▶ Time Codes / Chapters 01:41 - Investing your PCs into your Game before you know your PCs 02:25 - Map Program of choice 03:24 - Linking Theme into plan 04:14 - The Next Step 05:08 - The Reason of the Map 06:00 - Map Drawing Begins 08:50 - Sneaky Geography for PC Control 11:30 - Walls and Towers 14:05 - PC Options 18:00 - The final layout 20:00 - Grabbing PC attention 27:53 - Battle Damage and inspiring PCs 32:00 - Plot Options 37:34 - Rest of Map is filled In with musings 1:20:40 - Final thoughts on why this good to have in our pockets

Guy has the right idea. Your characters cannot be murderhobos if they are not hobos.

I purchased the book for my personal collection and I adore how the video-series and the book can be used Hand-in-Hand. Also it gave me a better understanding of many factors, that involve the players, the storytelling and much more. Just wanted to say thank you Guy. For everything

I note you managed to get around the "PCs not having a starship" problem in Adventures of the Windswift. :) The other thing I liked about how you set that campaign up was the fact that you gave the PCs _an employer._ This is the single most reliable way to get a group of disparate PCs to believably work together. Why are the PCs working together? They were told to. Why are the PCs undertaking the mission they're on? They were told to. The idea of the PCs all working for someone - or some organisation - functions as sort of "training wheels" for the intra-party dynamics. Instead of players having to either write each other's characters into each others backstories or try to make a cold opening - "you meet in a tavern" - work, everyone can just create the character they want, safe in the knowledge that you've provided a solid reason for almost _any_ party combination to be working together that pretty much any player will be able to relate to. Then, once the PCs relationships have been established during play ...

9:10 "Do not go there...no...beware..." Of course they will want to go out there. My how that is relatable. My mini-BBEG has a stronghold and army that are huge (for the start of the world). I tried to subtly play into how dangerous it was to attack, but in session 1 they wanted a straight up assault to rescue some people who were taken prisoner. Yeah, no. I pulled every lesson I have learned on this channel, and convinced them that a scouting party should go out first, and that a few escaped prisoners had found alternate routes through caves or up mountain walls. Now, I have to make a map or two of caves, but at least they are not going to charge straight at the walls. Success?

also fun fact most castle back in the day depending on the wealth/power of the lord were made mostly or entirely out of wood not stone its just that stone castles being stone survived more to this day while all the wood keeps rotted away

I started watching and immediately knew what I had to create. I'm thinking some type of moving construct that can be charged by being submerged in stong running water for extended periods of time. Kind of like a river powered train cart that otherwise function like a heavy platform cart. It'll be upgradeable, loathing inclines of any kind, nearly over encumbered, slow and probably fairly fragile to start with. It'll need carts and perhaps even a caravan to travel with it for NPCs and the like to supply it as it grows. It could end up being a mobile town if they wanted it to but it'd be quite vulnerable because of the lack of fortification. I could see it ending up like Howls Moving Castle if they invested heavily into it. Yeah, I'm liking that . Just a thought.

It wasn't until he said "Dark Green" @14:50 that I realized he wasn't erasing part of the map, but rather the map was being treated as a green screen.

You said give you comments, here's a comment: Keep the videos LONG. Give us all the information you're comfortable giving. Fill out everything. Some of your ideas are incredibly inspiring and just sometimes seeing someone else's thought process helps to spark your own, especially when starting the daunting task of writing your own campaign. Also, literally am purchasing your book after I post this comment (digital, the hardcopy is a bit on the pricy side).

My next campaign is taking place in a maritime setting, making it easy to give my players a home. They're getting a barely armed ship that they can upgrade and improve as they acquire the means to do so. Essentially, they start with a merchantman, and will work their way up to turning it into a full-blown gunship.

I have a fondness for filling "vacant" "abandoned" strongholds with giant spiders. Make them earn their first keep.

This is amazingly similar to how I've been planning to start my next campaign. I'll be starting the PCs as happy, innocent 0 level members of a serene, idyllic community built upon the ruins of a reclaimed stronghold. But then an event occurs that isolates the population and threatens it from all sides. With the "adults" unavailable to help, the PCs will have to grow up quickly and decide whether to defend their home, abandon it, or seek out help from dubious allies, while learning that their life up until the present was a lie. Thanks for sharing this and for boosting my confidence in my plans!

I've always had very fond memories of the old boxed sets. Only recently have I realized how much I miss having a stronghold be central to the game. Even though I have often commented about the boxed sets having the best kingdom building system I didn't realize how much has been missing from my games until one of my characters became a property owner along with the rest of the party. It's so much fun to have property that we can use to make money and need to defend. The stories practically write themselves.

