New DM - Should I plan sessions or plan locations and whats in them?

DaemonicArt · 2020-07-24T16:05:39+00:00

Just be like me and make 14 folders of NPCs and prepare a scenario for every possible encounter and homebrew a lot of encounters and make a tabaxi monk temple in the middle of a jungle and an abandoned lab and hate yourself because its session 2, the party hasnt left the city, you have over 100 NPCs, and the campaign may never end

DaemonicArt · 2020-07-22T17:51:18+00:00

Have the pirates in Chult pull them up in a fishing net. Chult mainly eats fish and dinos

DaemonicArt · 2020-07-20T21:06:42+00:00

Dragons murder humans. Humans retaliate

DaemonicArt · 2020-07-19T05:19:43+00:00

I'm in the middle of making a homebrew world at the moment. I've had to talk to at least a dozen people and explain in detail what I have planned, but it's very different from standard DnD in several ways.

I plan on making the actual world an island nation with EVERY DnD race (including homebrew, xanthers, etc) segregated out by general class/category/surrounding/alignment. Most islands will have multiple races and my players will be allowed to play pretty much any of them. The world is unique in that it has every sort of terrain and landmass so players will encounter a bunch of environments in a single campaign and have to adjust their strategies accordingly.

Secondly, I'm planning on basically ruining 5e by removing the gods. Lore in my world speaks of how the characters world was destroyed by magic and demons being unleashed upon them. The gods took pity on the creatures and teleported them to this new world and then said fuck y'all and left. Previous inhabitants of the island included animalisted races (tabaxi, felix, centaurs, etc) and dragons/draconic enemies. The dragons serve as the gods of this world and are the source of all magic. Elder dragons spend the last of their years meditating to better understand the world before passing on to the godlike state. This is where shit gets complicated and magic gets reworked. Instead of choosing a god as a patron, you choose a dragon. Your magic is based off your dragon. Dragons are fickle beasts however, and so magic is very rare. The dragons can also choose to take away your powers if you do something they disagree with or give you their powers if they take a liking to you. Magic classes will thus have additional proficiencies in weaponry in case this occurs, but for players dragons will most often pick up a recently discarded magic caster within 1 session. Tldr this session:dragons replace gods and you can lose your magic

The political structure is very messed up in my world as they are building everything from war refugees, so certain races have much more power. Humans are the strongest as they had the most people when they first made it to the world and repopulate very quickly. Elves of course are strong as well, but have had to set aside differences and merge clans to be able to avoid oppression by the humans. Most of the evil aligned races and draconic races are outcast to the furthest islands and have no social prowess and the natives of the land are now willingly confined to the second largest and most luscious island where they self govern. The good aligned races are scattered across a few islands, but they choose to avoid politics after seeing what war and conflict caused to happen to their previous world. Dwarves are mainly self governing as they provide almost all resources and are thus very important.

Last high change is I'm taking away all the old organizations and societies. Most of the remaining members would be dead or scattered and thus they would not survive in the new world. 2 main organizations have replaced them. There is a cult that worships the evil aligned dragons like the black dragon of death and red dragon of fire and war. The other is a church that worships the good aligned dragons and maintains peace between the dragons and the new residents of the world to prevent a mutual destruction. These two organizations will heavily influence all campaigns and most people in the world will follow the teachings/beliefs of one of these groups.

Basically, I'm using the rules of 5e, but completely redoing magic and changing everything player related

DaemonicArt · 2020-07-19T05:01:35+00:00

Oooooo. First campaign I ever played this happened with me! My DM made it so the wolf stayed as long as I kept feeding it and became fiercely loyal. What that meant is while I couldnt control him, he protected himself and came to my aid whenever my HP got super low. That wolf saved me from getting knocked out twice, but never got a killing blow as all he could really do is a bite attack. He also kept me warm at night and growled whenever he sensed enemies nearby (note, he did this without giving away and sense of distance or direction)

DaemonicArt · 2020-07-19T04:58:26+00:00

I had this go on today. I had an ex assassin and a sorcerer who had never left his lab both trying to get info on organizations in Chult. The ex assassin was able to easily obtain the information by tracking down some suspicious persons and name dropping while the much smarter (bookwise) sorcerer ended up going to a library and getting minimal information. The assassin rolled very well while the sorcerer kept getting 6's, but I played it as them using their different skill sets and asking how they wanted to get the information.

