TEXT: Instant Campaign Builder
  by DungeonMastering.com
  Instant Campaign Builder by DungeonMastering.com – Subscribe to Dming. It's free! – Page 1     
  
  1. Foreword ..................................................................... 4
  2. Introduction ................................................................ 5
  3. Knowledge ................................................................... 8
  ○ Your draft is your final product
  ○ Have faith in your improvisation skills
  ○ Choosing a style of play
  ○ Cashing in on familiarity
  ○ Copying games and stories you love
  4. Props ............................................................................ 12
  ○ Impress your players
  ○ Props suggestions
  ○ Meta-props
  5. Improvisation .............................................................. 15
  ○ Trusting your skills
  ○ Benefits of improvisation
  ○ How to improvise efficiently in 14 easy steps
  6. Outline ......................................................................... 21
  ○ Railroad vs. Outline
  ○ Outline graphic
  7. Scenes .......................................................................... 24
  ○ Lead
  ○ Objective
  ○ Conflict
  ○ Kick ass
  Instant Campaign Builder by DungeonMastering.com – Subscribe to Dming. It's free! – Page 2     
  
  8. Hype ............................................................................ 27
  ○ The Buzz
  ○ How to generate hype
  ○ The danger zone
  9. Planting ....................................................................... 29
  ○ Why is planting essential
  ○ How to plant
  ○ Positive side-effect of planting
  10. Beginning .................................................................. 31
  ○ Setting the tone
  ○ Setting the mood
  ○ Making a promise
  ○ Getting a spark
  11. End ............................................................................. 34
  ○ Planning the ending early
  ○ How to end a campaign
  12. Fine-tuning ................................................................. 36
  ○ Superstar potential
  ○ Unique and bizarre elements
  ○ Random and useless elements
  ○ Game helpers
  13. Have fun ...................................................................... 38
  Instant Campaign Builder by DungeonMastering.com – Subscribe to Dming. It's free! – Page 3     
  
  Foreword
  I poured hours of writing and years of dungeon master experience in this 
  project.  I believe any DM can use the information in this document and 
  reduce campaign preparation time drastically.
  The  Instant  Campaign  Builder  Project  was  originally  published  on 
  DungeonMastering.com.  I gathered the articles and made a few additions 
  and corrections to provide the DMing community with a concise and helpful 
  campaign building tool.
  Any suggestions and comments are welcome.
  -Yax
  yax@dungeonmastering.com
  www.DungeonMastering.com
  Instant Campaign Builder by DungeonMastering.com – Subscribe to Dming. It's free! – Page 4     
  
  Introduction
  What is the Instant Campaign Builder Project?
  This project will help you achieve 2 of the main goals a dungeon master 
  should have when preparing a campaign:
  ● Create the best campaign ever.
  ● Not spend any time doing it. 
  They seem to be contradictory goals. Well, they are. Compromises have to be 
  made.  The more time you spend planning and plotting, the better your 
  campaign should be. But I believe that it is possible to prepare a quality 
  campaign without spending too much time at the drawing board.
  Instant Campaign Builder by DungeonMastering.com – Subscribe to Dming. It's free! – Page 5     
  
  The Instant Campaign Builder will help you to:
  ● Optimize prep time
  ● Channel inspiration
  ● Create unforgettable scenes
  ● Have more D&D fun with less work
  If you're really short on time and have a to prepare a game in 30 minutes 
  right now, then check out this article on How to prepare a great game in 30 
  minutes.
  The objective of the Instant Campaign Builder
  What is too much time? In my opinion anything over 1 hour of prep time for 
  4 hours of play is unnecessary but feel free to spend as much time as you 
  want creating and writing – I wish I could!
  So let’s say you’re planning a campaign that will last 100 hours of play - 
  roughly 25 4-hour games. You should be able to plan the whole campaign in 
  25 hours so you’ll probably need as much as a few weeks of preparation in 
  Instant Campaign Builder by DungeonMastering.com – Subscribe to Dming. It's free! – Page 6     
  
  your spare time – or 1 week-end if you’re really pumped up. (to get pumped 
  up, you can browse this collection of gaming motivational posters or read this 
  article on the Top 10 ways to get pumped up for your next D&D game.
  The objective of the Instant Campaign Builder is to give you the necessary 
  tools to keep that prep-time to play-time ratio under 1 to 4.
  The prerequisites
  None. This project will help all dungeon masters.
  However. If you’re just undertaking the dungeon master profession, You 
  might be best served by using a published campaign setting, and maybe a 
  published adventure to get your feet wet, see what your players like and what 
  your strengths and weaknesses are as a dungeon master.
  Instant Campaign Builder by DungeonMastering.com – Subscribe to Dming. It's free! – Page 7     
  
