Campaign idea

[oliver78789]

I`m making a campaign fro me and my friends but this is the first one ive ever created. I just wanted to get some feedback on my campaign idea.

So my basic idea is there will be an orginization of criminals , i`m making it using the "D&D Complete Adventurer". I havn`t thought of a name yet so if u have any ideas plz post them. The orginization will have bases located outside major towns as safe houses fro crmmiinals. I havn`t thougth of how the organization is led but i`m planning on this being a long campaign so its not that importnt right now. I`m planning on starting the campaign by having the group meet in a small town because of a wanted poster. Once they find the person he will have a note on him that if the adventurers find will tell them about the organization.

This is my first campaign so any tips would be appreciated. Also tell me what u think about the campaign.

[rabkala]

If you don't mind old school or can convert the material to 3.5 yourself, there was a series of three modules in 2e that were great. They were based around the I,Tyrant supplement. It was great, and the new Lords of Madness would work for it now. The story basically had the adventurers trying to take down a thieves guild. Eventually they discover all sorts of behind the scenes players pulling strings like illithids and beholders. I doubt newer players would have any knowledge of it.

You might be able to find it on ebay or a very popular peer 2 peer site.

[oliver78789]

I`m trying to maek it myself. Last time i used a pre-made campaign it was a disaster. Couldn`t find NPC info or anything.

[Farcaster]

Well, you have a setting (the world you're game is taking place in), and you have a villain (this organization). Now you need some conflict. What is this organization doing that is going to spark the group's ire and really make them want to work against it? Or, conversely, what makes this organization so lucrative to join and what kind of challenges does the group need to face to get in? Once they're in, perhaps they will quickly find themselves over their heads when they find out a dark secret about this organization they coveted.

There are a lot of possibilities. You just need to consider what direction you want to take it. With my games, I usually try to plan an overarching storyline to some vague degree of detail, and then get detailed for a single story-arch, which usually ends up being about five or six games in length.

[DrAwkward]

There are a lot of possibilities. You just need to consider what direction you want to take it. With my games, I usually try to plan an overarching storyline to some vague degree of detail, and then get detailed for a single story-arch, which usually ends up being about five or six games in length.

Thats how it works for me as well. I usually sketch out a few story arcs, flush out the first enough for it to be playable and then flush out the next few just enough that I can seed clues and hooks for them in the current arc.

For example, in your case, I'd think of a decent and short intro module that doesn't use that guild at all (buying you time to flesh it out), but have the note in there on one of the minor humanoid villains (maybe a rotten note on a zombie made out of a dead rogue). I'd expect the party to probably ignore it, and thats fine -- its a secret orginization, so the note should be cryptic anyway.

The next adventure might be something like a thug who is trying to join the guild, and his general villainy while trying to impress them gets the adventurers on his butt. They might find his research about the guild (from an outsider's view) which can spell it out for them in as much detail as they need to know -- this is a great place to put clues for your overall story arc.

At this point you hope they remember the first note, and can use his research to decipher what it means -- like directions to a rendevous point and more adventure. I wouldn't flush it out any further past this initially, because my party always does something to suprise me.

This would be my though process for building a campaign, hope that helps. I'm not a big fan of pre-made modules either, but I'm certainly not opposed to taking one and stealing maps and towns, and putting my own stuff in place of the story. Its a real time saver, especially if the original module was close in the theme I was going for.

[PhishStyx]

So are the PC's the cops or the robbers (or even both)?
It makes a big difference in the kind of game you're going to run.

If the PC's are the cops, then you'll probably want an investigative storyline, a mystery, of some kind. Well, the most important mysteries, thus the most dramatic, are murder mysteries or kidnappings.

The flip side, playing bad guys, offers some alternative interesting possibilities. You could have them plan heists on the road to developing a sort of "Robin Hood" storyline, where they're actually planning to overthrow the local cruel evil lord. They could encounter lots of problems that need solutions here, money to buy swords and armor for their uprising, rescuing emperiled villagers, all sorts of fun stuff.

I know you're planning a long campaign style game, but don't skimp on providing the players with a goal to shoot for.

[Digital Arcanist]

There is only one rule you MUST follow if you are going to play D&D and it is: there must be at least one dungeon and at least one dragon in the campaign.

I played in a campaign shortly where ne never once entered a dungeon or fought a dragon. We, the players, revolted and renamed the game to "Above Ground Ruins and Orcs."

Seriously though, don't dismiss the usefulness of pre-made adventures. They can often times give you a cool NPC or plot element in a pinch.....or more likely when you've exhausted your creative powers for awhile.

[PhishStyx]

Man, why's everyone think dungeons are strictly underground structures?

[Moritz]

Dungeons that aren't underground are Castles?

[PhishStyx]

Dungeons that aren't underground are Castles?

Nope, most dungeons were above ground jails inside larger structures. And most castles didn't even have them.

[Moritz]

Well, they'd best get their sim city going on and build a jail, because there's overcrowding at the police station.

- I love that game for some reason.

[Digital Arcanist]

When I say above-ground ruins, I mean a wide-open space dotted with stones and occasionally a sem-standing structure. Usually, whatever creature we were supposed to fight would be camped in the middle.

I like to mix up the traditional underground death traps with castles, floating and flying citadels. In modern settings I like alien landscapes to serve as dungeons, someplace where you can look up and maybe see two suns or a couple moons and the sky is purple or green.

[ignimbrite]

PhishStyx has an excellent point; are you planning on them joining or opposing this mysterious organisation?

So are the PC's the cops or the robbers (or even both)?
It makes a big difference in the kind of game you're going to run.

As for a name for the organisation I have always loved "The Black Hand" for an insideous and mysterious group, other options that I am partial to are: The NightHawks or Night Stalkers or Shadows - pretty much anything with a darkness motif. Alternatively you can always go with a traditional - Thieves Guild or Assassins Guild.

[ignimbrite]

I love the idea of a city based campaign that revolves around a "thief guild" even if it is hunting the guild.

You might want to look into the Cityscape book or if you are setting it in Eberron then the Sharn: City of Towers would also be a good resource.

If this is your first time running a city-based campaign I suggest that you prepare a whole bunch of random names for off the cuff NPCs. When I was running stuff in the city I found that my PCs would *always* ask for names of the people they ran into, even if it was a one-off meeting with no consequences. I found that suspension of belief was difficult when the DM is always umming and erring over names and race, etc.

I`m making a campaign fro me and my friends but this is the first one ive ever created. I just wanted to get some feedback on my campaign idea.
I`m planning on starting the campaign by having the group meet in a small town because of a wanted poster. Once they find the person he will have a note on him that if the adventurers find will tell them about the organization.

[Digital Arcanist]

Cityscape is one of my favorite books for the core setting.