6 Keys to Maximize Your RPG Campaign

Playing in an ongoing RPG campaign takes tabletop RPG experiences to the next level. If - that is - you can keep the game going, and find ways to make the most of the experience for all players at the table.

Few gaming experiences can compare to the sense of epic destiny that envelops ongoing TTRPG (tabletop RPG) adventures. There’s a sort of threshold that’s reached once a gaming group has played multiple sessions together. Once the threshold is crossed, it pushes the story from something merely fun, to something that’s truly compelling. Once a game has gone from something your players are showing up to try out, to something they can’t wait to experience each week, you know you’re in the “flow” of a great RPG campaign.

How to Make An Entire RPG Campaign Successful

Creating the right environment for an RPG campaign to develop is key for its success. Here are my top recommendations to help you finish an entire campaign with your gaming group (more details on each bullet point provided, below):

Focus on Fun
Make Sure Everyone Gets to Participate
Create a Cohesive Story
Keep Games Consistent
Ask Yourself: Do You Really Want A Full Campaign?
Utilize an RPG Planner

Now that you know the benefits of playing a full campaign, and also that most gaming groups don’t get that full experience, you might be interested in some tools to increase your odds.

1. Focus on Fun

The best way for you to have a campaign succeed is to remember that the purpose of gaming is to have fun. Prioritize fun over having a successful campaign, and your campaign is more likely to endure.

2. Make Sure Everyone Gets to Participate

One of the main ways to keep games fun for everyone is to ensure each person at the table gets to participate in the game in the way they want. Some people will inevitably contribute more to the game than others, and that’s ok. Just so long as no one feels excluded, or unheard.

3. Create a Cohesive Story

If you are running the game’s story, or contributing to it in any way, do your best to make the story logical. It doesn’t have to be a masterpiece, at the start. Simply create objectives for the group, conflicts to oppose those objectives, and interesting pacing. Ultimately, there are many skills that can be mastered in telling a story. The important thing to remember is that you don’t need to become an expert. Your gaming group will benefit, however, from intentionality on your part, between games, in creating story cohesion and flow.

4. Keep Games Consistent

Try to game at the same time of day, at the same location, with a similar gaming environment, as much as you can. This isn’t a hard-and-fast rule. However, people do respond well to consistency, since they learn what to expect. This also helps with scheduling, as people can block off the same time and day each week (for example) for gaming.

5. Do You Really Want A Full Campaign?

Before telling a group of people that you want to play an entire RPG campaign, make sure it’s what you really want. As great as TTRPG campaigns are, there is a real time investment to them. If you, as the person who gets people excited about a new RPG campaign, decides part way through that you’re not interested in continuing, chances are high that the group will fall apart. If you’re unsure from the beginning, it’s often better to simply play a one-shot adventure, or perhaps a few adventures, rather than committing to an entire campaign.

6. Get an RPG Campaign Planner

Our final tip for keeping a campaign going successfully is to utilize an RPG campaign planner. Once a story develops enough, it takes on a life of its own. And it can become difficult, over time, to keep track of all the characters, locations, unique items, and side stories that emerge. Thankfully, experienced gamers have created all kinds of templates, and if you prefer to invest, products, that can be used to organize everything. RPG campaign planners make it easier to track notes of all kinds, develop storylines, and create consistency and cohesion in ongoing adventures.

Basically, you have four options when it comes to RPG campaign planners. All options are just varied combinations of either physical or digital, and free or paid:

Physical – Unpaid
Digital – Unpaid
Physical – Paid
Digital – Paid

Physical and Unpaid RPG Campaign Planner

A physical and unpaid RPG campaign planner would be something like an rpg campaign template you can find, online. It doesn’t need to be fancy, at all. To be honest, even a notebook will suffice. In fact, when it comes down to it, really anything that you can write on and take notes with, will do. Whether you search for online templates, or create your own, make sure it has space to track the following key elements:

Major Player Characters (PCs)
Major Non-Playable Characters (NPC)
Villains
Goals, Oppositions, and Inner Conflicts of All Important Characters
Unique Items
important Locations
Important Backstory/ Background Notes for Any of the Above
Side Quest Ideas from Any of the Above
Major Plot Points, both Past and Future
Opportunities for Plot Twists
Clues Given to Players that May Foreshadow Plot Points or Twists
Maps and Other Campaign Handouts

Digital and Unpaid RPG Campaign Planner

There are many digital and unpaid RPG campaign planners available online, today. Many of them take care of all the points listed, above, and even offer more tools than those. Many of these websites also offer options for paid subscriptions, but can be great resources even without. If you don’t mind having a computer or tablet at your gaming table, and don’t mind if the rest of your gaming group does as well, tech can be a great way to go. Some gaming groups find it cumbersome to have computers take up space at the gaming table, or find the technology distracting. However, this is really just a matter of preference.