  Knowledge
  The  most  important  building  block  in  a  campaign  is  knowledge.  Your 
  knowledge of yourself, your DMing skills, your players and their characters. 
  If the characters have yet to be created, I suggest you plan a  first game 
  around character creation before you start working on the details of your 
  campaign.
  During this first game, make sure all the players have some backstory.  Also 
  survey their expectations and style of play preferences.
  Your draft is your final product
  Chances are you will be the only one ever using your campaign. If your goal 
  is to publish your work then the Instant Campaign Builder is not for you. 
  Let's take for granted that your work will not be submitted to an art or literary 
  contest.  It is yours. Don’t spend too much time on maps or character 
  sketches and be brief in your notes - as long as you are able to understand 
  your notes when you read them. All the shortcuts are worth something - time! 
  If you can save time by bookmarking a rulebook instead of writing down 
  Instant Campaign Builder by DungeonMastering.com – Subscribe to Dming. It's free! – Page 8     
  
  some info, then do it.
  Have faith in your improvisation skills
  If you believe in your improvisation abilities you won’t feel like you need to 
  plan out every single detail of the campaign. For improvization helpers check 
  out Before the second game and The second game - 2 articles I wrote about 
  planning and running a spanking new game.  More on improvisation on page 
  15.
  Style of play
  Determine what your style of play will be. Hack & Slash? Heavy role-
  playing? Casual fun?  Burlesque D&D? Ultimately that decision should be 
  heavily influenced by your players. The best way to assess the success of a 
  DM (and his campaign) is by measuring the enthusiasm of his players, so 
  make sure they are playing the kind of game they enjoy.
  Instant Campaign Builder by DungeonMastering.com – Subscribe to Dming. It's free! – Page 9     
  
  Cashing in on familiarity
  Do your players have a particular hatred for one kind of monsters? That’s 
  probably because you  have introduced that creature in a past game. By 
  planning a campaign around creatures and monsters you know well, you’ll 
  save a lot of time. A couple of tweaks and modifications to theses creatures 
  should bring unexpected surprises and a new challenge while still triggering 
  memories of past encounters.
  Familiar creatures also have the advantage of rarely being  utterly retarded 
  monsters.
  Copy games and stories you liked
  I don’t know how many DragonLance games I’ve played when I was in high 
  school but I know I always had fun during them. I’ve also played Amber, 
  based on the Roger Zelazny novels.  It rocked.
  Instant Campaign Builder by DungeonMastering.com – Subscribe to Dming. It's free! – Page 10     
  
  Check out these resources for getting inspiration from various sources:
  ● Historical characters to jumpstart your campaign
   
   , by me. 
  ● Start a novel game
   
   , by D&D Nerd. 
  ● GM as a video game designer
   
   , by Treasure Tables. 
  Instant Campaign Builder by DungeonMastering.com – Subscribe to Dming. It's free! – Page 11     
  
  Props
  Your players don’t need to know that you only spend 1 hour or less preparing 
  for each game. They just want to be entertained. They want something 
  different.
  Why props?
  It makes an imaginary world more real, tangible. If you tell your players that 
  their characters find an old ring in a chest and you actually hand them a worn 
  ring, they’ll be impressed. It definitely adds something to a game.
  7 props suggestions for your D&D game
  1. An old parchment. Soak a sheet of paper in watered down coffee then 
  let it dry. You’ll have a crispy, old parchment. 
  2. Gold pieces - real ones! Check out the  Campaign Coins website. I 
  learned about these thanks to this Treasure Tables post about GenCon 
  products. 
  3. Jewelry. You can find worthless necklaces or rings at thrift stores, 
  Instant Campaign Builder by DungeonMastering.com – Subscribe to Dming. It's free! – Page 12     
  
