I'm planning a 3.5 campaign for this summer. I'm getting the kids into D&D It'll be my girlfriend, and her 12 year old son and daughter, and maybe a friend or two. I've flip flopped on a lot of different pre-generated modules, even whole campaigns like the last adventure path from Dungeon Magazine. But I think what I'm going to do is tailor make a campaign.

Before I start, I was thinking I'd put a list of characteristics together that a good campaign should have. So here's a list I've just made up. Please feel free to give input. Also, I was thinking if I'm going to go through all the trouble of making up a campaign, maybe I should tailor it to use the Open Gaming License of d20, so I can publish it for others to use (free if not for a fee).

Characteristics of a good campaign
-- Playable by first time adventurers
-- Variety of settings
-- underdark
-- ruins
-- city
-- wilderness
-- sea
-- Recurring NPCs
-- Several story arcs, with a main arc that carries the full length of the campaign
-- Playable using miniatures and cardstock sets (of course!)
-- Use d20 ogl to allow for publishing
-- Keep the world simple at first so the new characters can learn the game mechanics without the setting and roleplaying getting too much in the way
Edit
-- Early encounters designed specifically to introduce game mechanics
-- Hands on items for the players like Maps, Letters, etc.

Feel free to post more characteristics and I'll incorporate them into this list.

I am incredibly biased but...

is wonderful. Complex, with a lot of changes from the standard D&D world, steam powered golems rule the battlefield, and guns, while available, are stupidly expensive. (I like guns in D&D... enough so that I dropped their price a lot from the IK listing. 2 gp+ a shot seems a bit steep, eh?)

There is an adventure campaign, out of print for the moment - a 3.5 version is in the works, two campaign setting books, one with most of the crunch, the other with nothing but smooth buttery fluff. ANd a critter book, which is being rereleased next month for 3.5. The adventure campaign The Witchfire Trilogy pops up at auction on occassion, that is how I got volume 1 myself. Portions seem tailor made for Gothic Realms.

The wargame set in the same setting has some very nice figures, and the game itself is a blast. WARMACHINE is fast and furious, a starting warband is playable out of the box and includes the quickstart rules.

Give it a look over.

The Auld Grump

*EDIT* Whoops! I see that you are talking about creating your own setting. Doh! Though I do love Iron Kingdoms...

It may seem silly to add, but adventure itself is a necessity! Whatever the theme or setting may be, it's got to be exciting for the players. Since they're your girlfriend's kids and your friends, you're sure to know what sparks their imaginations. Be sure to incorporate elements of their favorite things (or goals), and you've got a built-in hook!

To be a little more on topic this time...

Have you seen the Campaign Planner series by Ronin Arts? A series of PDFs containg forms to help organize and run a campaign. (And my real name is among the credits for 2 and 3.) I use these a lot, both for D&D and for OGL Steampunk.

Also useful - World Designer's Handbook by TSR, available as a download from RPGNow. Most of the information, and all of the forms, carry over to 3.x no problem.

I still use some of the forms from Dungeon Master's Design Kit from 1st edition AD&D as well.

If you want to create a realistic world then the Medieval Society books by Expeditious Retreat come in very handy. In conjunction with Medieval Player's Handbook by Green Ronin you can run a true medieval game with the D20 rules.

History books are always good.

The Auld Grump, yes CapnG, I use forms!

What's wrong with forms?

One thing to note about newbies; don't overwhelm them.


Its easy for a lot of gaming vets to go a little overboard with newbies; detailed character and world backstory, various story arcs, complex NPCs chock full of motivations and agendas, etc. And while those all make for great campaigns, they can be a little overwhelming for newbies who are still getting their gaming legs underneath them.

Its no coincidence that the original Hommlet and Keep on the Borderlands modules were as simple as they were. They were designed for gaming newbs.

I introduced a group of news a few years ago (a group of pretty smart working professionals) and kind of overwhelmed them with a campaign world (Sword & Sorcery's Scarn, a world I still love). And it was a little much at first. They were more interested in learning and experiencing how the rules worked and how RPG in general worked, learning about their classes, etc. Campaign complexity was just excess at that point.

To be honest, if I had it to do again, I wouldn't start with a complex world. I'd start with adventures more akin to the Princess Bridge. A generic fantasy world that revolves around an adventure, nothing else. I would start the characters at 3rd level or so, no spell casters, and let them plow their way heroically through an adventure or three, and get the hang of the game and the way RPG works. I might even pregen the characters for them.

Then, after a few successful adventures, I'd have the newbs make their own characters (now at 1st level or whatever starting level you're going to do), and start over in a more complex, rich, detailed world.

I edit posts... I just felt those were separate posts and deserved to be posted separately. I'm not a big multiple-poster...


the pope told me off!

EDIT:

I'm avoiding a multi-post here Robby, Grump, gimme some feedback on my additional comments

[EDIT] some may take offense [/edit]

Characteristics of a good campaign
-- Playable by first time adventurers
-- Recurring NPCs
-- Several story arcs, with a main arc that carries the full length of the campaign
-- Playable using miniatures and cardstock sets (of course!)
-- Use d20 ogl to allow for publishing
-- Keep the world simple at first so the new characters can learn the game mechanics without the setting and roleplaying getting too much in the way

The Variety of settings, while great, i am hopeing thinking you mean, over the whole run, and not to early, becuase yeah it can get intimidating for new players.

