How to Create a 15-Minute D&D Campaign Start

Whether you’re a brand new player stepping behind the DM screen for the first time or a many-decades veteran DM with players showing up in an hour, with nothing prepped, this will help you get from the blank page to a realized local area with multiple locations, NPCs, and quests ideas ready for you to improvise or blend together with a pre-made adventure or dungeon. Before we hop into how to create a 15-minute D&D campaign start, let’s talk a little about why I created this setup and why I’ve found it to be such a helpful tool.

Why It’s Necessary to Be Able to Start a D&D Campaign Quickly

Veteran D&D players and Dungeon Masters know that things happen. Maybe a player doesn’t make it, so you don’t want to continue the story without them and need something else to play. Other times a campaign just falls apart, or maybe someone new wants to jump into the driver’s seat and start being a DM. This 15-minute D&D campaign creator is a great way to quickly build an area around something like a one-page dungeon. It provides alternative quest ideas for those instances where the players just don’t bite on the big adventure hook.

In addition, the 15-minute campaign generator creates a nice starting area sandbox in case players love your one-shot and their characters and want to keep playing. The most significant benefit, of course, is time. Using random generators and keeping the ideas loose enough to create connecting threads between people, places, and events means that if your one-shot is one and done just like that, or the campaign start fails, you’re out 15 minutes as a DM and not multiple hours. Creating a local area using this tool is also helpful if you want to create distinct adventure zones/nodes that you can connect by more abstract overland travel. Doing so gives you a handful of little sandboxes of different biomes and related adventure locations for the adventuring party to explore.

Support RedRaggedFiend.com

If you find this article and the other things posted on this website, you can help by sharing it online on Reddit, RPG forums, Facebook Groups, Pinterest, and social media. Don’t forget to follow us over on Twitter! If you have a few dollars burning a hole in your pocket, consider helping support the site financially. RRF is a free resource people use all over the world to improve their D&D and other RPG games. We don’t run advertising on the site, so you can help support us by picking up one of our PWYW titles on DriveThruRPG or supporting us on Ko-Fi for as little as $1 a month. Your support is greatly appreciated!

Assign Your D&D Campaign General Area Biome

One problem I sometimes have, and I think other veteran DMs can attest, is I’m likely to fall into a rut of using the same ideas over if left to my own devices. For some reason, I tend to start many adventures or campaigns in a taiga (boreal forest) location. I suspect it has something to do with the popularity Vikings have enjoyed over the past decade-plus: too much Vikings (tv), Norsemen (tv), Vinland Saga (anime), Skyrim, Witcher 3, God of War, Assassin’s Creed Valhalla. Needless to say, they’ve been a hot commodity in pop culture recently.

Whether you don’t have a specific area that you want to start a new D&D campaign, you want to bust out of your rhythm and comfort zone, or you just want to get off the blank page as quickly as possible, we have a nice, easy roll table to get you started. To show off how to use this 15-minute D&D campaign start, I’ll be walking through an example of my own along the way!

1d12 General Area Biome

  1. Tundra
  2. Boreal Forest (Taiga)
  3. Temperate Forest
  4. Temperate Prairie
  5. Badlands (Cold Desert)
  6. Shrubland (Mediterranean)
  7. Hot Desert
  8. Tropical Grasslands
  9. Tropical Forest
  10. Highlands (roll again, ignore 10+)
  11. Valley/Canyon/Basin (roll again, ignore 10+)
  12. Wetlands (roll again, ignore 10+)

For my example, I rolled up a temperate prairie. The starting area for my campaign will be reminiscent of the American Great Plains, Eurasian Steppe, or South America Pampas. I’m looking at wide-open spaces, probably herds of animals, some nomadic/pastoral peoples, and monsters. I love it. As someone who’s personally familiar with this biome, I already have ideas percolating.

Remember, this is a 15-minute campaign starter for your D&D game, so don’t spend too much time thinking about this section. Go with what ideas come to mind first. I’m thinking Plains Indians, Mongolianesque horse culture, and plenty of cowboy range conflicts.

