Consider what type of campaign you want to play. If you want wilderness adventure and dungeon delving, plan that sort of environment to be where your heroes start. Put them on a border of a great wilderness where grown men fear to tread–a place without rulers or ruled in name only. Better still: put them between two or even three such places and let them decide which to explore.

The adventure module that came with the old Dungeons & Dragons Basic Set was “The Keep on the Borderlands”, which featured the Caves of Chaos. This was a delightful, if unlikely, scenario in which the burgeoning heroes visited a walled town on the border of the wild lands and then ventured into a ravine with numerous caves full of monsters.

You have traveled for many days, leaving the Realm and entering into the wilder area of the Borderlands. Farms and towns have become less frequent and travelers few. The road has climbed higher as you enter the forested and mountainous country. (Gygax, 1980)

The Nature of the Borderlands

You might think of the Borderlands as Gary Gygax’s version of the real-life Welsh Marches–a place ruled less by the king than by local warlords and consisting largely of untamed wilderness overseen from the safety of an occasional border castle. Your own version can be whatever you like, but the key is its proximity to adventure on all sides.

Note that this is not a West Marches campaign, in which players drive the adventuring and play repeated one-shots with whomever shows up that night. This is merely a good way to start almost any kind of campaign, because it offers numerous possibilities. But it shares the idea that the players know enough about the realm to know where they want to go adventuring based on stories they hear about specific places or treasures lost in a specific area. How that develops later as they meet and form relationships with powerful NPCs can be more story-driven.

This all works in tandem with the advice I recently gave about using factions to enliven your campaign setting.

Lopshire: Surrounded by Possibility

The heroes’ story begins in their home town of Ablebarrow in Lopshire, a small county ruled by an absent baron. The principal authority in the area is the bailiff of nearby Ablebarrow Keep, notwithstanding the occasional visit by the sheriff of Lopshire. It’s a place where humans, elves of the nearby wilderness, dwarves of the nearby mountains, and halflings of the nearby valley mix more freely than elsewhere in the realm.

Its principal feature is the Lopshire Ditch, which separates the settled lands from the wilderness to the west. The dug dirt was piled next to the ditch as an earthen bank–nearly 30 feet from ditch bottom to bank top. This is loosely manned by locals in turns; and some of the heroes would have been among them as they came of age.

Nevertheless, the occasional ogre or troll or goblin band that has slipped past the ditch in the night will be found in Lopshire, waylaying travelers on a secluded run of road or at a bridge. Likewise, bandits and outlaws sometimes trouble civil folk within the county.

• Lopshire Ditch
• Smalldale, a valley of halflings
• Ablebarrow Keep
• Lopstead, the county’s small city

Now do as the common folk do when they’re at a loss for direction: toss a shoe over your shoulder at midnight so it lands in the crossroad and set out whichever way it points….

To the West: Ruins in the Wilderness

West of the heroes’ homeland might be full wilderness. It’s considered by humans to be the land of the elves, but in truth it’s largely lawless. Goblins and orcs roam free and hunt elves; ogres and trolls lie in wait; and strange cults and dark monstrosities lurk, at constant war with each other and with elves of the wilder sort.

It was once tamed, however briefly, by the Old Empire, but that culture fell into ruin, leaving abandoned and overgrown fortresses, temples, and underground tunnels with who-knows-what mysteries and treasures. If exploration calls to you, there lies ancient secrets and fortunes unknown.

• The Forest of Allor, where elves prevail
• The hidden temples of the Dark Brotherhood of Thalla
• The Vale of Bones, where goblins and orcs prevail
• The Abandoned Castle of Calvanca

It’s at the edge of this wilderness that, eventually, the heroes would most likely eventually establish a stronghold or two and become lords of the manor. At that point, they would be proper gentlemen (if they aren’t already) and gain the attention of top nobles of the realm–and even the king and queen–for high-level adventures.

To the North: Menace in the Mountains

To the north lie the foothills of the mighty Hallenpeaks Mountains, where dwarves once ruled, but now most halls of the dwarves have been abandoned. They’re overrun with kobolds, hobgoblins, ogres, and–higher up in the mountains–giants and even dragons. From time to time, these come down into the green valleys of the heroes’ homeland and raid it of livestock and hapless people, to be devoured if not rescued in time. If glory and gallantry rouse your bones, there’s enough for ten lifetimes.

• The Hall of Dwarrum, where dwarves still rule
• The Ruins of Golnor, abandoned by the dwarves
• The Hall of the Mountain Giant
• Icewail Pass above the Black Lands

To the East: Pirates & Sea Monsters

And the east? That way lies Lancastleshire county and the coast, where pirates, smugglers, merfolk, and even sea monsters make fishing and sea trade a hard life, limiting the commerce and prosperity of the heroes’ homeland even in the one decent city of the county. The hardscrabble life has led to a certain lack of decorum, and the little coastal towns can be rough and tumble and full of rogues. Beyond sight of land, there are rumored to be untouched islands of unknown strangeness. If the sea calls, then that way lies adventure to heat your blood.

• The lawless Gambelton Wharves
• The towns of Inkleton and Bover and the wretched port city of Glymmouth
• The Isle of Knives
• The Treacherous Gray Waters

To the South: Cities & Culture

And to the south? Ah, the south. That way lies the green and prosperous valleys of the realm. There, fine cities dot the landscape–with paved roads! Fields stretch across endless rolling hills, providing food for nobles and common folk alike. Unlike the more dangerous wilderness around the heroes’ homeland, the forests are groomed, and hunting is reserved for the nobles who rule the land. Monsters are fewer but more stealthy.

Not all is well and good, of course, as internal strife, hardship, and even rebellion are more palpable here than in dear, old Lopshire. And a little farther afield are the foreign realms of Itasca and Ferincia, where the humans speak different tongues and scheme against our fair realm.

If it’s people and fine goods–and intrigue and politics–you crave, that way is your kind of adventure.

• The cities of Broverbrook, Hale, and Middle-on-Wem on Kingsway Road
• The castle cities of Haxton, Shipping, and Drake
• The court of King Stesson at Griffonton
• The treacherous barony of Mye

Across the Sea: Exotic Lands & Beasts

And of course, beyond the southern lands of the realm lies the great sea that opens the way to distant shores east and south, full of exotic cultures and perils. Centaurs, lions, dinosaurs, and more….

• Itasca and Ferincia, lands of Old Empire
• The Kingdom of Kumbezi in the Desert of Ansara
• The Lost City of Tzum in the Ndele Jungle
• The Misty Mountains of Ninar at the edge of the world

Of course, to learn about these places, you’ll need to talk to a sage or perhaps find or buy a map or an old tome. And none of those come cheap….

Make the Map Meaningful

Often, GMs create maps of their fantasy world but inadvertently fill it with human towns and cities, leaving very little space for monsters or even elves, dwarves, and halflings.

With this method, you can stake out territories for monsters, so the players have some sense of what sort of creatures they’re likely to encounter in the different areas. Together with the different types of ruins and dungeons the heroes will encounter, these lend flavor and provide genuine choice for the players. It no longer seems like a given adventure could take place anywhere.

Starting in a borderland or crossroads is also a good reason why characters of different ancestries would team up. Each one should have some connection or obligation that draws them to a life of adventure, and then one day some event or rumor or peril prompts them to throw caution to wind and band together for fortune and glory.