D&D player reveals genius way to turn RPG cliches into campaign ideas
Wizards of the Coast
One D&D player has revealed their method for turning the most cliche RPG tropes into fun campaign ideas for the DM who needs a quick concept.
The Dungeons & Dragons campaigns played by most groups are either official products or homebrew. The official D&D campaigns, like Curse of Strahd, come pre-written in sourcebooks, while homebrew campaigns are created entirely by the DM or players of the group.
Not everyone has time to create a full homebrew campaign setting, especially as players will likely derail the planned story within an hour. This means some DMs will only develop a basic outline for a D&D adventure or campaign, hoping that players will fill out the rest of the details on their own.
The hastily planned D&D session will often rely on the genre’s tropes: group meets in a tavern, orcs attacking the village, and the classic giant rats in the basement. An experienced group will have seen these a million times, but what if they could be made to feel fresh?
Wizards of The CoastA D&D player reveals their disruptive brainstorming technique for coming up with campaign ideas
A user on the DnD Reddit named RyanImeIDM has shared their technique for using disruptive brainstorming to come up with new D&D story ideas. All it requires is some paper and a knowledge of the genre’s tropes.
The basic concept involves writing down many basic D&D adventure ideas that people are familiar with, such as saving a village from goblins or being trapped in a shipwreck. The DM then comes up with “skews” that modify the ideas, such as Location, Perspective, and Scale.
With the ideas and skews in mind, the DM then mixes them together to create concepts. By using Perspective, saving a village from goblins turns into protecting innocent goblins from a nearby settlement, or being trapped in a shipwreck turns into being lost at sea and unable to find dry land.
This disruptive brainstorming technique is an excellent way to develop D&D one-shot ideas. DMs won’t always have time to prep a full session, especially for a last-minute game, so an exercise like this is ideal for people who need something fast and memorable.
The unconventional D&D ideas created by disruptive brainstorming work best for one-offs but could easily be adapted into long-form campaigns. Many a D&D storyline has grown from an off-hand remark, and an unusual concept can be a breeding ground for interesting and unique homebrew campaigns.
