Author Topic: Tips: First Game of a New Campaign  (Read 3273 times)

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Necrosnoop110

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Tips: First Game of a New Campaign
« on: October 06, 2010, 01:58:03 PM »
Looking for tips on making the first gaming session of a new campaign all it can be. Anyone got some general or specific tips, suggestions, or must dos/don'ts? (my first time DMing 3.X edition and I'm pretty stoked)

Thanks,
Necro

Details:
Me (DM): 6 years DMing 2nd edition, 10 years as PC for 3.X edition, 1 year 4th edition as PC
Campaign: Homebrewed underdark setting
Will likely start in about a month

Party (likely 4-7 PCs)(will probably average 5 PCs per session, we all have various schedules and obligations)
Most others have 1-5 years of gaming experience, some have 5-10 years, so far no munchkins, good roleplayers
Party has not been created yet, likely something along these lines:
(1) Dwarf Psion
(2) Dwarf Warrior Type
(3) Human Warmage
(4) Halfling/Gnome Rogue-ish type
(5) ?
(6) Mobile Fighter Type maybe Monk
(7) Arcane Caster of some sort
« Last Edit: October 06, 2010, 06:04:06 PM by Necrosnoop110 »

Gods_Trick

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Re: Tips: First Game of a New Campaign
« Reply #1 on: October 06, 2010, 03:16:25 PM »

  More details on setting, party, and if you're planning for theme, callbacks and have a specific plot end.

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Re: Tips: First Game of a New Campaign
« Reply #2 on: October 06, 2010, 03:19:52 PM »
Avoid the tavern and find a way to galvanize them into one cohesive group. If they are experienced they have been started in a tavern more times than they can count. If you don't make it one party early then the group tends to fracture over time, most DMs use some kind of forced combat to make them work together but that is pretty over done as well.
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Re: Tips: First Game of a New Campaign
« Reply #3 on: October 06, 2010, 03:47:52 PM »
For a first campaign, don't be afraid to give big glaring hints. If you want them to take a certain route, you'd want anything short of flashing neon lights. Subtlety varies a lot, and you can slowly increase that as you settle into DMing.

Also, do tell about expected players and their experience levels.
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Necrosnoop110

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Re: Tips: First Game of a New Campaign
« Reply #4 on: October 06, 2010, 06:00:44 PM »
<thanks all, added more details in first post, anything else just ask>

dna1

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Re: Tips: First Game of a New Campaign
« Reply #5 on: October 06, 2010, 07:33:20 PM »
i posted this in another topic.. but its pretty much the same advice i would post now. so i am reposting it  :D


Well I never start my game in a bar. Also I dont really give the players alot of room to not get the group togather and start playing. I like to kick things off ASAP.

Afew ways I start my game is:

1.Have the party already working togather?
2.Each player awakens in the night and is strongly drawn to one location. <insert adventure start here>
3.Players are all in the same area that comes under attack, forced to work togather and fight there way out.
4.The game starts in a dream sequence where the players are all already friends(players dont know its a dream), and in a large fight. They wake up and meet eatchother shortly after. Later the fight actually happens.

hope this helps
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Necrosnoop110

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Re: Tips: First Game of a New Campaign
« Reply #6 on: October 06, 2010, 08:30:39 PM »
4.The game starts in a dream sequence where the players are all already friends(players dont know its a dream), and in a large fight. They wake up and meet eatchother shortly after. Later the fight actually happens.
Thanks. Like that idea. How do you deal with "hey! why didn't I get a will save" after you reveal it's a dream?

Havok4

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Re: Tips: First Game of a New Campaign
« Reply #7 on: October 06, 2010, 10:57:04 PM »
4.The game starts in a dream sequence where the players are all already friends(players dont know its a dream), and in a large fight. They wake up and meet eatchother shortly after. Later the fight actually happens.
Thanks. Like that idea. How do you deal with "hey! why didn't I get a will save" after you reveal it's a dream?

You ask if any of them have ranks in the lucid dreaming skill (manual of the planes), which is trained only and allows you to realize you are in a dream.

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Re: Tips: First Game of a New Campaign
« Reply #8 on: October 06, 2010, 11:27:52 PM »
Or you could do the old "you're all here to apply for a job."

It's what I used for my PbP.


