First Campaign as a DM not a PC

thedearhunter

I am a first time DM and i need a bit of advice. i know the game well, been playing since 2005 and i love 4th edition. That said, i have only been a player, though ive wanted to DM.

So now, ive created my own homebrew world, with extensive world info and detail, and i'm real excited to play in it and use the organizations ive created. The campaign so far is an intrigue setup with the characters (starting at level 6) working for a powerful criminal syndicate, through which they are introduced to other powerful groups and people. Im trying to make it so that each character really has an interest in a specific group that relates to their characters. So in a word, im trying to run a sanbox campaign where the PC's can get missions from any of their contacts, all of whom are working for their own ends.

I was wondering if anyone has run anything like this before, and how it went. Any advice is much appreciated.

Also, pretty much all of their foes are humanoid, and higher level than the PC's, with a great deal of elites, like assassins and bounty hunters. Pretty much all the encounters are 2 or 3 levels above the characters, but i figured it was ok because most of they are able to take an extended rest before fighting again. Namely, i havent included any real large dungeon areas yet. Will this be an issue? I know some power gamers love big dungeons and very little story, which is something im fond of.

Any thoughts you guys have would be great.

JimTriche

Most of my planning comes in the form of generalizations. I have a box and binder full of little 'plot hooks' that allow me to adjust on the fly and provide options for my players, but I detail nothing to the extent that it can be horribly broken if the character does something 'out of the ordinary' (which most GMs will tell you, is actually the norm).

Remember a few key rules of being a Game (Dungeon) Master:

Whatever you have planned, the PCs will find a way to break it.

The level of the break is proportionate to the amount of time you spent planning the encounter. If you spend 30 hours of your time planning a massive encounter, expect the players to destroy it in minutes.

Remember that 99% of the time, the players are just playing, and these breaks are NOT intentional.

Never bring a grudge to the table. It makes things unpleasant and hurts the campaign.

The screen works both ways. Sometimes you want to fudge a roll to make an enemy more of a challenge, sometimes you need to fudge the rolls to make the scene more dramatic and sometimes you do it just to keep the PCs from dying horribly and stupidly. Players enjoy near death experiences that they heroically survived rather than a stack of character sheets in the recycle bin.

Ask your players what kinds of situations they like. Simple. Effective.

Don't be afraid to go over the top. Fantasy games are fantasy.

Buy a thesaurus. You'd be surprised how lame saying "The monster is red" can get. Scarlet, Crimson, Maroon or Burgundy are all more fun words, and many people would be surprised how much they contribute to a game.

There are more, but one of my players is on Skype now and I have to go and help him with his character.

arsheesh

I'm taking notes Jim!

First off, welcome to the portal Dearhunter. Second, I really like your idea for a campaign. I have always been itching to be involved in an urban campaign with well laid out organizations such as guilds, and houses. 3.5e came out with a helpful guide on Urban adventures. I know you're running 4e, but it might be worth checking out. I'd also recommend checking out RedStar's "Fogdown":http://www.obsidianportal.com/campaigns/fogdown campaign; it's one of the best, if not the best Urban campaign that I've come across on the portal. You might glean some ideas from browsing his site. Anyway, good luck on your first campaign as a DM!

Cheers,
-Arsheesh

JimTriche

Agreed on Fogdown, I'm taking notes from it as well.

gnunn

Be sure to give your NPCs and even your 1 shot bad guys personality. This will make them more than just a hard to pronounce name for the players. I know in my campaign, my players will refer to the Drow sheriff they met in Fenwatch, or the ugly guard captain our paladin slept with... even if they don't remember their name, they know the character.

To do this, you don't need to go into excessive detail, but a bit of the extra fluff helps. I usually give each NPC a distinguishing physical trait, a distinguishing personality trait and usually a favorite phrase or utterance that I pepper into their speech. For NPCs that are likely to be more involved in the story (i.e. quest contacts) it can be useful to list their top 3 motivations. (e.g. 1. stay alive 2. find long lost love 3. remain hidden from overprotective father) You can do all of these things in 6 brief lines and add a world of depth to their characters.

Jim's advice about not being afraid to go over the top holds true to NPC design as well. a lich who is plotting to take over the world is far more interesting if he also turns intruders to stone and sets them up in his statue garden dressed in embarrassing clothing.

Some of my favorites from my campaign have included:
A twitchy kobold who is the sole survivor of his clan who were all turned to zombies... he is now a ward of the church of Pelor because he wants to learn how to kill zombies.
An ogre barbarian who was forcing slaves to try and open a trapped door so that he could get at the nest of an ethereal filcher who stole his blue blanket.
A dwarven barkeep with a pegleg who is involved in an ongoing feud with the monstrous crab who took it from him.

JimTriche

...

Ishmael Goldbeard?

Idabrius

In addition, it may work to your advantage to keep plot points "loose." Perhaps not as loose as the ones I run (as I tend to have sandbox games where the world just adapts around the players and reacts to their choices RATHER than strictly advancing plot-lines, though I have run some concurrently) but definitely leave yourself wiggle room. Also, think about the wider ramifications of PC actions. That gives the world a real living feel to it.