Character introductions can be a big hurdle when first starting a Dungeons & Dragons campaign. The Dungeon Master must provide hooks that bring unique characters to a single location, where they must agree to work together and form a party. Often these characters, built by players of ranging skill levels, have backstories that do not touch any of the other characters they will soon be traveling with. To help these random characters come together, picking a common, nondescript location any of the characters may find themselves in can help initiate the interactions.
The first thing to do when picking a starting location in a D&D campaign is to look at the first quest the party will be engaging with. It could be each of the party are hoping to track down and receive the bounty on the same outlaw, or that they have all signed on to protect the same noble lord traveling from one kingdom to the next. The information provided by the first few quests the party will have to accomplish can help the Dungeon Master choose a random location that will apply to each of the characters involved in the story.
Random locations can also be used later in a campaign if a new Dungeons & Dragons player wishes to the session, or if an NPC needs to be introduced to help guide the party. It isn't uncommon in long-standing campaigns for a party to grow or shrink, and a simple location like an inn or a local market can be an accessible and common location to initiate an interaction. While some of these locations seem overly simple or cliché, it is the most unremarkable places that can create memorable encounters. They also offer the Dungeon Masters a logical and low-impact location that doesn't take much to set up, saving time and resources for larger plot points after the party has assembled.
Dungeons & Dragons Encounter Locations - The Tavern
While it can seem over-used and has often been the source of many D&D jokes, a tavern is an excellent random location to initiate an encounter between players. Taverns are a common space found in most cities, towns, and rest points. Even in popular literature, taverns have been used as starting locations for epic adventures, like the Prancing Pony in Lord of The Rings, or the Three Broomsticks in Harry Potter. Taverns are a place where people gather to talk after a long day, become loose-lipped after too many drinks, or look for those to handle unpleasant business.
Taverns are so common, even characters from different D&D backgrounds could find themselves wandering into the same location after a long, hard day of travel. This could open up the opportunity for a chance narrative encounter with a Bard who tells a story about dragon's horde of gold far up in the mountains. It can also be the place for a farmer to request help smuggling a letter to a lover of the neighboring kingdom. Taverns can be used to bring in new characters, with the new player's character alone at the bar, waiting for an opportunity the party can offer over drinks.
Dungeons & Dragons Encounter Locations - The Festival
A festival can draw in people from all over a region. Whether it is to celebrate a local holiday or to commemorate the crowning of a new monarch, the streets will be packed with people, and with opportunities. Much like a tavern, this setting can be done in a crowded space meant to encourage character interaction. This can be an especially helpful campaign starter for new Dungeons & Dragons players, as festival interactions can make for a good introduction to D&D roleplay both with the party and with NPCs.
To use the festival setting, the D&D Dungeon Master could have all of the incoming characters be part of a guard detail to prevent problems during the events. They could also all come together near a dancing square by chance only to witness an event that requires all the characters to forces. For a more sinister setting, the players could all be present in the same space, like a royal court or public announcement during the festival, and bear witnesses to an assassination or kidnapping, forcing them to work together to solve the mystery.
Dungeons & Dragons Encounter Locations - The Boat
For a setting that is more deliberate, the Dungeon Master could create a situation where all D&D party begin their journey on the same ship heading to a new location. A ship, unlike a tavern or a festival, can have travel drawn-out over several days. This can give the D&D characters a chance to mingle for a longer period of time, get to know each other, and choose to work together once they arrive at the new location. There is also the possibility all the characters are on the boat for a more nefarious reason than travel. They could potentially have all been kidnapped from different places and must work together to escape, or they could all be on the ship when it is overrun by pirates, requiring them to work together to defeat the invaders or risk being lost at sea.
The ship encounter is also a great way to introduce new Dungeons & Dragons characters, because the vessel could have sailed out from any port on the map, or could stop at any number of D&D locations on the way to the primary destination. Players could befriend a crew member who chooses to their team, liberate a prisoner held in the ship's cells, or encounter another traveler looking for adventure. This can create a good opening narratively when adding a new player and also give time to build a relationship with the party, so the other Dungeons & Dragons players aren't attempting to befriend the person while tackling a complicated quest or while juggling difficult combat encounters. Any of these locations can create an opportunity to befriend new characters, and transition into the next plot point of a campaign.