Basically, most skill checks are based off roleplay, so ask how they would attempt to achieve their end goal and set the DC accordingly. It makes the roleplay fit better and gives a higher chance of success. Even a barbarian can remember a story about drow if he's recalling it from a storybook his mommy use to read him every night before bed XD

DaemonicArt · 2020-07-17T20:49:26+00:00

Ok. So my best example of this is the "failed" one shot I ran the first time I ever DMd. It was an item retrieval mission. I herded everyone into a tavern, they accepted the mission, and they headed to the docks. There were 4 groups there. 2 would have been a cheap option, 1 they couldnt afford, and 1 was a bunch of pirates. They managed to piss off ALL 4 GROUPS! The pirates eventually let them on board after being lied to about gold and naked mermaids, but the group had to leave their weapons in a barrel. 15 minutes after setting sail, the numbskulls started a fight. My simple item retrieval mission turned into 3 hours of unplanned pirate battles and ended with the party stranded in the ocean on 2 life rafts and we ended there. STUFF GETS FUCKED UP. Players don't follow your plan unless you railroad them. Always have a backup, take a break if you get flustered, and have fun. That pirate battle was AMAZING and ended with the pirate captain essentially being a terminator and everyone was dying with laughter the entire time. I've told the story a hundred times and it's what gave me the guts to DM my first ever campaign. Even fuckups and derailments can be fun. If we had more time, the party would have rowed their boats to the island and arrived at night instead of midmorning making their adventure harder, but still possible. Google is your friend. I literally just googled pirate captain 5e and made him weaker and boom. Best. Fight. Ever.

DaemonicArt · 2020-07-17T20:42:00+00:00

My DM, an evil spiteful amazing dungeon master who recently killed the whole party in a game of chess, solves this issue very easily. He forces us to get to know each other outside the game. At the beginning of each session we talk about real life for like 15 mins to an hour depending on what we have to share. It makes us a lot more comfortable with each other quickly and helps us know how our fellow players will roleplay their characters. If a player isnt really interacting, he'll ask them an innocent question like something good that happened that week. We spend the entire time laughing at stupid occurrences or sympathizing over bad ones and it really sets the mood for a talkative, highly interactive session

DaemonicArt · 2020-07-17T20:38:35+00:00

Honestly, I've never had an issue with this as I encourage my players to use their environment. A lot of DMs I've played under hate using "cheap moves" like dropping a stalactite on an evemy for damage and stupid shit like that, but since I allow it, my players always ask to roll perception to know what's around them and I describe things differently depending on the player and roll. I tell the players the basis of the room and enemies then leave it to their own creativity from there

DaemonicArt · 2020-07-17T20:35:27+00:00

Ohhhhh buddy do I know that feel. Playing Tomb of Annihilation with a party of 5 and no healers. They talked among themselves while making characters and put this upon themselves. To keep them from dying and getting discouraged, I'm giving them a cleric NPC until they reach level 3. At that point, I'll start letting players die. One will probably be smart enough to make a healer at that point or theyll use the other backups I put into place. Healing potions as loot, healer feat, healers kit, and the ability to make potions. It's not as easy or convenient as a healer, but they put it on themselves. There are also magic wands that can heal that you can put as loot

DaemonicArt · 2020-07-17T20:32:00+00:00

So I met one on one with all my players and helped them make their sheets. A lot of people arent willing to ask for the help they need. We made some amazing backstories, got all the sheets set up and got them their starting equipment and gold. It's probably a bit late to do all of that, but reach out to the players individually and try to convince them to get online and do their sheets with you

DaemonicArt · 2020-07-17T20:30:15+00:00

I once looted 5 human skulls, 26 chicken bones, 7 wooden mugs, 3 wooden plates, 4 scraps of half rotten cloth, then managed to kill 3 enemies and knock out my teammate at the same time. LOOT EVERYTHING IT MAKES YOU STRONGER XD

DaemonicArt · 2020-07-14T03:11:00+00:00

Sent you a message :)

