Help a newish DM create a campaign.

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party is currently made up of a lvl 3 Tabaxi arcane archer fighter that uses a musket and pistol instead of a bow. his background is pirate and only motive for adventuring is curiosity. player insisted on looking like a white fluffy house cat instead of how the race is portrayed in the book. next up we have a lvl 3 Wood Elf way of the shadow monk whos lived his whole 115 year old life as a acolyte of Kelemvor. his monastery is in dire need of money because elves live to long so they cant conduct any funerals. he is the hired body guard/companion of the tabaxi player and sends most of his money to the monastery. player told me he wants to dip into rogue later in the game. Next up is a 2nd lvl Tiefling Fighter/death domain Cleric with the soldier background. Hes a grizzled veteran suffering from mild PTSD who's resorted to adventuring after his home was mysteriously burned down. player says that hes also searching for his brother who went missing long ago even though hes been presumed long dead. he keeps this a secret from the rest of the party. and last but not least a lvl 2 Half Orc Paladin with a criminal background. he was raised among orcs and spent his early life raiding settlements. when his human father grew ill and died, a long time rival orc took the opportunity to beat the character to near death and take all his valuable with him into the night as he abandoned the tribe. since then, hes found work as a hired killer and somehow made a ally of a prince of a kingdom on the brink of ruin due to constant attacks from invasive races. he joined the party hoping to find the orc that took everything from him.

ill summarize all the notable points in the adventure next.

Anon, you need to not wall of text.
Use the return/enter key to break up the text wall, because no one is going to read your shit.

>>51107377
Also, use proper grammar, capitalization and punctuation.
This isn't /b/, and when you are asking for help, there is the expectation that you will show enough of a fuck to make your text digestible.

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>campaign begins with everyone at lvl 1 in a riverside village where the tiefling's house used to be. everyone meets in a tavern to establish the party and negotiate shares of the valuables and such.
>a man walks in to ask for the partys help. his home by the rivers basement has flooded and he claims to have been attacked by something while trying to clear all the muddy water.
>the party agrees and follows the man home were they fight and defeat a swarm of mud mephits. the man thanks them and rewards them with a few gold pieces.
>players then venture to a abandoned cathedral that the monk heard became recently infested with undead.
>players arrive to find around 6 skeletons wandering the halls and jump into combat. While fighting the party hears a increasingly loud shriek thats not coming from the skeletons but somewhere deeper in the building.
>after clearing the skeletons, the party follows the noise to a locked trap door leading to a underground crawl space. they bust open the lock to reveal a ghoul restrained by rusty manacles against a wall but surrounded by half eaten corpses and a few gold rings,coins and such.
>party shoots some attacks from a distance but ghoul breaks loose after taking some damage. they defeat it and collect some loot before returning to town.
>the group later encounters a few incompetent hobgoblins along the roads "i rolled really bad the whole fight and didn't make good use of their martial advantage because i was unprepared and just pulled the fight from my ass" and had fun mocking them as they murdered them.
>after selling the equipment they looted from the hobgoblins i introduced a traveling merchant of magic items so the players can buy from a list of items i prepared with the characters in mind. they picked up a cloak of protection and a few healing potions and head back out into the world.
>while taking a shortcut through a massive graveyard i introduce the first major villain... cont.

>>51107389
>>51107377
sorry i started greentextin if that helps.

>>51107766
It's a step.

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>>51107750
>they come across a noble looking human necromancer and his burly mercenary right hand man. the two are standing over a dead ogre and some human corpses.
>the party tries to sneak up on the two but fail the checks. the necromancer cast some bullshit spell that i just make up to hold them in place, i tell them they all fail the spell save regardless of what they roll except for the tiefling who rolls a natural 20.
>necromancer proceeds to interrogate the party and reveals that the undead in the cathedral were the product of his dabbling in necromancy and he does not appreciate them destroying his work."this might be the only real continuity i have going on".
>tiefling player decides not to rush in without backup so he just waits things out. the necromancer tells the players if they hand over all their money he might let them live. The players collectively tell him to go fuck himself.
>He starts reanimating all the corpses along with a skeleton horse which him and his bodyguard mount. He tells the party that hes to busy to deal with them and that he'll be back for their bodies and money later.
>The spell wears of after the two depart and leave the group to fight a ogre zombie and a few regular zombies. The paladin gets dropped by a crit from the ogre but besides that the party makes quick work of the zombies.
>The party rests up and head strait back to town to search for the necromancer, dont find any trace of him but find out hes relatively well liked by the towns folk and is even running for mayor."Dont know where i was going with that. Just wanted to add a little more to his reputation i guess."
>they ask the traveling sales woman about him and she seems like the only one aware of his true nature because she tells them its best to stop looking into him for their own sake.
>rightfully so, the players continue to press her for information because shes being vague and secretive."truth is i just didn't think about how the two are connected"..cont

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>>51108173
>finally, she explains that she was acquainted with him a long time ago, had a serious falling out, now avoid each other whenever possible and was not willing to discuss it any further. "this was a ass pull".
>Having the highest charisma, the paladin attempts one last persuasion check to see if she will spill a little more info.
>Rolls a natural 20.
>the group looks at me with huge, proud grins so i tell them that she wont talk anymore on the subject but gifts them half a sending stone so they can contact her if they ever need to stock up on potions or magic items, provided they wait long enough for her to travel to them.
>the players seem satisfied and drop the subject for the time being. The party does some shopping and calls it a night and more or less forget about the whole situation. We end that session around there."pretty sure they knew i was just improvising the whole deal and layed of me."
>next time i have half a session kinda planned. the paladin gets a letter from his prince benefactor informing him that his orc rival has been spotted on the outskirts of a fishing village in the kingdom and that a ship has been secured for him to get there in a nearby port.
>party agrees to set out immediately and are aboard the vessel in a day. Its smooth sailing for the first part of the trip so the party takes the opportunity to goof on the ships crew or fish to kill time. Suddenly, a very large and aggressive storm begin approaching from the east. The party does everything they can to brace themselves and assist the crew. just before the storm hits, the group decides to tether themselves together using rope.
>They make strength saving throws to hold on to the ship as more and more of the crew are thrown overboard by massive waves crashing into the ships side and high speed winds. after most of the crew plummeted into the sea, the storm reached its climax and the boat capsized under one massive wave.
>The party blacks out in the rushing waters...cont