  garage sales, or even at home. 
  4. A message in a bottle. A little cliche but your players should forgive you 
  if you actually hand them a bottle. Opening the bottle and fetching the 
  message inside will be like opening a Christmas present. 
  5. NPC character sketches. I like to browse JCM’s RPG art every now and 
  then for character sketches. He takes requests and commissions too. 
  6. A sand rose or volcanic rock. Anything strange or unique will do. 
  7. An old compass or any anachronism. That could be a good plot hook! 
  Reader suggestion – Psygnnosed says:
  A few years ago, when running a campaign around here (Portugal), I used 
  an NPC that pretended to be a beggar, and addressed the players in a tavern.
  I used an iron mug, with a few coins inside, to make noise, and leaned the 
  mug towards one of the players. Inside there was a folded paper with a 
  message. When he saw it, he pretended to place a coin in the mug and took 
  the paper without the other guys noticing. 
  What now?
  I wrote this part of the Instant Campaign Builder early in the series for a 
  reason. If you design your adventure and then try to find props that fit 
  Instant Campaign Builder by DungeonMastering.com – Subscribe to Dming. It's free! – Page 13     
  
  specific scenes, you might come up empty handed. By finding a prop and 
  then molding a scene around it you make sure you can enliven your game and 
  you just might be inspired by all the random odd objects you find in your 
  garage!
  Meta-props
  Sometimes before I plan a scene around an encounter I peruse available 
  miniatures - whatever I find is what the PCs will face!
  Instant Campaign Builder by DungeonMastering.com – Subscribe to Dming. It's free! – Page 14     
  
  Improvisation
  The tools and tips described in the Instant Campaign Builder Project can only 
  be used successfully by a dungeon master willing to improvise... A lot!
  Your D&D game will become more unpredictable, entertaining
  Going with the flow and making stuff up on the fly is a good thing. I believe 
  that it is beneficial to a D&D campaign. If you can keep the quality of 
  improvised scenes high it should make your players feel like their characters 
  can do anything  and go anywhere. The gaming experience is definitely 
  enhanced.
  The DM’s paradox: prepare for improvisation
  As paradoxal as it may seem improvisation can be prepared! I personally 
  improvise anywhere from 0% to 100% of any given D&D game depending 
  on what my unpredictable players decide to do. I must admit that sometimes 
  they will notice that I improvise but only when I don’t follow my own advice 
  (nobody’s perfect!).
  Instant Campaign Builder by DungeonMastering.com – Subscribe to Dming. It's free! – Page 15     
  
  So here are some handy tips to keep your campaign railroad free and your 
  players impressed.
  How to make improvization seem planned in 14 easy steps
  1. Extra maps 
  • Print random maps and floorplans. If the PCs veer off-course you 
  can use your spare maps as a foundation for the unexpected 
  direction the players chose. Here is a link to 387 free D&D maps. 
  You can also use a random dungeon generator. I like Jamis Buck’s 
  dungeon generator. 
  2. Name list 
  • Print a long list of random names for NPCs that you have to create 
  and introduce during the game. You can come up with names 
  yourself but if you don’t feel like spending the mental energy you 
  have other options. For a ridiculously long list of names you can 
  check out a baby names website. You can also use WotC’s name 
  generator for more fantasy targeted names. 
  3. Geographic locations list 
  • Print a list of geographic location names. To come up with such 
  names, look up a world map - yes, the real world - or use any 
  random name. I often use professional athletes names for places. 
  Instant Campaign Builder by DungeonMastering.com – Subscribe to Dming. It's free! – Page 16     
  