Developing Your D&D Campaign Central Location, Hub, or Homebase

Now that we’ve established the background of our immediate campaign area, we want to drill down to the center where our adventuring party is likely to start and use as a central location for expeditions out to the nearby locations.

1d12 Central Location

  1. Village
  2. Keep
  3. Isolated Homestead
  4. Religious Location
  5. Travel Haven
  6. Beacon/Signal
  7. Crossing
  8. Marker
  9. Meetingplace
  10. Monster Lair
  11. Construction (Roll 1d10 for type)
  12. Natural Resource

I rolled a six, so that’s a beacon or a signal. Classic examples of a central location would be a village, a travelers inn, or a religious temple. When we get something less common, like a beacon or signal, we need to stretch our thinking muscles for a minute. If this were on the coast, a lighthouse would be appropriate. So, before locking myself into a choice, I want to know my D&D campaign’s Central Location Placement.

What makes this specific location a central location is its placement. It’s placed at an exact geographic location that makes it important. To determine that location, we have a 1d20 roll table.

1d20 Central Location Placement

  1. Canal
  2. Coastal Bay
  3. Coastal Harbor
  4. Coastal Island
  5. Coastal Peninsula
  6. Key Military Location
  7. Large Lake/Inland Sea
  8. Mountain Pass
  9. Portage Site
  10. River Bridge
  11. River Ferry
  12. River Ford
  13. River Confluence
  14. River Delta/Estuary
  15. River Navigation Head
  16. River Island
  17. River Meander
  18. Trade Crossroad
  19. Water Source & Trade Road
  20. Wide River, Sea Vessel Navigation

Well, I got lucky and rolled a two. I didn’t think I’d be able to use a lighthouse, but certainly as a beacon or a signal on a coastal bay that makes a lot of sense. Precisely, because it’s too easy, I’m going to switch it from a lighthouse to a watchtower with a signal fire. Instead of guiding ships around this coastal bay, it’s meant to keep a watch out for seabound raiders. I know, I know, Vikings again, but a knot of black sails appearing through the mist is such a cinematic impression I can’t help myself!

Central Location Population & Buying Power

We have our central location and its placement, but how many people are here? To accomplish this, we roll 1d10. If you roll a ten, make a mark and roll again and continue doing so until you don’t roll a ten. I rolled a nine with translates to a Buying Power of 9 GP and a population of 90.

Central Location Buying Power

When we talk about Buying Power, it’s determining how expensive the type of items your player characters can buy and sell at the location. The smaller the location population, the fewer goods/services available for trade and the less money they have to trade for treasure and the like. Now, as an astute reader, you’ve probably noticed a significant problem.

Healing Potions & Spell Scrolls

If you are playing the 5th edition of Dungeons & Dragons, you are well aware that heling potions are quite pricey at 50 GP for the basic variety. Using this scale, a healing potion would only be available at a location with 500+ people. This issue is the same for spell scrolls which, if you’ve noticed, we cannot roll a population that high. Or can we?

Central Location Population

When we roll the 1d10, we multiply the result by ten to get the location’s population. A bit earlier, I stated to make a mark if you rolled a ten and reroll. That’s because tens explode using this scale. Every time you roll a ten, the multiplier goes up. So, 1d10x10 becomes 1d10x100 and 1d10X100 becomes 1d10x1000, etc. There is a chance that your central location or one of the nearby locations could have a population large enough to sell healing potions and spell scrolls.

DM Tip: How Do I Keep My D&D Party From Dying?

Despite being one of the weird D&D players in the world that likes playing clerics, most don’t want to be stuck with the heal bot player. I always tell my players that they should play whatever they want, and I will work the campaign around their decisions. It’s pretty standard for me to run parties that don’t have clerics or druids, so they have limited magical healing abilities.

