- Noir
- Heroic Fantasy
- Hard Fantasy
- Gothic
- Horror
- Grimdark
- Comedy
- Mystery
- Historic
- Western
- Cyberpunk
- Futuristic
- Speculative
- Satire
Crossroads MVP
Campaign Creation
What is a Campaign?
At its core, the Campaign is the story of the games you are playing.
This will typically involve a Setting, some Themes, and Objectives.
Campaign Setting
The Campaign Setting typically involves creating the world and the people and creatures that populate this world. Campaigns are usually divided into Established and Homebrew Settings.
- Established Settings use an existing setting that was made by another person. This can be from another story, such as a book, movie, or other game, or can be a campaign setting specifically designed for RPGs.
- Homebrew Settings are made by the Players at the table. Most of the work will typically be done by the GM, but all Players can have important input both before and during the Campaign.
When creating a Homebrew Setting, they can be in-depth and detailed, with deep history and cultures, or they can be more basic and free-form, with the details being added later as the Campaign progresses. Each has its merits and appeals to different players. It is also possible to begin with an Established Setting but make changes as you see fit, turning it into mixture of the two. For example, you might change the year, characters, or location entirely, but keep major elements of the original setting.
Choosing a Setting
When Choosing a Setting, some important things to consider are People, Technology, Magic, Landscape, and Climate.
Below are some questions you should all be asking when choosing or designing a Setting:
Click each section to expand.
People
- How many Races are in your world?
- One?
- Two?
- Hundreds?
- It might be easier to limit the races in your setting if you wish for the races to feel more meaningful.
- In a setting with only two or three races, the choice may be more meaningful. If the only Humanoid races present are Humans, Elves, and Orcs, interactions with NPCs might be more meaningful as they are more able to show bias and other things related to race.
- What are the Races are in your world?
- Humans?
- Elves?
- Dwarfs?
- Orcs?
- Halflings?
- Others?
- Are there sub-races or ethnicities?
- How do the People interact?
- Peacefully?
- Hostile?
- Have there been wars?
- Is there lingering animosity?
- Is there Racism?
- Are there Alliances?
- How do they trade?
- What do they trade?
- Are there divisions within the races?
- Languages
- How many are there?
- What do they sound like?
- Are there language families?
- Are there language dialects?
- How do people communicate between languages?
- How are they divided?
- By race?
- By location?
- By religion?
- By culture?
- By wealth?
- Cultures
- How many are there?
- What do they wear?
- How do they act?
- How are they divided?
- By race?
- By location?
- By religion?
- By language?
- By wealth?
- Religions and other Beliefs
- How many are there?
- What are their beliefs?
- What are their customs?
- What are the rules or restrictions?
- Are there denominations?
- How do they interact with their gods?
- Do the gods interact with them?
- How is Religion typically divided?
- By race?
- By location?
- By culture?
- By language?
- By wealth?
Technology
- What age would they be most similar to?
- Stone Age?
- Bronze Age?
- Iron Age?
- Early Middle ages?
- Late Middle ages?
- Renaissance?
- Early Modern History?
- Futuristic?
- Post-apocalyptic?
- How evenly distributed is technology?
- Shared by all?
- Divided by race?
- Divided by wealth?
- Divided by location?
- Divided by culture?
- Divided by beliefs?
- Divided by alliance?
- What is the power source for technology?
- Fossil fuels?
- Rare minerals?
- Magic?
- Alchemy?
- Solar?
- Man-power?
Magic
- How common is Magic in your world?
- Is it an everyday occurence?
- Is it rare and awe-inspiring?
- Is it only used by the rich and powerful?
- How do people view Magic in your world?
- Is it holy?
- Is it dangerous?
- Is it abhorrent?
- How does Magic work?
- Do they understand it, or are there only theories?
- What is its source?
- How do people use it?
- Magic and Religion
- How do they interact?
- Does religion use magic or forbid it?
- Is religion a source of magic?
Landscape
- Natural Features
- Are there forests or woods?
- Are there deserts or wastelands?
- Are there mountains or hills?
- Are there swamps or bogs?
- Are there lakes or rivers?
- Are there seas or oceans?
- Are there caves or grottos?
- Are there savannahs or tundras?
- Are there volcanoes or glaciers?
- Are there islands or continents?
- Are there vast plains or dense rainforests?
- Are there other wondrous features or landmarks?
- Vegetation
- What do trees look like?
- What do flowers look like?
- What other plants are there?
- Are they edible?
- Are they farmable?
- Are they profitable?
- Are they dangerous?
- How do people interact with them?
- Where does it grow?
- When does it bloom?
- Creatures
- What do animals look like?
- What do people look like?
- What other creatures are there?
- Are they edible?
- Are they farmable?
- Are they profitable?
- Are they dangerous?
- How do people interact with them?
- How does it survive?
- Where do they grow?
- Settlements
- Where do people live?
- Do they have cities or only villages?
- What do their homes look like?
- What do they have in their homes?
- What do they eat and how do they get it?
- How do they build their homes?
- How do they decorate their homes?
- How do the cultures differ in buildings?
- What else do people have in their settlements?
- Are people safe in their settlements?
- Are people happy in their settlements?
- How do people get around?
Climate and Weather
- Climates
- Tropical?
- Rainforest?
- Monsoon?
- Savanna?
- Dry?
- Desert?
- Steppe?
- Temperate?
- Humid subtropical?
- Humid continental?
- Oceanic?
- Mediterranean?
- Continental?
- Subarctic?
- Boreal?
- Polar?
- Tundra?
- Ice cap?
- How do these Climates differ in the setting?
- How do people deal with these climates?
- Weather
- How does weather change between the seasons?
