Jared

High above the city of Knokvere, deep in the mountains of Vestonar, nestled into the ridges and peaks, is Tholgrim Monastery. The monastery is carved into the mountain, but the observation decks, where the astronomers chart the motion of the stars, rise above the monastery at the top of tall

My home table decided to move our game from D&D5.5e to Draw Steel for its latest "season". I asked over on Bluesky if folks would be interested in hearing more, and well, y'all said yes. I'm gonna try to put up

This is Part 6 in my series of how I plan roleplay heavy D&D campaigns. For the rest of the posts in this series, click the button and return to the index. Story Driven Campaigns Index Like I said before, I find this step to be totally optional,

This is Part 5 in my series of how I plan roleplay heavy D&D campaigns. For the rest of the posts in this series, click the button and return to the index. Story Driven Campaigns Index Continuing from my previous post on campaign design, once I have a

This is Part 4 in my series of how I plan roleplay heavy D&D campaigns. For the rest of the posts in this series, click the button and return to the index. Story Driven Campaigns Index Integrating it all Now we have a plan, we have a setting,

Once I’m satisfied with the setting, I stop my own development on the campaign. Now I turn it over to the players. I send them a link to a LegendKeeper (a world building wiki tool) with all the information on the setting, and I ask them to make characters.

Once I have the kernel of an idea, I need to build up a world around it. Even when I’m using published adventures or settings, I will flesh out the setting more. I make sure it has enough detail that my players can develop characters that are richly tied to the setting.

Here's a practical, behind-the-scenes look at how I build my D&D campaigns—from the first sparks of character ideas to laying the foundation for adventure.

Folks drift in, one-by-one, idle chatter and friendly hellos fill the space. We all sit down around the table. Takeout orders, homemade dinners and freshly popped beers in front of us. Eventually I speak up, “alright y’all. Let’s get started. Last time we played…” and we