Threads of Wonder: A Fundamental Method for Dungeon Masters

'A Golden Thread' - Strudwick

"Wonder is the first of all the passions." -Descartes

“When curiosity is alive, we are attracted to many things; we discover many worlds.” -Eric Booth

“The first and simplest emotion which we discover in the human mind, is curiosity.” -Edmund Burke

This is a method for designing moment-to-moment gameplay, based on a theory/philosophy I've been developing over the past couple years. It's a very practical, usable method that will work even if you're not a theory-head. I’m not suggesting this is a method that will appeal to everyone or that it’s a superior way of running the game, only that it’s captured my interest and has worked for me and the players I've used it with.

First, here's the theory:

If your players have wonder, they will ask questions about your world -- the same questions their characters are asking. Asking questions about the world is actively engaging with it. Actively engaging with the world opens the door to roleplaying a character within that world. Roleplaying a character within a world can lead to immersive experiences.

To expand upon that, what I mean is that curiosity is a very powerful tool for drawing in the players at your table. They don't have to role-play or think about rules or make tough decisions in order to be curious, so it's a very easy way for them to enter your world. I use the term “fundamental method” because it’s really a complete style of DMing, adventure-writing, and worldbuilding that can be used to create and run an entire campaign.

I’ve been testing out this method with multiple groups for the past two years and have found it to be a highly effective way of engaging players and structuring the game. It has continued to spark immersive experiences. In my playtests, I’ve run the same adventure each time -- it’s my go-to for new groups. Here’s the scenario:

Example: At The Wealthy Troll

We begin in the town of Birtash, a trading hub on the Twilight Coast. As you enter the local inn, the Wealthy Troll, you hear the high voice of a musician playing a sad song in the corner. Some of the patrons are singing along. The hearth is decorated with a large and grotesque skull of unknown origin. A stocky, curly-haired man with his arm in a sling does his best to serve the patrons, bustling about the room balancing a tray full of frothing mugs of ale with his good hand. You notice a few unusual characters among the patrons. A menu hangs above the bar.

The elements of wonder here are the sad song, the skull, the barkeep’s injured arm, the unusual characters, and the menu. They’re like traditional plot hooks/adventure hooks, but on a smaller moment-to-moment-gameplay scale. Dependably, players launch into exploring these details, completely brimming with curiosity. Now that I’ve captured the players, the key is to reward their curiosity with further elements of wonder. In this way, the players are lead along **threads of wonder**, which continue as far as you want them to go. You can introduce as many new threads as you like. Let’s continue:

The Song

If the PCs ask about the song, they’ll learn it’s a piece known as the Third Tear, one of seven songs in a collection called the Seven Tears. If they inquire further, they can discover the composer’s name, which is Nack Berryland. Berryland compiled a number of songbooks but most of them have been lost. One, however, is rumoured to have belonged to the lord of the old castle that now lies abandoned to the north.

The Skull

If the PCs inquire about the skull, they’ll find out that nobody really knows what kind of creature it belongs to, but Fig, the barkeep, believes it’s a troll skull. He and his brother found it when they were young and decided they would open an inn and call it the Wealthy Troll; they’d put the skull up on the wall. Sadly, Fig’s brother passed away before they opened the inn, but he kept the name and put the skull up in his brother’s honour. The thing is, nobody believes trolls have existed for hundreds of years.

The Arm

If they ask about his injured arm, he tells them he fell off the roof the other night. He was investigating a strange noise coming from the chimney. He doesn’t ask the players to check it out, but they inevitably get curious and say they’ll check it out, usually in exchange for a free night at the inn.

Fig agrees and they head outside, using the ladder up to the roof. Peering into the chimney, they find a stirge has made its nest inside. The stirge itself is asleep. They see a spotted egg in the nest, as well as a silver glint beneath it. The groups have invariably killed the stirge one way or another. Curious about the silver, they then climb into the chimney and haul out the nest (or remove the contents and then kick the nest down into the fire, in one instance). Inside is the egg, which they always come up with all sorts of questions about, and a silver necklace adorned with a small gem.

If they put the necklace on, they are able to hear muffled chanting, rapidly bubbling liquid, and clinking glass. This incites further wonder, and some players have picked up on the clues and asked Fig about an alchemy or potion shop in town. He doesn’t know anything about it, but they store that mystery for later.

The Unusual Characters

If the players ask about the unusual characters, I give them the following:

An uncommonly handsome man in leather, a longsword leaning against his table.

A thin man with a brand on his wrist.

A gnarled man with sun-weathered skin muttering to himself.

A scruffy man with big cheek scar in leather.

Elements of wonder here are the uncommon handsomeness, the longsword, the brand, the muttering, and the scar. Every group I’ve run this for has gone through the common room and made a point of investigating these characters. They’re just 0-level hirelings who can be employed by the party, but I’ve turned them into elements of wonder.

The Menu

If the players check out the menu, I list the following:

TROLLSBLOOD ALE	5 sp	WILD MUSHROOM SUMMER PIE	5 sp
OZRISY RED	8 sp	BEEF ROLL IN MUSTARD SAUCE	2 gp
STARTHISTLE MEAD	1 gp	BROTH WITH BACON	5 sp
ACHORI STOUT	2 gp	BROWN LOAF	1 sp
DAMMON’S DRINK	1 gp	JENIM HARD CHEESE	1 sp/wedge
		TROUT WITH BUTTER SAUCE	1 gp
		MULBERRY PIE	5 sp
		GOLDEN HONEY CAKE	1 sp
		FRUIT	1 sp

Trollsblood Ale is the house brew which was created by Fig and his brother. Ozrisy Red is a wine from a town to the west called Ozrisy which lies in a deep swamp; Ozrisy is famous for its arena. Achori stout comes from a castle to the south called Achor, where there are woods of black trees; the castle is ruled by a wizard. Dammon’s Drink is moonshine which was made by Dammon, Fig’s late brother. Jenim hard cheese comes from the village of Jenim, which is a fiefdom of Birtash and lies along the road to Ozrisy. Each of these places can be visited by the PCs.

More Threads

I also have a painted shield above the hearth with a coat of arms on it. If asked about, they’ll learn it’s the crest of the family Avryn who ruled the old castle to the north a hundred years ago. They used to be the lords of Birtash but they vanished due to some terrible event at the castle.

There's an unusually-smooth length of black wood in the woodbox beside the hearth which can be discovered by players who poke around there. It's warm to the touch. It's actually a staff which belonged to the Green Wizard, who was the court magician of the old castle a hundred years ago.

I have more threads which eventually lead to the castle, which is a huge megadungeon with rooms and rooms full of these kinds of details, designed using this method of 'threads of wonder.'

Afterword

There’s already so much wonder to this setting and the world feels so rich and large, and the players haven’t even left the inn. You really don’t need to make a big setting when using this method; a very small and very detailed setting is highly effective.

This is a very player-driven style of play which means it can sometimes seem slow-paced. But slow-paced doesn’t mean boring: it’s immensely satisfying to the players to control the direction of play, have the freedom to explore the setting, and uncover these mysteries. In essence, it’s a ‘mystery sandbox’ style of play, but it can be used on a scale as small as a single room, as shown above. I’m sure a lot of DMs already intuitively or subconsciously use this method, but I found that when I actively thought about it, I was able to maximize its usefulness and effect.

I hope you find this useful and/or inspiring, and if you end up creating your own ‘threads of wonder’ adventure, I’d love to hear about it.