  It’s a trick I picked up from one of my first DMs who had our 
  characters explore the Bagwell Tower (Check out Jeff Bagwell’s 
  statistics). In my current game, some of the action took place on 
  the shores of the Ovechkin Sea (Alexander Ovechkin’s career 
  stats). This works better if your players don’t like sports! 
  4. Business list 
  • Print a list of random fantasy business names from Hack Slash. A 
  good name makes every random inn or shop the PCs visit seem 
  more important. 
  5. Think in scenes 
  • You can divide your games in scenes. An encounter is usually a 
  scene. For each scene you should have a beginning that hooks the 
  characters into the scene, a middle where information and clues 
  are gathered, or monsters fought, a climax, and then an ending. If 
  your players opt for unexpected destinations you can still use a 
  hook  or  scene  resolution  idea  from  scenes  that  haven’t  been 
  played out yet. You can then redesign the scenes from which you 
  borrowed material later. 
  • More on scenes on page 23.                                                      
  6. Extra encounters 
  • Read about 1 or 2 monsters in the Monster Manual and bookmark 
  the page(s). If an unexpected scene calls for an encounter you can 
  Instant Campaign Builder by DungeonMastering.com – Subscribe to Dming. It's free! – Page 17     
  
  easily throw a creature at the party. If the creature you had chosen 
  doesn’t quite fit the situation, just change the appearance of the 
  creature and keep the stats. That way you don’t have to research a 
  new monster during the game. 
  7. Outline 
  • Having a clear outline of your whole campaign will help you 
  improvise because you can base your decisions on the big picture. 
  A good  campaign outline  will  allow  you to  improvise  better 
  between the major events in the campaign - even if the characters 
  are not acting as expected. 
  8. Side quests 
  • Having a side quest ready will give your players the feeling that 
  they can follow any lead and find a well prepared DM. I often 
  used pre-made adventures for side-quests. Here is a list of 83 free 
  D&D adventures. 
  9. Give players loot 
  • My players are suckers for loot. It will take their minds off the 
  details  of  the  adventure  for  a  few  minutes.  I  personally  roll 
  treasure at random after encounters - and that takes very little 
  preparation!
  10. Quirky NPCs 
  • Quirky,  well-roleplayed,  and  unique  NPCs
   
    hint  at  good 
  Instant Campaign Builder by DungeonMastering.com – Subscribe to Dming. It's free! – Page 18     
  
  preparation  by  the  DM.  Keep  a  list  of  NPC  quirks  handy. 
  Anything  will  do:  Excessive  good  humor,  always  mumbling, 
  annoying vocal habit. The point is not to win an oscar. Johnn Four 
  from RP Tips wrote this great article on NPC quirks that lists 40 
  NPC quirks. You should print that list. 
  11. Take notes so you don’t forget 
  • It’s easy to forget stuff you haven’t really planned. Being a note 
  fiend is a good thing. 
  12. Extra traps 
  • This is not my area of expertise. I keep a sourcebook called Book 
  of challenges handy for improvized traps but I rarely use it. Pitting 
  the  characters  against  an  elaborate  trap  can  keep  them  busy 
  though. 
  13. Plant info on the fly 
  • If you have a good idea of where your campaign is heading you 
  should be able to plant clues that will help the characters achieve 
  their main objective. You can plant information that you know will 
  be useful only at the very end of the campaign if the opportunity 
  arises. If your players have a good memory and take good notes, 
  they could use that planted clue 5 or 6 games later and be very 
  impressed by your DMing skills. More on planting on page 28.
  Instant Campaign Builder by DungeonMastering.com – Subscribe to Dming. It's free! – Page 19     
  
  14. Take a break 
  • Something  utterly  unpredictable  happened?  Take  a  break  and 
  organize your thoughts. It’s not ideal for the gameflow but it sure 
  beats looking unprepared. 
  Reader Suggestions – Jill Seal says:
  One further step I’ve found useful. As soon as possible after the end of the 
  game session I go through my notes and work out whether the improvised 
  people, places, and objects could have a deeper relevance. Can I weave them 
  more tightly into the story? Did the players come up with ideas about them 
  that I can decide are true? Is there anything that needs to be elaborated or 
  decided on? 
  Instant Campaign Builder by DungeonMastering.com – Subscribe to Dming. It's free! – Page 20     
  
