D&D Campaign Design: Developing a Framework

One of the difficulties I’ve had with some past D&D campaigns is a lack of focus. It feels like I’m running the group through a series of disconnected events, especially if I’m using adventures. Dungeons & Dragons campaigns can certainly be run in a monster-of-the-week format, but there’s something special about a campaign with a truly epic feel. It’s the difference between Star Wars and Star Trek (or perhaps between Star Trek movies and Star Trek TV series).

How do you get that epic D&D campaign feel? You have to set the tone. You have to develop a framework for both yourself and your players. That framework makes sure everyone knows their part (we’ll call this “campaign dynamics”). It also makes sure that everyone – including you as the DM – don’t forget what those overarching themes and storylines should be (we’ll call those “thematic assumptions.”)

Here’s the framework I recently sent out to my Dungeons & Dragons group for the start of our new campaign:

D&D campaign dynamics:

• This is a paragon-tier campaign. We’ll do some dabbling with heroic tier as a prelude, and we can continue on to epic down the road if we have the desire; however, the primary focus will be paragon tier play. My personal goal is to play through the paragon tier (plus the prelude).
• Plots are character-driven. Storylines are developed around characters and their actions. That doesn’t mean the characters are always playing a major role in world events, but rather that their pursuits and options are derived from their own choices and characteristics.
• The players have a common goal. While there will likely be points of contention between characters from time to time, the game works better when it’s cooperative, rather than competitive. Conflicting goals and minor contentions are valuable tools; completely working at cross purposes are not.
• We’ll play every other Friday. As of today, the calendar is clear from today until August 5th – when I’ll be at Gen Con. I’ll give as much advanced warning as possible if I need to change something. I’d like to play as long as we have 4 players for any given session.
• Creativity is encouraged and rewarded. Creative use of powers, as well as good roleplaying and story ideas, will result in various in-game rewards (and will also help everyone to have a good time).

D&D campaign thematic assumptions:

• That “points of light” thing – yeah, we really mean that. The dark forces that brought down Nerath and the other ancient empires are still out there. So are the nefarious opportunists that quickly emptied the power vacuum after those empires fell. That means travel is always inherently dangerous, cities are the closest thing to a “safe haven” that people have. Any twisted fate can – and usually does – befall those who stray too far outside civilization’s pockets.
• The Shadowfell presses hard against the Nentir Vale. While Kalarel’s efforts at the now-famous Keep on the Shadowfell were stopped by a brave band of adventurers, there are many pockets across the Nentir Vale where the line between our plane and the plane of Shadow is becoming increasingly blurred.
• The party is made up of heroes, but not radiant heroes. Overall, our band of adventurers stands opposed to evil and what it entails. That means standing together against threats to civilization and the world in general. That said, everyone has their vices, and no one is spotless. Individual characters will need to battle – often constantly – with their own proclivities to darkness. Sometimes, they’ll even be asked to sacrifice their own morality for a greater good.
• Everything is connected. Reality is a messy web of personalities and events, most of which interrelated, pushing history toward a single outcome. This outcome is unknown, and it is determined, to a large degree, by the actions of the PCs.

So, what do you think? Will this help foster that “epic” feel? If not, what do you do in your own D&D campaign to bring about that sense of awe and keep things moving?

 
photo credit: fdecomite

Tagged as: adventure, D&D, plot, roleplaying game, rpg