Brass Jester
Mongoose
This is a revised and updated version of a system I posted about two years ago. Feel free to try it out. Any feedback, comments or suggestions welcomed.
Adventure Design System
Author: Brass Jester
Judson hefted his broadsword and peered into the gloom. Ahead, down the corridor from round a corner, came a pulsating green glow. He turned; “Krait,” he grunted, “up here”. The Zamoran came forward. “Take a look”; Judson indicated the glow. The wiry thief grinned, showing yellow broken teeth, pulled a knife from his belt and crept stealthily down the corridor. He reached the corner and cautiously peered round…
“Sorry guys, got to end it there”
A chorus of moans broke out. “What!. Why?”
“Well”, muttered the shame-faced GM. “I ran out of ideas at this point.”
Writers block. It happens to everyone at some stage; you’re getting ready to write the next chapter of your saga, you make a fresh pot of coffee and pull out a pad of paper and a selection of pens. Four hours later the coffee’s all drunk and you’re still looking at a blank sheet of paper. No matter how hard you try, the ideas just won’t come. It is rumoured that this is what caused the delay in the publishing of the sixth Harry Potter novel.
You can build on what’s gone before of course, however you may find yourself ‘stuck in a mindset’.
“So they go to the ruined castle and…no, they did that last time, how about they meet with the old beggar in the market, like the one in Arenjun… and Belverus…and Khorshemish. Okay, they’re all in a tavern and…
What you need is something to ‘kick start’ your brain into thinking out new plotlines, arcs and encounters And this is what my Adventure Design System does. More on the specifics later, but first some ground rules.
1. The system will not do all the work for you. It is designed to make you think, and to make associations between words and concepts you may not have otherwise considered.
2. The system is designed to be rolled randomly to give an overall matrix. It is intended that all of the elements should be rolled randomly at the same time, rather than selecting some off the tables. There is scope for selection, but it comes later
3. There is no requirement to use everything generated in the matrix; in fact you may find what you finish with is widely different from the original elements rolled. Good. This is what’s supposed to happen; in fact you can get several different adventures out of a single matrix.
4. The tables are designed to be used with a single d10. I don’t mind using multiple dice during a game, but I find it easier just to stick with one die when creating a matrix
A matrix is set up in the following format. This is the heart of the system and should not be changed.
Matrix format
.
Challenge
Keyword 1 Keyword 2
Antagonist Keyword 3 Goal
Keyword 4 Keyword 5
Complication
Antagonist: The main opposition in the adventure
Goal: The overall aim of the adventure
Challenge: What the adventure is likely to involve
Complication: What is probably going to interfere
Keywords: These provide the flavour
Keywords 1 and 2: What led or contributed to the adventure
Keyword 3: The main theme of the adventure
Keyword 4: This is a situation modifier
Keyword 5: Leads to the possible outcome of the adventure.
All of these words can interact with each other and even with themselves
Once all of these have been rolled, this is where you sit back and look at the possibilities. I usually create half a dozen matrices on a sheet of paper and work from there. Sometimes the ideas don’t come at once, so having several to work on helps.
As an example, this matrix was rolled as I wrote this article, to demonstrate how the system works None of it was pre-rolled ‘to fit’.
Avoid Combat
Code of Honour Slaves
Guardian Lawless Specific Item
Ides (Mid-month) “Magic” item
Rival NPC Group
After about half an hours thinking and scribbling notes, this is what I came up with.
THE SINGING BOWL OF LISSIA
A Border Kingdoms town, in a grim and inhospitable area. Originally settled
using slave labour from the south and still having to exist under strict
laws to ensure survival; every year on the Ides of Verlain (roughly equal to
mid-April)there is a three-day holiday called the Festival of the Free. At
this time normal laws are relaxed and the citizen's make merry. Anything goes at this time
and the normal city laws are relaxed for the citizens. To prevent
looting, non-citizen guards are hired for the duration to guard valuable
items and properties. Most of the guards have been employed at this time by
the same employer for years and are loyal.
The item in question is a "magic" item called the "Singing Bowl of Lissia";
held in a shrine near to the middle of the town. The Bowl is made of a
paper-thin silvery metal with a rainbow hue. In the right hands it can be
made to sing, producing a beautiful accompanying to any song or dance.
The Bowl is in a shrine to Ornas Longhair, a renowned bard who used the
Bowl to soothe a “dragon” and lead it away from the town. Ornas never returned
from this encounter; the Bowl was enshrined in his memory.
Hooks:
PC's have to acquire the Bowl. The Festival is the ideal occasion.
However, it becomes apparent that a rival NPC group is also after the Bowl.
PC's are ambushed by the NPC group; who are convinced that they have the
Bowl.
PC’s ambush the NPC group, convinced that they have the Bowl.
PC's are set up as fall guys for the NPC group to acquire the Bowl.
The rival NPC's decide to take out the PC's. It starts with a bar brawl;
escalates into using weapons.
As above, but PC's are being set up by someone else.
PC’s set the NPC’s up as fall guys for the theft
Now; all this needs is padding with stats for the NPC’s, but you could add as much detail as you want (town maps; expand the background, more on Ornas and the dragon etc.)
An alternate idea I had was a Spartacus-style slave revolt in a Shemite city-state, with a proud Corinthian noble (ambassador/envoy) trapped there. In this instance the NPC group would be hired mercenaries sent to rescue the ambassador and could end up working with the PC’s. The ‘magic’ item would probably have been something that incited the slaves to revolt; however, the noble might be in possession of Thoth-Amon’s ring and T-A himself might be amongst the slaves!