  Campaign Outline
  Railroad vs. Outline
  I always want to plan badass campaigns and memorable scenes but I don’t 
  want to force the players into a linear storyline. That’s where a good outline 
  comes into play.
  An  outline  defines  major  events in  a  campaign.  A  railroad 
  determines how characters spend their time between major events 
  in a campaign.
  Instant Campaign Builder by DungeonMastering.com – Subscribe to Dming. It's free! – Page 21     
  
  Outline graphic
  When I plan my campaign I will outline the main events like this:
  The PC party is loosely tied to the main quest. However if the players choose 
  to  be passive  towards the  main quest, the events still take place  - the 
  antagonist still suffers a setback but to the hands of other characters, not the 
  PCs. The PCs can be witness to these events and jump back in the adventure 
  if the opportunity arises.
  The PCs can also be active in 2 side quests. They might not be drawn into 
  these side adventures but they might be around when these events unravel 
  and they could end up taking an active part in them - willingly or not.
  Instant Campaign Builder by DungeonMastering.com – Subscribe to Dming. It's free! – Page 22     
  
  By having a loose campaign outline the world around the PCs comes to life. 
  The players are free to jump from one storyline to another and the multiple 
  stories could even culminate into one action-packed chaotic finale!
  Do I have to prepare 3 adventures?
  No! I think of these storylines in scenes. In my opinion it is the key to 
  creating unforgettable games.  So let's discuss scenes right now.
  Instant Campaign Builder by DungeonMastering.com – Subscribe to Dming. It's free! – Page 23     
  
  Scenes
  The LOCK technique
  I read about the LOCK system in a fiction writing book and quickly figured 
  that it would be useful for my D&D game planning. According to this system 
  here are the 4 elements of a scene:
  • Lead 
  • In a roleplaying game the leads are the PCs. Rich, well-fleshed out 
  PCs can trigger great scenes. If you plan a scene around the 
  characters in the group, chances are your players will enjoy it. The 
  lead can also be an interesting NPC, a strange location or a special 
  object like a precious artifact. 
  • Anything that grabs your players attention is a good lead. When 
  planning a scene just ask yourself Why would my players or their 
  characters care? A lead has to be interesting enough to make 
  everyone in the party care.
  • Objective 
  • Once you have a strong foundation for your scene (the lead) you 
  Instant Campaign Builder by DungeonMastering.com – Subscribe to Dming. It's free! – Page 24     
  
  can work on an objective. What will the characters want to do? If 
  there is no clear course of action stemming from the lead, it might 
  be a good idea to plant clues in earlier scenes that will allow your 
  players to react to the present scene and decide on an objective. 
  • Note that the objective should not be set by the DM, but rather by 
  the characters. 
  • Conflict 
  • Having set an objective, the characters move on, but something 
  opposes them. An NPC, a monstrous creature, their environment, 
  themselves, anything. As long as the PCs face a challenge before 
  they reach their goal you’re all set. 
  • Knockout (or Kick ass)
  • Your players were intrigued, decided on a course of action, and 
  their characters overcame obstacles to reach their goal. What’s 
  next? The knock out! The end of the scene has to be memorable. 
  No matter what the scene is about, there is always a way to spice it 
  up. Even if the PCs just vanquished an uber-villain they  can 
  stumble upon some mysterious fact or witness a strange event that 
  leaves them wondering. 
  • The knockout can also consist of resolution. Your PCs have just 
  Instant Campaign Builder by DungeonMastering.com – Subscribe to Dming. It's free! – Page 25     
  
  achieved one of the main goals of the campaign? Reward them 
  accordingly and it should make the scene memorable. Let the 
  characters bask in their own glory. But even if you choose this 
  option you can squeeze an unexpected twist in the celebration. 
  Instant Campaign Builder by DungeonMastering.com – Subscribe to Dming. It's free! – Page 26     
  
  Hype
  Most great events are preceded by an insane amount of publicity, which 
  sometimes generates anticipation. I believe a Saturday morning D&D session 
  can benefit from fabricated buzz and hype.
  How to generate hype
  • Constantly remind your players the game is coming up. If the DM is so 
  obsessed with the campaign it has to be great! 
  • Leak information. Give your players information about the campaign 
  inadvertantly. It’s like meta-foreshadowing. 
  • Create characters
   