Physical and Paid RPG Campaign Planner

A physical and paid RPG campaign planner would be something like a put-together book for rpg campaigns. It usually comes with artwork, interesting ideas, a high-quality cover and inside pages, and can certainly be worth the money. If one thing is true about TTRPGs, it’s that you get out what you put in. Sometimes it’s worth investing a few dollars to purchase something that helps the game session feel more “magical” to you. If you find things like artwork, nice covers, and quality notebooks to be helpful for your creativity, you may consider buying a nice RPG campaign planner. Or, even simply buying a nice leather-bound notebook.

Digital and Paid RPG Campaign Planner

Digital and paid RPG campaign planner websites, as mentioned above, often have a free version. Before paying for anything, you might first try out a site’s unpaid option. Usually, all the advanced features that come from a paid subscription aren’t especially useful until a campaign reaches a certain stage of complexity, anyways. However, once a campaign becomes pretty big, with numerous interweaving plots and characters, having an online RPG campaign planner can be very useful. Technology certainly has its place at the gaming table, as it can convey large amounts of visuals and text very simply. If you’re interested in utilizing software at your gaming table, you might check out one of the following online RPG campaign planners for yourself:

World Anvil
Obsidian Portal
Kanka
Scabard
DnD Campaign Planner

Benefits of a Long-Term RPG Campaign

There are serious benefits to playing in a long-term game. For most people (in my experience), nearly all the best moments you’ll ever have while playing tabletop RPGs will come from playing in lengthy campaigns. If you know anyone who’s played some long-term RPG campaigns, ask them – they’re likely to confirm.

This means that if you’ve never played in a long-term game, you’re probably missing out on the types of experiences you’ve always guessed TTRPGs are capable of providing (more details on each bullet point provided, below):

Connection to your Character
Connection to Locations
Connection to Villains
Connection to the Story
Epic Moments
Mastery of the Game
Comfortability Roleplaying
Increased Creativity
A Story You Look Forward To

Connection to Your Character

It takes a number of game sessions for your character’s backstory to come forward in the game, and become applicable for the current story. Once it does, though, you’ll see parts of your character come to life in ways you probably couldn’t imagine, beforehand.

Connection to Locations

Troea, the city your gaming group started in, probably doesn’t mean much the first few gaming sessions. Only after you realize the “guardian” of the city – for whom you’ve been completing important tasks – is a lich, does the city really mean something to you.

Connection to Villains

The first time you meet a villain in a story, you really don’t know if they’re going to be all that important to your character’s story. After all, they could just be a minor villain, or be overthrown by one of their own henchmen, in coming weeks or months. It’s only after you’ve faced a villain, won or lost, then had to face them again, that you see something build. Repetition of gaming sessions with the same villain creates the kind of connection where you love to hate them. Or, hate that you love them.

Connection to the Story

The results of connecting more to your character, locations in the game, villains, and everything related, is that you connect to the story. The game goes from being something merely fun and social, to something meaningful. When you connect to your game’s story, you can’t wait to see what happens next. That’s when things start getting intense.

Epic Moments

Buildup of the gaming group’s connection to the ongoing story inevitably results in emotional investment. No matter the moment – a ring falling into a volcano, the death of a demi-god, or the coronation of a king – an event is only made “epic” because of catharsis. Only players who have gamed long hours together unlock within themselves the capacity to experience epic tabletop RPG moments.

Mastery of the Game

Many things in life become more fun when we develop more skill in the activity. It might be weird to think that you can become “better” at a TTRPG, but it’s true. You can. And when you do get better at roleplaying, and better at your combat tactics, the game does feel more rewarding.

