D&D: Five Classic Ways To Open An Adventure
Stuck on how to open your adventure? Take a page from history; here’s how some of the most iconic D&D adventures of all time began.
As David Lynch’s Dune taught us, the beginning is a delicate time. It’s no different for the beginning of a D&D adventure. You have to set both the tone and the stage. No wonder it can be one of the first places DMs get stuck when designing their own.
Why not learn from the past? Here’s how some of the greatest D&D adventures of all time began.
Broke And On The Road To The Village – Temple Of Elemental Evil
The Temple of Elemental Evil may be one of the all-time great D&D adventures. It has it all. A sleepy little village. A dungeons. Caverns with unimaginable evil corrupting, lurking just out of sight.
But it all begins with the party “poorly mounted, badly equipped and [with] no large sums of cash.” In fact, the adventure goes on to say that all they have is “daring and desire to become wealthy and famous” as they turn down the road and find the small village of Hommlet, situated on a crossroads with adventure awaiting.
Just Outside The Enemy Lair – Against The Giants
Against the Giants is a legendary series of adventures. Originally made for a party of nine(!) characters of higher level, it is a showcase of what upper-tier D&D could be like. But it all begins with the players gathered just outside the enemy lair.
Giants, it turns out, have been marauding into peaceful kingdoms, and in strange groups that suggest some sort of secret alliance. So to investigate, a party of adventurers was assembled, equipped, and led to a steading of hill giants, hoping to discover what secret power had united these disparate bands of raiders. And more to the point, when the PCs arrive at the enemy lair, there are no guards posted – all is quiet. A little too quiet…
Climbing Up A Mountain – Expedition To The Barrier Peaks
The Expedition to the Barrier Peaks is another adventure that takes a more direct hand at getting things started. Strange monsters have been issuing forth from the nearby Barrier Peaks, and the PCs have been charged to find out what happens.
This adventure begins with players mid-climb. As they try to ascend a steep slope, they will leave behind the relative safety of their inn and discover a crashed spaceship, mutants, robots, and worse besides.
Investigating Rumors – The Sinister Secret Of Saltmarsh
If you’re noticing a pattern here, it’s that sometimes it can be helpful to tell the party what they’re doing. Some adventures put the PCs right in the middle of the action. Others leave players a little more legroom to do – like the beginning of The Sinister Secret of Saltmarsh.
At the start of this adventure, players have come to the region to investigate rumors of “work suitable for adventurers” – and as they approach the town of Saltmarsh they may well have to prove themselves in order to discover the legends of Saltmarsh’s haunted house. But should they prove bold enough to set out on adventure, they will find the town cheers them on as they head out in search of adventure.
In A Tavern – Ravenloft
And then there’s Ravenloft. Widely considered to be one of the best D&D adventures because of its unique story and compelling villain (a trait that echoes through to today’s Curse of Strahd), this adventure starts with the party in a warm, cozy tavern.
But outside the inn, a fog lies over the town. And coming through it, a messenger from Castle Ravenloft who bids the adventurers within the tavern attend his master. A summons that leaves the tavern wary, even as celebration resumes.
How will you begin your next adventure?