Coincidentally, they all started out across the street from an inn.  :D
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Re: Tips: First Game of a New Campaign
« Reply #9 on: October 06, 2010, 11:36:07 PM »
So you're all being chased by zombies...
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dna1

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Re: Tips: First Game of a New Campaign
« Reply #10 on: October 07, 2010, 12:13:00 AM »
4.The game starts in a dream sequence where the players are all already friends(players dont know its a dream), and in a large fight. They wake up and meet eatchother shortly after. Later the fight actually happens.
Thanks. Like that idea. How do you deal with "hey! why didn't I get a will save" after you reveal it's a dream?


just say you rolled for them. another as stated already was ask them if they have the lucid dreaming skill.... or, tell them its epic dm plot and to put a sock in it  :P
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Necrosnoop110

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Re: Tips: First Game of a New Campaign
« Reply #11 on: October 07, 2010, 01:22:06 AM »

  More details on setting, party, and if you're planning for theme, callbacks and have a specific plot end.
Thanks. Oh and what are callbacks?

Peace,
Necro

Gods_Trick

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Re: Tips: First Game of a New Campaign
« Reply #12 on: October 07, 2010, 06:04:59 AM »

   

  More details on setting, party, and if you're planning for theme, callbacks and have a specific plot end.
Thanks. Oh and what are callbacks?

Peace,
Necro

   Reading your reply, I think you got the impression I said just add more detail. I kinda meant I can give better advice if I knew your setting, party strength and if you were going to be playing with things like theme, etc.

   Callbacks are intentional references, to events like in-game legends/history, actual in-play stuff or humour. Examples: the legend of the Crystal Thingit involves a fight between brothers to use it, in game one of the PCs learns the Thingit is an intellegt item thats controlling his buddy, so has to fight it away from him; this is always replicated in play, especially when the the players have done something cool or heinous, and sometime later in the game you replicate the scene for that frission of good gaming; and humour is essentially that in-game joke that comes to life.

   Its tough to pull of well, but when you see it done its epic.

   I like the dream idea myself, and I'll probably use it sometime. Question is, do you win in the dream, and if so will the RL fight be an exact replay? I like the idea of losing in the dream, maybe because they weren't cooperating, and then teaming up in RL to prevent that.

   My own technique for groups is the Council of Elrond. There is a problem, and organisations essentially pick one of their peeps and send them off to meet at this important council etc.

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Re: Tips: First Game of a New Campaign
« Reply #13 on: October 07, 2010, 08:39:27 AM »
Could always have the PCs be members of an adventuring guild who been gathered together in a newly assigned party.
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Re: Tips: First Game of a New Campaign
« Reply #14 on: October 07, 2010, 09:29:17 AM »
One (somewhat cheesy) way to avoid starting in a tavern or forced combat is to simply tell the players to make PCs that would be willing to do some particular task, and have that task be the first adventure.  It doesn't really matter what it is, but you set up a reason OOC for the PCs to work together, so that when they meet, they simply work together.  The advantage of this approach is it gets rid of the PCs not biting that first plot hook (which sucks before the party is formed).  It sucks for the DM when two PCs jump on board, but the other two insist on sitting in the tarvern, one at the bar, and on in the dark corner staring menacingly.

The disadvantage is it may come off as feeling contrived and metagamy.  In my experience, if you're playing with people who have started countless characters in taverns or forced fights, they may be quite happy to have a change of pace, even if it's set up OOC.
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dna1

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Re: Tips: First Game of a New Campaign
« Reply #15 on: October 07, 2010, 11:41:24 PM »

  

  More details on setting, party, and if you're planning for theme, callbacks and have a specific plot end.
Thanks. Oh and what are callbacks?

Peace,
Necro

   Reading your reply, I think you got the impression I said just add more detail. I kinda meant I can give better advice if I knew your setting, party strength and if you were going to be playing with things like theme, etc.

   Callbacks are intentional references, to events like in-game legends/history, actual in-play stuff or humour. Examples: the legend of the Crystal Thingit involves a fight between brothers to use it, in game one of the PCs learns the Thingit is an intellegt item thats controlling his buddy, so has to fight it away from him; this is always replicated in play, especially when the the players have done something cool or heinous, and sometime later in the game you replicate the scene for that frission of good gaming; and humour is essentially that in-game joke that comes to life.

   Its tough to pull of well, but when you see it done its epic.

   I like the dream idea myself, and I'll probably use it sometime. Question is, do you win in the dream, and if so will the RL fight be an exact replay? I like the idea of losing in the dream, maybe because they weren't cooperating, and then teaming up in RL to prevent that.

