"Attention everyone,
I have decided that we will be completely restarting this current campaign, and do it completely differently. There are a few reasons for this, but the most prominent one is that I have been really bored with this last campaign” The DM typed as he leaned back in his chair.
He really was bored with this one. The first time they’d played their little game of DnD, however botched it was, he had still really enjoyed it, however, this time, he really hadn't been in the groove, which had led to several not well thought out segments, which made this time around kinda horrible.
This time, however, will be different, the DM planned on making a map and quests and all that beforehand, and really make it more in line with regular DnD. This would allow for the game to have a more in line and be more linear, preventing too much insanity.
Having said this, he hasn’t actually prepared anything yet, so the DM erased his message and planned on saying that again later when he actually had everything planned.
Three hours Later
Alright! Now is the time! He had successfully created all his plans for the campaign, and while he can’t plan for everything, he still thinks it’ll be fine. First, the map! He spent probably the most time on this in order to make it look acceptable, and he thought he did alright. The key locations he put on there were 3 towns, a mountain, a few farms, a valley, and a large river that all of the villages were placed on.
The river went all throughout the map, and he was hoping it could pose a decent obstacle for the players. He also sprinkled a few crappy monster sprites throughout the map so that the monster encounters weren't made up on the spot, which would hopefully help prevent the players from grinding in one spot for too long.
He planned on using the same system he had used in their previous games, more refined of course, since the other ones were made as things were happening. He also decided that he would spawn everyone as humans in the same area so that nobody would have an inherent advantage.
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The first time they did this was a disaster. For some reason, he decided it would be a good idea to spawn somebody as a freaking door, and another person as a regular house cat. Why he thought that would end well, nobody knew.
He had also added a few goblin villages and a couple of other monster hot-spots. Then, the DM made some sheets for a few monsters he planned on “cursing” his world with.
He added a few different monsters, including but not limited to: rabbits: these would be the lowest level to start with, crabs, wolves, deer, bears, and a few more. Alright, now the only thing he needs to do is the quests!
He planned on having about 4 quests per town, with one town having 5. After another hour of writing, the quests were finally done, and it was time! Hopefully nothing goes too wrong, but hey, what could happen? The DM decided that they will start tomorrow.
While in bed that night, he thought about the world he wanted to create, and the lives of the villagers. There will be a cult for a made up God who people of one city are fine with, but another city is entirely against. There will be a war going on between the country they start in and another country the players will learn about later, and maybe even join in on.
The next day, after school, he got on Discord (where the group played their game) and typed out his message. After typing this he thought to himself “is that the only reason I'm restarting?” And no, no it wasn't. The real reason he hadn't enjoyed his previous experience with botched DnD was because of his lack of preparation, and lack of enthusiasm.
He included these thoughts into his message, and then hit send. Nobody responded for the next few minutes, and so, while he waited, he set up everyone's character sheet. After a while of doing this he remembered how he had given one of his players a wild card, an item that allows literally anything (as long as it's reasonable). Since the last game was cut short, he decided to let the player start this one with it, since he hadn't gotten a chance to use it.
After about 20 more minutes of prep, he got his first response. He chatted with his friends for a bit on what they wanted their character's name to be. His friend the frog god asked to be named Trazyn. The DM didn't know why, but it sounded cool, so he accepted the name. His other friend, known in the group as salad, decided to be known as Harry. And finally, their other friend, who the DM called sandya, named their character Anubis. Then, at long last, they began their game.
“Alright so…” the DM said…