Grow a campaign you can maintain

Reuse Willowmere as a home base. The run sheet includes The Broken Warning Posts for session 2 and Lights Beyond the Marsh for session 3. These are preparation prompts, not fully scripted follow-up adventures: build their details around what your players choose.

Before each session, prepare a short recap, one current problem, three clues or leads, two ways forward, and a consequence that could return later. Add one new location when you know the group wants to go there. Reuse Nessa, Orrin, and Tamsin so relationships can develop.

Keep a campaign record using the template at the end of the GM run sheet. Record what actually happened, not only your original plan. Note the party's location, resources, promised rewards, unresolved jobs, and chosen next destination.

Keep your original PNGs, text notes, and approved character records in a campaign folder outside the VTT too. An exported scene or actor is one document; it is not proof of a complete world backup. Before relying on a backup or moving a campaign, verify the application's current backup and restore process in a disposable world. Backup restoration was outside this tutorial rehearsal.

Add one feature at a time after the first session: a portrait, measurement tools, a practice combat, then walls, lighting, and fog on a separate practice scene. Check every new feature with a player account before putting it into a live adventure. More automation is useful when it removes work you already understand.