How to Write a D&D Campaign in 5 Easy Steps

Wondering how to write a D&D campaign? I've spent over 10 years DMing campaigns small and large, quick and long, in taverns, jungles, futuristic worlds and everything in-between. Here are the five steps I follow every time I sit down to write a new adventure!

Fear not! This article is going to do its darndest to ensure that your ideas, your adventures can shift from thought and memory into actual, functioning game play! 

How to Write a Dungeons & Dragons Campaign

Writing a D&D campaign involves five simple steps:

Let’s dive in!

Every person has preferences in the stories they enjoy and the media they consume. 

Some people love high-stakes thrillers, where a team of plucky rogues band together to steal a rare and powerful object from the clutches of a dastardly megalomaniac. Others prefer quiet, character-driven dramas about living in a small town at the end of the decade. 

The first step for crafting an adventure is to understand what you, as a person and a dungeon master, enjoy in life. 

Whether it be heists or hull-breaches, politics or partying, or simply seeing where the road takes you, a dungeon master seeking to make their own adventure will have innate preferences that lend themselves to certain styles. 

Genre is often a good starting point when sitting down to begin. 

Ask yourself: What kind of stories do I enjoy?

Dungeons and Dragons is a game of infinite pathways to adventure, and many different genres have existed in the system’s history. Horror, comedy, adventure, epic fantasy, modern day, even sci-fi! 

Once you’ve figured out what kind of style you want to run in your game, look for some sources of inspiration! 

Genres have tropes and archetypes that inform the viewer what they can expect from the content — a horror movie will generally be unsettling, intense, and frightening, for example. 

So, if you want to run a horror campaign, think about what you love about horror — the monsters, the silly decisions, the intense drama, the scary imagery — and try to incorporate that in your game’s style. The same goes for any genre. Write down what you love about it!

Every adventure starts somewhere! 

Whether it be fighting ghosts in a graveyard, scouring an ancient tomb for a glowing object of immense power, or in the dead of night during a city-wide invasion from aliens, every adventure has a beginning. 

As a dungeon master, it’s your job and passion to decide what kind of content you’ll create for your first (and future) sessions. You can be as detailed as you’d like, but know that not everything can be encountered, no matter how long a group stays in one location. 

Generalize first, then go into detail when you’ve hooked your players with an idea.

When creating content, it’s often helpful to consider the Five W’s of Writing: Who, What, Where, When, and Why?

When I sit down to spin some content up for my players, I often think of an idea, and then put it through the Five W’s. Here’s an example:

I want my new adventure to be a segway into a bigger conflict, now that this story arc is coming to a close. The party really seemed to hate that dragon cultist that escaped from the last fight scene, so I’ll start there.

Using the Five W’s, you can help flesh out not only a potential plot-line, but also develop a character into something more than just a line or two of notes. 

The best thing? 

You can apply the Five W’s to anything: towns, people, objects, monsters, etc. 

These questions help you identify the facts of a situation, and also provide important details! 

Of course, these questions not only help flesh out your ideas, they also help organize your thoughts and provide a path to creating Character.

While your players and their player characters are often going to be the main protagonists of your campaign (even if you might not WANT them to be sometimes), they won’t be getting any adventures done without a strong cast of supporting characters. 

The NPC, non-player character, can be as simple as a way to voice a concern or bestow a quest, or as complex as the villainous mastermind that’s pulling every string behind the curtain of your campaign’s setting. 

Do not be afraid to be silly, or scary, or simple — your characters are, just like monsters and loot, tools to help further your content and to create more content.

Creating a stable of recurring NPCs, like a local guild-master or arcanist, can help ground the player characters and provide them a stream of content. This leads to Step 3: Developing Conflict.

No matter how peaceful the town, how quiet the kingdom, how gentle the forest, something or someone is going to come about and muck everything up. 

Conflict is essential to any story or adventure: things do not happen in a vacuum. The world is a messy, complicated place! 

Conflict is inevitable, and should be embraced by a dungeon master for what conflict brings to the table: a chance to see new places, risk the wealth or safety of your party members, grab more power from the hands of the villain, or end a storyline in a blaze of glory!

When developing conflict, it is good to consider a few Crucial S’s: Start, Scale, Stakes, Settle.

With the Crucial S’s, a dungeon master has a strong grasp on how their story will play out. 

Preparing loot, buffs, or consequences allows a story to progress. Players can talk about the events and make plans, and a dungeon master gains an easy way to further their content. 

Maybe your world map is ready to color in the next shadowed spot now that the local baron has been defeated? Maybe the legends of that magic weapon are starting to turn into facts and rumors that the party can act upon? Maybe the villain has left a threat, and the group has to act on it immediately, or suffer an unpleasant end? 

Settle your conflict, while using the opportunity to introduce new ones!

A series of conflicts involving characters, settings, and choices — otherwise known as The Plot. 

Not every conflict needs to further The Plot. Not every NPC needs to be integral to The Plot. Not every decision made by a player character has to factor into The Plot. 

That being said? Try your best to keep a picture of what these conflicts, this content you’re creating, is leading up to. 

Nothing goes on forever — even the greatest campaign of all time must resolve itself eventually. 

The plot of a campaign is the summation of its conflicts and consequences and, unlike a movie, not every plot ends with a clear story arc with everything tying up neatly. 

Some campaigns end in a grizzly splatter due to some bad rolls and low luck. Some end because life interferes and the schedule becomes untenable. 

The Plot is a good way to not only create content and have it all relate and make sense, but also to provide a way for the story to end when the content has run its course.

Of course, a dungeon master has a plot, but they also plot between sessions. 

Keeping notes, making story arcs, and fostering a sense of progress are all good ways to keep your story moving forward and your player characters interested. 

When plotting, keep the goal in mind. Answer these questions in-between sessions:

Nobody is perfect, and not every story has to make perfect sense. But it should make SOME amount of sense. Keeping your plot in mind helps focus your vision, and knowing the steps of a plot can help your content creation! 

Most stories have the following breakdown:

Keeping this structure in mind helps lead The Plot to a satisfying end, and everyone has a good time! Sometimes, a session has to end before The Plot can resolve: we call this a Cliffhanger in the business, and this helps keep tension established for the end. 

Now that the session is finished, the plot has concluded, and the story has ended, let your players make choices for their character’s ending. Tell them how the events ended — what happened to the supporting cast, how has the world changed, did the kingdom survive, etc. 

Let the players decide what happens next: Does the Fighter marry the Cleric and ride off into the sunset? Did the warlock further their patron’s nefarious plot? Did the wizard learn the spells they risked life and limb for? 

Not all stories need to end here, either! Resolution can simply open the door to a new campaign! 

Unless the players are level 20 — then you might want to make some new characters, since that’s the end of endings in D&D.

Lastly, ask your players what they thought. 

Feedback is the most important aspect of any creative endeavour. Listen to their criticisms, accept their compliments, and learn from both. 

Nobody is perfect, and not every story can please every audience. The important thing is to polish your craft and strive for the best experience you can offer. If your players aren’t enjoying certain aspects, or if they REALLY want to play again, listen to them and implement their advice!

With these steps, you’ve begun your journey towards the intricate and mysterious art of Dungeon Mastering. 

Campaign Ideas to Start You Off