Growing up I was never interested in fantasy books. I could not stand them. To this day I still find them difficult to read. In my minds eye I know what a dragon is supposed to look like and how it’s supposed to act. I never really thought much more about it. It was just one of those things that was.

When I got into Dungeons & Dragons I was caught off guard when it came to creating a campaign. My knowledge of medieval history and fantasy was poor at best. (I still think it is quite poor) I have an image in my mind of what a heroic knight looks like and how he would act. But this one sided, almost two dimensional view does not allow for great game play.

So I have started to look for campaign inspiration everywhere I can.

Rule Books
I think this is a good place to start. It doesn’t matter what the setting is of your game. The core rule books of any Roll Playing Game should have enough information within their pages to point you in the right direction. I try to go back often to re-read my my core rule books.

Dungeon Masters and Friends
If I have learned anything it’s don’t be afraid to ask for help. You don’t know everything. You can always learn, and learning from other people is always a great idea. I have a couple of veteran Dungeon Masters and just some good friends who I chat with about adventures that I am planning. I can pick their brains on how to make my games better and ask them for advice.

Game Modules
Games like Dungeons & Dragons have free and pay-for game modules. A pre-built adventure. These are not only good for people like me who’s knowledge is some what limited. It’s also good for people who don’t have alot of time to sit and plan out an adventure. They generally include all the monster stats, maps and background information you will need to run the adventure. Cutting down on your prep time.

One thing I have been doing lately has been buying old school Dungeon & Dragon modules from Amazon.com. Adventures like the “Tomb of Horrors” and “Expedition to the Barrier Peaks” that I use for their story ideas more then anything. (Expedition to the Barrier Peaks was used with great success in a flash back game recently)

Fantasy Books
God I hate fantasy books. I hate them with the passion of a thousand burning suns. For me it’s as painful as listening to a Lenny Kravitz album. With that said, I am currently trying to read the first DragonLance book. As much as I hate the book and hate reading it I have managed to pull and use some great ideas from the book and I am not even done reading it yet!

Where does the inspiration for your campaigns come from? Where do you get all your wonderful ideas for adventures? What helps you the most when you have to figure out what happens next? Please let us know by posting a comment. We would love to hear from you.