Comfortability Roleplaying

On the topic of roleplaying, if you’re someone who likes the idea of getting into character but has some difficulty finding your rhythm, long campaigns definitely help. Regular play with the same group of people tends to lower inhibition a bit. Also, the more you get invested in the campaign’s story, the easier it becomes to connect your character to the gaming world. And from there, it’s almost only natural to fall into roleplaying.

Increased Creativity

Similarly, spending more time – and becoming more invested – in a gaming world allows for creative ideas to flow more freely. Great campaigns and stories in a TTRPG group don’t just come from the game master. Instead, the best campaigns come from every member of the group creatively contributing to what happens, or what should happen, next.

A Story You Look Forward To

The biggest benefit of an ongoing RPG campaign is that the game becomes something you look forward to each time you play. There’s nothing wrong with casual games, of course. There is a difference between casual games, and deeply meaningful ongoing campaigns, however. Consider the difference between a watching a YouTube video and watching the season finale to your favorite show. No comparison, right? There’s just not the same emotional build up and intensity, until you’ve invested the time required to cross the threshold of greatness.

Is It Difficult to Keep an RPG Campaign Going?

Unfortunately, even with the many great benefits of an ongoing tabletop gaming campaign, it can be difficult to get one off the ground. Many gaming groups start out with the idea of playing an entire RPG campaign. There’s usually one person, or a couple, who becomes the driving force for getting the group together, and consistently playing.

In many cases (maybe even in most cases), however, an “RPG campaign” turns into a single one-shot adventure. Or, perhaps a few gaming sessions strung together, loosely. Then, interest in the game burns out, people get busy, or any number of life-related events take place to derail the budding storyline.

For a little context, I’ve been playing TTRPGs for about 20 years. In all my tabletop RPG experiences, I’ve played in five full-length campaigns. Besides those, I’ve played in maybe eight more partial-length “campaigns,” and began another dozen or so “campaign attempts.” The campaign I’m playing in now, if it makes the distance, will only be my sixth. It’s not easy to get a group of people together, consistently, for any length of time. It was certainly easier when I was in college. Now, as an adult, with real responsibilities, it takes a bit more effort to keep things rolling.

Try Out a New Kind of TTRPG

Sometimes, the best way to make a TTRPG campaign succeed is to try out a new game. If you’ve never played a group GM RPG before, check out Eternity TTRPG.

Campaigns in Eternity TTRPG have immense longevity to them since everyone at the table contributes to the creativity of the gaming world, NPCs, villains, storylines, and more. It’s also set up so that there’s a lot of cohesion amongst the group in the development of stories.

Have Fun With Your Next RPG Campaign

Hopefully, this article has given you some reason to try out an RPG campaign, tips to make it endure, and ideas for planning it out. The last piece of advice for you is to have fun with it. Nothing matters more, in tabletop roleplaying.

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Author - Jacob Tegtman

Dear reader, I hope you enjoyed this article. Tabletop gaming has been a passion of mine since I was 6 years old. I've played just about every game from Dungeons and Dragons to video games like Final Fantasy. These games have inspired me, made me laugh, made me cry, and brought me endless hours of enjoyment.

I started Eternity TTRPG - and the indie tabletop game that goes along with it (Eternity Shop) - to share my love of gaming with others. I believe that in our technology-driven age, tabletop games help bring a sense of magic and community back into our world.

If you love the site, please share it with others! I have lots of gaming-related material for you to peruse and use in your own gaming sessions. If you have any questions about the site or want to contribute, just send me a message using the "Contact" page, which you can find in the site's footer.

A gnarled, dark tree stands in a misty forest under a pale moon.