Just ran my first session but already I love the idea of a stronghold and I'll definitely try to work this into the second session!

i created a keep with the river running through it... added a small lake outside... its surrounded by cliffs. the towers are higher than the cliffs so they can see any people coming on the higher ground. I have an over grown flower garden, stable yard draw bride over a skinny part of a lake - a fruit grove, court yard and target practice area.

Side note: not sure about other people but I'm enjoying the longer video format. Hope to listen to longer videos in the future, I tend to listen to DM advise KZfaqrs while working on my campaigns so long videos about the subject is great

Have the river blocked on both ends and the water nymph is trapped in the castle grounds or trapped in the lake that has begun to slowly dry up and the adventures need to remove the rubble so the water flows freely and for doing that she shows them the underwater way to get into the tower or something like that.

Did a session zero for a new campaign to kick off a world I'd been working on for a few years, it didnt go well, every person wants to do/be something antithetical to one or more other player characters, and three just wanted to play pulp fiction characters. Going to just wait because what they want to do isnt a good fit for the world/campaigne. A lighter more pulpy world is what they want.

I know a am pretty late to the game,, but I wanted to let you know it was extremally enjoyable to watch you build this map.

In my test campaign setting, an early stronghold would be beneficial to the PCs, but the exact nature it would take, I would tailor and adapt to the situation the characters start out in. Are they being chased by General Keximus and his personal troops? Are they reacting to his sweep of the land for means to access the Sanctuary - perhaps their relatives were taken? The hook the PCs start with, and the type of adventure they want to have, would determine the exact nature of their early base. Drawing more on my inspiration, I think the "theme concept" of this campaign would be "awakening". In relation to this and to Keximus's plan, I'd have any possible early stronghold tie into Keximus's quest for lost high elven knowledge and means of access. The PCs could be promising targets of Keximus and have to escape him personally, or they could be breaking out their friends and loved ones or helping them flee Keximus's sweep, or they could start without a personal investment but be swept up in the action, or perhaps they could even be assisting Keximus (why not? He's not even evil, he's neutral, and there should be a possibility to play for the "other side" if the players wanna - there's a lot to do whether working for and against him). But in any of these cases, their early hold would feature connections to ancient high elves and their legacy that is the center of the campaign's conflict. It could be a high elven ruin left alone in the wilds but usable as a camping site thanks to people avoiding the remains of their architecture for fear of defensive measures that just don't work in this one anymore. It could be a ship that's previously been used to smuggle high elven artifacts and features some of them in its design, like a self-powering magic sail or a golem skipper. It could be a tavern or homestead in an area where the legacy of high elves is apparent, such as in foothills rife with ruins and remains of an ancient battle between them and their creations. Or it could be Keximus's own encampments and strongholds, featuring his researchers doing their best to unlock the high elven secrets of accessing the Sanctuary of the Void. In any of these cases, there would be more hooks to draw the PCs into the campaign's premise - exploring the ruin they've escaped to and discovering its secrets, following contacts of the ship's captain related to the high elven legacies (a PC or NPC), confronting the dangers of the ancient battlefield they're next to as they begin to reawaken, or assisting Keximus's own quest. All of them tying into the theme of "awakening", the legacies of the world's races reaching back to the age of the high elves reasserting themselves in the world, and the players' own awakening of whatever is in their blood, destiny, power or what-have-you, likely related to the former.

Thank you dungeon fog is rather difficult to use at first. Glad i can use it somewhat effectively now

These are the videos i needed. Bless you Game Master

How does this series have so few views? This is great stuff!

Guy, you have to be The Based Human. 👊 Continue as you were.

So I've done this by accident, and done this deliberately. I found it went well in a star wars game, but had a little trouble with a fantasy game lately. They are going to get an old keep in a primordial forest in time, but I need to get a move on getting them fully invested. Perhaps Keep on the Borderlands was one of the earliest to do this properly?

This stronghold idea made the peaceful campaign idea I had in my head turn into great war. Kobalds and dragonkin. Are invading all corners of the world. Seeking the shattered heart of tiamat before she takes her final breath. The plot 123 is set their stronghold as a hey you were displaced from your home have been sent here for safety and to train. Learn what the dragonkin are after. Gain the power to kill the weakened dragon god. If the players have a different idea how to save the day awesome.

