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→Game Masters Guide to Drama: I was just going to fix one spelling error, but now I'm cleaning the whole damn book. Enjoy.
To make a campaign interesting, at minimum you should have a beginning and a climax in mind. This leaves much more room for adaptability. While the campaign should have an overriding goal, never feel guilty about side quests and subplots; anything less would be dull. However, these subplots should have the the following points in common:
*'''They must connect to the main plot.''' A stand alone side quest with no plot connections can quickly turn a well thought out campaign into a quick one shot. If the players must destroy the evil litchlich, but a farmer begs to be recued rescued from ogres, let the ogres connect in some way. Prehaps Perhaps they were driven from their homes by the litchlich, or are one part of an army the litch lich is massing.
*'''Make them short and sweet.''' If a side quest takes the whole session, it is a side quest no more, but the beginning of a campaign. Side quests are pleasant (or unpleasant) distractions, nothing more. If you want a side mission to be more involved, then make it part of the main campaign.
*'''All things in stories are connected.''' Subplots are among the best ways to get foreshadowing into a game. If the player accept a side quest to hunt a beastie, let them notice how they are the only ones who stepped up, how most of the able bodied men are gone. As they hunt, let them find the occasional orc tracks in the wood, prehaps perhaps the reamins remains of a slave camp. Then when the players find a orc raiding party in the village as they come back, they will understand what is going on, and maybe try to find out more.
The begining beginning should introduce the characters, give reasons for them to work together, and form a bond between the players. Ideas for how to set this up are endless, from ''Oceans 11'' to any of the Final Fantasy games. Work with the players, and encourage pre-established reasons for them to know each other. If the fighter and the wizard want to be siblings, encourage it, especially if the cleric is the wizards old friend and the rogue wants to collect some bet money from the fighter, but the fighter is dating the rogues bardic sister and she would look down upon her brother ruffing up her love. Try to keep restrictions to a minimum, but declare them if they must be in place. If the clerics and druids are at war, try to prevent the party having both a cleric and a druid unless the campaign rides on spliting splitting the party anyway.
The climax should be engaging and bring every player to the forefront. Make it exciting, but also make sure it is consistant consistent with the previous events of the campaign. If the campaign rides on killing Sycorax the Red Wyrm as a climax, don't be afraid to change the circumstances of the climax as it goes on. If it was supposed to take place in her secret volcano lair but the players won't go, bring her out on a rampage, especially if they kill her favorite son, Caliban the Half Dragon Wizard. Let her pick up resources as she goes if the players are distant, slaughter armies as flies, and let the players fight her in a desolate ash-covered field... or in mid air over the ocean in a storm!!!
As something of a final bit of advice, do not end each session with "how did I do?" If you did poorly and are capable of listening to their critics, they will tell you. If you did well, they will tell you. Instead, end each session with "what are your plans?" Spend the final half hour or so with the players discussing what they should do in the next session. Once they agree on a plan of action, write the next adventure the moment they turn their backs. I mean it. The moment they are out the door and you hear "click", grab your notes and begin a brain dump, at the least. This way, you always have something prepared. Even if you had to work double shifts and overtime all week and could not build off of your brain dump before the players show, you can look at your notes and string something together.