For small adventuring parties, like the solo or “duet” D&D game I’m running, I gave the player a sidekick. That sidekick, however, is not a caster. It’s a warrior. But, I gave the sidekick the Healer feat. Yes, it’s limited healing, but it also scales much better and doesn’t give the player access to a full-blown caster that I have to keep track of during the game and could outpace the martial PC in Power as they level.

My suggestion is that the party can hire a non-combat NPC healer who works for a daily wage. Then provide the party with some standard or custom magic items that are healing-focused. In the same duet game, I also put the PC in a position to be infected (failed save) with a necrotic symbiotic curse that showed up as a birthmark/tattoo. Once per day, the PC gets to cast False Life on themself, but there is a (yet undiscovered by the player) downside that happens if they get KO’d and start failing death saves.

Imminent Threat to the Central Location

An impending issue marks the start of any good D&D campaign. A strong start draws the players into the action quickly. I have a watchtower on a coastal bay with several homes and shops clustered around the tower. Something is threatening the good people of this community, and we’re going to find out what with a 1d20 roll.

1d20 Imminent Threats to the Central Location

  1. Assassination
  2. Assault
  3. Bandits
  4. Barbarian Raiders
  5. Paranormal Wrath
  6. Foreign Occupation
  7. Illicit Substance Smuggling
  8. New Magic/Technology
  9. New Religion
  10. Powerful Monster
  11. Rival Settlement
  12. Fire, Artificial or Natural
  13. Famine
  14. Plague
  15. Avalanche, Landslide, or Mudslide
  16. Earthquake or Sinkhole
  17. Meteor Impact or Volcanic Event
  18. Violent Storm (Lightning, Hail, Wind & Debris, Tsunami)
  19. Extreme Precipitation (blizzard/flood/drought)
  20. Extreme Temperature (hot/cold)

For my imminent threat, I rolled a 16 earthquake or sinkhole. Immediately I was drawn to the trailer I saw recently for La Brea (tv), where a sinkhole opens up in Los Angeles to Land of the Lost style shenanigans. Obviously, I’m going with a sinkhole, which opens me up to all sorts of options: monsters coming out of the sinkhole, searching for people who were lost in the sinkhole, exploring subterranean caves. I could quickly grab a hundred generic “explore the cave” adventures and plop them right into this campaign. For example, I could grab Cragmaw Hideout from Lost Mine of Phandelver and swap out the goblins for kua-toa. No muss, no fuss.

Your central location should be firming up nice if you’re following along, just like mine. I’ve got a gray watchtower on a spit of land under a cloudy sky overlooking waves breaking on the rocky beach of the bay below. Dozens of small buildings huddle around the gray tower, interrupted by a gaping maw that descends into the inky blackness below. Beyond the buildings and the smell of sea is the gentle roll of emerald hills; the tiny dots of an animal herd can be seen in the distance. We’ve got some more to add, but this is already a great D&D campaign start that’s taken just a few minutes to roll up and is faster, different, and likely better than what I would throw together left to my own devices.

Central Location NPCs

We have our place, but we need some people for interactions within the location and to give some adventure hooks. The first person we need to identify is who’s in charge around here? For a travelers inn, it’s probably the proprietor; for a village, it could be a village elder; for a keep, maybe it’s a noble. Since I have a watchtower as my central location, it makes sense that the person in charge is a Castellan (a fancy medieval term for someone who oversees a castle or fortification). Perfect, I have a castellan, and they might have a dozen warriors in total that take care of the tower watch, the hamlet, and the surrounding countryside.

In addition to the person in charge, we want to specify three more VIP NPCs. These additional NPCs are people in the central location that stick out or hold some amount of clout or sway in the population. They have influence, even if it’s not a GOOD influence. That gives us a total of four different, plot-centric NPCs the party can talk to about the imminent threat, plus learn about their sidequests. For me, coming up with random NPCs is one of the most challenging things to do as a Dungeon Master. That’s why we have a 1d100 NPC table to help us out.

