In Dungeons and Dragons 5e, mystery campaigns challenge players to piece clues together to resolve a story plot. These adventures contain investigations (both the skill check and more generally) and interactions with complex NPCs. Naturally, these campaigns rely less on combat and more on puzzles, …
Arctic campaigns in Dungeons and Dragons 5e offer survival-style adventures full of icy wonders. Dancing lights in the night sky, reflective white snow, ice caves and mossy tundra can all be found in arctic environments. However, for the sake of capturing a northern theme, I’ll …
Consider environmental elements, classic genre tropes and ancient mythology when building a desert campaign: What kind of desert is being used? How does the arid environment affect monster selection? Consider survival—the lost oasis hook Celestial encounters—pull inspiration from ancient mythology Run temples using a McGuffin—including …
In 1997, Studio Ghibli and director Hayao Miyazaki released the epic, supernatural story Princess Mononoke. Pulling from familiar Japanese folklore, mythology and Shintoism, Miyazaki creates his own fairy tale with stunning animation and giant wolf gods. These wolves are crucial to the crux of the …
Cowboy campaigns can be fascinating territory to explore with D&D 5e. The American Western is rarely blended with fantasy, so there’s room to explore creatively. However, we can look at the examples we do have, such as Stephen King’s Dark Tower series, Indiana Jones, or …
Build and run a horror campaign for Dungeons and Dragons 5e or any other tabletop RPG with these storytelling elements: Include horror, tension and scares Build empathy and connection to characters Use the uncanny and unknown as a tool for fear Develop a spooky setting …
For a DnD 5e pirate campaign, remember these elements and character/story tropes: Know the rules of Renaissance era tech Consider the world build Create story beats of revenge, treasure hunting and/or exploration The Sword Fighter Treasure Hunter Tempest Sailor Ghost Pirate A pirate campaign has …
The fantasy genre is far richer in variety than most people realize, styles include: High Fantasy Fairy Tales Mythic Fantasy Dark Fantasy (remember Grimdark sub-sub) Science Fantasy Prehistoric Fantasy Contemporary Fantasy (remember Urban sub-sub) Swashbuckler Magic, swords, dragons, monsters, all of these elements create the …
Immersive world building comes down to one goal: bring the audience into the story, especially in genres like sci fi and fantasy. This means making the audience believe your characters are inhabiting a real world. Watch this video on YouTube Consider these elements while worldbuilding …
The best sci fi subgenres are: Hard sci fi Space Opera Space Western Cosmic Horror Cyberpunk Steampunk Alien Invasion Mutant Dystopia Quantum/Time Travel Sci fi is one broad genre. It simply means fiction based around plausible scientific theories. Theoretically, humankind should be able to populate …