One of the most fun D&D games i ever was in started with Characters at 0 level, yeah in Greyhawk and Homlet, so maybe think about that old one, and the Temple of Elemental evil and return the changes, and draw of the players to being from Homlet could be something to get them into it, and the simple location, at first could be a nice way to reinforce the mechanics of the system with out putting to much of a strain, they don't have to worry about the varrying dynamics of adding in terrain or other factors that cab get complicated with adding the underdark, or being out in the middle of the wilderness.

I think i subconsiously remembered that level of fun, and support and tying the players and characters to a location becuase the best game i ever ran, had some of those same themes. All but 2 of the players started out their characters from the city (there were 7 PCS) and the first series of adventures from level 1-5 they never left the city. Between sewers (Gothic), Catacombs (caves), noble Estates, grave yards, crypts etc you can have lots of options for combat, use scenery (from WWG or where ever), and provivde the new players with Support!, something low level PC's run by people who may tend to get themselves really wounded, or killed tend to need.

You can run it as Fantasy or more realistic just by stocking the sewers, and catacombs with either Monsters, or bandits. The some what limited locations, but varried by being possible networks, can allow for reoccuring characters, as guides in the sewers or the Thieves keeping watch and helping or hindering, City watch ready to lend a hand, or give out assignments for loads of action, clergy for healing and information...

Heh, it is something that I have been doing for a long time - the oldest printout for a timeline that I have is from a TRS80 model1 on a Paper Tiger printer, c. 1980 or so. Back when I was working for the Companions.

Fields include:
Date of event
Time of event
Which plotline the event is part of (I prefer a numeric entry for this - it saves typing)
Country
Town or City
Event - on older programs I used just the name, and had a list of what the event was about. Now I can type a good long description.

When detailing a plotline I sort the list by plotline, and copy the portion I need to my word processor to flesh it out. When producing a timeline I sort by date and time.

I used to have a series of tables that I would roll on to create an outline for the history of a region. Sometimes I think about recreating those tables... they produced very rough output, but I liked it, it provided a skeleton to build on.

The Auld Grump

Hmmmm, it is a cliche, but - the adventurer's are hired as bodyguards from point A to point B by a not all that prosperpous a merchant NPC (perhaps at the tavern, if we are going to have a cliche we might as well go hog wild!). Payment along the lines of 1 gp per day. Three times he has attempted the journey, and three times he has been ambushed by goblins/orcs/1st level critters.

To no one's great surprise there is an ambush on this fourth trip. Spot checks are called for, if they fail then the foe has a surprise round of bow fire. If it succeeds roll initiative as normal. The merchant hides under his wagon, so you don't have to worry about him after the first round. Goblins work best for this, they get a good bonus to Hide checks. (Surprise & Ranged combat)

Assume that out of 4 goblins 2 are low and behind boulders as cover, and the other 2 are higher up, and behind trees as cover, so the most a single sleep spell can target is two at a time. The leader of the goblins behind cover is a level 1 fighter (or possibly rogue if you want a sneak attack on the merchant) instead of a warrior, bringing the encounter to CR2. The leader's first two shots are aimed at the merchant. A CR2 encounter is difficult for a 1st level party, but the party is unlikely to take serious damage. The leader and his companion will try to flank one party member at a time - potentially a serious matter if the goblin leader is a rogue. (Flanking.)

After that he concentrates on the larger threat. The leader gobbo has a letter saying when and what route the merchant is going to be taking and describes him and his wagon. It is no coincidence that he was being ambushed. Along with the note is the money that the goblins were paid to ambush the merchant.

Trying to reach the goblins up high will require a Climb check.

If the party so desires then they can try to track the goblins back to their hideout, more goblins, a little more treasure. (Wilderness Lore check, if anybody has Track as a feat or class ability.)

If they do not then the goblins will try to track them at night to attack after the party camps for the night. (Lighting.)

At the goblin hideout you can have hidden treasure (Search) in a trapped box (Search again, and Disable Device) and an Adept as the Goblin shaman. (Getting the party to know how to roll saves, etc.) If you want you can have an Ogre as one of the critters at the goblin lair, so the party can come to hate Reach attacks. I would recommend a healing potion or two in the trapped box, at least if you are throwing an Ogre at the party! If you want the ogre to be a bit less lethal have him grapple instead of try to thump the adventurers into submission. (Close Combat.)

Who hired the goblins is a question who's answer is up to you, but the merchant definitely has an enemy. But it is likely to use Diplomacy and Gather Information.

The Auld Grump

*EDIT* Added references to desired skill & tactical situations (in parenthesis).

*EDIT* Posts combined.

You may also want to give thought to what terrain you can use. Village Works has some road, river, and a bridge - a good site for the ambush.

Cave Works can work well for the goblin hideout, or you can use tents if it is a wandering band. Huts & Tents are in Village Works, more huts are in Skull Cove.

And if you want to have a tavern brawl Interior Works: Pubs & Inns works wonders.

On the campaign, it might also be a good idea to have a recurring critter - does the first big bad guy rely on goblins a lot? Do his goblins have a theme that pulls them together? One item I used in a campaign was that the bad guy minted his own coins, worth half of the normal coins because he cheapened the gold with too much copper, he paid his thugs with the cheapened coins at face value, defrauding even his own people, but most merchants do not check all that carefully, rather like spending Canadian quarters.

The Auld Grump

Are there any non-cliche ways to start an adventure though? I mean really, to my knowledge there's basically three and everything else is a variation:

-Overhear of lost treasure in pub
-Wake up in a jail cell with no memory of how you got there
-get hired to guard something/someone