Themes, Plot, and Setting: Difference between revisions

In addition to memorable heroes, villains, and supporting characters, there are a few key elements that contribute to making a memorable campaign: Themes, Plot, and Setting.

If you’re looking for a place to start, you can roll once or twice on the table below and see if the randomly selected themes spark your interest. Remember that this is YOUR game, so don’t feel tied to any specific themes you see on this table. These suggestions are just meant to get your ideas flowing!

When thinking about the overarching plot of your campaign, it is best not to get bogged down in specifics. Think about how you want your game to start, a few different endings that you think would be satisfying, and two or three mid- campaign milestones that can help orient you towards one or more dramatic endings.

Remember that while you facilitate the story, your players are the real heroes. They will likely take the story in directions that you did not originally intend, which is why it’s usually not constructive to plan out your entire campaign in meticulous detail.

Forcing your players to do exactly what you prepared for is colloquially called “railroading,” and is generally discouraged. If your players don’t particularly care and want you to just lead them through a fun journey, then it can be a fine method of gameplay, but players will typically want to have the agency to make their own decisions. So long as it is disguised as the veneer of choice, you can also lightly railroad your players with some narrative techniques such as only preparing what lies behind one door. Regardless of which door the players open, they find what you prepared for them. Again, this technique should be used sparingly, but it can be useful when you are caught by surprise or need to be sure that a specific plot point comes up.

A hero vs environment campaign pits the heroes not against a specific villain, but against the larger environment. This might be a natural disaster that threatens a small town or a logging company trying to deforest the heroes’ home. Maybe the heroes are the only survivors of a merchant caravan and must find a way to endure a harsh winter in the open elements. The heroes must band together to overcome whatever environmental challenge faces them. Depending on the crisis, they may need to journey to various places, ask for aid, issue warnings, and complete quests to gain people’s trust.  

It’s a trope that can be overused, so be careful when implementing the Evil Questgiver. If the heroes have gone on a quest, and it turns out that it was all for their benefactor’s nefarious designs, this can be a meaningful plot twist, but should be used sparingly.

Like the Evil Questgiver, moving the goalposts either on what you need to complete a quest or on who the real villain is can quickly become a tired trope, so be careful when you implement this device. If you do use this plot twist, it can work very well with a character changing sides, becoming allies with the heroes as they explain who is really threatening the world.

While you don’t need to have the entire campaign’s plot planned out in detail before you begin a campaign, it can be beneficial to have a well established campaign setting.