1d100 VIP NPCs

  1. Scholar or Sage
  2. Librarian or Lore-keeper
  3. Teacher, Tutor, Instructor, or Coach
  4. Scribe or Clerk
  5. Village Elder or Alderman
  6. Gong Farmer, Ratcatcher, Trashman
  7. Manual Laborer
  8. Brash, Headstrong Teen
  9. Area’s Oldest Living Person
  10. Quartermaster/Storehouse Overseer/Warehouse Manager
  11. Treasurer or Exchequer
  12. Mint Owner or Moneychanger
  13. Pawnbroker or Usurer
  14. Advisor, Butler, Council Member, Lieutenant, Majordomo, Vizier
  15. Courier or Messenger
  16. Tax Collector
  17. Busker, Performer, Player, Punch & Judy Puppeteer
  18. Artist or Sculptor
  19. Entertainment Venue Proprietor (Theater/Opera House/Amphitheater/Music Hall)
  20. Poet or Writer
  21. Composer
  22. Bard/Skald/Minstrel in Residence
  23. Philosopher
  24. Bathhouse or Gymnasium Owner
  25. Athlete or Gladiator
  26. Brothel Owner, Courtesan, Prostitute, Flesh Peddler
  27. Food/Drink Establishment Owner (Beerseller, Taphouse, Coffeehouse, Public House, Dining Club, Tavern, Pub, Brasserie, Food Cart, Kitchen)
  28. Bailiff, Reeve, Watch Captain
  29. Constable or Sheriff
  30. Noble (Lesser, Scheming, Family Relation)
  31. Executioner, Judge, or Solicitor
  32. Imprisoned/Jail Keeper
  33. Curios & Exotics Collector/Entrepreneur
  34. Jeweler, Gold or Silver Smith
  35. Guard or Watch Member
  36. Independent Artisan/Craftsman
  37. Guild Artisan/Craftsman or Guildmaster
  38. Farmer or Miller
  39. Shop or Market Stall Merchant
  40. Beggar, Homeless Person, or Peddler
  41. Longshoreman/Stevedore/Porter/Teamster
  42. Smith or Farrier
  43. Cloister Member/Leader (Layman Brother/Sister, Monk/Nun/Abbot/Abbess/Prior/Prioress, etc.)
  44. Druid Circle Member
  45. Local Drunk, Addict, or Mad Person
  46. Fisher or Herder/Drover
  47. Butcher, Fishmonger, or Grocer
  48. Bather, Dyer, or Tanner
  49. Eccentric Artificer/Inventor/Tinker
  50. Isolated Spellcaster (Warlock, Witch, Wizard)
  51. Barber, Folk Healer, or Physician
  52. Apothecary, Chemist, or Herbalist
  53. Harbormaster or Gate Captain
  54. Restless Spirit
  55. Assassin
  56. Cult Leader/Member
  57. Slaver
  58. Slave (Freed, Indentured, Runaway)
  59. Secret Society Leader/Member
  60. Bounty Hunter
  61. Bodyguard
  62. Gambler
  63. Charismatic/Sympathetic Outlaw or Vigilante
  64. Freedom Fighter, Populist Demagogue, or Revolutionary
  65. Folk Hero, Veteran, or Warrior or Repute
  66. Street Gang/Organized Crime Leader/Member
  67. Bandit or Pirate
  68. Smuggler or Rumrunner
  69. Foreign Agent/Dignitary/Spy
  70. Pilgrim, Vagabond, Mysterious Wanderer
  71. Clergy Member (Temple Priest, Bishop, Cardinal, Inquisitor, Vicar)
  72. Fortune Teller, Diviner, Seer, Soothsayer, or Oracle
  73. Cloth & Clothing Owner Cobbler, Clothier, Draper, Haberdasher, Hatter, Mercer, or Tailor
  74. Ethnic Minority Leader
  75. Knight Errant, Lone Adventurer, Sellsword, Military Order Member
  76. Young Acolyte, Apprentice, Linkboy, Stablehand, Student, or Urchin
  77. Young Child or Orphan
  78. Gravekeeper
  79. Hermit
  80. Burglar, Thief, or Fence
  81. Area’s Adventurers Guilder, Fixer, Infobroker
  82. Duelist or Area’s Toughest Person
  83. Traveling Group (Adventurers, Circus, Entertainers, Merchants, Noble-Court)
  84. Town Crier/Herald/Broadsheets Printer
  85. Tolerated Good/Neutral Monster
  86. Doula/Midwife
  87. Item as Questgiver (Item, Note, Map, Missing Person, Noticeboard Posting, etc.)
  88. Explorer, Guide, Ranger, Ship Captain, Treasure-Hunter
  89. Pioneer/Frontiersman (Hunter/Trapper/Prospector)
  90. Barbarian/Outlander/Hillfolk
  91. Refugee or Sympathetic Member of Occupying Force
  92. Casanova-esque Lover, Dandy, Libertine, Socialite, or Tastemaker
  93. Lodging Establishment Owner/Patron (Inn/Flophouse/Dormitory/Boardinghouse/Roadhouse/Caravansary)
  94. Wealthy Landowner or Heir
  95. Construction/Mine/Plantation/Workcamp Overseer
  96. Charlatan or Traveling Impostor
  97. Magical Talking Animal or Item
  98. Extra-planar Visitor
  99. A Secret Lover, Family Member, or Lovechild (Roll Again for Who’s)
  100. Monster in Disguise! Roll Again for Disguise!

