Bridgerton Meets D&D: A Regency Campaign Guide

Dearest heady reader,

The season is upon us, and this herbally elevated author finds herself compelled to address a most intriguing development in the world of tabletop gaming. It appears that the ballrooms of the ton and the taverns of D&D are not so different as one might suppose.

Consider, if you will, that the ballrooms are battlegrounds, reputations are currency, and a well-placed whisper can topple an empire more thoroughly than any fireball (though, who doesn't love a good fireball).

Welcome, dear reader, to Bridgerton meets D&D, where the stakes are social standing and the most dangerous weapon is a sharp tongue.

The fey courts meet high society

Listen up y'all, transforming your D&D campaign into a Regency-era drama is easier than you think. Just focus on what makes Bridgerton so addictive: gossip, scandal, romance, and social drama where every look and gesture matters.

Using 'the social season' as campaign structure

Each “season” in your campaign will center on a major social event that will have your players navigate dance cards, jealous rivals, AND the constant threat of scandal:

• The Opening Ball : first impressions, making bets (let's goooo!), forming alliances

• The Hunt : an outdoor competition that shows character

• Garden Parties : intimate settings for private drama and secret meetings to share info

• The Masquerade : hidden identities and revealed truths, baybeeee!

• The Season Finale : where you reach the scandalous conclusion

Using Lady Whistledown as your agent of CHAOS

Introduce an anonymous gossip columnist (your campaign's Lady Whistledown) who self-publishes juicy scandal sheets. But here's where it gets fun ... steal the rumor phase from Dimension20's "A Court of Fey and Flowers" (seriously, Aabria Iyengar is a genius).

How It Works:

• At the start of certain sessions, each player spreads one rumor about another character

• Rumors can be true, false, or (my fave) that perfect mix of both

• As DM, you tie these into the session's gossip

• Rumors can give advantage or disadvantage on social rolls

Think of the rumor phase as your session's pre-game smoke rotation with EVERYBODY contributing to the vibe.

This makes Lady Whistledown an ongoing mystery since she can be literally any of the players ... or NPCs. Who is she? Can they bribe her? Maybe she's actually several people, like a secret network of servants who see everything.

Character creation: Your players pick their debutantes/rakes

We're gonna forget traditional D&D classes for a minute and re-flavor some of the options to fit the vibes of this campaign:

The Bard : College of Eloquence bards are amazing at persuasion and deception which is perfect for Bridgerton. Oh, and the unsettling words feature is basically like spreading devastating gossip.

The Rogue : A mastermind rogue is pretty much the Anthony Bridgerton type (hey, I told you it was my favorite season) who schemes to protect family honor.

The Warlock : They make a deal with Society itself as the patron (gaining power through telling sneaky secrets and causing scandal) OR maybe they made a fey pact to save their family's fortune. Either way, the warlock is bound by magical contracts and mysterious obligations.

The Sorcerer : They've got magic in their bloodline but have to hide it because ... scandal. Sorcerers can use subtle spell to cast a spell with no one noticing (like cheating at social events💅🏽)

The Wizard (Enchantment or Illusion) : The more calculated player might want to choose a wizard so they can use magic to be more charming or create disguises for secret meetups.

How romance and reputation will work

Ok y'all, now it's time to replace combat with social encounters:

Roll for {social} INITIATIVE

• At formal events, everyone rolls initiative.

• High rolls mean you act first (as usual): this is where you want to be the first to read the room or controlling the conversation in the room (maybe you want to squash your scandal with a rumor about another player or NPC).

Inspiration through relationships

When players create scandalous or dramatic moments, give them Inspiration ... but tie it to specific relationships

Here's how:

• Earn inspiration through meaningful/messy/dramatic/funny moments with specific NPCs or other PCs

  
  

• Players track which relationship gave each inspiration (on character sheet: "Inspiration: The Duke" or "Inspiration: rival")

  
  

• Spend it like normal inspiration (advantage on a roll)

  
  

• KEEP IN MIND spending it strains that relationship (things get awkward, distant, tense). It's like using their emotional connections as currency: do your players want to burn a friendship to succeed?

