[D&D 4E]New DM, looking for tips on writing first personal campaign

Om Nom on Souls

Hey guys, so I've just started writing my first D&D campaign for me and some friends, and I'm wondering if there's anything I should avoid or some stuff you found really enticed your players when writing your own campaign.

Also, if you've got any tips on making choices that are tough and that the players will actually care about and not just pass over, those would also be much appreciated.

Weenog42

This is a pretty vast topic. Here are list of posts on Gnome Stew. Check out the comments too, a lot of good stuff goes on in there.

http://www.gnomestew.com/category/intro-to-game-mastering

My own advice:

Don't over-plan. I myself am often guilty of planning vastly more material than is required to run a session, and then having to rewrite or ignore a good amount of it after the game actually takes place. You're better off planning just the highlights, and being ready to improvise around that. This is especially true the first couple games, as everyone discovers what this campaign is all about.

SanderJK

I will agree with Weenog, let the players write the story as much as possible. Think up set pieces, a general story, and a most likely outcome. (Basicly a 'good' and a 'bad' ending). However, that does mean punishing them for failure at times. (Though people generally don't like their character outright killed, the occasional imprisonment, enslaved for gladitorial fights, declared outlaw, witch curse or loss of valuable stuff etcet. makes for exciting times).

Designing interesting combat is a matter of learning your system, and you only get good at it through playing a bit. If you are unsure, just ransack some encounters from premade adventures (Change the name/description of monsters in an encounter if it better fits the story).
The flow of good rp is a burden on everyone at the table though. Your players need to behave as their characters, and the DM needs to present encounters where 'real choices' can be made. A bit hard to define, but I'd say that the best rp, and party interaction, comes when there are two or more viable options, and neither has a completely certain outcome.

A general tip is to try to have as many 'storytelling' npcs near the parties levels and social standing, not wildly above or below it. For instance, a bunch of level 1 adventurers will probably do exactly as told if they're ever confronted by a King and his thousand Knight Army, but if they're asked a favor by a village elder they may be more devious, especially if the task is dangerous, and the reward may also be stealable, or perhaps the elder tricked. Though having a distant authority is a good thing. (So if you steal everything in the village, the city 20 miles away may send a cadre of soldiers to search for this new bandit group).

SkyCaptain

Use a wiki. It's awesome for making campaigns imo. Players can collaborate and adding new content is as easy as adding a link to somewhere and clicking it to make a new page.