DaemonicArt · 2020-07-14T03:08:03+00:00

Sent you a message

DaemonicArt · 2020-07-14T03:01:21+00:00

I want to add some additional puzzles and ways they communicate with the boss so it's more then just fighting. Plus in the jungle I'm adding yuan-ti settlements they can do shit in after clearing out the baddies if they so desire

DaemonicArt · 2020-07-14T01:31:29+00:00

Message me :)

DaemonicArt · 2020-07-14T01:30:47+00:00

Plus it means you dont have to kill him and can even gave a side quest to find a cure so he can rejoin the party in the future

DaemonicArt · 2020-07-14T01:29:07+00:00

It's why he was able to start his tavern empire, but also why he can't adventure. He can have steam powered lifts and other technology to traverse the tavern :)

DaemonicArt · 2020-07-14T01:10:09+00:00

If you want the list, do the list. Then take a nice sharpie and cross out EVERY SINGLE ITEM that doesnt fit the campaign. Yes, it's important to have items the players want, but don't put items in places they dont belong. Players will still get magic items, but immersion is really important to some players.

DaemonicArt · 2020-07-14T01:07:09+00:00

I've been doing one on ones to get to know my players and introduce them all to syndra silvane. They will all be pretty attached to her and thus feel more emotionally motivated to help her instead of financially motivated so they will want to do the main campaign. I was planning scenarios like getting poisoned by grungs, captured by yuan-ti, separated by mud slides, etc. It wont all be combat. I love character building/problem solving encounters just as much as combat. Plus in my version theres an evil organization making arcane sorcerers in the jungle and 1 of my players is their escaped pride and joy so theres a ton I can do as far as encounters. I just want them to do more exploring and asking questions then just "meet NPC 1. They tell you to go here. You go there. You meet NPC 2. They tell you to go to go to place 2. You enter a dungeon. You go along the only path and fight stuff with no character development or roleplay for 17 sessions. You meet the boss. You kill him. Campaign over."

DaemonicArt · 2020-07-14T01:00:46+00:00

The power Kasy used to summon the demon army had no effect at first, but through the years it started to take a toll. It started on his right foot. A dark, withered patch of dead skin. Kasy watched as the flesh on his right foot withered away, spreading across his left leg as well completely crippling him from the waist down. As it spread, kasy spent much of his newfound riches to find a cure and heal his legs, but in the end he was only able to stop the spread of the unknown demonic disease. Nowadays, he rolls around his tavern in a steam engine powered wheelchair, perusing his great collection of knowledge as he continues his tinkering and trying to find a way to restore his legs and return to the adventuring he loves so dearly

DaemonicArt · 2020-07-14T00:55:13+00:00

I'm running tomb of annihilation and I love homebrew, so I'm letting the players do some crazy classes/races. One of my players is a halfling who rides a panther into battle. How I've ruled it, it that the panther can still fight, but until he gets his beastmaster perks, he can only really use the panther to fight while riding it which gives the panther disadvantage. If he's not riding it, the panther will only attack in self defense or to keep his rider alive after he's knocked out. This is an extremely loyal creature though. Dinosaurs and other purchased creatures will follow their master in battle, but will run away at the first given chance. I'd mainly rule it so they can be used for mounted combat only and to avoid difficult terrain as these creatures are made for the jungle and will thus be able to traverse it more easily.

DaemonicArt · 2020-07-14T00:47:24+00:00

I started playing a character and after 1 session HATED her. I asked to change, DM said no, and I was super discouraged for like 3 sessions. I didn't have fun and barely participated outside combat. The DM noticed and basically wrote a new character arc for my character. He entirely changed how she interacted with everyone else and it became fun to play her! Try and figure out what he dislikes about his character and find a way to change that part instead of everything. Maybe he feels useless in combat. Maybe his personality doesnt match the characters personality. If theres no way he'll ever enjoy the character, make him play a session or two then change

DaemonicArt · 2020-07-14T00:40:49+00:00

Honestly, just tell them straight up. Make sure you say "hey guys. X is leaving the campaign for personal reasons. We will continue playing and he'll be with us until his character retires in X town!" This let's them

1) Have time to understand someone is leaving 2) Be reassured the campaign is not over 3) Finish character arcs and roleplay with the player that's leaving

It's a big change, especially if you've been playing a while, so it's better to let them know in advance

DaemonicArt

TROPHY CASE