Playable Monster Races in D&D: the Gnarlborn - Haunted Treants

By Jacob Tegtman • March 22, 2026

Transcribed content from our recent YouTube video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AuryVcZdp4Y Transcription There are kind two ends of the spectrum for D&D races. There’s Story-specific races: These come with a strong, built-in narrative that fits specific campaign worlds or settings, that almost tells you how to play them. Then there’s more Flexible races. These are much easier to slot anywhere because they don’t necessarily come with an expected tone or backstory. You can sort of fit them into any campaign with ease – like playing a human. Some D&D player races feel like they’re built for a specific kind of story. Others feel flexible enough to drop into almost any campaign. Gnarlborn from Crooked Moon… sit somewhere in between—and that’s kind of what makes them interesting. They have strong flavor, but they aren’t restrictive for your campaign. They come with built-in lore that gives you instant roleplay direction, but they aren’t so specific that you can only play them in your Crooked Moon campaign. Welcome back to Eternity TTRPG. As you can already tell, today we’re looking at a lesser-known player option for playable races, which is the Gnarlborn from Crooked Moon. If you’ve seen my other videos on the topic, Crooked Moon has become one of my favorite D&D settings of all-time. We’re going through each of the races presented in Crooked Moon, and today getting to the treant-like Gnarlborn. Starting with the basics, Gnarlborn are – well, born – from the soil of a region called Ardengloom, a forest that’s less “peaceful woodland,” and more “haunted, thinking ecosystem.” The forest itself is filled with these massive trees called Elderwoods—each one housing lingering Fey spirits. Gnarlborn commune with these spirts and Elderwoods, forming an intricate and well-connected forest community. So yeah, you’re playing basically “a tree person.” But you’re also playing something that exists in a constant, low-level conversation with ancient, possibly unreliable spirits. That alone gives you a strong roleplay hook without needing a complicated backstory, as your tie to those spirits, and who/ what they are could gain any level of depth that you’d like, over the course of a campaign – or even a few adventures. Visually, Gnarlborn are humanoid, but like the trees in your yard, everything about them is asymmetrical—branches, moss instead of clothing accents, glowing hollows where a face might be. No two look the same. Some might feel ancient and slow, while others might come across as curious or even a little disconnected—like they’re only partially focused on the present. And since they can live for hundreds—sometimes thousands—of years, you can decide how much that actually affects your character. Are they wise because of their age, or are they just... slow? Ok, when it comes to core mechanics, let’s talk about what you actually get—because this is where Gnarlborn become very usable. First, we have: Deep Roots You get advantage on checks and saves to avoid being moved or knocked prone. This is simple, but it can be very useful against certain enemies. Next is: Elderwood Whispers After every long rest, you can pick up a new skill, tool proficiency, or even a language. Temporarily. This is probably the most interesting trait the Gnarlborn have. It’s not flashy, but it gives you day-to-day adaptability, which can be nice. It rewards players who like planning ahead—or improvising, based on expected challenges for the day. Third, we have what may be the Gnarlborn’s most *potentially powerful effect, which is: Grasping Branches As a Bonus action, you restrain a creature if they fail a Strength save. Or slow them if they succeed. The main issue here is the saving DC isn’t very high (it’s 8, plus your Constitution modifier, plus your proficiency bonus). But! Even on a successful save, the creature has half speed for a turn. So, grasping branches can be decent battlefield control without requiring you to be a spellcaster. And because this effect recharges on a short rest, you may just actually use it. It’s not overwhelming—but it’s consistently useful. Root Sense gives you tremorsense out to 60 feet. So, the ability to find Invisible enemies, Creatures behind walls, etc. And lastly, you have: Towering Size Which gives you advantage to end being grappled, and – if your group actually tracks carrying capacity, you can in fact carry more stuff. Nothing flashy—but admittedly, very practical. Playing a Gnarlborn definitely isn’t for every player. They don’t provide anything to spike damage, or even do anything unpredictable, really. But you are resisting disruption, controlling space, and adapting between sessions. They fit really well in parties that need consistency rather than specialization. From the roleplaying side, Gnarlborn also work really well in campaigns that lean into: Fey themes, Haunted environments, or Long timelines with ancient histories since they naturally connect to all of those. Gnarlborn feel connected to something bigger: whether that’s the Elderwoods, nature, fey-touched spirits, or an ancient grove deep in the dark woods. So, if you were to play a Gnarlborn, what direction would you take your character? Would you pick them for their subtle combat control, or more to explore their connection with the wilds? Whether you’ve played them in a campaign already, or you have ideas for what you might like to try, let me know in the comments. Thanks for watching, and I’ll catch you in my next Crooked Moon race guide.

