Starting a New Dungeons & Dragons Campaign in 7 Steps
- R. Nelson Bailey
- Apr 14, 2019
- 11 min read
Updated: 11 hours ago
This guide offers suggestions and tips for Dungeon Masters preparing to launch a new campaign for their Dungeons & Dragons group.
By R. Nelson Bailey
Starting a new campaign can be a daunting task for any Dungeon Master. Below is my list of seven tips to help a DM start their campaign smoothly and set their players on the right track.
1. Choose a Campaign Theme
A theme is a guiding premise that uses archetypal locations, environments, and cultures to distinguish the new campaign from previous ones. The theme sets the tone for the entire campaign, giving it a unique flavor and identity. Not every adventure must adhere strictly to the theme, but the DM should keep it in mind when selecting most adventures.
There is no limit to possible archetypes — a theme can be broad or narrow, mundane or exotic. Here are a few examples:
The adventurers begin in a large city, with plots revolving around urban politics, guild rivalries, and city landmarks.
An enchanted forest inhabited primarily by elves and fey creatures.
All player characters belong to a tribe of desert-dwelling barbarians. Adventures take place in the desert wilderness, where survival in a harsh environment is a constant factor.
A campaign centered on extraplanar locales, featuring strange realms and otherworldly monsters.
Characters hail from a seafaring nation, with adventures set on the high seas.
A mono-type party: all pirates, all gnomes, all magic-users, or all nobility (or even a mix of these uniform concepts).
2. Define Races and Classes
The chosen theme naturally suggests which races and classes best fit the adventure environment. Some options may feel out of place or clash with the campaign’s tone. Before players roll up their characters, the DM should provide a clear list of available races and classes.
Many DMs don’t think to impose such boundaries, but doing so prevents oddball choices that disrupt the campaign’s feel. It also ensures consistency among the party and strengthens the overall verisimilitude of the setting.
3. Define Alignments
Alignment can also be a source of potential conflict. I advise my players to collectively decide their alignment preferences before creating new characters. The party might be:
A Good-aligned group with a few Neutrals (or vice versa).
An Evil-aligned group with a few Neutrals (or vice versa).
A party where all characters share the same moral alignment (all Good, all Neutral, or all Evil).
This prevents the common pitfall of mixed Good-and-Evil parties that often cause problems later in the campaign. Additionally, some alignments may clash with the chosen theme and should be restricted for certain — or even all — character classes.
4. Character Background
Each character should have a background that explains how they reached this point — usually the start of their adventuring career at 1st level. This doesn’t need to be a hyper-detailed biography, but it should include:
The character’s homeland and town.
Family, siblings, and other key figures in their life.
As a rule of thumb, I give each character at least three contacts. These NPCs can play active roles in the character’s life and may even serve as the springboard for future adventures.
5. Character Personality
While this is primarily a player’s responsibility, the DM’s input is still valuable. Encourage players to give their characters a distinct personality and a motivation for adventuring. This need not be a lengthy essay — just a short description will do.
Doing so helps players avoid falling into the trap of always playing essentially the same character. While there’s nothing inherently wrong with that, a character with a defined personality and motivation will be far more interesting and memorable.
6. Pick a Base of Operations
The party should have a home city or town to return to between adventures for rest and upkeep. Draw a map of this settlement and note a handful of important NPCs and businesses. It’s also helpful to sketch out the surrounding territory within a 30-mile radius.
You don’t need to describe every detail of the town — just focus on locations that will be most useful to the characters early on. Examples include:
Suppliers of adventuring gear.
A blacksmith or armorer.
A potion dealer.
One or two higher-level wizards.
Local temples.
A gem merchant.
Additional details and locations can be introduced later as the campaign progresses and new needs arise.
7. Adventure Ideas
At the start of a campaign, prepare a set of rumors to spark adventures. I typically create 10 to 20. These rumors don’t always need to be true, but they should always lead to some form of adventure.
At the beginning of the campaign, let the players hear three or four rumors, and allow them to choose which to pursue. Once they choose, flesh that rumor out into a full adventure. Continue to introduce new rumors as the campaign unfolds. Here are a few examples:
The Helwessen Shrine is paying high prices for the sap of the lich tree — ten times the normal rate (50 gp per pot).
A rogue golem is rampaging across the countryside west of Strekkenbourg, smashing cottages and killing livestock. The wizard Prestivan the Marvelous seeks aid in stopping it.
Several villagers have mysteriously vanished from Hraltha, southeast of Strekkenbourg. They disappeared in the night from their cottages without a trace.
Strange lights flicker above the tower of the sorcerer Zendrical. Locals say these are evil spirits guarding treasures he plundered from nearby barbarian tombs.
Travelers report sightings of a ghostly woman in the ruins of an ancient necropolis near the Aroon Hills. Her mournful wails are said to be those of a long-dead queen grieving her lost lover.