   My own technique for groups is the Council of Elrond. There is a problem, and organisations essentially pick one of their peeps and send them off to meet at this important council etc.

the RL fight happens how ever the PC's play it out. for the dream sequence make sure its at some intense seeming place. creepy, set off traps, bodies etc...

for my group I had the fight with seemingly overwhelming odds. but about half way thru the battle make your BBEG/main villan etc appear. then have the pc's wake up. have them all make a couple of either saving throws or percent rolls or something and give everyone in the party some sort of minor ailment like a bloody nose, an intense head ache, vision keeps bluring.  maybe have any of the pc's that got wounded badly have scars or bruises where they got hurt.

a good one also is in the dream you can make someone with them, like a cohort or random npc w/e. then later have them come across said npc but it is a ghost. and looks like it has wounds it had in the dream. do like a creepy rasping reaching moment and have it disappear or something.

i find that stuff like the above ^ sets kind of a creepy mood with my players.. they all seem to get alittle more interested in the game and take things alittle more cautiously. not to mention they seem to kind of RP out a reason to work together. or at least they did in my game  :D

in my game when they awoke it was the day of a yearly fair, they all met up randomly somewhere at the fair. after everyone had met, and they were all RPing out the strange events, i had a siege happen on the fair. the party worked together thru the fight. and they saw the BBEG from the dream sequence leading the raid. in my game the raiders used a flying pirate ship and laid waste to the fair, and also kidnapped some of the women in the village. needless to say that even if the dream and villagers werent enough to make them go for it, the thought of taking the flying pirate ship would of roped them in for sure  :D

anyways.. hope some of this was useful... lemme know how it goes when you play it out.

 :D
« Last Edit: October 07, 2010, 11:45:02 PM by dna1 »
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concjo

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Re: Tips: First Game of a New Campaign
« Reply #16 on: October 08, 2010, 01:39:30 PM »
Saw that you have a homebrew underdark campaign. Make it a jail break scenario where all of them are slaves that were captured by drow or whoever is the nasty. Set them up with a scenario that provides some exceptional slaves a chance to work together and escape.

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Re: Tips: First Game of a New Campaign
« Reply #17 on: October 11, 2010, 01:32:29 AM »
I always liked to start (low level) games off with the concept that the players were already a group. "You all knew eachother growing up" that sort of thing. Only an issue when you have long lived races (I'm 375 but only 2nd level?) and that sort of thing, but in the right party works well and makes all the awkward getting people to work together stuff obsolete.
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Re: Tips: First Game of a New Campaign
« Reply #18 on: October 12, 2010, 05:36:41 AM »
I almost always start my new games in a tavern.  It's not a cliche, it's tradition.  The challenge is to do it in an interesting way.  

1.  Each character happens to be in the tavern when a press gang arrives and beats them into submission, taking them as sailors onto a ship or soldiers into an army.

Total cliche, but I love to take all their stuff away right at the beginning.

2.  Each character happens to be in the tavern when a cocky apprentice wizard comes in, eventually offends or pisses off one of the characters enough to provoke an assault, gets killed in the process, and the master wizard appears, mightily enraged, and curses the party.

That started a 3 year campaign.

3.  Each character happens to be in a tavern when a wounded sole survivor of another party who is being hunted slips an equal measure of stolen demon blood into each character's flagon of ale, then dies as they drink.

Heavy handed, but that's the way I roll.  And FTW:

4.  Each character just so happens to be in a tavern (o random fate) when a mysterious earthquake strikes and the tavern falls into a rift and ends up in the Underdark.  The NPCs in the tavern are either killed in the fall or are picked off one by one by the nasties down below- Alien style.

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« Last Edit: October 12, 2010, 05:41:50 AM by Sir Blammo »
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LordBlades

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Re: Tips: First Game of a New Campaign
« Reply #19 on: October 12, 2010, 06:11:27 AM »
Some of the best campaign start ideas I've been a part of over the years (as both DM or player) go along one of the following ideas:

1. Players already have a common background and/or goal that they figure out together. This leads to the most united groups in my experience.

2. Tell the players to make up their own background reasons why their char would be in a certain place at a certain time, when and where a more or less obvious plot hook happens.

For example, the campaign I'm currently playing in has just restarted after a TPK with the DM asking us to figure out reasons why our chars were on a certain ship. Our former party had been hired guards on the same ship, and following a disastruous battle with a band of sahuagin pirates (apart from some inconsequential Balance or concetration checks none of our chars managed to roll above 10 for the whole encounter), they were killed along with most of the crew. Ship was looted and lelft for dead. The survivors (crew and passengers) were too few to properly man it, so we ended up shiwrecked on a primitive island coast, in the middle of a war between the natives and some beholderkin. The party currently consist of the former ship's first mate (human ardent/cloistered cleric), 2 former passengers (a cleric of heironeous and my wizard) and a native we've captured and made him show the way to the nearest settlement (goliath barbarian) along with a few sailor NPCs we're trying to take to safety.