Dungeons & Dragons Games - How To Create A Base Of Operations Adventure

From the Dungeon Masters perspective, in game time passes for your players and eventually they may have their 'characters' tire and have had enough of staying on the road or in taverns and inns. This is not just during but also in between adventures they are involved in. Your players may long for a permanent home.

Around the 5-6th level average of your players, if they have not thought about it you can introduce the possibility of a 'base of operations' for them. Not only a permanent place to call home for the characters, but also rich for further adventures and intrigue provided by the dungeon master.

But don't make it an easy way to gain a home, present it as a new adventure, either stand alone, or as part of your overall campaign. How to get the players interested? Provide some background and a story.

For all you DM's out there, how you create your adventure or inclusion for your campaign is entirely up to you. Yet there is something to be said about if you want to create your adventure from scratch. You get to decide everything, and you may want to include your players input with their desires as well if they themselves, came up with wanting a base of operations.

Alternatively, you may wish to use one of your existing or newly purchased adventure modules with an added plot of having a territory for eventual use of a keep, castle or a country manor with many rooms or some such that the players 'win' to claim as their new home.

If you want to make your 'module' from scratch, try these ideas to add to your story and adventure.

• What kind of base will the players eventually inhabit? A keep? A dungeon with multiple levels? An intricate cave system? A military fort? a countryside manor?
  
• Have a town nearby within say, a days walking trek or closer by horse. The town has about 2,000-4,000 residents made up of a mix of your choosing (as in a mixture of humans, elves, dwarves, orcs, etc)
  
• Have mining of iron/silver/gold/gems or rare mineral ore as the main reason for the towns existence. The town may be the last principle major commercial centre before a vast ocean or gigantic mountain range (which have many travellers pass through).
  
• Denizens currently occupy the future home of the players, and may or may not be wreaking havoc on the nearby town and mines.
• The town is having issues as the mines and local keep/castle/caves are now problematic with monsters and other denizens.
• The town has very little assistance from outside due to the country at war, or being a frontier town and not well established or may be on the wrong side of the country due to it's locality (hard mountains to pass through, difficult by sea travel, etc)
  
• The town and all of it's surroundings are ruled with an iron fist by supernatural creatures (vampires, were-creatures, necromancer, etc) and the players hear about the hardship of the town through sheer chance.
  

How you plan to drive your main 'plot' device is yours to decide

As The DM, look at creating a map, and placement of the town in question even if it is for your own reference. This will also show why the town may be difficult to get to.

Decide on why the town is in trouble. Depending on the level of your players this may also involve more than just the, for example, the town, the keep and the mines. Their may be banditry in the surrounding hills and valleys or forests. The mines may be in disarray and monsters now lurk in there.

What kind of potential home is their that is one day away from the town (look for players input here as well) and is it barren and empty or occupied by some unknown (or known) evil?

Who is in the town as leaders, who are they, how do they conduct day to day affairs of the town?

What story device will you use to get your players to the township to rescue them?

For 38 years, Dalamos has ruled the township of Minath from his dark keep 1 hour away from the town. In life he was a miner of the local goldmine, in death he covets its lustre and colour above all other things. He continues to leave the townsfolk directly unaffected, but all know the punishment for unfulfilling quotas and attempting escape from town. By night Dalamos and his vampires rule with iron. By day his ghoul minions keep a tight reign during the sunlight hours.

A child of 16 has been able to escape further than anyone before in the last 30 years. She comes across an inn and finds the adventurers (your adventurer's: Dungeon Master) and asks for assistance to rid the town of the evil vampires and their horrible minions. The rewards are the saving of the town, a share in its gold production and a keep that they may wish to call their own.

How will the party of adventurers react?

Using the example above we now have the following.

Dalamos - 11th level Cleric, Lawful evil and vampire. Age 59 years (quick background, former preist of the town, was attacked when attempting to save the town from a vampire infestation, the vampire whom created Dalamos was destroyed but Dalamos became angry when discovering he survived and his former god left him)

Four minion vampires, all former clerics of Dalamos' church

Ruling council of 16 Ghouls, one is town Mayor, all ghouls are heavily influenced by Dalamos and rule the town during the day on his behalf.

1-2 encounters for the adventurers on their way to town.

The keep has one dungeon level, a basement, a forge, 27 rooms, two kitchens, two attics and two escape tunnels. Currently serviced by 22 half vampire, ghoul and human servants. These servants are level 1-3 fighter equivalent as NPC's.

Mine is extensive and will support the region for another 770 years at current production levels.

Draw one map of the town, the mine and the keep. Draw one area map encompassing the way into the valley that holds the mines, the town and the keep.

Flesh out the further required details as you see fit.