Avoid THIS mistake in your first D&D campaign

[@JKevinCarrier]

Being able to make changes "on the fly", and making it look like you planned it that way all along, is probably the most important skill a GM needs to learn. I know it's something I'm always working on.

[@SingularityOrbit]

The wonderful thing about D&D, and high fantasy in general, is that it's *full* of ways to make a final boss out of nothing. That level 2 wizard the party swindled back at level 1? They got mad about looking foolish, so they joined a rival adventuring party to look for lost magic . . . and they're back at level 18 with a terrifying revenge scheme. That fighter bodyguard for a villain the party killed, the one who failed a save vs Cause Fear and ran away? He fell in with a bad crowd and came out the other side with a mercenary army and a plan to bring spellcasters to heel. That orc warband the party cleared out after sneaking past their hunting party? The orc hunters made a pact with a dark god for the power to avenge themselves against humankind, and their leader is in danger of becoming the new avatar of ultimate evil. It's just so easy to make a cosmic horror out of a stray kobold that we should be lucky they don't all go down that path!

[@gabrielbutler9125]

Working on a mini campaign right now, and when I sat down to write the first thing that I did was pull up your videos.

[@20hermanator10]

Same, really glad I found this content. Hoping it helps me make my first big epic homebrew world the best it can be from the start.

[@TalesArcane]

That's what I like to hear! Really appreciate the comment, mate, and glad the videos are helping with your creative process.

[@tacochaos5127]

This! Not all parties want to fight gods! Had this issue with Tyrrany of Dragons, it didn't make sense for all the players to go stop Tiamat but they did because thats the story. Now I have them keep realistic ideas about what their character's ending point may be so they can have a satisfying conclusion and slot in a different character who would be more aligned with completing the campaign goals

[@johnmagowan6393]

my face as I watch this while working on my BBEG. 😀 My players are mercenary by nature. I'm angling at getting them stuck between several rival BBEGs. Another great video.

[@DrCornFlakes]

Being someone who has always played, and never DM'd, im glad I found this beforehand. Thank you for all the help man!

[@mizzrum7591]

I like to have the players make their own villain, by the choices they make in the world. Great video, and thank you for the hard work you put into them.

[@ChronoBolt]

This is something to always keep in mind, not just for your first campaign. I ran a spelljammer-inspired campaign last year where the BBEG was supposed to be this Mind Flayer Lich that the players accidentally set free in session 1, but he turned out to be more of a passive anxiety than looming threat. As the campaign went on, his alhoon general, who was kidnapping people and performing all kinds of horrible experiments on them, turned into a MUCH better BBEG for the party than the Illithilich I had originally intended for them

[@TalesArcane]

A perfect example! I aways feel like a campaign is akin to a piece of wood that you're carving. You start with a vision of where it will go, but as you slice away the wood, you find knots that you didn't expect, and if you stick rigidly to the original plan, things start going wrong. Instead, you carve around the knots and accept that the final product is going to look different from what you first imagined. Also, that alhoon general sounds like a really cool villain - I need to run some spelljammer games!

[@TheCrimsonOne508]

Not once have I seen a bad piece of content from you. Not the old TikTok videos, not on Patreon, and not on KZbin. It’s always amazing.

[@mikeb.1705]

I agree whole-heartedly! That's how I generally run my games ~ "guided sandbox" style. I sprinkle a variety of seeds around and let the players choose which ones they want to follow, then see how the story grows from there.

[@lenajakes6699]

I am new to DND. I am in a campaign right now, but am also working on writing my own Bloodborne campaign for when we finish up our current campaign. I hope that I have created an emotionally charged NPCs arcs as sidequests. This is where I have put most of my focus. The main quest line will be far more fluid, responding to what my players do and how they interact with the world. I have some events for the main quest line that magnify in intensity and frequency toward the end game. Thank you for your videos on DMing. I am both excited and a little nervous to run my own campaign.

[@chriscarey3237]

Literally how I'm trying to run my game now. Great advice. My players are about to face off against a pirate that used to sail under one of the Pc's and they are totally invested in the story. I had no clue they were gunna go in that direction but I'm making it work

[@bifflechips-t5r]

Really appreciate this. Running my first homebrew campaign now in Forgotten Realms Unapproachable East (a very cold, Slavic/Russian inspired area of the Forgotten Realms) and we have Session 3 tonight. At the outset, I had no idea what the endgame was until Session 0 with the players gave ideas and direction to where it might go. I was pretty thorough with more lore research for the area and the players largely made characters that took that lore in mind. I've started figuring out what the major players might be in the major area and roughly sketched out possible paths should the players pursue them, but trying to avoid forcing the tracks towards one in particular, so I'm excited to see where they go.

