As a Dungeon Master, one of the most challenging yet rewarding aspects of running a Dungeons & Dragons campaign is crafting a compelling, cohesive story that both engages your players and allows for unexpected twists. What if you could borrow from one of the most effective narrative frameworks used by master storytellers at Pixar? Enter Pixar's Story Spine, a powerful model that we can adapt to bring depth, structure, and dynamic flow to our campaigns. In this blog, we’ll explore how to leverage Pixar's Story Spine for creating memorable D&D adventures, while keeping your players at the heart of the action.
Podcast of two AIs discussing this approach, really interesting!
What is Pixar's Story Spine Model?
Pixar's Story Spine is a simple yet profound framework used by Pixar writers to craft engaging stories that resonate with audiences. It consists of six main elements:
Once upon a time – Establish the setting and introduce the characters.
Every day – Show the status quo and reveal the problem.
Until one day – Present the inciting incident that changes everything.
Because of that (repeated) – Develop the plot through cascading events.
Until finally – Reach the climax or major turning point.
And ever since then – Conclude with the resolution.
The Story Spine provides a clear and logical progression, helping ensure that each story has a beginning, middle, and end—a perfect fit for the episodic nature of D&D campaigns.
Give it a try
I have created two GPTs. The first one will generate different campaign ideas and give you an output to feed to the second GPT. The second GPT will give you a complete campaign overview including the adapted Pixar's Story Spine that can be used to feed any AI like NotebookLM.
Modifying Pixar's Story Spine for Campaign Planning
To adapt Pixar's Story Spine to campaign planning, we focus on the players' characters and choices to ensure the story evolves dynamically. The structure remains:
Once upon a time – Establish the world, its history, and introduce the players to the setting. Help them understand the stakes and their characters' motivations.
Every day – Showcase the current situation and identify key elements of the world that require attention. Introduce an emerging problem that requires action.
Until one day – The inciting incident arrives; perhaps a village is attacked, an important NPC goes missing, or a strange artifact is discovered. This moment shatters the status quo.
Because of that (repeated) – As players pursue their goals, new challenges arise. Each choice and dice roll propels the campaign forward, creating a domino effect of events.
It is at this step where I do a look back at what happened last session and make adjustments to my current campaign using the 5w process.
Until finally – Reach a climax or a major turning point in the story arc. This could be a confrontation with a significant villain or a critical decision the players must make.
And ever since then – Conclude the adventure, establishing how the players' actions have impacted the world.
With three potential outcomes—Success, Failure, or Status Quo—you have the flexibility to adapt the story to the players' decisions and challenges faced:
Success: The players achieve their goal and resolve the conflict, leading to positive changes in the world.
Failure: The players are unable to succeed, and consequences unfold, perhaps introducing new threats or worsening the current situation.
Status Quo: The players achieve partial success, resolving some issues while leaving others unresolved, maintaining a balance without fully solving the problem.
Example Campaign
The Tides of Varonis Campaign Story Spine with Outcomes
Once upon a time – The city of Varonis thrived along enchanted waters, living off the wealth of the sea.
Every day – The people and powers of Varonis yearned for the magic of the lost empire rumored to rest beneath the waves.
Until one day – An ancient artifact washed ashore, sparking rumors and prophecies of the empire's return.
Because of that – Factions and treasure hunters rallied to claim the artifact, each hoping to unlock its power.
Because of that – A party of adventurers is enlisted to retrieve all five artifacts before they fall into dangerous hands.
Until finally – They uncover the horrifying truth behind the empire’s downfall and must decide whether its magic should ever rise again.
And ever since then – The conclusion of the adventure depends on the outcome based on the players actions while playing the game:
Success: The players successfully destroy the artifacts, ensuring the empire's dark magic remains buried forever. Varonis finds peace, and the players are celebrated as heroes who saved the city from potential ruin.
