Take a Break from the Routine with a 5E D&D Vacation Adventure

Summer is upon us and this means beaches, cookouts and of course vacations! This got me thinking about vacations in our D&D parties. Downtime in any RPG often evokes things like the notorious beach episodes of anime to me. With the turbulence of the times it feels weirdly analogous to me with how our D&D characters perpetually fight for their own causes. Even fictional characters need a getaway now and again and hopefully this post offers a reprieve for you as well as some inspiration for your own relaxing hobbies. Let’s talk about vacation ideas for your D&D party.

Breathe new life into your world

One of the things I’ve always thought helps to flesh out a fantasy world is how people choose to relax. People need breaks. We need relaxation time once in a while. The world might need saving but is there even a point to fighting if the world isn’t worth saving in the first place?

Don’t get me wrong — sometimes you just want a dive into the darkness with something like Mork Borg, but for more moderate settings (even those like Ravenloft) the world needs some element of goodness or wholesomeness. There has to be something redeemable in the world worth saving.

What’s more not all people in your world are adventurers — at least it’s not very likely. Chances are you have butchers, bakers and beyond to ensure society runs. Some people remain sedentary, cultivating their ancestors’ land and building a homestead to raise the next generation of providers for their people.

Even the no-name NPCs of your world would want to get away from it all sometimes. Ask yourself, “What do they do?” Where do your NPCs go to have a vacation? If there are places that naturally lend themselves to vacations for some reason or another then chances are society has sprung up around them. These places become tourism hot spots.

Maybe these places offer new and interesting foods or maybe they possess cultures unfamiliar to the adventurers. Perhaps locals of a tourism town hike up prices for travelers or maybe they have conflicted views about tourism in general. These and more are all options to show players through narration and NPC interactions that breathe new life into your world and make it more believably rich and complex.

Fashion show, here we go!

If you’ve read our posts about PC fashion then you know how important attire can be for some players. Vacations offer opportunities for characters to let their hair down (if they have it), dress comfortably and generally be themselves outside the context of conflict or peril.

Thespian-type roleplayers and narrative-centric roleplayers will likely love the opportunity to show off their character’s style on a vacation. Whether sporting a fantasy version of an open floral print shirt and Bermuda shorts or a parka with snowshoes, characters dressing for new environments is a great way to show their personalities and expectations for a location.

Maybe your dhampir warlock wears a long black dress with sunglasses while carrying an ebony parasol to the beach? Does your socially awkward orc fighter wear the same thing he always wears since it’s practical, drawing strange looks from local townsfolk? Is part of your paladin’s oath require she wears her assigned armor at all times?

Whether sun or snow, vacations offer opportunities for players to express their characters’ fashions sensibilities in new ways.

One shot wonders

Perhaps you’re unsure how players will react to a vacation scene or perhaps your group prefers a more consistent style of play, expecting combat and whatnot. No problem! Vacation instances are a fantastic way to run a one shot adventure within your current campaign without interrupting the flow too much.

Even if it turns into a multi-session event, vacation scenarios offer a break from the main narrative of long running campaigns for the players. If you really want to make it spicy you might include some new hidden bit of information related to the main quest but bury it deep within the one shot itself.

Another great aspect of vacation one-shots relates to two of my favorite episodes of Avatar: the Last Airbender. In the episodes entitled The Beach and The Ember Island Players we see both our heroes and the antagonist party bonding over recreation. In the former we gain new insight into the antagonist party’s motivations and backstories. In the latter we see the heroes parodied by actors and forced to view themselves through an outside lens. Both of these scenarios are inspiration gold for me to run with my own players.

If you’re looking for inspiration to run one shots or if you’re worried a specific one shot might be tied to a specific campaign setting we’ve got you covered. Out of the Box Encounters is Nerdarchy’s own anthology of one shot, setting agnostic encounters for your games. [NERDITOR’S NOTE: Our Wizard’s Wake module offers adventurers a tropical locale to explore for a vacation too. Of course there’s a mysterious shipwreck to investigate as well because a D&D vacation isn’t a vacation without monsters, peril and treasure right?]

Shifting tone for a campaign break

Sometimes even the best campaigns need a break in the mood. Vacations are a fantastic opportunity for a tone shift in the campaign. If your campaign leans more serious try invoking some silly antics. If your campaign tends toward the goofy then maybe the vacation is an opportunity to bring things to more serious light and reveal the struggles of non-adventurers.

Maybe adventuring is a whole economy all its own in your world. In such a case perhaps a vacation could introduce adventurers to families who dislike the raucous debauchery and brazen thrill seeking of adventurer types.

If your campaign is usually serious then maybe allow for some goofy antics, character romance or quirky one-off NPCs. These all show how the tone and perspective of the main campaign is just a small part of the broader world and this makes your setting feel more lived in.

What do you think?

In general I love the occasional vacation scenario for D&D parties. They let players unwind a bit and mix up the routine. Now we want to hear from you! Do you have a favorite vacation adventure in which you participated? How do you break up long form campaigns or do you even think they need to be broken up? Whatever your thoughts we want to hear from you on Facebook or Twitter. You can also leave a comment right here, on this page.

*Featured image — Welcome to the Gylathacean Isles! Adventurers earn a vacation to this tropical locale and find fun in the sun. Wizard’s Wake includes a map and details about the Gylathacean Isles along with the colorful folk who make their home on the sea, plus a one shot adventure to discover the mysteries within the wreckage of an ancient ship. Check it out here!

New videos all the time at Nerdarchy the YouTube channel