[@JohnKusters]

Yes! This is how I’ve started several of my last campaigns. In the first session, the PCs will find a set of first adventures, often from a job board or similar. One of those jobs will be more interesting to the players than others, and that gives a pointer to where the players unconsciously want the campaign to go. I do this several times over the first handful of levels, keeping in mind potential campaign-long arcs, and continually refining those ideas as I see which story elements the players hang on to. Eventually i get a feel for what excites this particular group most and I start crafting the BBEG, and start introducing clues of their existence and their plans. In many ways the players are designing the foe they want to face even if they don’t realize they are.

[@btmalo6817]

So glad I stumbled across your videos. There are so many good sources of info out there but there are also so clunkers. I love your explanations and examples as they've really helped solidify some ideas I've had while also pointing out some mistakes I've made. Thank you so much for this and I look forward to watching more of your DD& videos!

[@ollytreen]

i love setting up an overarching narrative and then plucking potential big bads from the players' backstories. if they have an element of their backstory that's secret from the other players, even better! there's something so satisfying about casually dropping the name of a terrifying archdevil warlock involved in a coup, and seeing one player squirm as they realise that's the name of their secret estranged older brother.

[@zbieraj]

This is a really good video! Very useful for new DMs :)

[@TalesArcane]

Glad to hear it, mate!

[@JazzJackrabbit]

I think it is fine to have a BBEG in mind. But yes, being ready to switch it out is always a good idea. Session Zero can help straighten out what kind of opposition they would like to be facing.

[@SERPENTONORTHAM1992]

I am a new DM and so far these 2 ideas worked wonders for me. -Multiple old villains and potential future villains fighting with each other and destroying the world, so that no matter who the players defeat or leave alone, still someone will rise to the occasion as BBEG -Likable NPC characters who represent the world at stake and will have the players understand what is at stake so that they will care to go the distance.

[@ronzaebarron2195]

In my homebrew campaign I have done this to a certain extent and it gives me the needed flexibility as a new DM (kinda got a main villain at the forefront with Another main villain in the background who can potentially be an alley at points but has his own agenda) now the world and story will go ahead how based on who the gravitate towards

[@nathanrumm9092]

This was perfectly timed working on my second campaign and felt my first BBEG had this problem. When I started writing this new campaign I decided not to define them so this was very affirming.

[@TheDJAB]

When I first started my long-running campaign, I made the opposite mistake: I introduced no obvious villain for the longest time, as I never really liked the thought of the BBEG. This created a very meandering and directionless campaign, some players even left. When I reworked the campaign half-way through and introduced a villain faction, the campaign gained a lot of momentum. I was lucky, all my players really hate my current BBEG with a passion 😈

[@danielsimonson3484]

I have been working on a campaign for about a year now. About a month ago, I came to the same conclusion. I just created different groups with hierarchies That interacted with one another. So more like a sandbox world. This really opened things up because now i have multiple bad people with different motivations. And whatever the players decide to do in the world, i can have these powers react to that. I have filled out multiple groups quickly now. As things are more clear and i don't have to plan out an entire campaign. Just create rumors from week to week. Now i have a bunch of bad people they can hear about.

[@Malkuth-Gaming]

I had the exact mirrored issue when I first ran my "long" campaign. I knew who the villain was. And very early on. around lvl 6 or so, the party decided to go after him. I had expected them to be around lvl 15 when they finally got to him. I did my best to try and slow them down a bit and eventually got them to lvl 10 before the final confrontation xD

[@zombiebrainmuncher]

I have a number of potental villans, it depends whom the my party antagonise. I've got a Baba Yaga type legendary chronomancer, and while it deviates a little from your advise, if they make enemies with her domain, they are gonig ot have to deal with her or her Agents, even if they don't like her as a villain. In this case, because they know about her and it's a risk they would be electing to take. Of course the inverse is true and they might be able to garner favor with them instead. I treat them as set pieces I suppose and see what happens.

