I am in need of help! My friend has Volentered to be the new DM for my D+D group and he doesn't have a story!!

Question

He is a Dungon Master and all but, he can't make up any stories!!

I said he could dm thinking he would have a story for us, But he didn't. So all we do at d+d meetings sit around eatting health bars.

We have looked in all the books and websites! Our old DM Had good stories, but she moved to Iowa. And changed her e-mail. (We wondered if she was trying to avoid us)

We have tryed telling my friend that he doesn't have good stories but he won't listen.

Now that he is working he has even less time to think of a story. He has aked us to think of one. Us as in the other players in my D+D group. We could not think of one either. So i turned to my trusted friend the internet. Any ideas?




PLEASE HELP MEEEEEEEEEEEEEEE!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Answer 1

Buy a "Dungeon" magazine. They usually have 3-5 different adventures, complete with story, maps, treasure. If you can read then you can run a "Dungeon" Adventure.

Answer 2

Lol!

Coming up with a good story can be difficult. I will usually write up a sheet of paper. I'll start throwing down words, ideas, thoughts... I'll do a quick version right now:

Fog - Demons - leprechauns - The sword of Dark Something - Cave of Horrors - Machine Guns - Mind Flayers - Invasion of the Smelly Lizards - Half man/half shark - Big Man-eating Land Squid - Goblin Cave - Sword of Darkest Evil.

Looking at this, I'd start off with a cave of goblins, and then... why are the goblins in this cave? What sort of conspiracy am I dealing with?

A necromancer is using them as labor to build his labyrinth of doom? Okay, that works. The necromancer is young, and is working for someone else... um A lich. Okay, a lich is really really powerful, so he'll have to come much later... I guess the necromancer needs an escape route. The Lich gave him a ring of teleportation. At last minute, the necromancer will safely teleport away.

Okay... I need story "hooks"... The necromancer has books and notes...

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As you can see, a few random words and a few questions can be slapped together to create a one-shot adventure, and upon it's completion leave some way for more adventures to happen. Already, in afew minutes, I have the basis for a plot to take over the world, or a kingdom, or maybe an entire plane, and fill in the details as you need them.

Starting off, you don't need the full list of details, you just need to know what you'll tell the players tomorrow night. Most adventures start off with a few vague clues, and slowly expand into something much greater. Your adventures are no different. Start with something small and simple, and make it bigger slowly over time. For example, how does this "Sword of Darkest Evil" figure into the plot, what does it do, how do you defeat it's owner, and does it need to be destroyed? If so, how?

Brainstorming with random ideas (from movies, music, magazines, artwork, or pure random inspiration) is a great way to start, and think of small, simple ideas. Then, slowly complicate them bit by bit. Suddenly, you end up with a campaign.

Also, expect to make a LOT of bad decisions along the way. You may need to scrap a half dozen worlds before you find the plotline that really grabs you.
My greatest campaign was a 3 month series of unconnected adventures without plot or meaning, until a friend made a new character, whose concept sparked an entire campaign of interdimensional terror.

Answer 3

Your favorite book/movie/TV show is a good starting point.
Buffy & Angel were all about killing monsters, so that's not too much of a stretch. Or how about the Dungeons & Dragons movies or cartoons?
Or...buy a Dungeon magazine in local comic/hobby shop.

Answer 4

Read books, watch TV, See Movies, Sci-Fi and westerns convert well to D&D just change the bad guys to Orcs and/or Kolbolds and have fun with it.