SETTINGS FOR A DUNGEONS & DRAGONS CAMPAIGN
1. Survival Clans
The characters begin as members of a tight-knit clan locked in a feud with a neighboring clan that has lasted for more than a hundred years. The campaign takes place in a rural setting with no large towns or cities nearby. Most adventures will center on clan survival and the constant battles and schemes each side employs to gain the upper hand.
Characters can expect limited help from their clan, but must turn over a portion of their treasure to it. Around the 1st or 2nd level, the PCs find themselves trapped in a vast underground mega-dungeon used by both clans in their conflict. With little or no equipment, they must fight for sheer survival to escape. While the PCs are free to act as they choose, they must still adhere to clan rules.
Character Classes Allowed: All classes are suitable.
Alignments Allowed: All alignments are permitted, though Good works the least well.
Races Allowed: Any race is acceptable.
2. The Temple Where Everyone Knows Your Name
All player characters begin their careers as members of a temple or monastery. They must follow the temple’s code (determined by the patron deity). Transgressions will result in punishment, and players will be given a complete list of codes at the campaign’s start.
Adventures usually involve missions assigned by superiors. Autonomy depends on alignment: chaotic characters have more freedom, lawful ones less. Characters must donate most of their wealth and magical items, but they can expect help from higher-ranking clergy. As the PCs rise in rank, they gain both more duties and more leeway in choosing adventures.
All characters share the same faith. If part of the Deimos religion, the temple will be dedicated to a specific saint; otherwise, the Celtic religion works well with this setup.
Character Classes Allowed: Depends on the chosen deity or saint.
Alignments Allowed: All characters must share the same alignment; chaotic alignments are the most difficult to manage.
Races Allowed: Humans work best. Elves fit poorly, while halflings and dwarves work to a lesser extent.
3. Just Hangin’ with Me Maties
The characters are part of a loosely organized band of thugs and pirates (a biker gang is a good analogy). Each PC begins as a recruit to a pirate crew in a city along the Pirate Coast. This group of freebooters and mercenaries is motivated primarily by greed, though they also crave excitement and adventure.
Player characters enjoy significant autonomy, but must follow the gang’s code and pay a share of their loot to their leaders. Rivalries with other pirate gangs are common. Adventures will mix traditional dungeons with shipboard action and city-based intrigue.
Character Classes Allowed: Most work, except those requiring a Good alignment. Fighters and thieves are best suited.
Alignments Allowed: No Good alignments allowed, though characters need not be Evil.
Races Allowed: Any race is allowed, but humans fit best.
4. Defenders of the Righteous
The characters serve a local lord whose lands border the Witch-Kingdom — an evil realm ruled by mysterious overlords commanding hordes of humanoids bent on destroying all that is good. The PCs’ lord is sworn to resist these forces and protect his people.
Adventures include infiltration, mass combat, patrols, diplomacy, rescue missions, and both dungeon and wilderness expeditions. The PCs can expect aid from their lord but must remain loyal to his cause. A portion of their treasure and magical items must be turned over to support the ongoing war effort.
Character Classes Allowed: All except monks and assassins.
Alignments Allowed: All characters must be Good-aligned; it works best if they share their lord’s alignment.
Races Allowed: Most races work, though consistency is stronger if all PCs are of the same race.
5. Noble Ruffians
The characters begin in a large city as members of a powerful noble family. These families control various industries, making them fabulously wealthy. Competition between them is fierce, often escalating into street battles or political intrigue.
Adventures focus on family rivalries and the struggle to retain honor. Each family has its own code of conduct. Player autonomy depends on the family’s alignment: chaotic families grant more freedom, lawful ones less. Regardless, PCs must follow orders from their elders—disobedience carries consequences. Characters must turn over treasure to the family, but can also expect support, with lawful families offering more aid than chaotic ones.
Character Classes Allowed: Thieves excel here. Monks, cavaliers, paladins, and rangers are unsuitable.
Alignments Allowed: Any alignment works, though Good is the least effective.
Races Allowed: Humans fit best, though halflings or half-elves work reasonably well. Other races are less suitable.
Sample Campaign
The following example demonstrates many of the elements discussed above. These notes come from the starting materials for a Dungeons & Dragons campaign I ran a few years ago.
WARRIORS OF VALHALLA CAMPAIGN
Campaign Overview
This setting takes place in the icy fjords and snow-covered mountains of the far North Country. The party will consist of Northmen serving a local chieftain. The only available religious pantheon is Norse.
During the summer, the characters may join ship-borne bands to raid southern lands. Adventures will include traditional dungeons, town-centered escapades, sea voyages, and even mass combat. Winters are spent snowbound in the frozen northern towns. At some point, the players will discover that their chieftain is threatened by an ancient curse.
Filial Assistance
Because the party serves a local chieftain, they will receive bonuses after each adventure to aid them on the next one. These may take the form of:
A set amount of money for equipment or hirelings.