   .  StupidRanger’s better characters  article is worth a 
  look. 
  • Ask the players what they want and include it in the campaign. 
  • Prepare opening credits for the campaign. 
  •
  Watch and learn
  If  you  feel  your  game  isn’t  highly  anticipated,  watch  sports  news  or 
  entertainment gossip tv programs and observe how they generate buzz from 
  nothing.
  Instant Campaign Builder by DungeonMastering.com – Subscribe to Dming. It's free! – Page 27     
  
  The danger zone
  When purposefully generating hype you have to keep in mind that the 
  expectations will be higher so you need to come up with a great campaign. If 
  you follow the tips of the Instant Campaign Builder you should be alright!
  Reader suggestions – Stupid Ranger says:
  On of the things that keeps me jazzed about the campaign are awesome cliff-
  hangers. When your character is in mortal danger, you need to come back 
  and resolve the situation. 
  Instant Campaign Builder by DungeonMastering.com – Subscribe to Dming. It's free! – Page 28     
  
  Planting
  So you’ve been preparing a brand new campaign. You have an outline, you 
  drew up a few interesting scenes, and you might even have a cool prop for an 
  upcoming game. What now? Well, it’s time to plant some information, clues 
  and hints.
  Going  over  the  scenes  that  are  likely  to  be  played  first  and  adding 
  information that the characters will need later in the campaign is called 
  planting, and it can make good games great, or great games unforgettable.
  Why is planting great?
  • Your players will feel that you have everything planned and under 
  control. 
  • Your scenes will be rich and detailed. 
  • Your players will feel good about themselves when they work their way 
  out of a tough situation or solve a puzzling enigma thanks to some 
  “random” item, or clue they found 5 games earlier. 
  Instant Campaign Builder by DungeonMastering.com – Subscribe to Dming. It's free! – Page 29     
  
  How do I plant?
  I think there are 2 main elements to planting effectively.
  • First of all I try to plant a lot of information the PCs might use, but none 
  they have to use. A lot of time might pass between games and I don’t 
  want them to die horribly because of an out-of-game factor (time). 
  • I  try  to  plant  some  information,  items,  or  clues  that  are  useless. 
  Sometimes the PCs actually find a way to use them! Sometimes it 
  remains what it what meant to be: just a diversion so the actual clues 
  don’t stand out too much. 
  The positive side effects of planting
  The planting phase of the campaign planning is one of my favorite. I usually 
  think of dozens of cool scenes or events as I go back over the scenes I have 
  already designed and add details.
  Instant Campaign Builder by DungeonMastering.com – Subscribe to Dming. It's free! – Page 30     
  
  Beginning
  The first scene
  This is the first impression the players will get. Blow your players minds and 
  they’ll be much more involved in their characters and your campaign. That 
  should make your game easier to prepare - which is the whole point of the 
  Instant Campaign Builder.
  So after you have a campaign outline and scenes planned out, go back to the 
  very first scene and make sure it is laden with uber-awesomeness.
  Setting the tone
  The first scene sets the tone for the whole campaign so you want to make 
  sure it matches your vision of the campaign. Ideally it would also match your 
  players’ expectations for the upcoming campaign.
  Instant Campaign Builder by DungeonMastering.com – Subscribe to Dming. It's free! – Page 31     
  
  Setting the mood
  What is the campaign mood? Humorous? Dark? Theatrical? Setting the mood 
  right - dim lighting, Barry White? - in the first game might save you a lot of 
  work. The players will assume the world’s atmosphere and hasn’t changed if 
  you forget to mention mood details for a scene or two.
  Make a promise
  You could call this subtle foreshadowing. The promise lets the players know 
  where the campaign is going and even what the main campaign goal is. This 
  is done through the events of the first scene. It’s not an actual spoken 
  promise.
  For example, if I started a campaign in which the characters’ hometown is in 
  a war-torn kingdom I could make this promise: “The good folks of the 
  kingdom will live in peace again and the PCs will play a big part in ending 
  the war.”
  I’d probably get the promise across by bringing an army scouting party led 
  by a high-ranking army officer to the character’s hometown, and have the 
  Instant Campaign Builder by DungeonMastering.com – Subscribe to Dming. It's free! – Page 32     
  
