Campfire Story Prompts During Rests in D&D

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Here's a quick trick for adding some fun roleplaying to your D&D games and giving you a chance to glean cool ideas from your players. The next time the characters take a rest, ask each of the players to describe what they're thinking, feeling, or talking about as they bind their wounds, check their spellbooks, sharpen their blades, and otherwise prepare for the next day of adventure. You can either ask for a volunteer to start or roll randomly to determine the order. People are free to pass if they don't have anything at the moment.

Twenty Campfire Talk Prompts

If we want, we can choose one or more prompts for these campfire talks that steer the players towards one particular type of story. Here are twenty such prompts we might offer.

1. What are you looking forward to at your next stop?
2. What scares you about the direction you're taking?
3. What does your present circumstance remind you of?
4. What disturbs you about your past actions?
5. What secret do you need to reveal about yourself?
6. What did you always want to tell one of your companions?
7. What is something you seek in a future journey?
8. What friend do you miss?
9. What location does your current location remind you of?
10. What loved one do you miss?
11. What was the most morally questionable choice you made?
12. What villain do you remember?
13. What location did you best enjoy?
14. Where do you wish you were right now?
15. Who did you leave behind?
16. What villain is still out there?
17. What happened with your last adventuring party?
18. What is your fondest memory?
19. What was your darkest moment?
20. What was your favorite meal?

Culling Campfire Tales for Story Ideas

Most of the time campfire stories are just enjoyable stories. Sometimes, though, a hook will come out of it. Perhaps the villain the monk always hunted is still out there and can be wired into the story. We need not hang on tight to these short tales but sometimes they might lead into a great hook.

Other Articles of Note

Here are a few other variants of this theme from other writers.

• Tales at the Campfire; getting players in character, and developing their story with just a deck of cards
• Campfire Stories: A Quick Roleplaying Activity for D&D

Next time the characters are taking a long rest, ask them what they talk about and watch the story of your campaign grow.

Related Articles

• Handling Rests in D&D
• Learning About the Characters
• Easy Tricks from DMs on Twitter
• Playing D&D Anywhere
• Building a Great D&D Character

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Article copyright 2021 by Mike Shea of Sly Flourish.