I often speak of gaining inspiration for your D&D campaigns by observing the real world as a starting point for your creativity. I decided to demonstrate that with a little field trip to various locations, all within a 5 mile radius of my suburban home east of Portland, Oregon in the Pacific Northwest of the United States.
I’ll discuss each location and the ideas that can be inspired by them.
Tickle Creek Trail
Perhaps the most common place where I get inspired is a local walking trail. I live in a temperate rain forest so I won’t be getting any desert-inspired ideas, but for forest or even jungle themes, it’s great.
As I walk this path, I put myself into the mind set of an adventuring party moving through the wilderness. Perhaps they’re looking for the entrance to a rumored dungeon, or are escaping monsters that are pursuing them.
Sandy River, Revenue Bridge
Looking at this rugged river, I think of wilderness and the mysteries and dangers that can lie within. I am the dungeon master for a teens D&D group through my local library. Based on this real river, I wrote one into my current campaign that has rumored magical power.
Any deceased creature placed into the river at midnight and set to float away into the darkness will emerge from the frigid water somewhere downstream, resurrected. Of course, this has led to the wilderness becoming filled with the undead, but who’s counting?
Jonsrud Viewpoint/Mt. Hood
Here’s a view from the cliffs high above the same river I just visited. As you can see, there’s the lonely mountain in the distance. Here and there in the wilderness are homesteads of hearty souls who brave the dangers of the forest and deep river valleys to make a life of their own.
Should it be no surprise that many of these pioneering souls are rumored to be werebears and even a few werewolves? That’s just a rumor, of course. Speaking of rumors, the next place on my field trip is a great place to hear some.
Paola’s Pizza
Shifting away from the wilderness and back into my small town, I think about the inns and taverns where adventurers go for food, drink, and rumors. There’s an old pizza restaurant near me that had been in business for about 50 years or so before finally closing down.
I can’t show you the interior, but it’s like someone took an old barn and made it homey. There’s a large open area in the middle with a huge stone fireplace, and on the left side ground floor is the kitchen, and above it is a dining area. On the right side ground floor is the bar and above that is more dining.
I take inspiration from actual buildings, and just from memory I could easily draw a map for a busy tavern within my campaign based on the floor plan of this historical establishment.
Strip Mall
Getting even more into modern society, you can get inspiration from a suburban strip mall. Take a guess what those ideas might be? As I look at this, I think of a row of vendor stalls within the protective ramparts of a large keep or city. You can hear the sounds of vendors hocking their wares and the smells of those selling dilectables and edibles.
Not those kind of edibles.
Sandy High School Athletic Field
We move now to the athletic field of our local high school. What does this have to do with D&D you might ask? Think gladiator games. Perhaps the party is visiting a strange city and their thief gets caught picking the pocket of a local luminary.
The whole party gets arrested and are given a choice. The regional competition of warriors and spell-casters is taking place in a day or two and the party can either compete, or the thief in their group gets their hands cut off.
This would be a good way to introduce PvP to your group. I do that twice a year with my teen’s D&D group, usually just before the summer break and again just before they kiddos return to school.
Look Around You
As you move around your community, look at the natural features such as hills, forests, grasslands, rivers, what have you, and let those places color your perspective with a fantastical hue.
Give consideration to buildings and local landmarks, or even the people in your community. I once took inspiration from a scandalous mayor of a local town and made him the bad guy during one particular session of my campaign. I changed the name to protect the guilty, but their mannerisms, way of speaking, and even the way they dress influenced the evil NPC I created in the game.
Get Started
It’s easier to edit than to create, so take the real world as a starting point, then edit that source of inspiration to suit your campaign.
I hope this perspective helps you out.
