How do you create your campaigns

[Ephyzul]

I am going to start making my first campaign ever and I was wondering how some people create their own.

Would it be easier to create a more linear storyline vs a sandbox type?

Are all encounters pre-made?

Any tips, suggestions, methods, or any form of enlightenment on this subject would be appreciated.

[JohnD]

Check out the video tutorials in the downloads section.

[Valarian]

If you have a detailed setting or a number of ideas from the character backgrounds, then sandbox can be a rewarding approach. Otherwise, laying out a scenario and letting things flow from that. Generally, I will only plan a session in advance - with perhaps a more fixed scenario planning for the campaign kickoff. Then the campaign flows from the actions of the characters.

For a more sandbox style:
- introduce a number of plot threads to give players choices.
- detail NPCs, their desires and goals, the actions they will take. Have them take action if the PCs don't interfere - things move on without the characters. They will also take action against the characters if they do interfere.
- call on character backgrounds to give the players a stake in the setting

[Trenloe]

Valarian has some good advice.

My recommendation for your first few sessions is to base your campaign on commercial adventure/s or campaign. The first reason being is that it will be *much* less work for you initially. As you are GMing for the first time you will be learning a lot every session (and outside of the session), so I'd recommend leaving off designing your own campaign until you have a little more experience of what you enjoy running, what your players enjoy, what works well and (very important) what doesn't work that well. As you play, you'll start the get the vital GM skill of "winging it" which is important in all games but more so in your own campaign and/or sandbox style campaigns.

If you are designing your own campaign try and think of any "push" and "pull" elements - the pull is a long term element that keeps the campaign going (there can be more than one) and the push is what keeps the campaign moving at this point in time. I mention this in post #8 of this thread, the rest of the thread has some good advice as well: https://www.fantasygrounds.com/forums/showthread.php?17616-Thinking-about-DMing

I always try and think of pushes and pulls when I am designing a campaign - but also be open to players introducing their own pushes and pulls (more than likely pulls). For example, I am beginning to design a campaign using the excellent AdventureaWeek.com campaign setting and their "A" adventure series. These adventures, while stand alone but within the same setting, form a loose campaign which would work well - but to make it a truly great campaign it needs more fleshed out pulls to give the campaign depth and the players buy-in to the setting, and want to help the people and work against the various evil schemes going on in the region. Of course, the odd enigma and gimmick will help too! :)

[Nickademus]

any form of enlightenment on this subject would be appreciated

I can try to meet this request. The most enlightening thing that I've found for GMing was when I came to the full realization (I had been told before but never actually thought about it) that as a GM you have things you are good at and things you are bad at. You also has things that you are not good at and this is different from the things you are bad at. Examine, identify, explore, expand. Bring the things you are good at to the forefront of your campaign to act as the foundation. Accept that you will never be good at the things you are bad at and minimize their relevance in your game. Work on improving the things you are not good at so that they are not a liability to you.

This also means that while another GM's advice may be helpful to you, it is unlikely that anyone will give you information that is 100% helpful. You must filter what others say through the perspective of what you are good at, not good at and bad at to see how you should tweak the advice to apply specifically to you.

tl;dr: Each GM has their own style that they will develop into. No other person can tell you what is best for you; they can only give you good ideas to work off of.

[Xorn]

Tooting my own horn, I'd recommend watching my tutorial video on Campaign Managment. My tutorials were based on 4E, but the campaign management video is really system-agnostic. Main philosophy I have is:

The base campaign is where I keep all the characters. Entries that would be contained in that campaign:
Story: Adventure Notes primarily.
Maps/Images: World Maps, Portraits of notable personalities, maybe city/town maps for places they will frequent across adventures, plus random encounter maps I find on the Internet that catch my eye.
NPC/Encounters: Notable recurring NPCs. If I have a villain from an adventure become recurring, then I'll drag them into the base campaign NPCs. Encounters are typically just built on the fly for random encounters.
Items/Parcels: PC wish list (if you subscribe to having that) where I can keep Parcels for 1st, 2nd, 3rd level items. When an adventure module has a 5th level item in a parcel, I'll sub in one from the wish list instead.
Tokens: Character tokens, Trap tokens, Vehicles, and other miscellaneous stuff. My adventure modules all have their tokens in them.

