Campaign Concept: The Show Must Go On

What Are We Making?

So, this concept is a bit of a weird one, but something that I honestly think could be a lot of fun, especially if you've got a table full of theatre geeks and you, the DM, are also a theatre geek or have been involved in some capacity with theatre.

This is an idea that hit me while I was watching the 2001 film Moulin Rouge a couple weeks ago. Side note: if you've never seen Moulin Rouge, I highly recommend it. Ever since, I've had this idea in my head and while it might be a bit difficult to pull off, I think it could work, especially with the right table.

This is an idea for what would probably be a short, lower level, very roleplay-heavy campaign where the goal would be to produce a successful play or musical from start to finish.

Let's take a look!

The Setting

If you plan on running this in a medieval setting, you're going to want to think about how plays are done in your world to begin with. Is this a society where plays are for the rich only? Are plays easily accessible? Are physical theaters common, or are plays done by traveling minstrel groups that come and go? The reason why these are important is because the goal is to make a successful show. For that, you need to know a few things:

- Who is your primary audience? If it's the rich, then you don't want to write a play that makes fun of the rich or nobility. If it's the everyday person in medieval times, your play might make something with themes that are widely appealing (like the common man becoming someone great for example.)

- What kind of stage are you working with? Is it big or small? How many audience members can it hold? What's the seating configuration? You'll need to know this for blocking and also for actor entrances and exits.

- Do you have the capability for special effects? What I mean by that is magic or some type of chemical mixture that can produce certain effects. Luckily this is fantasy, so there are a lot of cool options for you to explore when it comes to special effects that can be done.

Once you have that down, you'll have to establish your setting in one of those places or among a certain troupe. You can also have it so that the players have to start from scratch and get their own actors, stage crew, and everything else. Having a traveling troupe would be a good excuse to get them out of one city and that can substitute for the travel that is typically inherent in games like D&D. Roadside encounters are great avenues for some combat, and that combat can lead to the party getting things to sell so they have more money for their show. 

"Adventuring" in this game isn't so much a goal as it is means to an end. If your setting has a prominent adventuring culture, then your party might pick up adventuring as a side job. They'll help out the city they're in, or each of the cities and towns that they travel to, to make the coin necessary to sustain their little troupe. Of course, they may also decide to put on other plays that their troupe has already done and make money that way as well. However, I'm sure that adventuring would be a bit more lucrative.

The Plot

With this group, you'll have to have session zero all together. Since all these people have the same goal of putting on this one show, then you'll definitely want to work out a couple of things. Party roles are the most important. Are they all writing the show together? Is one person doing the script and another doing the music? Is one of the characters the director, or the wardrobe expert, or the special effects designer, or maybe even the lead actor? There are a lot of people that make a show happen, so there are a lot of possibilities. The players could even all be the actors and are hired by the playwright and director to be in a pre-established show, rather than having the players come up with a show themselves. It's whatever would be fun for your table.

If the players are running / writing the show, then they'll also be responsible for finding the NPCs that will help them put on the best show. I like the idea of the party meeting new people and becoming so attached or enamored with them that they become important. They really are building this show from the ground up, and seeing it be a success at the end will be really satisfying if done correctly.

Of course, no show is complete without the drama. I have a few ideas for "hitches" or bumps in the road that might complicate relationships between people in the show.

- Actor quarrels can be common in theatre, especially among particularly petty people who may be upset about not getting a certain role.

- Perhaps there's a rival theatre troupe or play house that's also putting on a new show. Fun rivalry? Espionage? Sabotage? Maybe the players can convince some of the actors or crew there to switch sides and come work for them. Who knows?

- The two leads are hardcore pining for each other. Can the party set them up outside of the show?

- If you want to play up the "part-time adventurers" idea, maybe one of the actors or someone in the crew has a family that's in trouble. They party goes to help because they love the people in their troupe.

- The special effects designer needs a specific component for a certain spell to make the show even better. Time to go either shopping or adventuring to find it!

- Secure funding from a local noble. That way money becomes a bit less of a problem or a limitation.

Then you have the endgame. Opening night. To me, this is the climax of the game. Everything has to go perfectly, and you have to hope for rave reviews. If you don't get them, you can always continue the game with the characters workshopping the show and trying again, but the goal is a great show. You're going to want to have the players make checks, and maybe they get extra modifiers based on their relationships with the cast and crew or certain ideas they had along the way. 

Reward creativity in this game, more than in other games. Reward them for their reputations among their audience and the relationships they've made. That's going to be a key feature and core concept of a game like this. If you've ever been in a theatre production, it's often that the cast becomes something of a second family. Luckily, D&D is also a great place to explore the found family trope. You definitely want to play that up in a game like this.