I rolled three times on the chart and got 37, 02, and 03. Note to self, fire that tens-place d10 for rolling two double-naughts in a row. The first VIP NPC is a guilder or guild leader. Given I’m working with a plains-style area, herding is a big business. I think this VIP NPC is in charge of the sheep herd & shearers guild. Number two leaves me with a librarian or lore keeper. I’ll use the latter as I don’t think a small population surrounding a watchtower would have much of a library or archive.

And, lastly, I’m left with some educator or instructor. Since my central location is military-centric, I’m going to go with a master of arms, a seargent-style person in charge of training and drilling the warriors of the watchtower. I also think a master of arms will serve as an excellent foil (https://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/Main/Foil) for my Castellan.

VIP NPC Purposes

Our VIP NPCs serve two critical functions in the campaign starting area. First, they each offer an opinion on what to do about the imminent threat. The important thing is that there shouldn’t be a consensus. As a DM, we’re creating tension about the imminent threat in our central location. For example, if your central location is under imminent threat of raiders. Your VIP NPCs may be split about whether to capitulate to the raiders to save lives, pay appeasement to keep them at bay, prepare to defend the location to the last man, woman, and child, or even go on the offensive and go after the raiders.

We want to create a situation for our players where whatever vector they choose to resolve the imminent threat will gain and lose them favor with NPCs in the location. The resolution can affect what sidequests, goods/services, and even how likely they are to get help from different people in your central location.

Here are my VIP NPCs’ opinions on the imminent threat.
The Castellan wants to wait and see. They plan to keep the sinkhole guarded, no one in or out, create a perimeter, evacuate people before the sinkhole expands, and send for aid and instruction to their superior.

The Lorekeeper believes the worst thing possible is to leave this great mystery undiscovered. If it’s a threat, they need to know about it. Also, it is their duty as a keeper and guardian of knowledge to learn what’s in the sinkhole and document it for others to learn about it.

My Guildmaster honestly cares very little about the sinkhole itself. I have decided that one of the buildings that fell into the sinkhole is the guild’s storehouse to remedy that situation. The Guildmaster is looking for someone who will recover records and goods from the bottom of the sinkhole.

To serve as a foil for my Castellan, the Master of Arms is very outspoken and argumentative about taking the warriors into the sinkhole, valorously slaying anything they find, and securing the area. I like to think the Master of Arms has a lot of sway with the younger warriors who are generally bored with their watchtower posting and hungry for the action and glory of being a warrior.

