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EveryDungeons & Dragonscampaign has to start somewhere. Sometimes a party may start their adventure in a tavern, or on the open road, or even in a dusty cell. But, one great way to kickstart a grand adventure, or even entice players into a new arc is to create a memorable adventure patron.
But, creating these memorable NPCs can prove more difficult than at first glance, especially if you’re a first time Dungeon Master. Plus, making these characters intriguing is key to drawing players into your campaign. So, here’s everything you need to know to create adventure patrons in Dungeons & Dragons.
What Is An Adventure Patron?
Put simply,an adventure patron is an NPC that offers characters a quest, mission, or task, as well as a reward for successfully completing it.
These NPCs can take on many different forms.Here are a few examples of adventure patronsthat you may use in your campaign.
Typically, toward the start of a new arc or the start of a campaign,an adventure patron will approach the party, offering up their quest, thus kickstarting the adventure.
How To Create An Adventure Patron
When it comes to creating an adventure patron, you’re going to want toconsider a few key tenets of NPC creation.
Species
To begin, you’ll want toselect a speciesfor the NPC.
This may not prove important, but depending on the mission they offer the party, this could influence their characterization.
Class
Determine your adventure patron’s class, or if they have one at all. Not every adventure patron will have a class, but some might.
If they don’t have a class, you can determine their occupationinstead to flesh out their character.
For example,a retired adventurer NPC might have formerly been a wizard. Or, a wealthy party benefactor may work as a trade merchant.
Alignment
Determine the adventure patron’s alignmentso that you may better roleplay them for the party.
This will also helpdetermine their general aimsin terms of approaching the party, and what their ultimate goal is.
Objective
Determine what quest they offer the party, whether this be seeking out treasure or extricating a city official from capture.
The objective for the adventure patron shouldinclude the details of the quest, the conflicts the party might come across, and the rewardthey offer should the party be successful.
Motivation
Though this may seem similar at first,motivation is different from objective.
An adventure patron’s objective might be to have the party recover a long-lost artifact, but their motivation might be to sell the artifact for money, rather than return it to its rightful people.
Loyalty
Lastly,determine the adventure patron’s loyalty. This should be informed by alignment.
When creating an adventure patron, ask yourself,does this NPC plan on betraying the party?Or, can they be trusted?
Whenever you create an adventure patron,use the above table to flesh out their characterization, using your answers to guide your roleplay and adventure structure.
Beyond the above steps, you’ll, of course, want to include details likethe adventure patron’s name, personality, style of dress, and other elements of NPC design.
Example Adventure Patron Creation
Using the above table,let’s take a look at an example of an adventure patron. For this example, let’s assume the following.
With these details in mind,let’s create an adventure patronfor a quest that sees the players take on a mission to thwart the maligned mages from further influencing the city.
Details
For this adventure, the species is ultimately not too important;the adventure patron’s species is human.
The adventure patron is a mage who has defectedfrom the group of maligned mages, and seeks to right the wrongs of his former allies. Therefore,his class will be listed as wizard.
Unbeknownst to the party at large,the adventure patron’s alignment is chaotic neutral.
The adventure patron’s objective is tohave the party infiltrate the evil mages' lair,retrieving a valuable amuletthat is being used to magically influence city officials.
Though the adventure patron may say otherwise,their actual motivation for having the party retrieve the amulet is to use it for themselves, usurping their former allies' roles and claiming power in the city for themselves.
Though this should be revealed later,the adventure patron’s loyalty to the party is low. They are, in fact, out for their own designs.
By following these steps,we now have a fully fleshed-out adventure patron who can approach the party, assign them a quest, and eventually betray themshould the party accept their mission.
