The Campaign Builder's Guild

Long since I started reading D&D books have I wanted to be the DM.  Not to defeat players or lord it over them, but because I feel that I have some really great ideas that would just be a lot of fun to see in a game.  But I'm not sure what sort of adventure would be easiet for a first-time DM to create: I tend to expect too much from myself.  So from any of you out there who've been first-timers, can you tell me anything about your first self-created adventure?  Is there a certain kind of adventure that can ease a DM into the job?

Wouldn't know. My first flopped pretty horribly.

QuoteSo from any of you out there who've been first-timers, can you tell me anything about your first self-created adventure?

My first self made adventure was in 1E.  An overly complicated warren of tunnels that had everything.  Orcs, Red Dragons, puddings, zombies, a minotaur, kobolds, it even had a lake with a little island... :morons:

QuoteIs there a certain kind of adventure that can ease a DM into the job?

Go with what you like and what you know.  And say



to any critics. :D

Don't worry about making mistakes or having inconsistencies.  They are going to happen, even after years of experience. DM to have fun.

I chose the location in the setting I knew best (this was the first time i've DMed with my own setting), which was Lagerheim, a pretty big city. It provided with plenty of opportunities, but I was glad I had designed some tunnels underneath the city; drawing out a map of such a large city - over 6 million - isn't so easy.

So, yeah, i'll second Cymro's message and suggest that you go with what you know.

I think my main advice is: Try to be a little more assertive than usual in making sure your players create appropriate and compatible characters. Makes it easier to keep your feet under you.

And what they said.

My best advice would be to stay flexible, to be comfortable with improvisation, and to avoid making complex plans.

My first game, I treated like a novel. I spent weeks before the game even started, planning out encounters, writing NPCs, constructing plots, the whole works.

Ten minutes into the first session, the players made a choice I hadn't anticipated, and rendered all that planning useless.

What I mean to say is that the open-endedness and flexibility of the format is a strength, and that you shouldn't work against it, even if that flexibility seems uncomfortable or intimidating at first. You are engaging in cooperative storytelling with your players, not putting them through the paces of a story you wrote by yourself.

Just relax, go with the flow, and you'll be fine.

The first adventure I ran was the sunless citadel. That gave me the experience to know how to run a successful game. After that, my PC's decided to use their characters in an ongoing campaign. It worked out well for a long time, mostly, I think, because we were all very new and my lack of planning developed into an understanding of how to improv a game. Improv is the most useful thing to know as a DM.

Like LC said, be flexible and try to re-implement ideas that get derailed. For example, if the PCs kill off the BBEG (Big, Bad, Evil Guy) in the first encounter, give the future roll to a villain they haven't killed. If the PC's don't go into the orc castle you mapped out, that doesn't mean you can't use the ogre encounter in the next dungeon.

I'm going to disagree with Snakefing. Though it is important to have a well-balanced party, it is much more important that players play the characters they want. My best experience as a player came from a multi-year quest with a two person party. Raelifin & Joriel, the ranger and rogue. Needless to say, we had no healing and I, the archer, was forced into the tank role often. The DM was great though. He toned down the number of fights per day and threw some wands  & potions our way every now and again. Like I said, the love for our characters kept us going from levels 1-9 in a roleplaying heavy campaign.

Quote from: CYMROAnd say
*bleep*
to any critics.

Don't worry about making mistakes or having inconsistencies. They are going to happen, even after years of experience. DM to have fun.

Critics? What are those? :P

Okay, thanks guys.

Let us know how it goes, eh?

QuoteCritics? What are those?  

Usually the first ones against the wall when the revolution comes.

in my humble experience, my only advice is to stray away from any setting that already exists, for your first campaign. FR, or presumabley greyhawk, might be execptions, but to start, make sure the setting is as generic and open as possible. i find this helps keep your mind off all the little details of the world, and lets you practice working on other DM skills.

that and, when youre done that first campaign, youve got the beginnings of a completely new setting to work on.

edit- also, if youre running a module, ignore any instance where it says anything along the lines of "PCs will never succeed this investigating scenario talking to group X, but they will succeed if they talk to group Y who are right next to group X". players will, invariably, make considerable threats to every member of group X not just until the guards arrive, but until the guards try to stop the PC menace with combat. they will then proceed to fight the guards to the death. meanwhile, group Y will have nothing to do but sit in the corner.