The second purpose each VIP NPC provides is a sidequest tied to a nearby location and ideally isn’t directly linked to the imminent threat. To do that, we have a missing bit of information we need to fill in for our D&D campaign that will take up a little more time in our 15 minutes: what are the nearby locations, and how far away are they.

D&D Campaign Starter: Nearby Locations and Distance

We talked about the Central Location, so each additional location will be like a spoke from the hub in different directions. I like to use eight locations (N, NE, E, SE, S, SW, W, NW) for variety and give a clear answer to what the party will run into if they head in any direction, but you only need a minimum of three. Accomplishing this local area map is very easy. We have a few rolls on a 1d20 table, and then we’ll assign distance to each. Let’s go!

1d20 Nearby Locations

  1. Settlement
  2. Holding
  3. Isolated Homestead
  4. Religious Location
  5. Travel Haven
  6. Beacon/Signal
  7. Crossing
  8. Marker
  9. Meetingplace
  10. Monster Lair
  11. Construction, Roll 1d10
  12. Natural Resource
  13. Ruin, Roll 1d10
  14. Armed Conflict
  15. Natural Resource
  16. Treasure Rumor
  17. No Trespassing Area
  18. Landform
  19. Remains
  20. Hazard

All right, here are my results. To the North, I have a Natural Resource of some type. I want to keep it nice and straightforward to start. Since we haven’t identified any rivers, lakes, or other water sources, I’m going to say this location is a freshwater spring that attracts many people, monsters, and animals. To the Northeast is a holding! This holding is likely the keep that is in charge of the watchtower serving as our central location. It’s likely to where the Castellan is asking for aid and instruction. And to the East, I have a religious site. Since we have a coastal bay situation with a watchtower against sea raiders, I think this has to be a Lindisfarne situation. It is a cloister on a bay island that’s connected to the mainland at periods of low tide by an isthmus.

To the Southeast, we have some remains. Since I firmed up that the East is where the coast is, I think these remains should be shipwrecks. Maybe it’s an area of dangerous shoals where both trade and war vessels have been wrecked. Shipwrecks make for great adventure locations. South of my central location is an armed conflict. Since I don’t have any monsters tied down to my area yet, I’m going to go with my local warriors engaged in an ongoing armed conflict against some gnolls. They’re a fun, typical grasslands monster and don’t always get love in D&D adventures. There’s a ruin to the Southwest of a… crossing. I’m going with a water crossing and make it the burned-out ruins of a ferry crossing (probably gnolls). Now I know there’s a river that makes its way through the area and could complicate travel for my players, excellent!

Going West, I rolled a second holding. This repeat result is appreciated, and now I’ve changed my mind about the holding to the NE. Yes, there is a holding to the NE, but it does not house the Castellan’s superior. Meaning the Castellan is trying to get word to the Western Holding across the river, BUT the ferry’s been burned to a crisp. A fantastic complication for my players to addressing the imminent threat, especially if the Castellan doesn’t know the ferry is ruined. That leaves us finally with the Northwest. I rolled a nine, which is a meeting place. I’m going to keep it simple and say this meeting place is like a fairground. People come together on big market days or to celebrate holidays, but there’s only about a 20% chance the fairgrounds are occupied.

With locations decided, I need to determine how far away they are from the central location. To do that, you can either roll 1d12 for a wider spread or 2d6 for a more normalized spread. The numerical value equals the amount of “leagues” (hours of travel) it takes to reach the site from the central location. We use this range of distances because we want everything in the area to be reachable on the same day or the next day. That way, we’re not wasting a bunch of time traveling, but also we have some opportunities to add in random encounters and role-play moments if we want.

