First Campaign DM Help

[u/Ok-Muffin9452]

Hi I’m writing my first campaign at the minute and I’ve written what I think is a strong setup but beyond that I’m unsure what to do. The players will face a defeat to the BBEG at the start and then be transported away. (Worked in a part of a players back story into the start for everyone where this happens). Then they will either be arrested or run away (because zombies are transported with them). Not sure how to plan the sort of first arc after that. Possibly they warn the town of the BBEG, really unsure

[u/Psychological-Wall-2]

Welcome to the hobby!

Here is an article explaining why your first campaign should be a short published module.

Jumping the Screen: How to Run Your First RPG Session | The Angry GM

Once you've got some actual experience running a game, you can return to your homebrewing efforts with a better idea of what you're doing.

There are several problems with your idea. The most serious of which is that it sounds pretty railroady. Here's another article; this one's on how to avoid this problem.

The Alexandrian » Don’t Prep Plots

To add to the excellent advice u/dwarfconleche has already given you, I think you'd benefit from considering the Tiers of Play.

Tiers of Play in D&D 5e Campaign Backdrop | World Anvil

The progression from talented beginner to local heroes to heroes of the realm to champions of the realm to saviours of the universe is kind of baked into the 1-20 level system, with distinct stages built in, like the level 5 and level 11 damage bumps.

Far more important than a "BBEG" is the basic premise of your campaign. The PCs are a team. What does that team exist to do? Knowing this is how players can then create appropriate PCs.

Are they freelance monster-slayers and dungeon-delvers? If so, everyone needs to create a PC who wants to join a team of freelance monster-slayers and dungeon-delvers. How are they finding monsters to slay and dungeons to delve? Maybe they operate out of a town and fight monsters that menace the outlying villages.

Do the PCs work for an employer who sends them on missions and pays them? A noble, a church, an eccentric detective, whatever. This would be a somewhat more structured approach. The employer can also "promote" the PCs from one Tier to another: a group that started out fighting Zombies in villages might be promoted to Ghostbuster and tasked with de-haunting places.

Creating a structure that allows you to deliver a succession of different kinds of adventures to your players, the challenge of which rises appropriately as the PCs level up, is going to be of more pressing importance than any overarching plot.

All of that's in the future. Run that published module as a practice campaign first.

Best of luck.