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>>51108706
>the party wakes up on the shore of a presumably deserted island, bruised and battered but alive. "everyone took 2d8 improvised damage." They untie the ropes from themselves and scout the area.
>They find that one of the crew members had also washed up on shore with them, along with a few supply crates and debris from the ship. They take stock of their resources and set up camp to recover from the shipwreck. We have a few laughs as the tabaxi player finds some coconuts and explains what they are to the rest of the party who had never been exposed to them.
>Immediately after the party and sailor completes a short rest they hear strange sounds coming from thick vegetation at the mouth of the nearby tropical Forrest. Everyone quietly pulls out their weapons.
>Several gnolls pop out from the bushes and trees and launch arrows at the party. the party begins fighting and i have the sailor simply try to hide for the fight. One player uses his action to actually drag the sailor from his hiding spot and demand that he fights by their side and throws him into the midst of combat.
>The group finds this very amusing and tell the sailor its only fair since they tried helping the crew during storm."i dont have a stat block for him so i just use the commoner's stats. wasn't even sure why included him to this point so i didn't mind if he died, which was a real possibility with 4 HP." roll initiative for him and by the time he gets a turn theres only one gnoll left and its pretty damaged.
>he actually lands the killing blow.
>the group hoists him up to their shoulders and do a little cheer for him on a blood splattered shore. the session continues with the party delving deeper into the Forrest and fighting a few more gnolls that ambush them. the sailor survives each fight by hugging the paladin with the protection fighting style who gladly shields him.
>Eventually the party reaches the center of the island to find a dilapidated tower...cont.

Waiting, anon.

>>51108706
gifting the sending stone was a decent idea in lieu of info but you should either prep more or get better at improvising

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>>51109498
>The group is worn out and most spell slots are spent, but they decide they've been on roll and that they got one extra member backing them up. the sailor makes it clear that he has no intention of joining the party and is only tagging along until they find a way off the island.
> They more or less shrug him off and proceed to storm into the tower guns blazing."once again i realize how poorly planned the last part of my session is." I have a fight with one cult fanatic of Yeenoghu in almost empty closed in space with nothing interesting going on inside, so i decide to throw in a couple of gnoll witherlings from volos guide to at least spread some of the attention of the party.
>the party makes it through the fight but the tabaxi got dropped by spiritual weapon and the monk was held down by hold person for a significant amount of time. I proceed to award the players some loot and then they head back to their makeshift camp to recuperate.
>with the threat of the gnolls gone, the party begins brainstorming ideas to get off the island and decide that building a raft is the safest bet."it was a logical idea but i had absolutely nothing else planned."
>They gather the wood and rope along with some provisions and have a raft big enough for the five of them constructed in less than a day. At this point im contemplating letting this turn into a resource management game as they drift further and further into sea while i plan something half way decent for them.Then one player remembers they have the sending stone. they call for help and the traveling merchant sends for a rescue party that reaches them in 2 in game days.
>So now the groups dead set on getting back on track to their original destination,only now they more or less intimidated the sailor into joining their ranks and reminded me that hes earned enough experience to reach lvl 2. I dont see that harm in letting them have it besides having to play the character and DM, so im going along with it.

>>51109746
sorry, not a fast typer.
>>51109841
thanks i intend to do both but prepping more is my focus right now

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>>51110410
Ands thats pretty much where we are right now. aside from the inevitable fight with the rival orc and his goons, i dont got much else in mind that i think is any good.

thanks anyone who read through all my shit. Im more than happy to hear any input you guys have or to answer any questions. Just need to add some structure to this mess and throw something at the players that isn't a fight.

thanks again

>>51110410
>>51110551
the shipwreck was meant to get rid of the players who were meddling in the necromancers plans. it was all set up and the sailor was paid off.

once they return they will find that the necromancer has made great progress in his plan, having built a large circle of stones in the town square as part of an ancient ritual to gather necromantic magic.

the townsfolk are under a spell which makes them unable to see the undead for what they are. they have elected the necromancer as their mayor and they love him. he has used zombie laborers to fix the old mill and his undead forces managed to repel a gang of thieves that had plagued the town for years.

following this plot line you can settup several encounters between the players and the necromancers forces. ultimately he will inform the players of his true motives. he had a vision of an invading force which would attack the land by sea. he moves to the coast to raise an undead army large enough to repel the invasion.

this subverts the players expectations and makes the necromancer a strange ally. now the players can turn their attention to the incoming invasion. subsequently you can have scouting ships of yuan-ti or whatever start attacking. maybe the player's best bet is to recruit a dragon or a neighboring town of orcs to help fight off the invaders? there are lots of lines here.

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>>51110738
sorry i was away, this is already a great way to take that character. the undead actually do make perfect soldiers if you consider they dont have any fear or need to sleep,eat,breath. i can only imagine their faces when they come back to that town and see zombies doing labor around town and nobody is batting a eye at them.

petty question but what do you think he'd have the undead actually do to prepare for the incoming invaders? im imagining gathering materials for weapons and armor that they would have the few dwarven undead mass produce to the best of their ability.