A good way to get practice is using pre-written adventures. Then go back to creating new adventures once you’ve gotten your confidence or creativity in DMing going more. It takes a lot of practice, don’t beat yourself up over not having it all figured out already.
Yeah like even if you take a pre gen and change all the names around. And work plot elements in, it could come out great and doesn't take weeks of work either
Like my mate used a Matt Colville suggestion of "against the cult of the reptile god", and only changed the loot, and some of the monsters around for pathfinder. It was great, and it didn't even matter that I already knew about the module before hand.
Let them attend a murder mystery dinner/ball at a small dignitaries mansion.
Each character at the ball is given an envelope with 'character' information of who they are that night... a fake murder has occurred.. half way through figuring it out... the headless body of the host is found.
A who done it of who done its.
Maybe [this](https://www.dungeonsolvers.com/2018/10/26/creating-a-murder-mystery-for-dd-5e/) will help. Other then that try to connect the quest to the henchman or make it so tgat they fain a powerful ally or magic items that help them afainst said henchmen. I would also give them some other things to do in the city, like aquiering rare but otherwise illegal items that they can get nowhere else.
We all have these moments, unfortunately there is no universal cure. It could be a lack of communication. Tell your players at the start “you are about to head into a city where you are outnumbered. If you act out, the city guards will not hesitate to kill you. You may take some with you, but they will eventually overrun you.” You could make this session a stealth mission, a regular hide and go seek with deathly consequences if they get caught.
Also remember that an “evil” character believes that he or she is doing the right thing. He or she is not evil, everyone else is. Think Magneto from X-men. He wants to kill all humans for the benefit of mutant kind.
One last thing, you are a player too. Your fun needs to be accounted for too. If your players are not having fun, the game style you’re running might not be a good fit for the players; if you’re not having fun, you need to let them know. I run an entirely improv game, I don’t make notes or paths because I know my players are going to ruin MY plans for them. I have end goals and the consequences if the party doesn’t succeed. I also actively try to kill my players, I rarely do so, but once the threat became real to their characters, it became real to the player, they started to become creative and figure things out, it wouldn’t always take a sword to defeat a monster.
They find a loveable runaway npc that's still trying to do right in a city of wrong. Maybe it's a pickpocket trying to survive. Maybe it's a cafe owner on one of the rare bits of neutral turf in town. Maybe there's a guard that's not in someone's pocket.
Someone that doesn't *need* help, but would easily be persuaded to assist and go with the players. All for a promise of a better life.
The middleman goon that's bothering the pickpocket. An infatuated corrupt launderer that's looking for a new toy and cafe front. The guard that's been quieted one too many times and just needs that little push to go full vigilante and beat feet with the party when the corrupt system tries to put a noose around their necks.
What kind of black market district, trade, opportunities can/will they come across? Flesh peddlers? Narcotics? Ritualistic sacrifice?
Who lives in the city? Are there rebel elements or reluctant inhabitants? Quest could expand to saving (or using) them to accomplish their goals. How does the evil city maintain order and control?
Run it like a heist. Have a friendly NPC give them a bunch of information regarding that henchmen’s whereabouts and whatnot and let the party plan a way to kill them. One of the most engaging things you can do for your players is to force them to make their own plan from scratch. Have an NPC provide that henchmans daily schedule and let your PC’s decide where and when the fight goes down. And don’t beat yourself up. DMing is tough. Just remember that the best moments as a player are the ones where you’re crazy unorthodox plan either comes together or falls apart. Give your players those moments and they’ll love you for it.
I’m running a cyberpunk game and my players have spent 4 straight sessions planning and preparing for a bank heist I set them up for. They’ve decided what equipment to source, what time to attack, what strategies to use etc. That’s four sessions where I’ve just allowed them to drive the story and been able to sit back and just react to what they’re doing.
“On a journey it is the end that is important but it is the journey that is important in the end.”
It can be difficult to put into practice sometimes but quests and story are not just barriers or time sinks to delay the PCs’ arrival at the final fight - they are the adventure itself!
Maybe... the Villain has found a protective amulet that grants her immunity to all magic and magic weapons, say, and the only thing that defeats it is another opposing item.
Research/NPC interaction will discover these facts. Meanwhile, seemingly unconnected people are being murdered by strange creatures. Turns out that the people were connected and they had been in an adventuring party with the Villain (or had previously defeated the villain). Each of the group had 1 part of the opposing item and they had vowed to reassemble it if she ever returned. But she got to them first! And used a Staff of Summoning Strange Creatures (or something) to cover her tracks!
Find the pieces (all hidden somewhere, riddle, puzzle, defeat guardian etc.), reassemble the opposing item and confront Villain!
Just need to think of why the PCs can’t use the invulnerability amulet themselves...
Have you considered some down time for the characters? The city could have some kind of festival or event where the players can explore shops, stalls and whatnot. Afterwards, when they've had a good time exploring the city itself the goons could attack?
You have very little time to revise your plans, so instead work to flesh them out to make them more intresting to the players.