[@SalvadorFlowers]

Another way I use is to establish the bbeg at character creation and work with the players to make reasons why the want to take them down, more collaborative experiencia imo

[@TalesArcane]

That can definitely work, especially with a shorter campaign - I love a situation where all the players are united by their personal grudges against a single ultimate villain! For long, open-ended games, I prefer to keep things VERY open, since neither the players or I really know where the story will go over the coming years 😅

[@dracolord5902]

I was kinda going to take a Bauldur’s gate approach with my BBG where the players would have something happen to them that binds them into undoing this “curse” upon them where the Big Bad would eventually be revealed to be something from the history of the game. This is my first time playing dnd and I am gm so I was wondering if that’s a good idea or not?

[@Darkwintre]

Actually had 3-4 potential bbeg established using the pc back stories from what they provided. Had a good idea at a potential campaign climax, but was willing to see what they wanted to do. Sadly the other gm decided he wanted his campaign on the same world except everything up to this point meant they were supposed to be entirely different worlds. Quit the group as he genuinely didn’t give a darn about the game just that he was bored and unwilling to accept continuity was supposed to be important!

[@H4ndS0up]

In my campaigns i typically dont have a BBEG. Instead i give my players an Ultimate Goal that is the end goal of the campaign. In my campaign the goal of my players is to kill and usurpe a god. The closest thing i had to a BBEG was the god that the players were targeting. How they killed said god was completely up to them, shit they could try and bee line straight to the god they want to kill as soon as Ibboth (the demon that resurrected the players) lets them out of the tomb. I usually dont have a set story for my players, i trust them enough to allow them to find a way to the Ultimate Goal.

[@hermitdad8726]

I just started a campaign recently and I was talking to a couple friends who also DM. The first thing they asked was who the BBEG was. I said hello if I know! I have multiple options to fill the next 5 levels of play, that’s all I need atm. 😁

[@AlecSpell]

this seems more like a session 0 problem to me. youu should lay down the expectation for a campsign then and there so you dont get the dissonance you described between your bbeg and what the players want. i think that asking dms to modify their campaign to exactly what the players are looking for is a bit unreasonable, considering that dms are rarer and they already put in significantly more work

[@JazzJackrabbit]

I did actually run into this myself in my latest campaign, where I basically ran an A plot (Americana style Slavery situation) and B plot (Sporadic demon incursions) I was thinking of alternating between them just ensure they had some variety. However, in the end they just gravitated towards stopping the Demon incursions, and so one of the non-quite BBEGs got elevated to that status by player actions. Probably going to continue the A Plot in a future campaign. Maybe. We shall see!

[@Hannah_yodalover101]

I can see this not really working for me, not because it's a bad idea but because I'm just not great at understanding how to follow my players' interests once the game is rolling. Instead, we spend a lot of time beforehand to make sure we're all on the same page about the type of campaign we're playing and making characters that fit into it. Things obviously change once you sit down to play but it's worked so far!

[@debuyarou7463]

What I love to do is ask my players what is reason why his character become adventurer. Depending on answer then I create villain who is connected to his background. One adventure = one level and every adventure has his own villain. I can share some examples if someone wants?

[@Teraclon]

I need to invent timetravel and send this video back to myself before I made my first campaign... Would have dodged a load of cringe and mistakes xD

[@TalesArcane]

I know the feeling! 😆

[@michelheinrich9379]

Honestly, I think you can really plan a bbeg by including it in the backstory. First let them give you their ideas and than edit the backstory together with them. Create some arcs for each character and that is the campaign. Yes, it is some work, but I think is worth it

[@chrisragner3882]

Yeah, it’s a trap: BBEGs. I have a campaign going on 4 years and still going strong. My BBEGs too are many and regional. If there is a BBEG, it’s not an individual but a life changing circumstance. For my world it’s something that changed the course of events centuries before that the players are not even aware. It created the world that they know. They are not aware that it could have been different and that far in the distance something can happen, but I the DM am not sure what that is. I guess I will continue letting the players chart that course.

[@Mallentine]

Hey I remember this video!

[@frankprendergast8020]

So every campaign that I've ever read from TSR, WoC, independent producers who produced campaign adventures with One BBEG in their story are wrong?!? You need 3 or 4 BBEGs? Or is it only in homebrew campaigns that you don't do it, and you make several BBEGs?

