8 ways to start a campaign that’s not in a tavern (not that there’s anything wrong with that…) Many thanks to Jrronimo for letting me use this photo taken in the St Leonards Tavern One of the more persistent recurring jokes in any role-playing game is that games always seem to start in Taverns, Inns, Pubs, etc… While this actually makes a lot of sense considering that this is where travellers are likely to be, and where a lot of hiring/firing, etc would typically occur, when you find yourself starting the 7th or 8th campaign the same way, you probably need to expand your repertoire.
What follows is eight ideas (some I have actually used…) for starting a campaign. [Disclaimer: although the current campaign that I am running did start in a tavern, it had a twist, so that's ok... right?] 1. Friends return to their hometown for the funeral of a childhood friend The party grew up together but then went their separate ways to pursue their chosen career paths (*cough* classes). 2. The ship can then be captured by pirates, attacked by monsters, shipwrecked, etc. 3. 4. 5. 6. 7. 8. Treasure: Coin Names. One way to make your game more immersive is to add those little details which make your world unique.
One of the easiest details to add is to name coinage. Even if your campaign world has a unified currency, having named coins instead of simply saying “gold piece” or “copper piece” adds a nice immersive touch for very little work. You can of course introduce multiple currencies, perhaps one for each major nation or fallen empire or one for each character race, but it is probably a good idea to do no more than that as you’re trying to add flavor, not play fantasy banker. In any case, here are some suggested name lists to get your imagination going: Written by Michael Michael Hammes had worked for six years in the RPG industry before the reality of family life and homeownership pulled him away.
Filed under: Treasure · Tags: coins , treasure. Dungeon Mastering Advice « Jonathan Drain’s D20 Source: Dungeons & Dragons Blog. Ioun Stone Complete Guide « Jonathan Drain’s D20 Source: Dungeons & Dragons Blog. Ioun Stone Complete Guide posted Friday, September 19th 2008 by Jonathan Drain Fourth Edition • Game Material • Magic Items & Gear • Other Systems • Third Edition • Wondrous Items In researching an article for Kobold Quarterly #6 I discovered that there are a lot more ioun stones in D&D history than the sixteen appearing in the third edition Dungeon Master’s Guide or the single lonely example in D&D 4th edition’s list.
Of particular interest is an article in Dragon magazine #174 which describes the ioun stones’ origin on the positive energy plane, and Larloch’s entry in Lords of Darkness defining several new stones. I’ve compiled a list of every ioun stone I can find, dating from AD&D right up to the 4th edition Adventurer’s Vault. There are a whopping 154 stones on this list, including sixteen of my own invention and the rest from canon D&D sources. Adventure Hook Random Generator. Ever find yourself stuck for an adventure idea right up to the time your players arrive for the game?
Our Adventure Hook Random Generator gives you Dungeon Masters a starting point from which you can develop a new adventure. This handy program uses a number of preset variables to develop an adventure hook or starting idea for you. Below are three different categories that, depending on the style of your game, provide starting points from which you can develop a D&D game session. You may need to adjust the wording of the result slightly to use it as a springboard to open your adventure. For instance, you might want to add place names indigenous to your campaign world, replace the generic titles with specifics, or introduce names of NPCs the player characters either have already met or know of by reputation. Remember -- this is a random generation program. Single Handedly Storming a Castle.