A spirited fantasy character plays a violin in a dusty town

Crooked Moon's Ashborn: The Fiend-Touched Survivors of Chernabos

By Jacob Tegtman • March 17, 2026

Transcribed content from our recent YouTube video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=soOa4Uhr2iM Transcription In Chernabos, survival is more than a question of strength. It’s a question of timing… instinct… and a little bit of luck. Some creatures are shaped by that world. The Ashborn from Crooked Moon are made from it. Welcome back to Eternity TTRPG. No matter how many times I revisit Crooked Moon, or how much time I spend away from it, I always find myself pulled back to this awesome source book. There are so many fun and unique pieces of this Halloween-like world, that I just love exploring. Today we’re continuing our look at the Crooked Moon races, and this time we’re stepping into the ash fields of Chernabos—To take a closer look at the Ashborn. If you haven’t seen them, I’ve already covered two Crooked Moon monstrous races, including the Harvestborn, which are my personal favorite. At this point, I’m pretty confident I’ll actually just be creating a 5-10min video that dives into each of the Crooked Moon races, separately. So, be sure to check back to find those. So, diving right into the Ashborn. Ashborn are small, fiend-touched humanoids, usually standing between two and three feet tall. They carry a distinct, almost devilish appearance—horns, muted red or gray skin, and sharp, expressive features. And most notably—A scorpion-like tail, tipped with venom. They’re comfortable in harsh places, and they tend to carry themselves with a quiet confidence. There’s a sense, when dealing with an Ashborn, that they’re already accounting for how things might go wrong… either, how they’ll respond if things were to go wrong... or how they’ll actually cause things to “go wrong,” themselves, and then benefit from the chaos. Ashborn actually don’t have a lineage in the usual sense. Instead, they form in the wake of volcanic fury—drawn together from sulfur, ash, and something entirely fiendish at its core. They emerge completely aware, capable, and already adapted to a land that would kill any other race – like, most humans, for example - in minutes. As I’d mentioned briefly, Ashborn are small—rarely more than three feet tall. Their features reflect their origin: horned silhouettes, skin in muted reds and greys, and eyes that tend to catch the light in uncomfortable ways. And then of course, there’s the tail. A scorpion’s stinger, carried as naturally as a hand. Most Ashborn carry themselves with a kind of deliberate composure. Even in harsh environments, like with most Crooked Moon races, there’s a sense of presentation—care in how they dress, how they speak, and how they’re seen. To me, it seems that they like to exercise control, even small amounts, and they have a bit of perfectionism to them. Chernabos, the land of the Ashborn, is not a forgiving place. The ground is unstable—split by lava flows and sudden fissures. The air carries ash and sulfur, thick enough to choke. And resources—such as water, shelter, and again, even breathable air—are never guaranteed. Clearly, the Ashborn don’t really need the kinds of things that humans need to survive. However, this kind of dangerous land also tends to favor a certain kind of thinking. Adapting to the environment, Ashborn tend to make quick decisions, have constant awareness, and perhaps their tendency to be a bit perfect in their presentation, they’re probably overall willing to act before they have perfect information... all in the name of survival. Ashborn are shaped by their environment from the moment they come into being. They develop habits that keep them flexible: And this is where their relationship with luck comes in. To an Ashborn, luck isn’t really about chance—it’s more about preparation meets opportunity. Or put another way, it’s about timing: · knowing when to move. · knowing when to speak. · And of course, when to take a risk that others would avoid. Mechanically, when it comes to actually playing your Ashborn, you’ll find that their cultural and personality traits of leaning into subtle control and well-timed disruption really come through. First, you have: Ashen Legacy You start with Minor Illusion, and later gain access to Charm Person and Invisibility. It’s a toolkit designed around Distraction, influence, and the ability to step out of sight when needed. They have Darkvision with the standard 60 feet, which is expected, given where they come from. As a reaction, Fiendish Fortune Allows you cause an attack that would’ve otherwise hit you, to miss, once per short or long rest. Additionally, you redirect some of that damage as force damage, equal to your proficiency bonus. Then we’re onto the Ashborn’s tail, with Scorpion Sting. Their tail grants a natural attack, with added poison. They can deal this extra damage a number of times equal to their Proficiency Bonus. When it comes to roleplaying, you can imagine how many fun directions you could take a halfling-sized devilish imp, with attitude. They fit great as risk-takers, performers, negotiators who are comfortable lying outright to someone’s face, wanderers who pity others for their inability to survive without shelter and water. They could easily be thieves, political statesmen/ stateswomen, or really anyone who enjoys a bit of mischief – and maybe on occasion, a bit of cruelty. I think what makes this race so fun though is that it leans into the devil ish side of things, but they’re still only 3-feet tall. So, they’re a bit more mischievous probably, than menacing. More lighthearted, than truly evil. But, those distinctions are entirely up to you to make. So! The Ashborn fit neatly into almost any kind of story, with their natural rogueish charm, and devilish antics. But I’m curious— How would you play your Ashborn? Or, if you’ve already had a campaign or adventures with one, let me know how that turned out for you! Let me know in the comments. And if you want to keep exploring the Crooked Moon races with me, there’s more on the way. So be sure to subscribe, and check in on future videos. Thanks for watching!

