Author:: u/Kalamadorel
Tags:: article
Notes::
How do you structure a D&D campaign?
Building a campaign should start from the top down. From general character arcs to more specific scenes and encounters.
The top-down organization of a campaign is a follows: Note: this is only for organization purposes and not how player move through a story
Overarching Campaign
what is the idea kernel or thesis summary of the campaign
Examples from NADDPOD
"The campaign after the campaign"
The previous generation of legendary heroes messed things up
Story Arcs
Story arcs happen sequentially (to the player)
Completion of all story arcs these signals the end of the campaign.
Moonstone
The Fey Wild
Galaderon
The 9 Hells / Pendergreens
Scenes
Can be understood as "quests" or "tasks"
Escaping the purge
Traveling to "thwack the gash"
Encounters
Active action taken by the player
fight with the bullywugs
the boobs sneak into the castle
Define the beginning and the ending of the
This doesn't mean that the campaign is railroaded, just that the
Does a top-down structure make sense to me? How do I visualize plot?
I see plot in terms of character motivation and intention. Having a fixed ending doesn't really make sense to me. To paraphrase the German general No campaign plan survives contact with the players.
Drama happens at the point of friction between two forces
To set up a campaign root it in characters with motivations. How these motivations bounce off each other and the players is what makes the emergent mess of D&D fun.