Prepare to Make Changes Along the Way

Like I made a change to the Castellan’s keep destination, I’m also going to make a change to my Master of Arms. I rolled for the conflict with the gnolls to only be a distance of two leagues away. The tension for the Master of Arms as a foil is their focus on the gnolls. They want to ignore the sinkhole as unimportant entirely. They don’t want to waste any resources or warriors guarding it when they need to be readying and protecting the watchtower against seaborne threats and the encroaching gnolls to the South.

Be prepared to scratch out and write over previous ideas when new information is presented and offers a better opportunity. Nothing you put down about this campaign setting in the 15 minutes you work on it is “locked-in” until you use it at the table in session. Otherwise, everything is subject to change.

Making the 15-Minute D&D Campaign Map

When I’m using the 15-minute D&D campaign starter, I do it with pen and paper. Something about the tactile nature helps me work it out, and I suggest getting comfortable using analog tools for any DM. There are fewer distractions than using a PC, and you can work on it anywhere, regardless of WiFi access. But, for this example, I put together a map on Hextml real quick. I just added some river courses and some hills to keep it from being an empty map and make it something I can easily share with players if I need to do so.

With even a simple map like this, it’s easy to track where the PCs are, where they’re going, plus how long and what obstacles are in their way.

Adding Sidequests to Your D&D Campaign

Now that we have our locations, we can hop back to our VIP NPCs and add a sidequest for each one tied to one of the nearby locations in your campaign starter area. The first one that jumps out to me is my lore keeper and the island cloister. I think the lore keeper knows that the cloister has one or more tomes on cataclysms, such as the ground opening up and swallowing people. They want someone to travel out to the cloister and borrow the book or make a copy of the essential passages and bring it back.

For the guild master, in addition to potentially recovering sinkhole items, they require someone to check on the guilders in the vicinity of the fairgrounds with their flocks. They need notice of the sinkhole issues and the gnoll activity to ensure the herds are kept safe.

The Master of Arms needs all the watchtower’s warriors to protect the tower and surrounding villagers. They need an outsider to deliver supplies to the warriors in the South fighting the gnolls and is willing to pay an additional bounty out per right gnoll ear brought back as proof of death.

The most important thing about these sidequests is to use the 2-outta-3-ain’t-bad structure. Once the party completes two sidequests, the remainder moves to a fail state that damages the party’s relation with that NPC and has additional consequences. For instance, if my players decided not to do the Master of Arms sidequest, those warriors to the South are then defeated by the gnolls, which could lead to a rescue mission or the gnolls attacking the watchtower.

Finishing Up the 15-Minute D&D Campaign Start

And that’s about it. That’s more than enough information to get a new D&D campaign off the ground in just a few minutes of table rolling and notetaking. Spend your leftover time by coming up with some names and descriptions for people and places, picking a few appropriate one-shot adventures/dungeons to use (here are 60 free one-page adventures for different locations from Tyler Monahan), and draft a few random encounters to fill out the spaces.

This 15-minute D&D Campaign Start has been an enjoyable project I’ve been working on for a few weeks. I already shared with another Dungeon Master who loved the concept and used it to build a new campaign. It’s nice because you could make a couple of these ahead of time and have them on deck, ready to use. I was working on a separate blog post about travel for this post, but I only made it halfway through. I’ll continue working on that, so be on the lookout for that in the coming months, plus more installments of the Worldbuilding Process Posts. I plan to clean up the notes for this 15-minute D&D campaign start and put it out on DriveThruRPG as a Pay-What-You-Want title for download.

Thanks for reading, and I hope you found this a valuable tool for your games. If you want to help support the blog, there are a few ways you can do that. You can, of course, check out the PWYW titles on DriveThruRPG. You can also help sponsor the site for as little as $1 a month on Ko-Fi. This website is a labor of love and service to the community. Your donations and payments go straight to supporting the website costs and purchasing additional RPG products and services I can use to create more content for you! If you’re tight on cash (we’ve all been there), you can still help by sharing this blog on Reddit, other RPG forums and by following and sharing the site on social media. While you’re there, stop by and give me a follow on Twitter, and we’ll see you next time.