EveryDungeons & Dragonscampaign has to start somewhere.

Wait, did that suit of armor just move?

Here’s everything you gotta know to use animated objects in Dungeons & Dragons.

A series of Animated Objects spring to life in Dungeons & Dragons

Plus, making these characters intriguing is key to drawing players into your campaign.

What Is An Adventure Patron?

Adventure Patron Trait

Details

Species

To begin, you’ll want toselect a speciesfor the NPC.

A wizard in a split image with a vast and magical city in Dungeons & Dragons.

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 could determine their occupationinstead to flesh out their character.

Three different background options in DND in a split image.

For example,a retired adventurer NPC might have formerly been a wizard.

Or, a wealthy party benefactor may work as a trade merchant.

This will also helpdetermine their general aimsin terms of approaching the party, and what their ultimate goal is.

An adventure patron in a split image with a cathedral in Dungeons & Dragons.

Motivation

Though this may seem similar at first,motivation is different from objective.

Loyalty

Lastly,determine the adventure patron’s loyalty.

This should be informed by alignment.

Two player-characters bargain with a hag in her hovel in Dungeons & Dragons.

A Hag’s Bargain by Linda Lithen

For this example, let’s assume the following.

For this adventure, the species is ultimately not too important;the adventure patron’s species is human.

Therefore,his class will be listed as wizard.

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Dungeon Room by Kent Davis

Unbeknownst to the party at large,the adventure patron’s alignment is chaotic neutral.

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.

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Cloud Giant by Taras Susak

Tabletop

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