Dungeons & Dragonsis known for having a running joke that no campaign can ever get finished. Life happens, things slow down, and suddenly that campaign that’s been going on for a few months begins to die down with its story unfinished.
RELATED:Dungeons & Dragons: Ideas For Running An Episodic Campaign
One way to counteract that is by running a short campaign; not necessarily one that has to be limited to a certain number of sessions, but more in line withan adventure modulewhere you have a main goal that is your focus. These are just a few ideas for a shorter campaign you may actually finish.
10The World Is Ending For Real This Time
Well, it looks like the previous adventuring team and their allies have failed. The villain has succeeded. Now, whether they’re dead, alive, or undead doesn’t matter. What matters in this short campaign is that the world is ending… somewhat.
More likely, the villain’s ritual has caused a cataclysmic event — not one to definitively end the world, but one that could definitely, say, rock a nation or continent. The party can be a short band of low-level adventurers who are trying to escape before things go from bad to worse and perhaps help a few people along the way.
9Swords Out
For this adventure, the party should optimally already know each other and are at least friends. Inspired byScooby-Dooand Knives Out, the party arrive at some location with an interesting set of characters anda mystery to be solved.
RELATED:Dungeons & Dragons: DM Tips For Running A Mystery Campaign
It could be a gala in the city where the host has been kidnapped or perhaps a town where a serial killer is on the loose. Either way, the party is here to spend a few sessions getting to know these characters, their history, and who is behind the mystery.
8The Best Talent Show This Village Has Ever Seen
Villages, more often than not, are known for two things: humble origins of a typical adventurer and a resting point away from town where some trouble is afoot. Either way, they’re small and probably don’t generate a ton of money. So what happens when a poor village has to pay the king’s tithe or there’ll be consequences?
Well, time to get the party to gather local entertainers from neighbouring locations, bring them back, and help run the best talent show this village has ever seen. This can be a fun light campaign for low levels, ranging anywhere from one session to a few.
7Slay The Princess, Save The Dragon
You’ve all heard the fairytale — a princess is locked in a tower with a dragon keeping brave heroes at bay. Well, now the tables have turned. A maniacal princess has instead taken over a tower and imprisoned a dragon there for use in a magic ritual.
The party must go on a journey to the tower, free the dragon and slay the princess. It sounds simple and it probably will be, hence why it’s a short campaign.
6Jumanji? Jumanji!
Most people love an everyman protagonist, but what if every character from the party was actually just a regular townsfolk or civilian until they came across an enchanted magical item? This item, in trueJumanji-esque fashion, teleports the players to a plane where they have taken over the bodies of age-old heroes and adventurers.
Together, they must play along and attempt to relive their adventures as they try to figure out a way to escape. Remember: if you die in the game, you die in real life (that’s not a house rule by the way).
5Halloween Sucks
Halloween sucks, as do bad puns. But when a festival of some kind that is your fantasy world’s version of Halloween is cut short by an attack from a vampire lordand other monsters that are his thrallstaking over your town, you soon realise vampires suck too, literally.
RELATED:D&D: Tips To Run A Horror Campaign
Unfortunately, the vampire lord also conjures a magical barrier, making sure no allies or heroes can teleport or travel into the town. But it also means nobody, including you or the townsfolk, can leave. Now the party must gather resources and townsfolk, and lead a rebellion to stop the vampire lord once and for all.
4To Begin Anew
For a more simple campaign, this is what you’re looking for. The party is a small group of well-skilled people who are leading a small group of peasants to attempt to set up a new village after a cataclysmic event.
It’s there that they must do small quests to get to know their new neighbours: gather supplies, protect the villagers, and make sure this new village can flourish in the names of those that died before. It can be a small simple campaign that is more heartwarming and role-play focused.
3It’s A War And You Aren’t Important
As bloody and terrifying as war has been in our world, could you imagine if we had magic that could bomb cities or dragons to rain fire down from the sky? Well, your party now has to worry about that as they are in a city under siege. The party’s main goal in this campaign? Survive.
They may be key players in the war later on. Or, more realistically, they will just be trying to get to the border of another nation or to find some safe haven for refugees and hope they get to live another day.
2What Do You Mean The Mayor’s Dead?
Oops, the mayor’s dead, sort of. For this campaign, the party should all be people from the same town. Suddenly, their newly elected mayor has fallen ill to a rare and magical disease that leaves the victims in a comatose state, often making them appear dead. Magic can’t heal them, and if they die, they can’t be revived.
The party must go out and find the only cure. They’ll need to find a rare herb to save the mayor or else the town will suffer the most terrible fate — another election. And the mayor will die too, obviously.
1And Now For The Hardest Task Of All… Figuring Out Your Future
For the Dungeon Masters who wish to instil a little existential dread into your fellow players, this is the idea for you. The players are in an academy of adventurers but are in their final semester before they get to graduate. Now they have to deal with something far more terrifying than any dragon or magical madman, what are they going to do in the future?
The party should spend time doing small quests for students, friends, and faculty as they are preparing to say goodbye to this cast of NPCs and figure out what their plans are for the future when they step out into the wild world after graduation.