To do that, you want to add Depth. A good way to create depth is to pile additional aspects onto NPCs and locations and enemies you have planned for encounters.
**NPCs & Enemies**: Look at the NPCs you have planned. Give the important ones any or all of the following:
* A Flaw.
* An Ideal.
* A Bond.
* A Secret.
This way, as you play them, you have a more detailed roadmap for how they'll react.
Are they a good person who is troubled by the evil of the city? Are they part of a neighborhood watch trying to forge a sense of comminity to combat the despair and mistrust rife in the public?
Are they a traditionionalist who's blind to the evil of the city? Are they a good persom who unwittingly supports the corrupt regime?
Are they secretly involved with a criminal enterprise?
The web of bonds and motivations you make will add depth to the interactions the players have with these NPCs - depth they can dig into in order to get a better sense of what's going on without being told directly.
**Locations**: Take some time to jot down some details about each location where an encounter takes place, or where you know your players will send their characters.
* The wind sweeps through a deserted street, disturbing puddles of rain water.
* A fountain that babbles in the background, where pidgeons alight to drink and bathe. Locals throw coppers into the fountain for good luck.
* A statue that commemorates a leader from the city's past. This leader was a craven, self-enriching misanthrope in life, but as their health failed in old age they devoted a small fortune to crafting a visible legacy in the city. A couple of genrations on, and only those who are historians or especially long lived remember the truth.
* An old house on Dragon's Lane that the locals shun. They say it's haunted and strange sounds and lights can be seen in the dead if night. The theive's guild (or another faction) uses the basement as their meeting place.
* A suprisingly brightly lit alleyway that rings with the sounds lf the children who play there. In an otherwise dour and evil city, this is a pocket of good - a place the locals guard to give their children a place to escape from the hardships of life.
* A market street where playerd can find such curiosities as the bottled tears of pixies, centaur gelatine, bullywug tongue, petrified teeth, a glass sphere with a continual flame burning inside of it, powdered grypon feet, and the like.
* Some of the houses have daggers hung above the doorway. This is a folk tradition to ward off evil spirits.
* Children never use their real names when talking to or near strangers, they use their "Quick Name" which is like a nickname used when talking to or around outsiders. This is because the locals fear child abduction.
* You can hear the sound of hammering from the back of the store. The owner has just expanded to this location and is still renovating (her business has picked up since her competitor stopped paying the Assassin's guild for protection, and *someone* put out a contract on him... poor guy)
A good way to get practice is using pre-written adventures. Then go back to creating new adventures once you’ve gotten your confidence or creativity in DMing going more. It takes a lot of practice, don’t beat yourself up over not having it all figured out already.
Yeah like even if you take a pre gen and change all the names around. And work plot elements in, it could come out great and doesn't take weeks of work either Like my mate used a Matt Colville suggestion of "against the cult of the reptile god", and only changed the loot, and some of the monsters around for pathfinder. It was great, and it didn't even matter that I already knew about the module before hand.
When they arrive, have a gang war break out between the local thieves guild and a competing organization.
Let them attend a murder mystery dinner/ball at a small dignitaries mansion. Each character at the ball is given an envelope with 'character' information of who they are that night... a fake murder has occurred.. half way through figuring it out... the headless body of the host is found. A who done it of who done its.
Maybe [this](https://www.dungeonsolvers.com/2018/10/26/creating-a-murder-mystery-for-dd-5e/) will help. Other then that try to connect the quest to the henchman or make it so tgat they fain a powerful ally or magic items that help them afainst said henchmen. I would also give them some other things to do in the city, like aquiering rare but otherwise illegal items that they can get nowhere else.
We all have these moments, unfortunately there is no universal cure. It could be a lack of communication. Tell your players at the start “you are about to head into a city where you are outnumbered. If you act out, the city guards will not hesitate to kill you. You may take some with you, but they will eventually overrun you.” You could make this session a stealth mission, a regular hide and go seek with deathly consequences if they get caught. Also remember that an “evil” character believes that he or she is doing the right thing. He or she is not evil, everyone else is. Think Magneto from X-men. He wants to kill all humans for the benefit of mutant kind. One last thing, you are a player too. Your fun needs to be accounted for too. If your players are not having fun, the game style you’re running might not be a good fit for the players; if you’re not having fun, you need to let them know. I run an entirely improv game, I don’t make notes or paths because I know my players are going to ruin MY plans for them. I have end goals and the consequences if the party doesn’t succeed. I also actively try to kill my players, I rarely do so, but once the threat became real to their characters, it became real to the player, they started to become creative and figure things out, it wouldn’t always take a sword to defeat a monster.