Second part with the tables to follow.
Adventure Design System
Author: Brass Jester
Judson hefted his broadsword and peered into the gloom. Ahead, down the corridor from round a corner, came a pulsating green glow. He turned; “Krait,” he grunted, “up here”. The Zamoran came forward. “Take a look”; Judson indicated the glow. The wiry thief grinned, showing yellow broken teeth, pulled a knife from his belt and crept stealthily down the corridor. He reached the corner and cautiously peered round…
“Sorry guys, got to end it there”
A chorus of moans broke out. “What!. Why?”
“Well”, muttered the shame-faced GM. “I ran out of ideas at this point.”
Writers block. It happens to everyone at some stage; you’re getting ready to write the next chapter of your saga, you make a fresh pot of coffee and pull out a pad of paper and a selection of pens. Four hours later the coffee’s all drunk and you’re still looking at a blank sheet of paper. No matter how hard you try, the ideas just won’t come. It is rumoured that this is what caused the delay in the publishing of the sixth Harry Potter novel.
You can build on what’s gone before of course, however you may find yourself ‘stuck in a mindset’.
“So they go to the ruined castle and…no, they did that last time, how about they meet with the old beggar in the market, like the one in Arenjun… and Belverus…and Khorshemish. Okay, they’re all in a tavern and…
What you need is something to ‘kick start’ your brain into thinking out new plotlines, arcs and encounters And this is what my Adventure Design System does. More on the specifics later, but first some ground rules.
1. The system will not do all the work for you. It is designed to make you think, and to make associations between words and concepts you may not have otherwise considered.
2. The system is designed to be rolled randomly to give an overall matrix. It is intended that all of the elements should be rolled randomly at the same time, rather than selecting some off the tables. There is scope for selection, but it comes later
3. There is no requirement to use everything generated in the matrix; in fact you may find what you finish with is widely different from the original elements rolled. Good. This is what’s supposed to happen; in fact you can get several different adventures out of a single matrix.
4. The tables are designed to be used with a single d10. I don’t mind using multiple dice during a game, but I find it easier just to stick with one die when creating a matrix
A matrix is set up in the following format. This is the heart of the system and should not be changed.
Matrix format
.
Challenge
Keyword 1 Keyword 2
Antagonist Keyword 3 Goal
Keyword 4 Keyword 5
Complication
Antagonist: The main opposition in the adventure
Goal: The overall aim of the adventure
Challenge: What the adventure is likely to involve
Complication: What is probably going to interfere
Keywords: These provide the flavour
Keywords 1 and 2: What led or contributed to the adventure
Keyword 3: The main theme of the adventure
Keyword 4: This is a situation modifier
Keyword 5: Leads to the possible outcome of the adventure.
All of these words can interact with each other and even with themselves
Once all of these have been rolled, this is where you sit back and look at the possibilities. I usually create half a dozen matrices on a sheet of paper and work from there. Sometimes the ideas don’t come at once, so having several to work on helps.
As an example, this matrix was rolled as I wrote this article, to demonstrate how the system works None of it was pre-rolled ‘to fit’.
Avoid Combat
Code of Honour Slaves
Guardian Lawless Specific Item
Ides (Mid-month) “Magic” item
Rival NPC Group
After about half an hours thinking and scribbling notes, this is what I came up with.
THE SINGING BOWL OF LISSIA
A Border Kingdoms town, in a grim and inhospitable area. Originally settled
using slave labour from the south and still having to exist under strict
laws to ensure survival; every year on the Ides of Verlain (roughly equal to
mid-April)there is a three-day holiday called the Festival of the Free. At
this time normal laws are relaxed and the citizen's make merry. Anything goes at this time
and the normal city laws are relaxed for the citizens. To prevent
looting, non-citizen guards are hired for the duration to guard valuable
items and properties. Most of the guards have been employed at this time by
the same employer for years and are loyal.
The item in question is a "magic" item called the "Singing Bowl of Lissia";
held in a shrine near to the middle of the town. The Bowl is made of a
paper-thin silvery metal with a rainbow hue. In the right hands it can be
made to sing, producing a beautiful accompanying to any song or dance.
The Bowl is in a shrine to Ornas Longhair, a renowned bard who used the
Bowl to soothe a “dragon” and lead it away from the town. Ornas never returned
from this encounter; the Bowl was enshrined in his memory.
Hooks:
PC's have to acquire the Bowl. The Festival is the ideal occasion.
However, it becomes apparent that a rival NPC group is also after the Bowl.
PC's are ambushed by the NPC group; who are convinced that they have the
Bowl.
PC’s ambush the NPC group, convinced that they have the Bowl.
PC's are set up as fall guys for the NPC group to acquire the Bowl.
The rival NPC's decide to take out the PC's. It starts with a bar brawl;
escalates into using weapons.
As above, but PC's are being set up by someone else.
PC’s set the NPC’s up as fall guys for the theft
Now; all this needs is padding with stats for the NPC’s, but you could add as much detail as you want (town maps; expand the background, more on Ornas and the dragon etc.)
An alternate idea I had was a Spartacus-style slave revolt in a Shemite city-state, with a proud Corinthian noble (ambassador/envoy) trapped there. In this instance the NPC group would be hired mercenaries sent to rescue the ambassador and could end up working with the PC’s. The ‘magic’ item would probably have been something that incited the slaves to revolt; however, the noble might be in possession of Thoth-Amon’s ring and T-A himself might be amongst the slaves!
Second part with the tables to follow.
