How to Write a D&D Campaign

Read all three Core Rulebooks, particularly the "Dungeon Master's Guide." It contains detailed information on mechanics, combat, difficulty ratings and skill checks, among other things. It also contains general advice on campaign building and how to be an effective Dungeon Master (DM) for your players.

Develop the overarching story that will underlie your campaign first. What is the goal? In most D&D campaigns, the players set out to improve the world in some way. The goal may be to defeat a tyrant, dispel a great evil, locate a powerful object -- there are almost no limits here. Some Dungeons &Dragons campaigns are as detailed as a lengthy novel, with subplots and dozens of sub-adventures. If you are new to being a DM, start small. Create a fairly linear story with a clear beginning, middle and end. Leave plenty of flexibility in order to adjust the story to your players' behavior when playing.

Decide how the players' characters will come together. Do they begin by meeting at random in a tavern? Are they thrown together by circumstance? Don't leave your players without a distinct goal to pursue for long. The campaign will lose impetus if they have nothing to move towards. For instance, they could meet as fellow prisoners in a work camp. Their first goal, in this case, could be to escape.

Create the world map. While the "Dungeon Master's Guide" offers suggestions, there is no "right" way to do this. You can make the world as you like. Some DMs create extensive worlds with numerous towns and cities, some create worlds just detailed enough to carry the story. A story with numerous subplots and adventures will usually require a larger, more detailed world. Decide where important items and non-player characters (NPCs) are located. Plot the overarching story line on the map, beginning with the location the characters first meet.