It’s Campaign Season.

Creating homebrew content can be tiresome, especially when it comes to inventing new and unique tropes for campaigns or quest arcs. Other brilliant minds have suggested using movie and TV show plots as a framework for your own campaign ideas (see T the writer’s story on “Spoony the bard”). Although this is a great and easy way to structure such a story arc, I would like to offer another alternative.... History!!

Wait!!! Before you all stop reading and reminiscing about the most boring subject in your middle years education, just remember that history is often stranger than fiction. I’m going to lay out a few ideas to get you all started and very soon I’m sure you will begin to see the genius of this concept.

Bonus round information: While using this method you are actually getting the huge benefit of learning history whilst creating unique content :O, I know this probably isn’t going to be enough to sway some people but still.... 

The rough foundation of the Roman Empire

A very simple yet politically intriguing story, this arc can lead players to seriously doubt in every institution that currently exists in your game.

• Step 1. Take an existing government structure with a government who isn’t exactly the kindest to the populace (think local lord or regional power). Introduce a few future conspirators and all round douches.
• Step 2. Then produce a new faction/character who through might or money begins to tip the balance of power by winning over the love of the people of said town/region.
• Step 3. Have the new character encounter and win over the party with charm and tales of the corrupt existing government.
• Step 4. Have the new faction/character take the capital/town by force for the good of the people. The players don’t have to be present for such an event if that’s easier for the DM.
• Step 5. Have our new favourite guy assassinated and then have the conspirators try to take back the city and/or flee and hide to save their lives.
• Step 6. Have the players try to identify who the conspirators were, then have them hunt them down and kill/capture them, on behalf of the people.  
• Step 7. In the future have a new heir to the empire ascend to rule the region/town and become a tyrant. Players must sort it out.  

Obviously this is a very brief overview of years of roman politics and history but even this brief outline could produce at least 3 sessions worth of easy content in-between side quests and other distractions. Other steps could be added in to create more drama or intrigue and further flesh out this framework.

Dont like Romans?

Other easily adaptable stories or frameworks could include options such as the lead up to WW1 with the assassination of Archduke Franz Ferdinand, the Mongol invasion of China or  the War of the Roses (Game of thrones inspiration).