All good things come to an end. TV shows, book series and even Dungeons & Dragons campaigns must have a last episode to wrap up as much of the story as possible. If you’re lucky, the campaign ends after defeating the main villain and not because of real life logistical problems.
These characters still have stories to be told. Players have spent hours with their characters, purchased drawings, selected dice and more. It can be hard to say goodbye to any beloved characters, much less ones that you’ve created yourself.
I’ve collected a trio of books that let role playing game groups explore the next chapter of their lives. It might be an epic campaign through the underworld, coming together years later for one last mission or settling down for a quiet life in one of the many towns they’ve saved. These books can also be used to start a campaign if everyone wants to explore a backstory together.
The Black Ballad
Many D&D groups live in terror of the TPK, or total party kill. It’s the moment where all the players die in combat due to bad tactics, awful dice luck or any combination of factors. It challenges the DM and the layers to decide if they want to continue the campaign or end everything on a down note.
The Black Ballad uses it as a jumping off point for a heavy metal opera as players journey through a dark underworld. Death is rarely the end for characters in fiction and mythology. If Wolverine can come back to life over and over again, why can’t a beloved 10th level rogue?
Beyond the fantastical setting of the city of the dead called Nox Valar, there are some philisophical issues to be settled in this campaign. What’s the value of death in a world where ressurection and undeath exist? What does it say about gods that hold that much power and how they use it?
A Life Well Lived
Building a character in Dungeons & Dragons focuses on the here and now. Fifth Edition offers a nod to backstory but the mechanical end of things focuses on what characters can do in a battle and how they can solve problems with their skills. How they got those abilities and what they do outside of the dungeon are of no great concern.
There are several rules systems in A Life Well Lived that fill in the blanks. It offers a lifepath system that builds the character’s backstory into their statblock and gives the Dungeon Master moments from the past they can use for story beats in the present. It offers downtime systems to let players build a life beyond their adventures.
It also looks at what might happen once these characters settle down. There’s a section for how a character might have a happily ever after ending. What I found most interesting was the chapter on how the characters might come together again after several years to settle some unfinished business or act as guides for the next generation of heroes.
Stewpot: Tales From A Fantasy Tavern
Many D&D campaigns end with an epic battle where the dragon is slain or the lich crumbles to dust. Afterwards, many heroes claim their royal birthrights, return to their wizard’s tower or wander off in to legend. Sometimes the adventurers settle down in one of the towns they’ve saved and open up a tavern together.
The cozy vibes of Stewpot: Tales From A Fantasy Tavern resonate throughout the book. There’s comedy in watching legendary fighters learn to become cooks and sorcerers using their magic to build a new taproom. There’s also drama in adventurers helping out the townsfolk in smaller, more personal ways or picking up their arms again when an old villain comes to town.
The game offers several minigames to run these slice-of-life scenes with dice, cards and coin flips. The newest edition is currently crowdfunding for a March 2025 release. Backers can get immediate access to a text complete version of the game.
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