Page 26 - Dungeon Master's Guide

Or perhaps they begin the campaign in the dungeons Are you tied to any of the organizations or people
of an evil baron's castle where they've been locked up involved in the events that kick off the campaign? Are
for various reasons (legitimate or otherwise), throwing they friends or enemies?
them into the midst of the adventure.
Listen to the players' ideas, and say yes if you can.
For each of these steps, give the locations only as
Even if you want all the characters to have grown up in
much detail as they need. You don't need to identify
the starting town, consider allowing a recent arrival or
every building in a village or label every street in a large
a transplant if the player's story is convincing enough.
city. If the characters start in the baron's dungeon, you'll
Suggest alterations to a character's story so it better fits
need the details of this first adventure site, but you
your world, or weave the first threads of your campaign
don't have to name all the baron's knights. Sketch out
into that story.
a simple map, think about the surrounding area, and
consider whom the characters are most likely to interact
CREATING A BACKGROUND
with early in the campaign. Most important, visualize
how this area fits into the theme and story you have in Backgrounds are designed to root player characters
mind for your campaign. Then start working on your in the world, and creating new backgrounds is a great
first adventure! way to introduce players to the special features of your
world. Backgrounds that have ties to particular cultures,
SET THE STAGE organizations, and historical events from your campaign
are particularly strong. Perhaps the priests of a certain
As you start to develop your campaign, you'll need to
religion live as beggars supported by a pious populace,
fill in the players on the basics. For easy distribution,
singing the tales of their deity's exploits to entertain
compile essential information into a campaign
and enlighten the faithful. You could create a mendicant
handout. Such a handout typically includes the
priest background (or modify the acolyte background)
following material:
to reflect these qualities. It could include musical
Any restrictions or new options for character creation, instrument proficiency, and its feature probably involves
such as new or prohibited races. receiving hospitality from the faithful.
Any information in the backs tory of your campaign Guidelines for creating a new background are
that the characters would know about. If you have provided in chapter 9, "Dungeon Master's Workshop."
a theme or direction in mind for the campaign, this
information could include seeds hinting at that focus. CAMPAIGN EVENTS
• Basic information about the area where the characters
Significant events in the history of a fantasy world tend
are starting, such as the name of the town, important
toward immense upheavals: wars that pit the forces
locations in and around it, prominent NPCs they'd
of good against evil in an epic confrontation, natural
know about, and perhaps rumors that point to trouble
disasters that lay waste to entire civilizations, invasions
that's brewing.
of vast armies or extra planar hordes, assassinations
Keep this handout short and to the point. Two pages of world leaders. These world-shaking events title the
is a reasonable maximum. Even if you have a burst of chapters of history.
creative energy that produces twenty pages of great In a D&D game, such events provide the sparks that
background material, save it for your adventures. Let can ignite and sustain a campaign. The most common
the players uncover the details gradually in play. pitfall of serial stories without a set beginning, mfddle,
and end is inertia. Like many television shows and
INVOLVING THE CHARACTERS comic-book series, a D&D campaign runs the risk of
Once you've identified what your campaign is about, retreading the same ground long after the enjoyment's
let the players help tell the story by deciding how their gone. Just as actors or writers drift away from those
characters are involved. This is their opportunity to other mediums, so can players- the actors and writers
tie their characters' history and background to the of a D&D game. Games stagnate when the story
campaign, and a chance for you to determine how the meanders too long without a change in tone, when the
various elements of each character's background tie same villains and similar adventures grow tiresome and
into the campaign's story. For example, what secret has predictable, and when the world doesn't change around
the hermit character learned? What is the status of the the characters and in response to their actions.
noble character's family? What is the folk hero's destiny? World-shaking events force conflict. They set new
Some players might have trouble coming up with events and power groups in motion. Their outcomes
ideas-not everyone is equally inventive. You can help change the world by altering the tone of the setting
spur their creativity with a few questions about their in a meaningful way. They chronicle the story of your
characters: world in big, bold print. Change- especially change that
occurs as a result of the characters' actions-keeps the
Are you a native, born and raised in the area? If so,
story moving. If change is imperceptible, the actions
who's your family? What's your current occupation?
of the characters lack significance. When the world
• Are you a recent arrival? Where did you come from? becomes reliable, it's time to shake things up.
Why did you come to this area?

CHAPTER I I A WORLD OF YOUR OWN