Creating D&D marketing campaign concepts from scratch may be exhilarating, enjoyable, and likewise nerve-wracking. On the floor, there seems to be a lot to take into consideration, plan, put together, and envision. However, in actuality, as a D&D Dungeon Master (DM), you don’t have to have a 500-page novel laid out earlier than you sit down along with your gamers. Yes, some DMs favor to have most of their concepts, plot hooks, villains, and encounters all set and prepared to go.
However, there are different colleges of thought on the market that posit it’s higher to go session-to-session. This relies on the improvisational nature of the sport and the unpredictability of gamers, in the event you plan TOO a lot, as a DM, you run the chance of railroading your gamers into eventualities that suit your story, not theirs. And it’s vital to keep in mind that a very good D&D session ought to disrupt your fastidiously laid out plans as a DM. You shouldn’t have any thought what they’re going to do and can want to act accordingly.
That mentioned, there are some methods for you as a DM to create a framework of concepts that can allow you to be ready. You can have a free set of marketing campaign concepts to get issues began. We cowl some D&D marketing campaign concepts to get you began earlier than your subsequent adventures!
Start in a Library
As a librarian, I really like the thought of beginning a D&D marketing campaign in a library. There are a number of methods you may go together with this. In the world of D&D, there are a few libraries that I’ve used extensively: Candlekeep Library (which has its personal collection of one-shots which are actually enjoyable) and The Vault of Sages within the lovely metropolis of Silverymoon.
You, in fact, can create your individual library. I made one for our gamers, which I referred to as “The Revelation.” It was a spot the place gamers might have maps made, conduct analysis on their downtime (for a charge, in fact), and meet attention-grabbing and unusual NPCs.
To spice issues up a bit, you can add a number of components to make it attention-grabbing. Perhaps a number of the lower-ranking librarians have gone lacking, perhaps a malevolent power has slyly infiltrated the library and created a portal within the basement archives, unleashing unspeakable horrors that the gamers have to determine. And, because the Candlekeep Mysteries level out, you can simply begin a marketing campaign round a lacking or cursed e-book or a e-book with a mysterious writer. A library is such a wealthy place to begin your D&D marketing campaign, it may be a welcome aid from the standard “you start in a tavern” state of affairs.
Curses and Diseases
I really like curses. They generate what’s, for my part, an important a part of any D&D marketing campaign: the ticking clock. If your gamers are left to wander aimlessly on the planet, sure, they might take pleasure in it, however there may be the chance that they may develop into bored.
If there’s a sense of urgency injected into the marketing campaign by way of a curse that, let’s say, makes individuals go insane (you may create your individual forms of insanity and results; that is the fantastic thing about D&D), or one thing occurs to them bodily, they’re extra probably to be invested in what’s taking place. I had a participant develop bigger each 12 hours after touching a cursed merchandise and failing a Charisma Saving Throw.
In the top, they had been 22 toes tall earlier than they had been ready to cease the impact — not useful if you find yourself making an attempt to be sneaky! If you broaden this concept, a curse that has wild, a number of bodily results due to a rogue wizard or corrupted spell e-book can lead to every kind of various locations. The thought is to have a enjoyable place to begin that may create a number of avenues of exploration.
Revenge
I really like the thought of a bunch or sentient being or god exacting revenge on the “human world” of a D&D marketing campaign. An instance of that is that Silvanus (the god of untamed nature) is finished with people ravaging the world. As a end result, druids who’re blindly devoted to the god start exacting revenge on native cities. This might be within the type of destroying farms or logging gear to begin, leaving townsfolk perplexed.
Once the gamers uncover this thread, it might probably lead to a lot deeper, darker issues the place they need to combat off a number of the extra “enthusiastic” druids whereas brokering for peace between the 2 sides. I really like this concept as a result of it doesn’t imply that there might be all-out fight, gamers may have to use their negotiating and roleplaying expertise to create a world of steadiness. This may even create some powerful choices on the desk, which, if completed proper, may be very attention-grabbing and enjoyable.
I hope these D&D marketing campaign concepts are useful in beginning your sport. In my opinion, crucial factor to bear in mind as a DM is to give gamers the liberty to discover and develop their characters. It’s their story, and in the event you maintain that on the forefront, they are going to hopefully bear in mind the marketing campaign for a very long time after it has completed.
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