Topic Hub
Running D&D: Help for Your Next Session
Start with whatever is in front of you: a session on Friday, a table that will not stop talking, a town you have not built yet. Each section below is a job a Dungeon Master actually has, with the guides and tools that help with it. Use one, save what is worth keeping, and let the campaign build up from there.
Prep my next D&D session
Bring the hook or situation your party is in. The Session Prep Builder turns it into the pressure, people, places, clues and consequences you need, then a one-page run sheet for the table. It works for any system, so it fits a 5e session as well as anything else.
Prep my next D&D session- How do I prepare an RPG session, step by step? — The nine-step prep method the builder follows, if you would rather work through it yourself.
- How do you prep a weekly RPG session quickly? — A short routine for the weeks when you only have an evening.
Start a D&D campaign
“I am about to run my first game, or a new one.”
Settle what the table wants, have the Session 0 conversation, then give the party a place to begin.
Answer
What should a new D&D player learn first?The handful of things that get a beginner playing, and what can wait.
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How do I run a successful Session 0?Agree expectations, tone and boundaries before the first scene.
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How do I expand a simple RPG campaign idea?Turn a one-line premise into something you can run.
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What should an RPG settlement contain?Choose what a starting town needs and leave the rest.
Generator
Settlement GeneratorBuild a starting town with people and pressures.
Prep the next session
“The game is soon and I do not know what to prepare.”
Prepare situations and people rather than a script, then check how much is enough.
Tool
Session Prep BuilderTurn your hook into a table-ready run sheet. The same builder works for any system.
Answer
How much prep do you need for an RPG session?Find the amount that keeps you ready without burning out.
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How much of the plot should a DM prepare?Prepare enough structure to run it, not a story to follow.
Generator
D&D NPC GeneratorFill the room with people who want something.
Generator
Rumour GeneratorGive the party leads to follow or ignore.
Build the adventure
“I need a dungeon, a mystery or something to do on the road.”
Encounters, clues, puzzles and heists, built so the players have choices.
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What makes a good random encounter?Make a wandering encounter matter to the story.
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How do I balance RPG combat encounters without a TPK?Pitch fights at the right danger for your party.
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How do you run a mystery without railroading?Place clues so the party can solve it from any angle.
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How do you create quest hooks without railroading?Offer leads the party can take or leave.
Hub
Puzzles hubDesign puzzles that do not stall the game, with hints.
Hub
Heists hubPlan and run a heist the players can improvise around.
Generator
Dungeon GeneratorSketch a dungeon to adapt to your own map.
Generator
Adventure GeneratorStart from a complete adventure outline.
Run the table
“The game is happening and something is not working.”
Fixes for pace, spotlight, large groups, tricky players and talkative NPCs.
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How do you run D&D for a large group of players?Keep seven or more players engaged and moving.
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How do I make combat faster without making it less exciting?Cut the dead time and keep the tension.
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How do I give specialist characters spotlight?Make sure every character gets scenes where they matter.
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What do you do with murder-hobos?Talk it through, then change what the world does back.
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How do I handle players asking an NPC to tell us everything?Run questioning scenes that reward good questions.
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How do you handle players going off script?Follow the party without throwing away your prep.
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How do you improvise NPCs on the spot?A five-beat order for a usable person in seconds.
Build the world
“The party wants to go somewhere I have not made yet.”
Settlements, factions, gods and cultures with enough detail to play.
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How do you create a fantasy faction?Give a faction goals, resources and a rival.
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How do you create a believable fictional religion?Build beliefs and practices people would follow.
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How do I make different cultures feel distinct?Differences that come from place and history.
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How do I build a believable economy for a fantasy world?Work out what places make, need and trade.
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How do you run political intrigue and faction play?Put rival powers in motion between sessions.
Generator
Faction GeneratorCreate a faction with goals, dependencies and rivals.
Generator
Pantheon GeneratorSketch gods and what their followers believe.
Hub
Fantasy generatorsMore fantasy generators for places, people and items.
Keep the campaign straight
“I cannot remember who knows what, or what the party promised.”
Notes, relationships and timelines you can actually find again during play.
Answer
How do you organise RPG campaign notes?A structure for notes that survives a long campaign.
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How do you keep track of NPCs in a long campaign?Remember who is who without a binder.
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How do you organise NPC relationships?Record who trusts, owes and fears whom.
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How do you track unresolved plot hooks?Never lose a thread the party left hanging.
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How do you manage a campaign timeline?Keep track of what happened and when.
Workspace
Link your NPCs, factions and placesSee how a campaign's people, places and factions connect in a graph.
From tonight's problem to a campaign you can find your way around
You do not need to set anything up first. Most DMs start with one thing and keep going.
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Solve tonight's problem
Read one answer or run one generator for the thing in front of you.
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Save what is useful
Keep the NPC, town or run sheet in your own vault instead of losing it in a tab.
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Connect it
Link the NPCs, factions, places and quests so you can see how they relate.
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Prep from it next time
Start each session from what already happened, using your journal and graph.
More about D&D and Codex Cryptica
- Codex Cryptica for D&D — Why a connected campaign workspace suits a long D&D campaign.
- All fantasy material on Explore — Browse more fantasy guides, generators and examples.