Stuck making a D&D campaign... and I need advice

[Nickface]

I'm a first time DM and have only played D&D once with some uninteresting people and so I'm really all on my own here.

Really, I'm looking for two things: Interesting creature encounters, and Challenging puzzles that don't involve killing characters outright. This is going to be a one shot adventure set in modern times (don't worry about modern weapons, there's some suspension of disbelief here).

I have two regular enemies: ninjas and mimes. Both will be based off of other creatures and really be more or less "throwaway" creatures. Perhaps you can tell that this is going to be really, really silly. For example, the mimes are going to be in France and will fight with invisible weapons.

As far as puzzles go, I would simply like to get some sort of challenge other than simply rolling dice and determining hits. Something involving teamwork and such. I googled D&D puzzles, but have found lists that will kill a player or the entire party outright, which is not what I'm going for. I need a creative way to get into a door and perhaps a neat way to get an item.

Does anyone know of any suggestions or know of anything that will work well?

PSBTW: I should also mention I'm starting all the characters at level 5 and I'm going to use 4th edition rules.

[Dog Pants]

Puzzles aren't generally something I've encountered, much less run, in tabletop games. Closest I've got are Call of Cthulhu-esque investigations, which feature heavily in my SLA campaign. In fact, if you're running a modern setting you could do worse than to look up what people have written for CoC.

As general advice though I've got one basic rule - don't restrict your players. Let them do what they want, but make sure the consequences are played out. I once played a campaign where the DM was running it from a book and just refused to let us do anything that diverted us from it. It was terrible.

[Joose]

As general advice though I've got one basic rule - don't restrict your players. Let them do what they want, but make sure the consequences are played out. I once played a campaign where the DM was running it from a book and just refused to let us do anything that diverted us from it. It was terrible.

Expect things to go off script rapidly, and allow things to do so (within reason).

As for puzzles: I find with RPG stuff that any intricately thought out puzzle you come up with will be upfucked as soon as it is introduced to your players, due to the simple fact that they are unlikely to think in the exact same way as you.

A better way is to think of some tricky to deal with situation, that at first glance seems near impossible, and just let your players go mad. Make sure you have some Deus Ex Machina style thing waiting in the wings in case your players balls it up completely though.

[Nickface]

As general advice though I've got one basic rule - don't restrict your players. Let them do what they want, but make sure the consequences are played out.

Right. I'm trying to make it as open ended as possible. I'm going to leave clues as to where I think they should go next, and if they pick somewhere else, I'm going to roll with it. I'm going to have stacks of encounters and random rooms to bust out just in case if whatever happens doesn't quite fit.


When I say puzzles, I don't mean like Odepus and the Sphinx type stuff. I mean crap like, step on the square and it opens the door. In order to get everyone through the door, someone has to put something on the square to weigh it down. I don't want to be like "THIS DOOR IS LOCKED BY SUDOKU!" or something.

EDIT:

A better way is to think of some tricky to deal with situation, that at first glance seems near impossible, and just let your players go mad. Make sure you have some Deus Ex Machina style thing waiting in the wings in case your players balls it up completely though.

This is what I'm talking about.

[Dog Pants]

Make sure you have some Deus Ex Machina style thing waiting in the wings in case your players balls it up completely though.

See, I only use that when I've cocked up and made something too tough or dangerous. I once had a guy in a Star Wars game who decided the thing he needed to do was throw himself off a tower, safe in the knowledge it was part of the story and that he'd survive. He was wrong, and he went splat.

[Joose]

When I say puzzles, I don't mean like Odepus and the Sphinx type stuff. I mean crap like, step on the square and it opens the door. In order to get everyone through the door, someone has to put something on the square to weigh it down. I don't want to be like "THIS DOOR IS LOCKED BY SUDOKU!" or something.

Actually, something that can be fun (if done right) are things that look like puzzles, but aren't.

For instance, in our old D&D campaign, we got to the top of some evil wizards tower to find he had an array of magical doors that lead through to different places/planes/realms etc. The wizard escaped through one, but the locations were cycling. We spent some time trying to decipher weird messages written on the floor and clues as to what the sequence was. Eventually, we confidently stepped through a portal. To discover there was no sequence, it was entirely random, and we didn't know where the fuck we were any more.

[deject]

See, I only use that when I've cocked up and made something too tough or dangerous. I once had a guy in a Star Wars game who decided the thing he needed to do was throw himself off a tower, safe in the knowledge it was part of the story and that he'd survive. He was wrong, and he went splat.

[Nickface]

And another thing I'm doing it having an elaborate setup in a room, but it's completely unnecessary to have to do any of the other interactions I have set up, but will result in some loot and other encounters if they choose to explore. If they say fuck it, they can just keep on moving on.

[Joose]

See, I only use that when I've cocked up and made something too tough or dangerous. I once had a guy in a Star Wars game who decided the thing he needed to do was throw himself off a tower, safe in the knowledge it was part of the story and that he'd survive. He was wrong, and he went splat.

I mean more as a last resort thing. If its 20mins into your gaming session and your team are happily doing something that will lead to their being wiped out, you probably want to plan in some kind of get out clause.

But absolutely: person does a stupid, they get what's coming to them.

[tehspork]

A tunnel full of dicks is always tops.

[FatherJack]

I have two regular enemies: ninjas and mimes.

I'm sensing banana skins as weapons and a vacuum-cleaner salesman. It's No-one Lives Forever, isn't it?

[deject]

No One Lives Forever 2 in fact. Is it taking place in Akron, OH?

[Nickface]

Well, I gave up on the adventure that I was working on and moved toward a more traditional D&D adventure. I'm going to try to jazz it up my own special way, though. This whole n00b DM thing is starting to bit me in the ass.

[FatherJack]

As much as I hate to suggest it, maybe there's some helpful info on the Penny-Arcade forums. The story from the comics and news at least was that Mike (Gabe) was getting into DM-ing for the first time and has posted a few things that helped him out when starting.

Edit: Actually the news seems to have some good links, so there's perhaps no need to venture into the horrors of their forum.

[Joose]

Well, I gave up on the adventure that I was working on and moved toward a more traditional D&D adventure. I'm going to try to jazz it up my own special way, though. This whole n00b DM thing is starting to bit me in the ass.

Probably easier for your first time. Don't forget that just because its set in a traditional fantasy world doesnt mean you cant include funnies. In our old campaign, we once ran into a bunch of knights wandering through a forest complaining about how difficult it was proving to find their "bloody magic cup"

[FatherJack]

I'm out of sensible ideas.

[Dog Pants]

Hahaha, isn't that from some religous propaganda against D&D proclaiming it devil worshipping?

[FatherJack]

Hahaha, isn't that from some religous propaganda against D&D proclaiming it devil worshipping?

Yeah, http://www.chick.com/reading/tracts/0046/0046_01.asp I've always found it hilarious.

[Dog Pants]

Yeah, http://www.chick.com/reading/tracts/0046/0046_01.asp I've always found it hilarious.

My god, I'm reliving my teenage years all over again.

[Nickface]

Probably easier for your first time. Don't forget that just because its set in a traditional fantasy world doesnt mean you cant include funnies. In our old campaign, we once ran into a bunch of knights wandering through a forest complaining about how difficult it was proving to find their "bloody magic cup"

Yeah, I think I can mix humor and regular stuff alright. I'm going to go looking for other stuff regarding D&D. I'm still keeping what I was working on before to use as a "one shot" should I be a halfway decent DM.