How about the river having breached into the castle proper during or after it was abandoned? Obviously it wasn't that long ago, but this is D&D we're talking about - since the presence of stuff on tables and whatnot suggests the castle was abandoned in a hurry or violently, perhaps it was once attacked by a water-using wizard, unusually warlike druid or elementalist who altered the course of a nearby river or outright created one using magic, and had it breach the castle? That would mean some light redesigning around the fact that a river goes through the castle now, and/or an obvious factor making the PCs unable to just bunker down there forever - it's a good safehouse and fairly defensible, but it cannot be a proper castle again without the river gone, it is slighted. If going with the theme of greed you put in, another possibility could be a water elemental being greedy to claim the castle as its territory for some reason and pathing a river into it. Going without the river, but with the lake, this same water elemental idea could work for why the castle was abandoned and why people are warned away from it - the elemental claimed it greedily. But perhaps whatever happened drove it away (e.g. the devouring villain lady ate it?), and it's now the party's.

Omg thank you needed this, having my session 0 in 2 weeks and starting a campaign in 3 weeks and this has been bothering me the last few days

It is finally done: I will probably add room descriptions in the future but thsi will do for now whitepoppiesandblueangels.home.blog/2019/03/17/3-the-starting-point/

Actually have had the idea to give them a choice where they start (think like Skyrim alt start mod) and so they can chose a region to start in, which could have varying levels of difficulty, advantages and disadvantages to being there.

Your videos are awesome, really enjoying creating my world along side yours. OT: Looking for a DnD group, new player here, also lives in New Zealand -so timing is a pain...

Honestly I feel like just working on the idea of this kinda home base and finding a reference is enough

My DungeonFog is incredibly laggy for some reason which makes it hard to construct the map, maybe it's because I'm using the free version but other than that, great video! Currently trying to get into DM'ing and this series has helped me finally start on it!

So I made a pretty spooky haunted tavern in a ghost town for the party to claim at around 2nd level. This tavern is actually able to be teleported once a month so the minor villain i made for them, Attelikist the Cruel will hunt them down trying to reclaim his spooky tavern. This sounds like a fun idea for the party to set up a memorable tavern the at can teleport from time to time, building their allies, and increasing their repetoire with my "Brookstone" BBEG who is actually a lich.

Day 3 of making my campaign with the help of this guide. The location I've made is an ancient shrine, not too far into the Land Left Behind, which Xalvie, the aspiring archaeologist / Indiana Jones wannabe that wants the party's help, has previously explored and made her personal outpost of sorts. The place has long since been warded, and creatures leave the area alone.

Since my campaign is a space opera wuxia, they of course get a starship, they will start with a small ship with very basic options, which they will get to upgrade over time.

I know it's old videos but I love the series. You helped me get my Monster of the Week Campaign going. Elysium Manor headquarters for a band of Monster Hunters set up by the Sherlock a Chosen Supernatural Detective.

This is amazing and so helpful thank you

"Don't judge me, I'm sick"

I love how you reused this design for the broken world chronicles!

is there anyway this could be put into a podcast form?

As someone really struggling to kick off a continuing campaign, can I ask does this still apply to a party of level 4 adventurers who have just finished the (dragons of stormwreck isle) starter set and who are travelling into the (wildemount) setting... It's been a somewhat backwards start, but I'm struggling to gain a foothold on how to kick this over to homebrew and I'm hoping to find the answers through this series.

When you were talking about the queen and her river, you sounded like Robert Baratheon.

Hey Guy, hope my comment reaches your attention. I'm not keen on the idea of giving a stronghold to low level players in my campaign, but I want to incorporate this idea of a "starting point" for the PCs to return to. The region I plan for my campaign to take place is is largely desert, with most settlements being built around a large river and its delta (similar to Egypt/the Nile). Before watching this I was thinking more along the lines of the characters each having some sort of connection to a major city, or perhaps they are regulars at a certain caravansary. My question is this: I saw in another comment that this is just one of your several methods of establishing a starting point for the PCs - what are some other methods you use, and how might they support the setting of semi-large, jewel-of-the-desert cities?

My starting island kingdom doesnt have many small towns, I am going to have my players turn hamlets into villages and have their base be something they build from the ground up, they would be in charge of this town

Do you have/Would you do a video building a Star ship or space station? A castle is exciting, but it seems it would be a bit more difficult to do something that has multiple decks rather than separate buildings.

Guy must be a lot of fun to game with

Can someone explain why his dungeon background is visible through the dungeonfog window? It looks like a green-screen error where something that isn't supposed to be replaced is being caught by the filter, but why would the screen-capture be subject to his green-screen filter? The screen capture should be an entirely separate feed to the green-screen...