Courtship/Alliance challenges

Winning someone's heart OR trust takes time:

• Need 3 successes before 3 failures across the "season" in the campaign

  
  

• Each attempt uses different skills: - Persuasion (witty banter)

  - Performance (dancing, trying to impress, fulfilling a mission to gain trust, etc.) - Insight (reading the person) - Deception (hiding their feelings/true intentions, etc.)

Add complications: rivals interfere (disadvantage), family disapproves (higher DC), old scandals come back, etc.

Reputation = HP

Each PC starts with Reputation 20 (HP), this is will be their "social health bar".

Reputation Damage:

• Minor scandal (caught alone with someone, caught buying/owning something scandalous, etc.): 1d6

• Major scandal (broken engagement, public fight, etc.): 3d8

• Catastrophic scandal (exposed secret, broken magical contract, etc.): 5d10

Hit 0 Reputation? They're socially ruined ... BUT they can either leave society or do a redemption quest to restore your name.

Recover Reputation: Win big socially, make an advantageous marriage, or expose someone else's scandal.

Letters between sessions

This is another borrow from Dimension20's "A Court of Fey and Flowers" (dope season): let your players write letters to other characters between sessions, either PCs or NPCs.

The Twist: letters can be intercepted

Bonus: A really good letter might earn inspiration tied to that relationship

Campaign ideas to get you started

The Diamond's Dilemma

The Queen declares one PC the season's most eligible match: everyone wants them or wants to destroy them ... rivals scheme, suitors compete, and someone might use magic to win or ruin them.

The Duel at Dawn

Someone's honor gets trashed and it's time to duel: dueling's illegal in the Ton, so this becomes a skill challenge:

• Sneak to the location (Stealth)

• Find trustworthy witnesses (Persuasion)

• The actual duel (Combat or contested rolls)

• Avoid getting arrested (Deception, or using connections they have aka Persuasion)

The Compromising Letter

Someone stole a PC/NPC's scandalous letters: your PCs run a heist to get them back before Lady Whistledown publishes them. Technically this is more Ocean's Eleven meets Pride and Prejudice, but who's complainin'?

The Unsuitable Match

An NPC falls for/trusts an "inappropriate" PC: wrong class, sketchy family, suspected to be Lady Whistledown, etc. Your PCs navigate family drama and social pressure while trying to keep their reputations intact.

The Impostor

One guest isn't who they claim: maybe a commoner uses magic to fake being noble ... do your PCs expose them or help them?

DM tables: roll for drama!

d8	Random Scandal
1	Secret engagement revealed
2	Financial ruin exposed
3	Illegitimate child discovered
4	Gambling debts go public
5	Past mistake resurfaces
6	Family secret exposed (magical bloodline, fey ancestry)
7	Rival spreads false rumor
8	Anonymous letter published

d6	Random Event Complications
1	Jealous rival publicly challenges a PC
2	A servant overhears something they shouldn't
3	Someone's magical disguise starts failing
4	Unexpected guest with history shows up
5	Wrong person gets someone's letter
6	A fey creature appears (only some can see it)

Building NPCs

Every noble NPC needs two things: what everyone sees and what they're hiding...

Examples:

• Strict matriarch of a noble family secretly writes spicy romance novels

• The season's perfect debutante is a changeling

• Charming viscount is spying for a rival

• Elderly dowager knows everyone's dirt

Starting your "first season"

For a one-shot: One event (ie. masquerade ball), give everyone a secret goal, introduce one scandal, resolve it all in one dramatic night.

For a campaign: Run each season featuring a different event, building to a finale where all the scandals and romances collide (seasons can be 6-8 sessions, or however long you want).

The Ton awaits!

What say you, gentle heady readers? Will you dare to enter society?