Overzealous dungeon masters (of which I am one) can go overboard creating D&D campaigns. Here are some quick tips to avoid writing a novel that you force your friends into believing is a campaign.
Don’t create huge plots
Don’t create huge intricate plot lines. The players need agency to make meaningful choices for the game to be fun and fulfilling for all.
Plot happens when the protagonist of a novel or story makes choices causing one event to lead to another. This leads to exciting fiction like The Raiders of the Lost Ark or The Lord of the Rings.
So, what’s the problem? Let’s consider this. Player characters are the protagonists of a D&D campaign. Unlike the novelist or filmmaker, dungeon masters do not know what actions the protagonists will choose.
Since a plot requires certain actions to happen before something else can happen, how can you be sure your players will perform the trigger action?
I found myself on numerous occasions wanting to tell my players. “You didn’t swim to the bottom of the pool to get the key. You didn’t fall in love with the enemy spy. You didn’t search the baron’s library. Now, since you didn’t do that the campaign can’t move forward.” (This would be about the time I’d introduce a GMPC to show the players how the plot was supposed to happen. Yeah, I wasn’t a good DM for a long time, but I learned.)
If you already have a plot in mind frustration lies ahead for you and your players. Resist the urge to create a plot. Allow the players to make choices and then see what events follow. Hit them with a cool situation and then react.
If you have a huge interwoven plot, write a novel
If you’ve created some huge interwoven plot in an original fantasy world or science fiction world of your own, write a novel. But please do not run the plot as a game.
You can use the setting. You can use concepts from the setting or characters. But if you try to GM your players through a plot, you will be disappointed.
If you’ve created a huge world with vast locations and the great downfall of the Evil One, my advice is to write a novel.
It has never been easier to write a novel
It is never been easier to write a novel. Well, let me rephrase that, it is never been easier to publish a novel. If you find yourself craving huge intricate plotlines and crafting stories that span the time from creation to armageddon. Write a novel. I wrote one myself.
You can easily self-publish your novel and send it out into the world. Or, try to go the traditional publishing route or just write for yourself.
Plot is a dangerous thing in RPGs
Just to reiterate, if you have a set plot in mind you will be hurting the campaign in a number of ways. You will restrict your players’ freedom. And it will frustrate your own plans because they are “not doing it right.”
So for everyone’s sake save the plot for your novel and throw interesting situations at your players and then react to what they do.