First I want to say thank you thank you thank you for these videos! They are so helpful. I do have a question about this particular topic though. My campaign is going to be a very mobile one, where characters are not in the same place for very long. Is there an alternative to having a "home base" that can still do the job of making characters feel immersed and invested in the setting? Or do you think that constantly being on the move is a bad idea?

Hmm... In my setting it's modern day and the goal of the PCs is to get into school to harness and control their amazing powers.... Maybe I'll pre-build a very basic dormatory and add thematic highlights based on what school they end up getting into. (6 competing schools in setting)

I am making a campaign that is one giant journey with the end goal being clear at the start. A stronghold wouldn't make much sense in such a campaign. Should I skip all this or change something in my campaign?

Your a GM genius!

I'm still trying to build my world. I want it to have both magic and real laws of nature. I want the players to help decide which path the world follows; magic, science or some blend of the two. I've got *a lot* of work to do. Any ideas?

50:40 15 foot long bear

I had real problems following up with this task personaly. Because I have never made a digital map, so I tried to just copy him, just because, but only using the free version made it almost impossible… I am worried that this will be in the way for the rest of the series for me. Because I simply can not bring myself to do it digitaly.

well.. dungeon fog worked for about five minutes, crashed because I apparently can't store anymore space on my browser, and now refuses to even open the homepage :( Anyone have any other suggestions?

Can you create a starship with this program? Working on a sci-fi campaign.

What is the name of that program you use to make your cities and towns?

Does DungeonFog work well with Fantasy Grounds?

Is it possible to print the maps from dungeon fog?

do you have a discord and is it available to everyone or just patrons?

I try to do this but goddamn jumping into a map-making tool like DungeonFog and Roll 20 without a clue wtf I'm doing and even the tutorials are confusing! like somebody help my broken slow brain plz???

A question I have is how do I quit?

Less hobos more himbos

I’m so putting a depressed bartender in that damn tavern

But, what if we prefer not using visual things~ what if its an only text experience? :p

Is it possible to build circular, cylindrical or ovular structures? Structures with rounded edges?

Interesting idea, but I think I'll pass on giving them a stronghold straight off (even as staff). I've got a couple of ideas for an early (but not level 1 early) stronghold sort of thing based on a couple of their choices, and a few other ways to help with buy in that I'm going to run with instead. Doesn't really fit the setting I have in mind. I'm designing this setting to have a session 1 either on a colony ship, or on the path to getting to a colony ship. The continent they're from is under an enforced peace by a rather tyrannical theocracy that controls a number of vassal states. While the theocracy itself is a major feature of the setting - being the empire making overseas colonies and all - the vassal states are nebulous theoretical states, so if a player comes up with this hare brained idea of some kind, I just slot them in as a vassal state. It's highly unlikely that I'll need to be mapping out that continent before endgame events, if at all, so that gives a lot of freedom for the players to come up with backgrounds that speak to them. I've also got a couple of different options for them being sent out to the colonies - some voluntary, some not. (Think Australia's colonization; the theocracy's decided it's a good way to put rebellious and energetic people out of harms way while still harnessing that energy to achieve their own ends.) I'm not even 100% decided on whether I'll be presenting them with a fixed time period for the colony - I might be leaving it open enough to have them arriving around the founding of the first big colonial city, or about 50 years later when said big colonial city is actually a *city* and has city grade amenities. Given the colonial setting, I'm thinking the stronghold would likely involve putting them in charge of founding a new town - pick a site based on resource and diplomatic opportunities, come up with some kind of scheme by which they can manage the development of their town (or leave that up to an NPC steward that they can make vague requests at if they don't want to go into the grand detail side of things). Or, alternately, set up a chain of businesses in the capital, if they want to stick to the big city. Or...yeah, who knows. (If you're wondering how a group of transportees and free colonists will band together, I've got plans for that aboard ship. It'd be nice to have them all start in the same area (ie: either all transportees or all colonists), but if not I can bounce back and forth and have them team up in combat. They'll wind up doing something of conspicuous valour (I know my gaming group; they like conspicuously valourous characters) and get the transportees upgraded to exiles by the captain's authority (ie: colonists with free run of the new continent, just not legally allowed to come back to the homeland.) Point is, I'm trying to leave certain things open to player engagement, just taking a somewhat different approach.

Giving the PCs a big castle almost for free. I don’t like the idea. Let them earn the money and build one.

Im confused, is the purpose of this episode creating a first session/battlemap? Also giving a first level pcs kinda gives me a bad taste cause it puts the mindset in players minds that at level 1 they are strong which in turn gives the mentality that they can bully npcs... No offense I think I will be skipping this episode

First?

Dungeonfog stinks. I can’t even correct an error. And it’s not intuitive at all.

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