A fantasy illustration of adventurers battling a large dragon

D&D Encounters League Returns to Local Game Stores

By Jacob Tegtman • March 13, 2026

Transcribed content from our recent YouTube video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3N3isve9svc Transcription Wizards of the Coast just brought back a piece of D&D history… and longtime players are doing a double take. After nearly a decade gone, D&D Encounters is officially returning to local game stores . If you’ve never heard of it, D&D Encounters was a weekly organized play program where people could drop into their local game store and play a short, one-session Dungeons & Dragons adventure —no long campaign commitment required. It was basically D&D’s version of Friday Night Magic . Show up. Grab a character. Roll some dice. But the program disappeared back in 2016. And now Wizards of the Coast is bringing it back… which raises a few interesting questions. Is this just a nostalgic revival to bring new players into the hobby? Or is something bigger happening behind the scenes? Let’s break down everything we know. Welcome back to Eternity TT RPG , your party’s source for the latest Dungeons & Dragons news, updates, and community info . And today we’re talking about the surprising return of the classic organized play program . Back in 2010 , during the D&D 4th Edition era , Wizards of the Coast launched something called D&D Encounters . The idea was simple. Local game stores would host weekly D&D sessions where anyone could drop in and play a single short adventure . Each session even revolved around a 60–90 minute encounter , meaning you didn’t need a full campaign commitment. It was perfect for: • brand new players • busy schedules • or anyone who just wanted to roll some dice after work. And Wizards supported stores with exclusive materials , including: • adventure booklets • posters and maps • character sheets • and sometimes even custom miniatures . But in 2016 , the program disappeared. It was replaced by Adventurers League , which shifted organized play toward longer, interconnected campaigns instead of single-session adventures . At that time, D&D Encounters didn’t really fail. Wizards shut it down in 2016 when they reorganized everything under Adventurers League. But now that organized play has gotten complicated again—and new players struggle to get started—Wizards might be bringing back the exact entry point that they removed.” Which, speaking of, on the topic of the D&D Adventurers League. It’s still technically a thing , but its status is also a bit… complicated. · It still exists and people still play it. · But official support from Wizards of the Coast has been much lighter in recent years on that front, as well. So that program itself hasn’t been shut down. But the catch is that support has slowed. · There have been fewer new official adventures produced recently. · Wizards has been experimenting with other organized play initiatives , like we’re talking about today, and seasonal events. · Much of the Adventurer’s League infrastructure is now community-run or maintained through Discord and fan sites . That’s why the return of D&D Encounters is raising eyebrows — some fans wonder if Wizards is shifting toward shorter, store-focused events rather than the larger shared campaign model. Right now speculation in the community is that: · D&D Encounters will serve as an easy entry point for new players, which Wizards of the Coast is likely keen to acquire. · Meanwhile the Adventurers League will remain with ongoing campaign play for long-term, dedicated players But – and as with many things – Wizards hasn’t officially clarified their long-term plan yet. Ok, so all of that background aside, let’s fast forward to 2026 . D&D Encounters is coming back. The announcement happened during this year’s GAMA Expo , one of the tabletop industry’s biggest trade shows. And this new version of it sounds very similar to the original concept. Short… Accessible… Single-session adventures designed for drop-in play. Which honestly makes a lot of sense. D&D has exploded in popularity, but getting new players into their first game is still one of the biggest barriers . A weekly store event could potentially solve that problem. At least in theory, and I’ll get back around to this in a minute. But the basic thought is that new players can show up. Grab a pre-generated character, so they don’t need to worry about min-maxing or even understanding character creation rules. Roll initiative. Boom—you’re playing D&D. So, now the problem with that. This is the same concept that Wizards of the Coast uses with like Magic: the Gathering. I don’t know what your local game store’s like, but when’s the last time you saw a new player come to drop in at your weekly league night? Or even starter deck tournaments, for other games or events? In my experience, the in-person player base is slowly dwindling for most games. And, I think that’s actually pretty sad. D&D is clearly a social game, and I think you can something from the overall experience without in-person play. Not that I mind digital play, and I realize