Words by David Jagneaux
Welcome to the second entry of the Dungeon Master’s Guide to Building an RPG Campaign! In the previous first entry of this column, we spent all of our time discussing the high-level notions of what it means to build a custom adventure, topics that you should keep front of mind and what you can do to help the adventure stay focused on the players. Now, it’s time to extend some of those ideas a bit further and look at how they can be applied to an actual roleplaying setting.
The majority of roleplaying game adventurers, especially if they take place in a fantasy setting, are derivative at this point in time. Rather than trying to create a completely original and groundbreaking tale that will keep players guessing at each and every turn, it’s more important to establish a fun and dynamic playground for them to go out and create their own stories in. The most memorable moments from any campaign – officially written, custom or otherwise – are always those that occur organically through player interaction. It’s important to always remember that.