D&D: Five Adventuring Party Concepts To Kick Off Your Next Campaign
Making an adventuring party together can set the stage for your whole D&D campaign. Here are five great adventuring party concepts to try on.
In D&D, an adventuring party is the backbone of any campaign. They’re the unspoken extra character at any table. And they play just as important a role in setting the tone for your coming campaign.
Sometimes, you can make your whole game of D&D adventuring party focused. Other times, your adventuring party might play a smaller role. But either way, group dynamics make for some fun things to play with, so try on these adventuring party concepts for your next D&D campaign.
Arcane Mysteries and Occult Investigations
Look, everyone loves a good mystery. And those who don’t often love fighting eldritch monsters. Combine the two in a party that’s designed to take on threats of a magical nature.
The best part is, you don’t even have to all be spellcasters to make this work. You could have a Fighter that picks up Mage Slayer (if you’re not feeling Eldritch Knight), or a Rogue with Expertise in Arcana.
Of course, you’ll probably want a Wizard or Bard. Someone to be really good at picking out Lore details. Couple that with a protector-y character, like a good Paladin or Barbarian, then bring along some wands and scrolls, and you’ve got a group ready to take on magical problems of almost any kind!
Hunters of the Undead
Give yourselves some serious Castlevania: The Animated Series vibes. Or you know, any show where a bunch of people in wide-brimmed hats roam a gothic countryside as slayers of the undead. This is a big staple of fantasy stories.
Take a Cleric and a Paladin as your base. Then layer in maybe a Warlock to deal with Occult-y undead and the occasional demon or devil (they always seem to be mixed up with it). You could even go au naturale with a Druid to represent the living vs. the dead aspect.
We Bought An Inn
Of course, it’s not always the makeup of a party that defines the dynamic. Or even what they fight. Sometimes it’s all about the in-game goals.
And this is a more modern trope – but fantasy characters who are adventurers but who also run a cozy little B&B? That’s what they call a spicy meatball. You can literally pick any character concept you like for this. Though for best results, you want a ratio of at least two or three weirdos per normal fantasy guy.
Like a Goliath Barbarian, an Orc Wizard, and a Gnome Bard who all work together with a very normal Human Fighter or something.
Adventuring Guild Misfits, aka The Breakfast Club
We all love misfits. A band of ragtag people who don’t really fit in anywhere else, so they fit in with each other? That’s D&D gold right there.
You can make this happen pretty easily. You just have to figure out how your character is down on their luck. An easy way to play this is to decide your group is a bunch of “outcasts” from a guild or group like the Harpers or some other adventurer’s guild. Everyone can come up with their own sob story. But you’ll probably want at least one person who feels bummed about it, or like they want back in, even if the rest of the party is determined to go their own way.
Then all you have to do is figure out how to show up your rivals in the guild at every turn.
Treasure Hunters
Finally, what better way to make a party than by deciding to strike it rich? A treasure hunting party can be many things. All you really need is someone with a knack for finding either rumors of treasure. Or treasure maps.
Then you can head off in pursuit of them. Bards and Rogues tend to shine in this kind of party. But so do Wizards and Clerics with heads full of Arcane or Divine knowledge (for figuring out ancient clues), and of course, anyone who believes that the finest treasure in the realms belongs in a museum.
What will your next party be?