- What do people do to deal with the weather?
- What do people wear for the weather?
- How do people feel about the weather?
- What do people believe about the weather?
- What kind of weather is common?
- Natural Disasters
- Are there storms or droughts?
- Are there blizzards or floods?
- Are there tornados or earthquakes?
- Are there wildfires or tidal waves?
- Are there duststorms or volcano eruptions?
- Are there other more fantastical disasters?
What are the people in the world and how do they interact? What are the cultures?
What technology is available in the world? Are they still in the Bronze Age or have they progressed well into the Early Modern Period?
What is magic like in your world? Is it seen as good or bad? Is it common or rare?
What does your Setting look like? Are there Mountains? Plains? Forests? Islands? Oceans?
Is it cold? Temperate? Desert? Tropical? Mediterranean?
Campaign Theme
When making a Campaign, it's important to have one or more Themes. These can be something more simple like a Genre, or more in depth such as philosophical questions or other topics. Before beginning a campaign, these Themes should be discussed with all of the Players at the table.
Setting Themes can be divided between Genre, Plot, and Objectives. These can change over the course of a Campaign.
Genres
Plots
- Post-apocalyptic
- What happened?
- When did it happen?
- Who was there?
- Who is there now?
- What is left?
- How did people survive?
- What is happening now?
- Disappearing Gods
- What is happening to the gods?
- What happens after they fully disappear?
- How are the gods reacting?
- How are people reacting?
- What is causing it?
- What can be done?
- Disappearing Magic
- How does this affect people?
- How are the gods reacting?
- How are people reacting?
- What is causing it?
- What can be done?
- Mysterious Blight or Disease
- Where did it come from?
- What does it do?
- How are people reacting?
- What is causing it?
- What can be done?
- Invading Forces
- Who is invading?
- Why are they invading?
- Where are they invading from?
- How are they invading?
- What is invading?
- Demons?
- Undead?
- Fae?
- Elementals?
- Foreign Forces?
- Other creatures?
- Pirate Adventure
- What are you sailing?
- Where are you sailing?
- Why are you sailing?
- Who is on the crew?
- Exploring a New World
- Where are you exploring?
- What are you finding?
- Why are you there?
- Who else is there?
- Who is sponsoring the voyage?
- How did you get there?
- Time-Travel
- Where are you?
- When are you?
- How did you get there?
- Who else is there?
- Why are you there?
- Nefarious Cults
- What do they want?
- What do they believe?
- Who do they follow?
- Where have they infiltrated?
- How do they convert people?
- Why are they doing it?
- Dangerous Artefacts
- What are they?
- What can they do?
- Where are they found?
- Why are they dangerous?
- Who made them?
- When were they made?
- Who else is looking for them?
- A Dark Power Unleashed
- What is the power?
- What does it do?
- Why is it dangerous?
- What does it want?
- How does it accomplish this?
- Does it have followers or allies?
- Does it corrupt people?
- Is it supernatural or more mundane?
- Imminent War
- Who might fight?
- Who/What is causing it?
- Who will benefit?
- Who will suffer?
- Why do your characters care?
What kind of genre does your Setting plan to be?
Example Genres
What are the Plots and Stories going through the Setting?
Campaign Objectives
When making a Campaign, it's important to have Objectives. This can be something more simple like destroying an enemy or amassing wealth, or more in depth using personal stories and recurring antagonists. Before beginning a campaign, Players should suggest what their personal Objectives are for the Campaign.
These should be related to Goals and may be changed or added to as Objectives are completed or Goals are met.
Typical Objectives:
- Infiltrate
- Get into somewhere.
- Escape
- Get out of somewhere.
- Rescue
- Find somebody and extract them safely.
- Retrieve
- Find something and get it back.
- Smuggle
- Get something somewhere without someone noticing.
- Destroy
- Destroy something important.
- Assassinate
- Kill someone important.
- Control
- Take control of somewhere important.
- Capture
- Capture someone important.
- Steal
- Steal something important off of someone.
- Find
- Find something important.
- Explore
- Explore an area and report findings.
- Profit
- Make as much money as you can.
- Research
- Find out as much as you can about something.
Beginning Your Campaign
Characters and your Setting
How do the Player Characters fit into your setting? There are a few ways to do this:
- World First
- The World is created first, and the characters are designed to fit into the setting.
- This is most common with Established Settings.
- Character First
- The Characters are created first, and the world is designed to fit around the characters.
- This is most common with Homebrew Settings.
- The first session with Players may be spent creating characters and using those characters to design the rest of the world.
- Collaboration
- As each question or problem arises, the players decide upon a solution together.
- THe world and Characters are built together.
- Examples:
- Each of the Races are only given basic lore. If a player chooses that Race, they may build upon the lore for it.
- When a player is choosing their backstory, they may create characters or locations. Those are then added to the world.
- The map is empty until Players explore the map, and they have input in what they find.
Campaign Story
What is the story of your campaign? How do you plan to have your characters interact with the existing world?
- Player Characters
- Who is in the Party?
- Where are they?
- Why are they here?
- Why are they working together?
- How do they know eachother?
- When do they meet?
- Where did they meet?
- What time of year is it?
- Antagonists
- Who opposes the Party?
- What do they want?
- What are their motivations?
- Why do they clash with the Party?
- How do they interact with the Party?
- What other Allies or Enemies do they have?
- What minions or resources do they have?
- What enemies can the party expect to face?
- Player Relationships
- What are the party Relationships?
- Who are their Allies?
- Who are their Associates?
- Who are their Rivals?
- Who are their Enemies?
- See Relationships and Connections for more information
After you've managed to get the Characters settled into the Setting and Story, you can start Running the Campaign.