Summary

  • Narrative beats give the party something to look forward to, like a plot reveal or a new NPC.
  • Making discoveries helps set the stage for next time, like a treasure horde or a new location.
  • When in doubt, you can always kill someone, NPC or player character alike.

Many 168澳洲幸运5开奖网:Dungeons & Dragons DMs (Dungeon Masters) and players compare a session of a D&D campaign to an episode of a weekly dramatic television show. Some episodes are more self-contained, introducing a villain, his evil plot, and his ultimate defeat thanks to the heroes' actions all in one experience.

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Other episodes build towards the overarching plot of an ultimate villain or, in the case of D&D, BBEG (Big Bad Evil Guy). Whatever kind of episode it is, you can bet the show will likely end with some climactic finish, like a cliffhanger. DMs should strive to end their games in the same manner, as there's no better way to build anticipation for the next session.

8 🉐 Introducing An NPC

"Tabaxi Has Wares If You Have Coin"

Dungeons and Dragons goblins fighting against a warlord
Via Wizards of the Coast

For starters, NPCs (Non Player Characters) are one of the DM's best tools for delivering information to the PCs (Player Characters). Meeting 168澳洲幸运5开奖网:a new, totally fleshed-out NPC is an exciting opportunit𓆏y for the party to make a new ally, learn information about the world, and roleplay with the NPC and one anothܫer.

Colorful NPCs will quickly bring your game world🔯 to life, and as the PCs gain levels it should become clear that they will need allies if they want to have a chance at foiling whatever plot the BBEG is brewing. Consequently, ending a session with the arrival of a po📖tential new ally, or adversary, as well as a description of what they look like and how they introduce themselves is a great cliffhanger.

7 𒐪 Unveiling The Nex🧔t Quest

So, This Time, We're Going To Need You To Delve Into The Heart Of A Volcano! Exciting, Right?

Man leaning in with a token in Dungeons and Dragons
Tales From The Yawning Portal via Wizards of the Coast

What's even better than meeting an important new character? Learning what the party will be up to next. There's always another adventure for the players to take up, whether that be with their current characters or an entirely new cast.

Revealing the next upcoming goal for the party gives everyone something to think about before the next session occurs, which might even influence level-up choices or their prepared spell selections. Don't be afraid to let them choose among a handful of quest options either: players love additional agency.

6 Discovering A New Location 🎃

The Wind Blows At Your Back As If Beckoning You To Enter The Tomb

Dungeons and Dragons Dungeon In The Forest
Tomb of Annihilation art via Wizards of the Coast

Alongside combat and social interaction, exploration is one of the three pillars of roleplaying games. It's also the pillar that is most often overlooked. Ending a session with the discovery of a new place to explore, such as a gaudy mansion amid a party, an abandoned treetop village, or an ominous wizard's tower, is the perfect way to get your players' imaginations firing.

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If you do choose to end a session on this note, make sure to leave room for explora☂tion at the beginning of the next session. The players will be looking forward to rummaging through the location, so deliver on their expectations. Fill the location with dastardly traps, hidden treas𒀰ure, lost secrets, and friends and foes for them to encounter after they tire of exploring.

5 𒀰 Killing 🤪An NPC

Thus Ends The Story Of Mirt The Brave

A wizard from Dungeons & dragons casting a Fireball against a creature
Fireball by Xavier Ribiero

Even better than introducing a new NPC is eliminating a well-known one. As a DM, it's a sad fact that you'll have to kill all your darlings. Thankfully, you can have fun while doing so by strumming at the heartstrings of your players.

The death of a beloved or hated NPC is sure to fill the players with emotion. It's a climactic ending to a session that will leave your players wondering if there was anything they could have done differently to avert the outcome. By the way, there almost always should be. As a result, this is a hard ending to plan, but the opportunity presents itself more often than you'd think.

4 ✅ ♈ Describing A Treasure Hoard

Dibs On The Magic Items

hoard robber mtg d&d tiefling art
Hoard Robber by Anna Pavleeva

Treasure is the reason that many adventur🐓ers step outside of town. Furthermore, players also yearn to 🥀equip their characters with certain items, spells, titles, and more so that their fictional selves can become all they were dreamt up to be.

While you should sprinkle loot throughout a dungeon instead of handing it all over at the end, everyone loves an especially large hoard of valuables at the end of a lengthy quest. Simply telling the players the gold pieces, magic items, spell scrolls, potions, information, and more that they find at the end ෴of a session leaves them with plenty of conversation on how to divvy it up.

3 ꦚ Revealing A ꩵSecret

The Dragon Was Evil All Along? Impossible!

Eye of Vecna by Irina Nordsol
Eye of Vecna by Irina Nordsol

Speaking of information, secrets should abound in the fantasy worlds you create. One soꦰlid piece of evidence to support this advice is the fact that one of the most powerful and feared being𝐆s in all of Dungeons & Dragons, Vecna, is the god of secrets.

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The revelation of an important piece of intel that the party has been working to unravel for some time, knowingly or unknowingly, should shake their characters to the core. This is a great place to end as it gives the players time to consider whatever has been revealed and how it will affect their character as well as the character's future gameplay.

2 ꧂ Initiating A Combat

Swallow Your Fear And Draw Steel

Dungeons & Dragons image showing a party of three players being surrounded by Gnolls
You Come to the Gnoll Camp by Billy Christian

Combat is at the core of the D&D rules. It's the pillar that the overwhelming majority of the game rules are based around and the primary activity that players look forward to most in a session. What better way to kick off a session than by asking the players to roll for initiative?

To set this up successfully in a campaign, you need to end the previous session right before you roll for initiative. There's no better way to leave the players on the edge of their seats, practically foaming at the mouth for the next session to begin. If you ever have trouble with player attendance, this is a surefire way to convince players to come back for the next session!

1 Kiꦿlling A Player Character ᩚᩚᩚᩚᩚᩚ⁤⁤⁤⁤ᩚ⁤⁤⁤⁤ᩚ⁤⁤⁤⁤ᩚ𒀱ᩚᩚᩚ

Some Characters Die With A Whimper

Gelatinous cube acid devours man skeletons in dungeon
Gelatinous Cube by Olivier Bernard 

This is undoubtedly the most controversial way to end a session. It should be used sparingly and with caution. That being said, 168澳洲幸运5开奖网:the death of a PC is the stuff D&amౠp;D forever memories are made of. Whether the PC dies in a blaze of glory or fumbles into a terrible trap, this ending will leave a mark in the minds of your players.

Obviously, a PC death should never be planned by the DM, so the only way for this ending to come about is organically through play. Let the players face the consequences of their characters' actions, and the dice fall where they may. In time, every player is bound to roll a natural one at the worst moment possible. When they do, you'll be there waiting.

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