As a war-game-turned-RPG, Dungeons & Dragons is a game where action is pretty common. That, along with the drama of the narrative and the comedy from you and the players being unhinged, makes for a solid D&D experience for you and your friends to venture through.
Still, D&D doesn’t need to be solely about a mix of those three. First, you can lean harder into one of them, as we’ll tackle soon. But also, you can focus on other genres entirely, giving your games, or at least an arc within your overall story, a distinct feeling compared to the usual.
Comedy
Lean Into Chaos
We mentioned in the beginning that comedy is usually a part of most games already. Still, have you ever leaned into it entirely? And by that, we mean having the story itself revolve around being silly and comedic.
You may not want to do this with your homebrew world and epic campaigns, but a one-shot or short story based on what’s essentially improv comedy between you and your friends can be a fun ride. Let the silliness take center stage rather than be a side-piece for once.
Slice Of Life
Who Wants To Be An Adventurer?
Whether you want to mix this one with comedy or even use it for drama, slice-of-life stories also work for short stories where roleplaying is center-stage rather than the action.
This one can also work as a one-shot where the players are dealing with the wild concepts of D&D while being commoners, or you can make a mundane session for your players when they have a ton of things to sort out, like organizing their bastion or spending some time in a city just to chill.
Horror
Particularly Effective At Low Levels
Instead of having a story about fighting monsters, a story about surviving them can be just as effective. Trap your players with a monster they can’t beat, and challenge them to escape this situation rather than fight it straight on.
Because the system is heavily combat-oriented, we recommend doing this when the characters are still in their lower levels, and thus, weak. Plus, it’s a great way to introduce a monster that will turn into the final boss of whatever arc you’re doing, when the players will finally be strong enough to face it.
Mystery
Who Is The BBEG?
Running an investigation arc is also a fun thing to do in D&D. It works well at any level, though it’s easier to pull off during low levels, where things are more grounded.
If you’re up to the challenge, though, you can do this in a higher-level scenario, where people can use divination or other spells to get information. Regardless, having a mysterious villain that makes your players paranoid and question every NPC is fun to watch.
Romance
Love Is In The Air
In most cases, romance is run as a side story rather than a main one, and normally, it’s what we’d recommend as well. That said, having a one-shot focused on the topic, or a session within your campaign, can be a lot of fun.
Not everyone is in favor of roleplaying romance with their characters, so we recommend checking up with your players if the idea interests them first, but other than that, you can do a lot with this genre as the focus.
Road Movie
Fits Exploration Campaigns
What if, instead of focusing on the dungeon where the MacGuffin is, the true campaign focuses on the things that happen along the way? Focus on the journey, not the destination.
A campaign that is just a bunch of ‘random’ encounters (that actually fit within the thematic of the party and their backstories) can make for a fun, anthological-like adventure. You can use a great variety of environments to challenge the group rather than just combat.
Western
Face New Dangers
If your group wants to make morally grey characters and also likes the idea of dealing with complex topics, using Westerns as a reference can be a great way to make not just a few sessions, but a whole campaign.
You can have the exploration as they brave new, uncharted locations. Add a mix of drama through outlaws and untrustworthy authority, and a complicated place where survival is a constant struggle, and you’ve got the perfect genre blend.
Isekai
That Time I Got Reincarnated As A Goblin
Another fun gimmick you can pull that can be the topic of a whole campaign is a group of people from the ‘real’ world who were sent into your fantasy setting and are now stuck there, desperate to find a way out.
The concept of trapping the party on a hostile land can work well (you could even argue that Curse of Strahd is very close to being an Isekai). Still, even if the land’s dangers aren’t as obvious, the sheer desire to return home is a powerful motivation.
Science Fiction
Yes, It Works Here
Have you ever played Expedition to the Barrier Peaks? While designed for medieval fantasy, D&D can have some sci-fi elements to it. Throwing the players into a modern setting would be a lot of work, but throwing these elements into medieval fantasy is easier.
You can add aliens, spaceships, or even make a post-apocalyptic world where the previous civilization was extremely advanced, and there are ancient robots and mecha suits lying around. Mix old and new.
Political
A Song Of Dungeons And Dragons
Writing political intrigue isn’t the easiest thing, but it makes for powerful drama, especially in a world filled with kings and emperors. Plus, this is perfect drama for high-level campaigns, because getting on someone’s bad side here can start wars.
You can place many territories in complicated fights with one another, or even good (or uneasy) alliances. The players get to screw all that up by themselves and see the fall of nations happening because of them.