Page 36 - Dungeon Master's Guide

CHARACTER NAMES A campaign about confronting the inevitability of
mortality, whether embodied in undead monsters or
Part of your campaign style has to do with naming
expressed through the death of loved ones.
characters. It's a good idea to establish some ground
A campaign revolving around an insidious evil,
rules with your players at the start of a new campaign.
whether dark gods, monstrous races such as the
In a group consisting of Sithis, Travok, Anastrianna,
yuan-ti, or creatures of unknown realms far removed
and Kairon, the human fighter named Bob II sticks out,
from mortal concerns. As heroes confront this evil,
especially when he's identical to Bob I, who was killed
they must face the selfish, cold tendencies of their own
by kobolds. If everyone takes a lighthearted approach
kind as well.
to names, that's fine. If the group would rather take the
A campaign featuring troubled heroes who confront
characters and their names a little more seriously, urge
not only the savagery of the bestial creatures of the
Bob's player to come up with a more appropriate name.
world, but also the beast within- the rage and fury
Player character names should match each other that lies in their own hearts.
in flavor or concept, and they should also match the A campaign exploring the insatiable thirst for power
flavor of your campaign world-so should the non player and domination, whether embodied by the hosts of the
characters' names and place names you create. Travok Nine Hells or by humanoid rulers bent on conquering
and Kairon don't want to undertake a quest for Lord the world.
Cupcake, visit Gumdrop Island, or take down a crazy
With a theme such as "confrontation with mortality,"
wizard named Ray.
you can craft a broad range of adventures that aren't
CONTINUING OR necessarily connected by a common villain. One
adventure might feature the dead bursting from their
EPISODIC CAMPAIGNS
graves and threatening to overwhelm a whole town.
The backbone of a campaign is a connected series In the next adventure, a mad wizard creates a flesh
of adventures, but you can connect them in two golem in an effort to revive his lost love. A villain could
different ways. go to extreme lengths to achieve immortality to avoid
In a continuing campaign, the connected adventures confronting its own demise. The adventurers might
share a sense of a larger purpose or a recurring help a ghost accept death and move on, or one of the
theme (or themes). The adventures might feature adventurers might even become a ghost!
returning villains, grand conspiracies, or a single
mastermind who's ultimately behind every adventure VARIATIONS ON A THEME
of the campaign. Mixing things up once in a while allows your players
A continuing campaign designed with a theme and to enjoy a variety of adventures. Even a tightly themed
a story arc in mind can feel like a great fantasy epic. campaign can stray now and then. If your campaign
The players derive the satisfaction of knowing the heavily involves intrigue, mystery, and roleplaying, your
actions they take during one adventure matter in the players might enjoy the occasional dungeon crawl-
next. Plotting and running that kind of campaign can especially if the tangent is revealed to relate to a larger
be demanding on the DM, but the payoff is a great and plot irr the campaign. If most of your adventures are
memorable story. dungeon expeditions, shift gears with a tense urban
An episodic campaign, in contrast, is like a television mystery that eventually leads the party into a dungeon
show where each week's episode is a self-contained crawl in an abandoned building or tower. If you run
story that doesn't play into any overarching plot. It horror adventures week after week, try using a villain
might be built on a premise that explains its nature: the who turns out to be ordinary, perhaps even silly. Comic
player characters are adventurers-for-hire, or explorers relief is a great variation on almost any D&D campaign,
venturing into the unknown and facing a string of though players usually provide it themselves.
unrelated dangers. They might even be archaeologists,
venturing into one ancient ruin after another in search TIERS OF PLAY
of artifacts. An episodic game like this lets you create
As characters grow in power, their ability to change the
adventures-or buy published ones- and drop them into
world around them grows with them. It helps to think
your campaign without worrying about how they fit with
ahead when creating your campaign to account for this
the adventures that came before and follow after.
change. As the characters make a greater impact on the
world, they face greater danger whether they want to
CAMPAIGN THEME
or not. Powerful factions see them as a threat and plot
A theme in a campaign, as in a work of literature, against them, while friendly ones court their favor in
expresses the deeper meaning of a story and the hopes of striking a useful alliance.
fundamental elements of human experience that the The tiers of play represent the ideal milestones for
story explores. Your campaign doesn't have to be a work introducing new world-shaking events to the campaign.
of literature, but it can still draw on common themes As the characters resolve one event, a new danger
that lend a distinctive flavor to its stories. Consider arises or the prior trouble transforms into a new threat
these examples: in response to the characters' actions. Events.need to
grow in magnitude and scope, increasing the stakes and
drama as the characters become increasingly powerful.

CHAPTER I I A WORLD OF YOUR OWN