Campaign planning

[Saltmarsh]

Well I've decided I'm going to run a campaign once all this covid bolloxs is over , not sure how often or who's going to be playing but I'm dam well going to run one .
So starting my planning going to base it in Karameikos (as I know the setting really well )
Going to start with a little homemade adventure then probably going to start the chaotic caverns.
Hopefully will be able to start in a few months ,
I'm really looking forward to it .

[Rosisha]

Absolutely love Karameikos! Good luck! Keep us in the loop!

[Saltmarsh]

Well I've already dug out my old maps and started planning locations for adventures and looking for my monsters of Mystara book so I can do some conversions

[Rosisha]

Yeah it's a great world and setting. Very fresh and fun. Good luck with it! I have the 2nd Ed boxed set, but that's all I have.

[Tazer_The_Yoot]

Remember the cardinal rule of campaign prep - they're probably not gonna do what you think they're gonna do, or go where you prepare a notebook full of prep for. Think flexible and think sandbox whenever possible, and don't plan ahead like a chessmaster, and you'll do great. You probably already know all this stuff, but it's my best commentary on any such thread.

[teaman]

Remember the cardinal rule of campaign prep - they're probably not gonna do what you think they're gonna do, or go where you prepare a notebook full of prep for. Think flexible and think sandbox whenever possible, and don't plan ahead like a chessmaster, and you'll do great. You probably already know all this stuff, but it's my best commentary on any such thread.

I second Tazer's advice about not overplanning. Have a few sessions planned, and just listen carefully as they play. Players sometimes give you hints about the threads they'd like to continue exploring (and often not what you guessed).

And if they have character goals ("I want to find my lost father" or "I want to recover the sword of my people") base adventures around them as soon as you can. Don't keep those for later in the campaign, sometimes they don't run that long.

[Saltmarsh]

Thanks for the advice I appreciate it , I always run sandbox campaigns it's how I started out DMing and what I'm happiest doing.
When I start the game I'll have one small adventure for them which will give them a few xp and some loot then after that what they do is there choise.
I'll have a few locations that they can go to and in each they'll be an adventure or 2 outlined if they are intrested.
I tend to make my adventures very flexible so I can use them anywhere with little adaptations I have a big adventure I want them to do I'll just put the adventure where ever they intend to go , and with the adventure Anthologys I've got plenty of ready made games for them and I invested in a few generic source books so I have over 100 Dungeons of various sizes all mapped out about 40 towns and villages taverns temples even a few castles all needing minimal work to be ready to go .
Plus god knows how meny odd maps and adventures I've picked up over the last 40 years.
I've just been waiting for a system that I want to play as much as I did when I started out in 1981 , and now I've found it