Intelligence Check - September 2022

How to link campaign settings to create an even bigger world for your players.

The world of Dungeons & Dragons is expanding. With the announcement of One D&D it will only get bigger. New settings are forthcoming and there are already plenty of official settings published. The Multi-verse is real. Using a published setting can already feel big but there are ways to increase the scope of your campaign without overcomplicating things.

Tip 1: Start small. Your players are low level and threats should not be too serious yet. Provide a town with small adventure hooks but also make reference to a larger world beyond the one they currently inhabit. Describe the sky at night. Allude to cosmic or other planar threats that exist beyond.

Tip 2: Hex crawl. Slowly expand their world as they travel away from their home base. Sprinkle in a few NPC's to provide a few choices. Fetch quests, delivery jobs, and protection quests fit nicely early on and encourage exploration of their surroundings. As the players explore out from the starting point danger levels should increase the further they get.

Tip 3: End of the World. An apocalyptic event can occur at any time. This requires you not put a lot of energy into developing too far out from your central starting point because this world is ending. Provide a hook in the form of a Spelljamming ship discovery or a portal to the Ethereal Plane opening. Ensure you have a second location to use as their new hub. Published examples of this are the Rock of Bral from the Spelljammer setting, the Radiant Citadel, or something you make up on your own. From this new central hub your players have countless worlds they can discover and explore.