The NEXT campaign.

Ok, so your group has successfully defeated the evil god of slaughter, torture, death, meanness, and jury duty, you've rescued all 256 princesses from their respective demonic captors, and you finally brought peace to the warring countries of Byhg and Whüp. It's about time to retire these characters and start over. But what happens to your beloved heroes and heroines? Are they ok? Are they still do-gooding? Are they nothing but legends now that their moment in the spotlight is over?

When a new campaign starts in the same world that the old one took place in, I like nothing more than to have the new characters cross paths with their old alter-egos. I find this makes the players feel special seeing the characters they put so much time and effort into still doing important things and being treated like those incredibly powerful NPC mentors and quest-givers you kept throwing at them. So, I'm going to offer up some ideas for how to integrate these legends into your adventures.

1. The King- This character, after giving up his adventuring ways, has decided (or elected) to rule over the kingdom he spent so much time saving. The king is of course far too busy running a country now to worry about the simple adventures and quests he used to take care of himself. So what he needs now is a young group of adventurers to take up fight and settle these mundane issues. Of course, the group will be adequately compensated for their efforts. After all, he IS the king, and he still remembers what it was like being a starving 1st level adventurer just begging for that first +1 longsword.


2. The Traveler- This character never did like settling down. He still roams the countryside looking for people to save or new things to see. Not much is a challenge to him anymore (though he doesn't have the rest of his group now), but it still feels just as good to save that caravan from raiders as it did back when it gave XP. He might even help a budding group of adventurers out of a tight spot once in a while, he knows he would have certainly appreciated the help back then.


3. The Sage- By the time the first campaign's over, the spellcasters have probably attained god-like powers with their spells. What do they need a group of lowly new adventurers for? They can take care of anything and everything themselves. Besides, mortal problems rarely concern them anymore, they have more important things to deal with. The balance of the cosmos must be kept, and they're a key player in that now. But, that lowly group may just need the help of some all-knowing, all-seeing, master of the arcane (or divine). They just may need to grab his attention somehow.


4. The Villain- What? But they were the good guys! (Note: Only do this with the player's consent. You should never deviate from the player's concept of their own character.) Sure he helped save the world a few dozen times. But now that it's safe, he wants a part of it, and he'll get it by any means necessary. What happened? Did the final epic battle with the forces of evil finally drive him mad? Did he always have an evil streak that just couldn't come out properly while surrounded by the other forces of righteousness that he travelled with? Whatever the answer, watch out!

So there you go. I hope you have lots of fun reintroducing these characters to their own players. And if you have other ideas I'd love to hear them. Actually, I'd love to hear anything. Seriously, it's tough coming up with things to write on a daily basis. If you have any questions or comments, please feel free to share. I'll even take "what's your opinion" questions. Ok, enough begging, I'm out.

Tags: campaign, character, player, the end, Dungeons and Dragons, D&D, D20