Then I make separate adventure modules for everything else. The tutorial gives a very straightforward walk-through of my process, but here's the short version: (Remember to start a new Campaign up)
1. In notepad or something, make an outline of all the adventure headings; for example I just made Reavers of Harkenwold--Introduction, Plot Hooks, Notable Places, Major Characters, Part 1: Harkenwold, Part 2: Toadwallow Caverns, Part 3: Harken Forest. Then sub headings as needed (I will need a story entry for each plot hook, each place, each character, and each encounter. My first story entry (Reavers of Harkenwold) in parenthesis so it's at the top, will contain each of the headers, and cascade into subheaders.
2. Next make a list of every Map/Image you need. So I'll need encounters maps (individual or sometimes a master map depending on how "crawly" the dungeon area is), DM maps (although since you can save NPC placement with encounters I use these less), and portraits.
3. Make a list of all the NPCs you need, and the Encounters they'll be dropped into. Also note what tokens you need.
4. Make your items/parcels that will be awarded.

Once all that is done, it's time for the fun part:

5. Put it all together! I start with the top story entry. I build it out and make all the hotlink sections. Then I start the first subheader, finish it, and link it to the main story, and so forth. Once you get to Encounters, I will link the Map, DM Map, Encounter, and Parcel to that encounter, plus Pin that encounter to the master map (if using one).

Then /export it! Now you've got all the information for that adventure accessible in your main campaign, and when you're done with the adventure, just close the module and open up the next one.

My group and I started up a 4EE game recently. They are about halfway through Twisting Halls, currently. I've already got adventure modules made for Reavers of Harkenwold (p1 and p2), and I'm starting the map-making for Cairn of the Winter King now!

[Mgrancey]

The Campaign structure that I have found that I like the most is Savage Worlds Plot Point Campaign. It mostly follows a sandbox structure with two main types of adventures; story-line critical adventures 'Plot Points' and then 'Savage Tales' adventures that flesh out and support the main adventures. The couple of PPC's I have seen tend to run around 10 or so Plot Points with about 30 Savage Tales, as well as a random adventure generator.

The Plot-Point adventures happen in a certain order with some Savage Tales not occurring until after specific Plot Points or other Savage Tales. Most aren't time specific necessarily simply that they happen in a certain order and when the party decides to or accidentally triggers them. Plot points aren't necessarily long or deeply in-depth, they are just the critical junctures of the adventure.

The Savage Tales are used to flesh out the story line beyond the Plot Points so with connected and not so connected stories. Most are free standing, while some are connected and essentially mini-Plot Points. They can be as simple as a single combat encounter or more elaborate in depth scenarios.

I find this setup to allows the party the freedom to explore, allows them choose what they want to do, and have fun doing what they would enjoy as well as giving me a structure for them to follow.

[Magnatude]

For me its BOTH.

First I structure the Goals of the Campaign. Ex; An Undead Dragon Lord is about to Subjugate the World.


Build up how this involves the PC's, small encounters, displaced people victims of the Dragon Lord...


Figure out what creatures are involved per Level as the campaign grows... ex; Kobolds, Lizardmen... Half-Dragon minions, Minor Dragons... Undead Dragon Lord.


Figure out some nifty NPC's (I like to also include ones that will join the party) Lords and Nobles, Important people.


Make the LAND. Add populations and note different flora/fauna of the regions. From this you can make random encounter charts.


Make some sketched out minimalist City/towns/villages. Detail a couple of them to start for Campaign maps.


Create the initial encounter that makes the players HATE the minions of the Undead Dragon Lord ex: Kobolds raid the PC's Village, kidnap children as slaves...
add a leader for them like a Necromancer Kobold (to tie in the undead theme)... perhaps he has a part of a puzzle piece to help raise the Undead Dragon Lord... thus this shard becomes part of a mystery which the PC's uncover... and the Bad guys need to retrieve.

I also include filler adventures on the side, (and never place these on the map), I pull these out to control the tempo of the game. Usually 3-5 rooms max.

Let the players do what they will, let them go where they want, make the world revolve around them, what they do effects and influences everything. Work with that, go with the flow of the players.

I always use another manager program in conjunction with FG, just to keep all my notes/maps/ideas. (I use NBOS Keep Campaign Manager)

Other managing software I like: Write it Now, Treepad, Celtx. There is much more.