digital also comes with its own advantages. But, the bottom line is that I’m not really sure just opening a weekly D&D Encounters night at local game stores will actually pull in a lot of new players to the game. Ok, so a little bit more framework into this. The new D&D Encounters program will also tie into something that Wizards recently introduced, called D&D Seasons . These are three-month themed releases built around a particular concept. For example, the upcoming three sets will be: • Horror themed adventures • Magic-heavy campaigns • and finally, Champion focused stories D&D Encounters will help kick these seasons off by providing stores with Opening Weekend Play Kits , we think, based around these themes. The kits released for reach segment of the year will launch alongside major D&D book releases . These kits will most likely include: • prewritten encounters • promotional materials • store support tools • and possibly exclusive content. Wizards also mentioned weekly play support , though they haven’t revealed exactly what that includes yet. And they’re planning coordinated community events tied to each release. Basically… They’re trying to turn D&D launches into mini events at local game stores . So why is Wizards of the Coast bring back D&D Encounters now? A big part of it seems to be Wizards refocusing on local game stores . Over the past few years, a lot of D&D play has moved online. Between: • D&D Beyond • Virtual tabletops • and streaming games Many players never step into a physical store anymore. Traditionally, stores have been the lifeblood of tabletop gaming communities . I’m not so sure that’s true anymore. There seems to be a BIG shift away from many traditional models, in the tabletop gaming space. However, D&D Encounters does give stores something extremely valuable: consistent weekly events that make it easy for new players to come in the door. According to Wizards leadership, this move is part of a broader push toward a franchise-style model for D&D releases , led by VP Dan Ayoub . Instead of one-off books… They want ongoing seasonal engagement . Whether or not Wizards is really in-touch still with the D&D community, and this is an accurate call, remains to be seen. But, you can see based on what they think is happening, how they would feel that D&D Encounters would fit that model. So, of course that brings up another pretty big question., which is: w hat happens to the D&D Adventurers League? Because, as I’ve mentioned, the organized play program has been… pretty quiet lately. Like, for a while. There hasn’t been much new official content in recent years, in fact. And Wizards hasn’t said whether D&D Encounters will replace , supplement , or revive parts of the Adventurers League. So, right now, there’s no official answer. But many fans are speculating that D&D Encounters might become the easier entry point , while Adventurers League remains the deeper campaign system. But my impressions at the moment are that unless D&D Encounters really takes off, and creates a need for the Adventurers League to grow, then I don’t think it will be getting any more support from here than what it’s been getting. So, here’s the thing. D&D’s a great game. For many of us, it was the first TTRPG we heard of, and got us into the hobby. It’s... no longer the best TTRPG out there, and hasn’t been for some time. I created a whole multi-article series on this, comparing the top games, on the Eternity TTRPG site – and even that list needs updating. But I think for most of us, we’d love to see the hobby grow. If you’ve ever played TTRPGs in person, around a real table , you know that the dice rolling, the Miniatures clattering, and watching someone dramatically failing a persuasion check – in person, are all magical moments. Short low-commitment sessions like D&D Encounters is offering may be one of the best ways to introduce new players. And that is exactly what D&D Encounters is designed for. If Wizards executes this well… It could become a gateway program that brings the next generation of players into the hobby . Do I want to be pessimistic about this new program working the way Wizards intends? No. Am I though..? Yeah. I think new players will continue to find the hobby, but I think D&D will continue to lose market share. For new players who get into the hobby specifically through D&D, I think this D&D Encounters program will only be generating a very small percentage of those new people. Will I try out a D&D Encounters session at my local game store? ...maybe. Like many of you, I’ll probably wait to see what the buzz is around it first, to see if I might enjoy dropping in. But I do hope that is amazing, and that everything Wizards of the Coast is trying to do with it actually provides what their main audience has been asking for. So what do you think? Is the return of D&D Encounters exactly what local game stores, and the tabletop roleplay game community needs… Or is this a sign that Adventurers League and the overall organized play may be fading out in one final effort ? Let me know in the comments. 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