An EASY template for writing your FIRST CAMPAIGN

This is an easy template that you can follow to write your first TTRPG campaign! Writing a TTRPG or D&D campaign can be daunting task. This is an easy template that you can use as the structure for your campaign, that allows you to be able to break up your campaign into a series of smaller adventures, that are tied together with a single thread. This template is all about story, so it will work with any system including Dungeons and Dragons 5e (DnD), Pathfinder, Dungeon Crawl Classics, OSE. This idea isn't new, it has been used in TV, film, and many pre-written campaigns. But looking at it like a template, or story skeleton can be helpful in getting you started with writing your own campaign.
Since it relies on your players' backstories, you could run this campaign multiple times and it would be different every time!

[abdallahatia]

Idk what I did to make my YouTube consistently recommend me up and coming creators but I’m so glad it does. Otherwise I’d miss out on stuff like this. Thanks for your help king

[NineInchFailz]

Your mustache is incredible, brother.

[scottlette]

It's a year later and I'm discovering this creator and watching his content for the very first time. Don't ever make the mistake, 'content creators' (the word is author, don't fall for corporate, non-consensual denegration), make your work as if it is a long-term text. And thank you, PWS, for making this and other videos. My players, and perhaps even readers, will never know directly that you helped. But you did.

[MrValint]

This was so perfectly timed in my journey. Just started making my first D&D 5e world and needed some reassurance and direction on making a campaign. Thank you for your work and clarity!

[peterpope]

I found your videos yesterday while looking at different mapmaking tools, then saw this one linked in the sidebar, and... THANK YOU. I've been tempted to dip my toe into the waters of being a DM, but have been intimidated by running my own campaign and just the "getting started" of it. This video is a GREAT place to start, and I really appreciate it! Thank you!

[wariorneverdie]

That last sentence came unexpected and filled me with joy and pride for being the DM of my group. Your channel randomly came up in my yt feed and I can't stop watching. You're great!

[unknownnumber]

Bro, you're prolly the most helpful d&d youtuber out there

[AzraelThanatos]

For this kind of campaign, there are a few things that are well worth doing before it. If you're running it, you kind of need some basics of the world first to, somewhat, guide your players in character creation as well.

One example of this that I did was a more primitive setting than normal D&D that I ran back in 3.5. I kind of wanted a "Dawn of Civilization" type setup and went about going through the books that I had and seeing what fit the world I wanted and went from there. Starting with culling the class list down to ones that fit and ones that didn't, which meant that certain classes that a lot of people overlooked (or variants of others) could be very effective in it while more standard ones wouldn't make sense (Artificer/Wizard/Archivist doesn't really work in a setting where writing is barely something at all), and shifted things around (I actually found a use for the bit in the BoVD about bones being used as scrolls). The Arms & Equipment guide also helped a lot with the way lower tech worked there for gear...

But, essentially, it's setting up the world first, and making sure the players both know that and know that things may change (especially for new DMs), otherwise there can be a lot of havoc in what you get from your players.

But ontop of a campaign digging from the characters backstories, you can go with something simpler. One of the easiest setups that I did for a campaign was set it up around a traveling, nomadic caravan that the players had hired on with to get to a major destination, then had the players explain why they were joining it. It worked for about seven adventures and then six or seven more at the end of it where they ended up heading to. If you need ideas for that kind of thing, look for some things with Oregon Trail and slip that into the story as complications or events, it also gives you several characters you can keep with the group as NPCs tied to it while also opening up a lot of adventures with some easy conversion to fit what you want

[RoberiusRex]

"Orphan (comma) sad" --- I'm dying! Very funny, and oh yeah, great video and solid advice. Thanks!

[altr-d]

Your videos are SOOO useful and are very chill to follow. You’re 🫵🏻 my new favorite D&D creator now

[connorcook]

This is a great video, offering an example solution to this detail is pretty rare on youtube. Thank you!

[Privatestock]

I found your channel yesterday and love it. The campaign you describe in this video is remarkably similar to the one I've been running for a year and a half. The BBEG is locked away and the PC's are looking for keys, but I have a minor BG trying to unlock and release the BBEG and the PC's are trying to find the keys first to keep it locked away. I wasn't planning to have them unlock it to confront the BBEG because it's almost god level powerful, but after this video I'm thinking about having it use the magic in the keys to release itself. I'm starting to plan a second campaign, kind of a sequel to this one, and I think I'll wrap up this campaign keeping the BBEG locked away, call the campaign season one, and have it come back late in season two. Thanks for that idea!
The D&D cookbook opened to a different page in each video is a very nice touch. Love everything you're doing here.

[choff-]

Dang this video gave me two really rock-steady ideas for my pre-existing campaign (has had ~60 sessions) that has me really excited, thanks!

[phi]

I'm gonna attempt to write a mini campaign for my family and this was very helpful! I've ony found your channel recently but your videos are amazing, informative and fun to watch!! Thank you :)

[erven]

Dude this is one of the best DnD channels out there. Randomly recommended to me yesterday and the algo NAILED it. Great stuff!

[hontes]

I am just fleshing out my first campaign and this is just pure gold. Thank you for your videos! I enjoy them very much.

[adrianflores]

Thanks for the advice!
I GM for Pathfinder 2E and I’ve been wanting to branch out and make my on adventures! You’re awesome!

[ismaelreis]

Great video! I just love the quality you put into these, your channel will definitely grow! And by the way, the tips you bring in this video sure will help me a lot, I was writing a campaign just now and saw how it could improve. Thanks a lot! Keep up with your great work!

[Panther]

Great video! Very well organized, explained, and great examples to put it all in context.

[TheUglyGoblin]

Absolutely brilliant video!
Even step 0 alone! I don't think I've ever considered what level I want the campaign to end at. That is wisdom!
Loved this video :3
(Also such a cool idea that the villain can cast spells through keys)