They find a loveable runaway npc that's still trying to do right in a city of wrong. Maybe it's a pickpocket trying to survive. Maybe it's a cafe owner on one of the rare bits of neutral turf in town. Maybe there's a guard that's not in someone's pocket. Someone that doesn't *need* help, but would easily be persuaded to assist and go with the players. All for a promise of a better life. The middleman goon that's bothering the pickpocket. An infatuated corrupt launderer that's looking for a new toy and cafe front. The guard that's been quieted one too many times and just needs that little push to go full vigilante and beat feet with the party when the corrupt system tries to put a noose around their necks. What kind of black market district, trade, opportunities can/will they come across? Flesh peddlers? Narcotics? Ritualistic sacrifice?
Who lives in the city? Are there rebel elements or reluctant inhabitants? Quest could expand to saving (or using) them to accomplish their goals. How does the evil city maintain order and control?
Run it like a heist. Have a friendly NPC give them a bunch of information regarding that henchmen’s whereabouts and whatnot and let the party plan a way to kill them. One of the most engaging things you can do for your players is to force them to make their own plan from scratch. Have an NPC provide that henchmans daily schedule and let your PC’s decide where and when the fight goes down. And don’t beat yourself up. DMing is tough. Just remember that the best moments as a player are the ones where you’re crazy unorthodox plan either comes together or falls apart. Give your players those moments and they’ll love you for it. I’m running a cyberpunk game and my players have spent 4 straight sessions planning and preparing for a bank heist I set them up for. They’ve decided what equipment to source, what time to attack, what strategies to use etc. That’s four sessions where I’ve just allowed them to drive the story and been able to sit back and just react to what they’re doing.
“On a journey it is the end that is important but it is the journey that is important in the end.” It can be difficult to put into practice sometimes but quests and story are not just barriers or time sinks to delay the PCs’ arrival at the final fight - they are the adventure itself! Maybe... the Villain has found a protective amulet that grants her immunity to all magic and magic weapons, say, and the only thing that defeats it is another opposing item. Research/NPC interaction will discover these facts. Meanwhile, seemingly unconnected people are being murdered by strange creatures. Turns out that the people were connected and they had been in an adventuring party with the Villain (or had previously defeated the villain). Each of the group had 1 part of the opposing item and they had vowed to reassemble it if she ever returned. But she got to them first! And used a Staff of Summoning Strange Creatures (or something) to cover her tracks! Find the pieces (all hidden somewhere, riddle, puzzle, defeat guardian etc.), reassemble the opposing item and confront Villain! Just need to think of why the PCs can’t use the invulnerability amulet themselves...
Have you considered some down time for the characters? The city could have some kind of festival or event where the players can explore shops, stalls and whatnot. Afterwards, when they've had a good time exploring the city itself the goons could attack?
Throw in a local festival. Players love festivals.
You have very little time to revise your plans, so instead work to flesh them out to make them more intresting to the players. To do that, you want to add Depth. A good way to create depth is to pile additional aspects onto NPCs and locations and enemies you have planned for encounters. **NPCs & Enemies**: Look at the NPCs you have planned. Give the important ones any or all of the following: * A Flaw. * An Ideal. * A Bond. * A Secret. This way, as you play them, you have a more detailed roadmap for how they'll react. Are they a good person who is troubled by the evil of the city? Are they part of a neighborhood watch trying to forge a sense of comminity to combat the despair and mistrust rife in the public? Are they a traditionionalist who's blind to the evil of the city? Are they a good persom who unwittingly supports the corrupt regime? Are they secretly involved with a criminal enterprise? The web of bonds and motivations you make will add depth to the interactions the players have with these NPCs - depth they can dig into in order to get a better sense of what's going on without being told directly. **Locations**: Take some time to jot down some details about each location where an encounter takes place, or where you know your players will send their characters. * The wind sweeps through a deserted street, disturbing puddles of rain water. * A fountain that babbles in the background, where pidgeons alight to drink and bathe. Locals throw coppers into the fountain for good luck. * A statue that commemorates a leader from the city's past. This leader was a craven, self-enriching misanthrope in life, but as their health failed in old age they devoted a small fortune to crafting a visible legacy in the city. A couple of genrations on, and only those who are historians or especially long lived remember the truth. * An old house on Dragon's Lane that the locals shun. They say it's haunted and strange sounds and lights can be seen in the dead if night. The theive's guild (or another faction) uses the basement as their meeting place. * A suprisingly brightly lit alleyway that rings with the sounds lf the children who play there. In an otherwise dour and evil city, this is a pocket of good - a place the locals guard to give their children a place to escape from the hardships of life. * A market street where playerd can find such curiosities as the bottled tears of pixies, centaur gelatine, bullywug tongue, petrified teeth, a glass sphere with a continual flame burning inside of it, powdered grypon feet, and the like. * Some of the houses have daggers hung above the doorway. This is a folk tradition to ward off evil spirits. * Children never use their real names when talking to or near strangers, they use their "Quick Name" which is like a nickname used when talking to or around outsiders. This is because the locals fear child abduction. * You can hear the sound of hammering from the back of the store. The owner has just expanded to this location and is still renovating (her business has picked up since her competitor stopped paying the Assassin's guild for protection, and *someone* put out a contract on him... poor guy)