Writing form: how-to guide
Readership: hobbyist D&D dungeon masters, prospective dungeon masters
How to Create a D&D Campaign Setting
What is a campaign setting?
Campaign settings are the living, breathing worlds that you inhabit when you play role-playing games; in short, they’re vital. Whether you’re playing in Middle Earth or a galaxy far, far away, your chosen campaign setting will define your experience. This article will help you create your very own.
The term was coined by the original D&D (dungeons and dragons) players, who—before they were D&D players—were war-gamers: gamers who reenact historical battles in strategy games. A series of such battles is called a campaign, like a military campaign; a campaign setting, then, is where a campaign is set.
The fifth edition of D&D, as released in 2014, says that its default campaign setting is the Forgotten Realms by Ed Greenwood, and that players will likely either play with it or a similar setting.
By the standards of the Dungeon Master’s Guide for D&D fifth edition (dungeon masters, or DMs, run the game for the players), a D&D campaign setting usually conforms to the following truths:
– Gods oversee the world
– Much of the world is untamed
– The world is ancient
– Conflict shapes the world’s history
– The world is magical.
Players can choose to defy these expectations, but the game functions around these assumptions. Keep these rules in mind when choosing or constructing your own campaign setting, lest you create a lot more work for yourself in order to adapt the rules.
Why do I need one?
Well, that’s a bit of a trick question, it’s not strictly necessary. When D&D first emerged in the 70s, many players played in what could somewhat jokingly be called ‘fantasy land’. Fantasy land is just what was implied by the rules of the game: there will be dungeons, dragons, adventurers and anything fantasy feeling.
There is, however, an appeal to a properly established campaign setting with internal logic, and the first official campaign setting—Greyhawk—was released two years after D&D. Despite the array of commercial options, according to Sly Flourish, ~55% of dungeon masters decide to create their own campaign setting; there is a unique joy to building your own world that draws many to the idea. So, how do you create a campaign setting?
How to create a campaign setting
1. Identify your players’ wants
The creation of a campaign setting is something you can do collaboratively, or on your own if you are the DM. Either way, deciding on your goals for the campaign setting will ensure a better outcome. There are questions that you can ask to figure out what you want in a setting:
What is your preferred subgenre of fantasy? Possibilities include but are not limited to low fantasy (magic is rarer), grimdark (hopeless, brutal themes), steampunk (containing Victorian-esque technology) and magic realism (modern setting with magic). You should include key elements of your preferred subgenres as you flesh out your setting.
What kinds of characters do you want to play as? If you and your players are interested in playing barbarians, for example, make sure to create a baseline for how barbarians exist and operate in your setting—the same goes for character species like Elves or Dwarves.
What fantasy aesthetic appeals to you? Fantasy media often pushes the idea that a Western European aesthetic is the only option, but you can create a setting with cultural or stylistic influences from any region: North Africa, Asia, the Pacific Islands or anywhere else—just make sure to do so respectfully, research its cultures first and do not operate based on stereotypes.
2. Decide what makes your world unique
In Return of the Lazy Dungeon Master, the author suggests stating the six truths of your campaign that set it apart from other campaigns. This is a framing device that is useful to employ when creating your world’s unique aspects, and to promote your campaign to potential players. There are many possibilities when it comes to such truths:
Magic is taboo. This is a common trope, but it doesn’t apply to most D&D settings—it can cause some problems when it comes to player characters sticking out from the crowd, but also provides a lot of intrigue.
The world is post-apocalyptic. Blending sci-fi and fantasy, this twist upturns many classic fantasy tropes in a refreshing way.
All nations of the world are at war. This creates many options for the players to consider: are they soldiers, are they refugees, are they mercenaries for hire or are they something else entirely?
3. Choose your starting point
It’s easy to become overwhelmed with the idea of creating a whole world, especially by yourself. All you need to run the first adventure in your campaign setting is a local area, and you’ll be able to run D&D there for months. In a Paths Peculiar article on campaign settings, the author provides a few things you should determine about your first town:
– The monsters that live near town.
– The name of the local innkeeper and any other prominent NPCs (non-player characters).
– The most relevant god and how it is worshipped.
To this list, it is useful to add:
– The town’s climate
– The town’s name
– The town’s main industry.
Create plot hooks
Voila! Now that you have a campaign setting, you need ideas to put it into motion. You should come up with a variety of roughly one-sentence plot hooks (story threads to grab players’ attention) for your town, and let your players naturally focus on what interests them before expanding a plot hook into an adventure. The options, when it comes to plot hooks, are diverse and practically unlimited:
The local priest leaves town monthly and returns tired—what is he up to?
A child has gone into the graveyard at midnight on a dare, and hasn’t come back.
Merchants from a nearby city are pushing locals out of business with underpriced and sketchy goods; the tavernkeeper is willing to pay for information on their supply chain.
Where do you go from here?
In short, anywhere you want! Expand from your starting area when it feels natural, taking inspiration from other D&D players and popular media. Good luck, adventurer!
Further viewing
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