Your First Campaign

This tutorial walks you through creating your first campaign in Mimir. By the end, you’ll have a fully configured campaign ready for adventure modules and session play.

Time to complete: 5-10 minutes

What you’ll learn:

• Navigate the Mimir interface
• Create a new campaign
• Explore the Campaign Dashboard
• Import catalog data for the next tutorials

Prerequisites

• Mimir installed and running
• No additional setup required

Step 1: Launch Mimir

When you launch Mimir, you’ll see the home screen with the floating Mimir skull and the tagline “Your arcane companion for D&D 5e campaign management.”

The header bar contains:

• Mimir logo (skull icon) - Click to return home
• Campaign selector - Switch between campaigns
• Characters - Create and manage PCs and NPCs
• Reference - Open the D&D 5e reference library
• Settings (gear icon) - Configure application preferences

Step 2: Create a New Campaign

1. Click the Campaign Selector dropdown in the header
2. Click Create New Campaign

The Create New Campaign form opens.

Step 3: Fill in Campaign Details

The campaign creation form has two fields:

Campaign Name (Required)

Enter a descriptive name for your campaign. This appears throughout Mimir and in exported materials.

Example: “Curse of Strahd”, “Homebrew - The Shattered Realms”, “One-Shot: Goblin Heist”

Description (Optional)

Add notes about your campaign concept, themes, or setting. This is for your reference only.

Example: “Gothic horror campaign set in the domain of Barovia. Players are trapped and must defeat the vampire Strahd von Zarovich.”

Step 4: Create the Campaign

Click Create Campaign. Mimir will:

1. Create the campaign in the database
2. Redirect you to the Campaign Dashboard

Step 5: Explore the Campaign Dashboard

The Campaign Dashboard is your command center for the entire campaign. It has a header showing your campaign name and tabs for the different aspects of your game — Campaign, Modules, NPCs, PCs, and Homebrew. See the Campaign Dashboard reference for what each tab contains; you’ll work in the Modules tab in the next tutorial.

Step 6: Campaign Actions

The dashboard header includes three buttons: Sources, PDF, and Export Archive.

Sources opens the Campaign Sources modal where you select which D&D source books are available for this campaign. This controls which monsters, items, and spells appear in catalog searches.

PDF exports campaign documents as a PDF file.

Export Archive creates a backup of your entire campaign including:

• All documents and notes
• Module data
• Maps and tokens
• Character assignments

Use this regularly for backups or when moving campaigns between computers.

Step 7: Import Catalog Data

Before the next tutorial you’ll need catalog data imported — Tutorial 2 searches the catalog for monsters, and Mimir ships with none. Follow Manage Campaign Sources to download a source archive and import it, then come back here.

What’s Next?

Your campaign is ready! Here are your next steps:

1. Create your first module - Build an adventure with maps and encounters
2. Add characters - Create PCs for your players
3. Explore the Reference - Browse monsters, spells, and items for inspiration

For details on anything you saw in this tutorial, see the Campaign Dashboard reference and Create a Campaign.

Next tutorial: Your First Module