[@davidholloway6127]

Did my comment on discord about the hunt for horcruxes unspire this video? 😂

[@TalesArcane]

Sort of, actually! After discussing it with yourself, I started thinking about my first campaign and how it had been a continent spanning one, but it hadn't worked the way I wanted it to...which led to this 😁

[@davidholloway6127]

@TalesArcane see, I watched your video on what makes a good villain, and it made me wonder if I was going too big, which is why I posted my campaign idea on Discord for some feedback.

[@Jack-dh9wn]

This kinda reminds me of video I saw from Dire Den. In the video the guy made 4 factions that each had conflict with each other and essentially let his players decide who they think the BBEG is and role with it. Credit: kzbin.info/www/bejne/g5-2pJmDo8aVpqssi=slktss2HVsuDI0-k

[@20hermanator10]

So, no rough plan for a big Vecna-esque big bad for the players to defeat at the end of the campaign?

[@TalesArcane]

Even better - MULTIPLE rough plans for big Vecna-esque big bads for the players to defeat at the end of the campaign.

[@20hermanator10]

@@TalesArcane but this is my first big homebrew campaign, I only have one rough plan so far.

[@TalesArcane]

@@20hermanator10 That's very understandable! I'd just suggest keeping a few different big potential villains in play, so that if one doesn't appeal to the players, you'll have backup options. If you put all your eggs in one basket, and your players don't feel compelled or excited about that basket, it can cause problems later on.

[@Privatestock10]

@@TalesArcane Or... have the BBEG do something that totally screws the player characters right at the start so they have a reason to want revenge. They don't even have to know who the BBEG is yet, just that this thing happened to them and they need to make it right. Then they can uncover clues about who did it.

[@petsdinner]

Find what your players care about then have someone take it away from them. Boom! Instant villain! Players care more about money than saving the world? Muscle in on their source of income! Players care about an NPC? Have them murdered! Players care about domain level play? Invade their territory! And so on!

[@chloefogelson3297]

😍

[@MoserothPitcheart]

I got lucky. The final boss is basically an alien that is attempting to take over a valley that the players are trapped in. Their nation goal ended up running a brewery/trading empire well guess what hurts your bottom line? If all your customers are inflicted with otherworldly madness.

[@rail7646]

its easy to find out, make a session zero and give the players a wishlist, what they want personally, what their characters want and all that, then design the campaign and make the vilailn and the campaign everyone is burning for, ez pz

[@Mourndarkv]

I use alignment in my games. Players must be heroes. I tell anyone who wants to play evil or shady to run a game. I'll play. In my games I'M the bad guy. Muwahaaa

[@MarkoSeldo]

You think this is great (and it is!) and then you realise that your players are all in for a 'save the world' campaign and that they actively WANT hints about the BBEG sprinkled throughout the early stages of the game... yeah, I planned a BBEG for my current campaign (well, a BBEF, where F stands for Faction). So it's all worked out well.

[@gabrielstarlight9003]

In this scenario it seems your players made selfish apathetic characters. Wouldn’t they continue to profiteer off of any situation you think up and never engage the plot no matter what you do? It seems to me that the players were taking the Gm for granted and forgetting that a GM is playing and wants to have fun too. Your suggestion is a good one for open ended stories, improv options etc… but your actions in the example game are also a good tool to meet your players were they’re at and make a motivation for their unexpected character direction. If it were me, and even after I adapted my game for them they still felt unengaged with the story, I wouldn’t GM for that group anymore. Part of the collaboration of DnD is that your players give a crap about the adventure you’re making together.

[@pepperino-hotterino]

I disagree with you. So much in fact that i gave you a dislike first, but then came your outro where you explained this as your opinion i changed it back to a like. I think its totally valid to create one single bbeg at the start of the campaign and stick with him until the end. You must however weave in your players backstories and goals with the bbeg. For example the generals or some other factions that work for the bbeg are the characters enemies. They will slowly uncover that there was one guy behind all of these enemies => the bbeg. As long as the players are interested in finding out more about their backstory they will 99% of the time feel hate towards the bbeg and will not be able to wait to get their hands on him. Having one bbeg gives the campaign more structure and it isnt so convoluted with plots of other bbegs and their makings. Especially when the bbeg is already very secretive and the players have to puzzle together who he is. Multiple bbegs work too, but you have to be able to at some point clearify which plots were for which bbeg. And explain why these bbegs were not subverting each other since all of them want diffrent world endings.