Access to minor magical items owned by their lord.
The full bonus must be used for the next adventure and cannot be saved. Consumable items (such as potions or scrolls) need not be returned, but all permanent magical items are only loaned.
Bonuses are calculated as a set amount of gold per average party level. In addition, before each adventure, characters will receive a rune-casting by a priest to determine their fate. This divination may bring additional fortune — or foretell misfortune.
Character Classes Allowed
This campaign is especially suited to fighters, berserkers, bards (skalds), clerics, and runecasters. Paladins, cavaliers, and monks are not allowed. Magic-users are less common and suffer penalties to their Encounter Reaction adjustment when dealing with locals. Thieves are rare and have limitations on some of their standard skills.
Alignments Allowed
There are no alignment restrictions, though chaotic alignments tend to fit the setting best.
Races Allowed
Dwarves and elves are generally well-regarded by the common folk.
Gnomes and halflings are rare but playable.
Half-orcs are widely distrusted and suffer steep penalties to their Encounter Reaction adjustment with the local population.
Sample Character Background
Below is an example of a background I created for a Dungeons & Dragons player character. Players are welcome to collaborate with the DM when developing their backstories, but the DM has the final say on what is acceptable. If a player submits their own background, it should always be vetted by the DM before being approved.
Trespo, half-elf fighter/cleric
Trespo was born in the town of Crentz in eastern Hardenburg, Niehmoria. A good-sized town of merchants (population 2,200), Crentz was home to Trespo’s father, Baron Drenhald, a landowning noble who lived on a large estate nearby. Trespo was the result of a tryst between the baron and an elven woman from Vællioth Forest, whom Drenhald had met during his younger years. After the child’s birth, the infant Trespo was left on Drenhald’s doorstep with a note attached. The baron never divulged the woman’s name.
Trespo had two younger human brothers, both of whom died at a young age, leaving him the sole heir to his father’s estate. Although born a bastard, Drenhald later accepted him as his heir. Trespo lived with his father for many years on the estate, where he was trained in the art of combat. Drenhald hoped that his son would one day become a knight in his service. Trespo, however, refused the honor, saying that he despised the strict rules and pretentious pomp of knighthood. At the age of twenty-eight, his father disinherited him and ordered him to leave the estate.
Trespo took up residence in the city of Crentz, where he was received by the brothers of the Abbey of the Splendid Sun. For two years, he served them humbly — cleaning, sweeping, and cooking — until the brothers recognized his potential and persuaded him to pursue a holier calling. Thereafter, Trespo began training as a cleric.
By the time war once again raised its ugly head in Hardenburg, Drenhald was an old man. Like most nobles in the region, he sided with the rebels against Prince Alben. Six months into the conflict, his estate was raided and burned to the ground. Captured, Drenhald languished in the dungeons of Graffinden, where he died of fever a few months later.
Meanwhile, Trespo and his fellow brothers at the abbey were pressed into service by the local barons as healers for their troops. On Trespo’s first assignment, the patrol he accompanied was ambushed by enemy forces on a lonely road thirty miles from Crentz. During the fight, Trespo was struck unconscious. When he awoke, the rest of the patrol lay slain (save for one knight, presumably captured), and all arms and equipment had been taken. Believing Trespo dead, the enemy left him behind. Soon after, he learned that Crentz was surrounded by hostile forces, making any return impossible without risking capture or death. Gathering what supplies he could, Trespo fled eastward into safer lands.
People You Know
Brother Ylinor — Mid-level priest of the Abbey of the Splendid Sun in Crentz.
Jenculd — Drenhald’s loyal manservant, who helped raise Trespo. Last known to be in Crentz.
Gesttin — Human fighter and childhood friend who became an adventurer.
Allisa von Warring — Cousin and knight who joined the rebel forces. Last reported in rebel-held lands south of Crentz.
Special Notes
Otherworldly Benefactor: Trespo has a guardian angel who watches over him. From time to time, odd coincidences or twists of fate occur that seem beyond normal explanation. Trespo believes these moments are the work of his mysterious benefactor, though he never knows exactly when — or how — it will intervene in his life.
Character Traits (likes, dislikes, mannerisms, etc.)
To be filled out by the player.
Adventuring Goals (i.e., motivations for adventuring)
To be filled out by the player.
Conclusion
Launching a new Dungeons & Dragons campaign doesn’t need to feel overwhelming. By starting with a clear theme, setting boundaries on races, classes, and alignments, and encouraging players to develop backgrounds and personalities, a DM can create a game world with depth and coherence. Establishing a base of operations and preparing adventure hooks ensures the players always have direction while still maintaining freedom of choice. With a bit of forethought and flexibility, these steps provide a strong foundation for a campaign that can grow organically, offering both the Dungeon Master and the players a memorable and rewarding experience.
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