  PCs defeat - maybe by some stroke of luck or genius - the officer and the 
  scout party. That will set the tone for a campaign in which you can vanquish 
  your enemy and win the war and live in peace (defeat of the scout party) and 
  in which the PCs play an important part (they already kicked some high-
  ranking ass).
  Get a spark
  If you feel your first scene isn’t up to par, you can check out Roleplaying 
  Tips’ Story Sparks #1 and Story Sparks #2.
  Instant Campaign Builder by DungeonMastering.com – Subscribe to Dming. It's free! – Page 33     
  
  Ending
  Why plan the ending?
  I strongly suggest planning the ending, the last scene of your campaign 
  before the first game is ever played. Here’s why:
  • Knowing where the campaign is headed - or where it could be headed - 
  can help you make a lot of decisions on the fly and improvise more 
  effectively. 
  • You might realize you need to plant clues, items, or information along 
  the way. 
  • Once the ending is planned, foreshadowing becomes an option. A while 
  ago I wrote about roleplaying foreshadowing. 
  Instant Campaign Builder by DungeonMastering.com – Subscribe to Dming. It's free! – Page 34     
  
  How to end a campaign
  I would definitely try to deliver on the promise you made in the first game. 
  Other than that I would refer to TT’s How to end a campaign articles:
  End a campaign… 
  • With a Bang
  • With a Whimper
  • A Sudden Stop
  • On Indefinite Hold
  • Fast Forward
  • According to Plan
  Instant Campaign Builder by DungeonMastering.com – Subscribe to Dming. It's free! – Page 35     
  
  Fine-tuning
  All the hard work is done. The campaign is almost ready to be unveiled. 
  Almost! There’s still a few things you can do to make it better. In no 
  particular order here are 4 things I’ll do to make sure my campaign rocks. 
  This is something that I often prepare in 5 or 10 minutes on game day.
  • The superstar potential. I’ll go over every scene and make sure at 
  least one character has a chance to have a superstar moment. This is 
  much easier to do if you have the PC character sheets at your disposal. 
  That way it is easy to match a scene with a useful set of skills, a spell or 
  feat. In my opinion, this is the most important point of the whole Instant 
  Campaign Builder Project. If your players feels like their characters 
  rock you can get away with an otherwise sloppy campaign. 
  • Add a unique or bizarre element to each scene. Spice up your game 
  with unobtrusive, but interesting facts about the environment the PCs 
  adventure in. 
  • Add completely, utterly useless clues, events, and NPCs throughout 
  the campaign. I love watching my players meta-game an encounter. 
  Instant Campaign Builder by DungeonMastering.com – Subscribe to Dming. It's free! – Page 36     
  
  They don’t say so but sometimes it is obvious they’re thinking: If the 
  DM mentionned it, it must be important! 
  • Get your game helpers together: combat matrices, extra maps, spare 
  dice, pen, paper, eraser, lucky hamster, whatever. Anything you might 
  use during a game should be neatly placed together in a binder, a 
  drawer, or a box. 
  Instant Campaign Builder by DungeonMastering.com – Subscribe to Dming. It's free! – Page 37     
  
  Have fun
  This is it! Your campaign is ready. Now try to keep your party alive for at 
  least 3 hours!  Don't forget to enjoy every minute of  your D&D sessions and 
  always take the time to chat with your buddies before or after the game.
  If you feel like you're working too much to prepare your games, then you 
  should read this document again, play shorter game, or contact me. I'll be 
  happy to give a few tips specific to your campaign.
  I sincerely hope you'll find your D&D life more enjoyable now that you 
  know how to create a campaign “instantly”.
  -Yax
  yax@dungeonmastering.com
  www.DungeonMastering.com
  Instant Campaign Builder by DungeonMastering.com – Subscribe to Dming. It's free! – Page 38     
  
SOURCE: textdata/thevault/System neutral/System Neutral Adventure Design, Dungeoncraft/GM Advice & Writing/Instant Campaign Builder.pdf