Trying to get the PCs to learn something about your campaign world? Here are some things to try instead of the ye old lore dump.
Depending on your group of players, getting your PCs to learn about the world can be a little bit tricky sometimes. And it’s not because most players just don’t care about the world they’re in; quite the opposite, one of the things that keeps drawing people in is the idea of being in a place where there are fun and interesting things to discover about it.
But it’s all about the method. Sometimes, people want to be spoonfed details; they will willingly strap on the old feedbag and slurp up lore that you just dump on them in your big 30-page, unorganized Google doc happily. If you have those kinds of players, you’re golden already, probably. But other times, you have to entice them, like giving someone those dino nuggets that are also secretly packed with veggies. This metaphor has gotten away from me, but here are some tips for working lore into your setting a little more organically.
Magic Items
One of the easiest ways to fit in some hidden lore about your campaign is in the way you describe magic items. Instead of “you find a +1 sword and some healing potions,” you can get a little more specific. Name the weapon. Give it a little history. Make it something the player can learn about.
So it’s not just a +1 sword they find, it’s “Felryth, sword of Selmar”, then you just have to figure out who Selmar was and why her sword ended up wherever they found it. This also works if you have specific stuff you want to tell the players about your world, like that crystals are psionically resonant or sorcerers are all created – just sneak that into the background of the magic items that your players research.
The Architecture of the Dungeon
The environment itself can tell a story. Every dungeon has a purpose. Some are ruined temples to forgotten gods, others are fell crypts meant to imprison ancient evils. The list goes on. But even in the design of the dungeon, you can work in more details about the world. Who imprisoned that ancient evil? What does that say about the construction and the way you describe the room?
Yeah, it’s more work to do instead of just getting right to fighting the cool undead demon you spent hours working up the stats for last week, but this will help everyone realize why it’s significant to the plot that a demon can be undead.
Letters On Enemies
This is a classic dating back to the early days of D&D adventures. Just find handwritten notes conveniently detailing pertinent info on the bodies of enemies you happen to kill. Things like this are a classic for a reason. Not only is it a staple of the genre, but it also gives you the chance to create a real-life item you can just hand to a player, and then they have it. And can learn it for themselves. People will think “whoa, what a cool DM” when you pull this off well.
The AAA Special (Audio Logs)
A more modern interpretation of the letters, but worth it in its own right. Audio logs. I guarantee you, if you have players find a resonant crystal that holds the echoes of a past conversation on it, they might well sit up and take notice. Especially if you pre-record what’s on it as a voice note that you then play at the table when they discover it.
Tell the story of what happened here. Or what project that mad wizard was working on before everything in the tower turned to a slow-advancing, all-consuming swarm of crystalline spiders.
Your PC’s Backstories
Finally, there’s the backstories of the PCs themselves. If your PCs have family members or other connections to their past, maybe there’s a way to tie them to the lore of your world. You can work in interesting connections that show up when that player takes the spotlight and is hearing all about their cool character. It works like a charm.
What are some of your methods for getting your players excited about your lore?
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Source: Bell of Lost Souls
