomb is the important part). While looking on the map, they saw the tomb was in the general vicinity of the noble's house, they decided to stop there after the tomb.

I decided to add an adventure on the way to tomb, and then one near the noble's house. One is on the road, they're attacked and can't avoid it. The other is in the town near the noble's mansion, I know they have loot to sell. I'll have to think about what's going to happen with the noble.


Those were the adventures I had prepared, each one led to the other, often with no break in between. In reality the players were completely railroaded, there wasn't a lot of choice involved, and the players had to do them in generally the order I'd decided. But they didn't feel railroaded, I didn't need to force them to take on anything, they did it themselves. The only adventure they had to agree to was going to the chapel, after that everything seemed like it was their choice.

If you know what kind of things appeal to your players, you can insert little hints of them to entice them. I know the players hate the bandits; they've encountered the same cult a few times in unconnected ways, one day it will have a conclusion; they had met the noble on a prior adventure and agreed because it was along the way. Then there was a murder, I knew they'd want to solve it. Getting a letter from a relative is a no-brainer, the player thinks the adventure is all about them, of course they'll accept it. They're attacked on the road, they can't just ignore it. I ended up throwing in another couple of things, some of them were in response to things the players said. While solving the mystery they learned the noble's son was a ne'er-do-well, they decided to take him to the chapel, they'd met an NPC there who was a retired warrior. That was their decision, I just had to role-play a little. In between sessions I'd seen the movie Witch, and came up with a quick thing for the trip to the chapel. When they're on the road and villagers are fleeing a town screaming there's a witch, the party will generally agree to intervene.

Even if you don't know exactly what's going to happen on an adventure, it's important to prepare an idea list and see how you can thread them together. Why do they have to travel twenty miles to get from one adventure to another? Because there's something they feel they need to do one mile away, then five miles away, and so on. If it's just that they heard there's a witch twenty miles away, who cares? But if they're asked/hired to deliver a package, then hear about a witch in a place down the road, and then the witch has a maiden locked up, and when they bring the maiden home there's a wyvern, and the wyvern has a map in its hoard, they'll go wherever you want because once they've committed to one thing, they're led into everything else without having to make a decision. When the players can see what they have to do, they generally do it. When stuff seems optional or when they have to make a conscious decision is when you run into trouble.

Also, let the players hear news about other places, give them loot to sell instead of coins so they seek out merchants, get them involved in intrigues that involve roleplaying and they'll want to do things. They'll see it as their world and they want to get involved. They'll start to create adventures themselves. The rebels up north are allied with the bandits? Let's see what's going on. They'll travel a hundred miles to find out, and you can throw in a few things along the way.

[Pippa the Pixie]

*Insert frustration here*

Well, you want to break your Story into smaller adventures.

Take the lich army plot.

1.Save high town. The lich sends and advance force to destroy this town, and the PCs need to save it.
2.Destroy the Bone Cauldron. That the lich is using to make the army.
3.Destroy the Bone Wall, the massive ainamated 'seige' weapon.
4.Destroy General Bone, defeat the army.
5.Defeat the lich.

Each adventure leads to the next.