Prepare the beginning to several paths and let the party choose which way to go. Player choices having a real impact help with immersion.
Still be ready for the off the wall path the party will eventually take.
Prepare the beginning to several paths and let the party choose which way to go. Player choices having a real impact help with immersion.
This is fine if you are writing it as you go.
If you are trying to write a more traditional* linear campaign, I would read some of the APLs Paizo has put out. Too many things are going to depend on the exact specifics of your campaign to offer much more advice than that.
*Traditional as in traditionally published
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My campaign, "Roar of Rovagug", is still under construction simply because I just don't know which path I want to take. Therefore, I think that I need some help-from a GM who knows the fundamentals of a decent (if not good) campaign. Any GMs who want to help, just simply PM me.
Thank you
Okay. Here is my best (rambling) advice, and one that has held the most true through my years and years of running games. As much as players scream about railroading, they want direction and prodding. Too much however, and they feel like they don't have "agency" and their choices do not matter.
In reality, what is needed is a "Stealth Railroad" where the tracks are not visible so players are convinced their choices are radically affecting the outcome even if in certain circumstances they are not. Carefully written plots and timetables will crumble at the first PC. Your Stealth Railroad must be flexible, having an overarching plot but being less like a written story and more like a series of 3x5 notecards with a quick bit about what happens but keeping the details rather loose. Details firm up the closer they are to that plot point, but the further off it is the less detail and work you should put into it because more often than not that detail and work will end up being wasted because of what the PC's did a dozen story points ago. Be able to switch out notecards and write new ones and change the order.
Second is to ensure the players and their characters are invested in some way. Insist on a page of character background, with at least two NPC's (who are STILL ALIVE) no, not everybody you know can be dead. Even Batman had Alfred. Play them up as important and helpful, not just shackles they have to drag along so when you threaten them the players actually care. Speed is not important, player investment is. Sometimes the most rewarding stories are not battles Against The Ancient Evil Which Has Arisen (tm) but rather stories about a small village. Encourage the players to build their own stores and domiciles and shops. If the players show interest in a certain bit, or NPC, go with it and hold on with both hands and figure out how to weave that into your overarching plot later to get them back on the "Stealth Railroad"
Skeletal Steve puts it best. Too many GMs turn the great game into a no choices matter meat grinder with cardboard cut out NPCs that have zero personality.