Campaign Ideas & Inspiration
Board Games, Books & Beyond · RPG field guides
Turn books, maps, and board games into material your own group can change. Find a premise, build a place, and prepare an adventure without prescribing the players’ story.
Build a place and a playable adventure
Give the table a useful starting situation and room to choose.
5 Horror One-Shot Hooks for Halloween NightFive original openings with disturbing discoveries, useful evidence, and possible resolutions.
Cartographers for GMs — Turn a Scored Map into a Setting SeedUse a finished map as the beginning of a campaign location.Design a Board-Game-Inspired RPG One-Shot — One Pressure, Three Scenes, a Clear EndingBuild a contained adventure around one pressure and three scenes.
How to Turn a Favorite Book into an RPG Adventure Without RailroadingAdapt a book’s tensions without prescribing its plot.
Sanderson’s Laws of MagicTurn clear limits into understandable, playable choices.
The Goblin Emperor as a Fate campaignGive the whole party responsibilities in a consequential court.
Dead Silence as a sci-fi crawlGive each room evidence, pressure, and a decision.Borrow from board games thoughtfully
Keep the decisions that help roleplaying and adapt the rest.
Before You Add a Board Game Mechanic to an RPG, Test the Decision It CreatesTest the choices a borrowed mechanic creates.
Five Board Games to Borrow Campaign Premises From — and What to Leave BehindBorrow a premise while preserving the roleplaying group’s freedom.
Turn Board Game Mechanics into RPG Campaign Choices — Six Practical ApproachesTurn mechanisms into choices with consequences.Reading, worldbuilding & atmosphere
Use fiction and references as ingredients for your own table.
15 Fantasy Novels to Make Your Next RPG Campaign More ImmersiveBorrow campaign structure, conflicts, and atmosphere from fiction.
14 Essential Worldbuilding Books for Dungeon Masters and RPG CreatorsChoose references for the part of the world you need to build.
10 Books That Will Inspire Your Next Tabletop RPG SessionFind a fresh premise for the next session.
What The Name of the Wind Can Teach Writers and Game MastersUse perspective and storytelling to shape a campaign.
How to Host an Immersive Game Night Without Overcomplicating ItMake atmosphere support play without complicating setup.
Why Books, Board Games, and TTRPGs Make Each Other BetterConnect reading, game nights, and roleplaying.
Fourth Wing: reader’s guide & RPG inspirationChoose the novel and borrow an original dragonrider campaign premise.