Failure: The players are unable to prevent the artifacts from falling into the hands of a power-hungry faction. The ancient magic is unleashed, leading to chaos and destruction. Varonis falls under a dark age, and the adventurers must deal with the aftermath of their failure.
Status Quo: The players decide to keep the artifacts hidden, neither using them nor destroying them. The artifacts remain a lingering threat, and while Varonis is spared immediate danger, the tension and potential for future conflict remain. The players leave the city knowing their actions have delayed—but not eliminated—the threat of the lost empire’s magic.
Enabling Story-First and Player-First Thinking
The modified Story Spine model encourages story-first and player-first thinking by putting the characters and their growth at the core of the campaign. As a GM, you can leverage the framework to ensure:
The story builds organically, with character motivations driving the narrative.
Players have opportunities for meaningful character growth and transformation.
Player decisions significantly impact the campaign, making them feel like true protagonists.
Adaptable Scenarios and Dynamic Sessions
The cascading “Because of that” structure creates dynamic gameplay sessions where each action taken by the players has a consequence. This approach supports adaptive storytelling, allowing the narrative to evolve naturally. Whether players succeed, fail, or leave threads unresolved, the story progresses in an engaging and logical manner—keeping players immersed while maintaining a clear arc.
Benefits of Pixar's Modified Story Spine Framework
Clear Narrative Structure: Using this model ensures your campaign has a cohesive storyline with a logical flow, from setting the stage to introducing conflicts and reaching a satisfying resolution.
Character Growth and Player Engagement: By focusing on character-driven storytelling, players become more engaged, as their personal arcs align with the overall plot, offering rich opportunities for growth and change.
Flexibility for Multiple Outcomes: The model helps you anticipate different outcomes, from success to failure, enhancing flexibility. This keeps your players on their toes, making every decision meaningful and ensuring the campaign remains unpredictable and exciting.
Developing Campaign Details from the Pixar Story Spine Model
Developing the campaign details from the Pixar Story Spine model involves grouping the story into acts and breaking them down into specific encounters. By organizing the story into manageable acts, you can focus on the flow and progression of the narrative while ensuring that each session is engaging and dynamic.
For the initial session, I develop 4-7 encounters designed to fit within a 4-5 hour game session, which allows for a mix of exploration, role-playing, and combat. At the end of each session, I gather feedback using the 5W process from the players, assess their decisions, and use that information to adapt and prepare for the next session. This iterative process helps ensure that the campaign remains responsive to player actions and continues to evolve in a way that keeps everyone invested in the unfolding story.
Group story into acts: Divide the overall narrative into distinct acts for easier storytelling.
Develop 4-7 encounters per session: Plan a mix of exploration, role-playing, and combat encounters.
Gather player feedback: Use player input to adjust and improve future sessions.
Adapt based on player decisions: React to choices made during gameplay to keep the story dynamic.
The Game Master Platform (TGMP)
TGMP AI is trained on your campaign, encounters, NPCs and more allowing for real-time improvisation when the session goes sideways.
It allows you to prepare for sessions by saving off AI conversations around any topic; from the 5 outcomes to NPC dialog, it helps you prepare for the unpreparable.
It allows you to share images and items helping you to better story tell.
It helps you draft your session notes and saves them for your players to review.
It automatically collects player feedback from the last session.
TGMP saves all chats by encounter allowing for amazing session reflection.
The players can chat with their AI character adding an opportunity to make a more impactful player experience
Conclusion
Adapting Pixar's Story Spine is a fantastic way to bring structure, depth, and dynamism to your D&D campaign. By placing your players' characters and their decisions at the center of the story, you foster an engaging experience that feels personal, impactful, and cinematic. Whether your players succeed, fail, or simply manage to maintain the status quo, the Story Spine ensures that the adventure’s outcome is always meaningful and satisfying.
Ready to level up your storytelling? Try using the Pixar Story Spine for your next campaign and see how it transforms the way you and your players experience the world of D&D.
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