Creating Adventures

[Grimolde]

How do you create adventures for your players?

What technique do you use, what formula, do you type up copious amounts of detail, or are you basically winging it?

More importantly, what 'makes' an adventure great? Structure aside, what do you make sure you include in your adventures that make them memorable and exciting?

Here's a good example of how to structure an adventure, it's called the 'Adventure Funnel': Here

Again though, that's a good example of structure, but what turns an adventure into a great adventure?

 

[Loz]

Again though, that's a good example of structure, but what turns an adventure into a great adventure?

A good rapport between GM, players and characters, with each firing off the other to create a unique, compelling story that develops organically, irrespective of what's written down, the GM has in mind or the players might expect.

All the best scenarios and campaigns I've been involved with have worked this way.

 

[Grimolde]

Again though, that's a good example of structure, but what turns an adventure into a great adventure?

A good rapport between GM, players and characters, with each firing off the other to create a unique, compelling story that develops organically, irrespective of what's written down, the GM has in mind or the players might expect.

All the best scenarios and campaigns I've been involved with have worked this way.

Sure, no doubt, but if it's just tavern -> trail -> dungeon, rinse repeat, it might get a bit tedious.

 

[Loz]

Sure, no doubt, but if it's just tavern -> trail -> dungeon, rinse repeat, it might get a bit tedious.

Even that old trope can be elevated to something special if the elements I've described that work for me are in place.

I have to say, though, Grimolde, you asked the question and I replied to it. Clearly it wasn't enough, so here's a very quick overview of how I approach scenario design.

Think of a general high level concept. It can even be something hackneyed like tavern/trail/dungeon.

Consider the NPCs and motivations: who's involved, and why? Try to find an interesting new spin on old motifs.

Flesh out, in my mind, the personalities behind those NPCs. How can I make them real? What sets them aside and worthwhile as an encounter?

Start considering what twists I can work into the High Concept. Maybe that tavern's a gateway to a million separate universes. Perhaps the trail is an ancient hunting route plagued by the ghosts of the human prey who were hunted along it. Maybe that dungeon is a prison for the bastards who did the hunting... unleashing them would start it off all over again, and that tavern the trail leads to, being a gateway to a million universes, will unleash the Wild Hunt across a million unsuspecting universes.

How do the NPCs fit into this? Is that innkeep really an innkeep? What made the imprisoned leader of the Wild Hunt such a bastard in the first place? How do the ghosts on the trail react? What happens when all hell is unleashed? How can I use all this in the game? Backstory? Plot seed? Local colour?

How will the characters fit into all of this? Will they grok the tavern's true nature? Will they leave the trail? What ideas do I need to have in reserve if they do? Will they fight, think or flee? What happens in the dungeon? Do I need a full map or simply a vague destination, a few rooms filled with hints at the imprisoned horror and then the hall where the Wild Hunt's members are chained to the walls, still alive, but imprisoned for a thousand years? Will the characters release them or slay them? Do I want repercussions either way?

What happens if the hunters are released or slain? Can the characters stop them? Should they be able to? Would it be a better plot to unleash these bastards across a million worlds, or to have it end before that happens?

I keep all these questions in my mind as questions, answering some of them according to what I know the characters will likely do, but leaving the others until I run the scenario, knowing they'll be answered during play.

 

[Grimolde]

Sure, no doubt, but if it's just tavern -> trail -> dungeon, rinse repeat, it might get a bit tedious.

Even that old trope can be elevated to something special if the elements I've described that work for me are in place.

I have to say, though, Grimolde, you asked the question and I replied to it. Clearly it wasn't enough, so here's a very quick overview of how I approach scenario design.

Sorry Loz, I didn't mean to dismiss your reply, I was just looking for somethimng more concrete as far as examples go.

Your longer reply is great, and I think I'll be using it in the future. It may sound very obvious to some, but I haven't GM'd in a long time, at least not made my own adventure. This will help

Thank you

 

[PhilHibbs]

You can tell that Loz likes Eternal Champion-style settings!

 

[Ultor]

If you're out of ideas, Mythmere Games' Adventure Design Deskbook may help - see here
http://underdarkgazette.blogspot.com/2011/04/making-adventure-with-mythmeres.html)
for how it works and here http://www.lulu.com/product/ebook/mythmeres-adventure-design-deskbook-%231-%28pdf%29/15463574
for the PDF download, now at $3.50.

You might also find this tip from classic Runequest useful
http://runeunderwater.blogspot.com/2011/04/classic-runequest-dungeon-format.html
and this excellent suggestion from The Alexandrian http://thealexandrian.net/wordpress/4263/roleplaying-games/random-gm-tips-the-art-of-description
for how to make encounters/rooms more memorable.

One thing I'd add is that the players' actions should have consequences that can form adventures in themselves. Following some actions in my campaign that ended up in the daughter of a powerful-but-throwaway (or so I thought) NPC getting killed. They are currently engaged in a heroquest to return the girl's soul to her body. Meanwhile, the NPC (a powerful fighter) and her sorcerer lover are dogging the steps of the party, looking for vengeance. That's several sessions of play right there.

To return to the topic of random tables sparking ideas, I designed that Heroquest rolling on Loz's random tables in Cults of Glorantha. All of a sudden, the idea crystalized, and I now have a portentous extra element for my campaign. So thanks, Loz!

 

[mwsasser]

Personally I find that if you structure too much then it fails for me as both player and GM. I dislike railroading more than most probably and cannot for the life of me understand why people enjoy it so much.

Some GMs whine when players take them off their prepared track. I think the chemistry between well played characters and the GM make the game. Like most of you I do prepare ahead of time but when the players head away from the track I don't try to get them back onto it. Railroading steals the magic of the game every time.

 

[Deleriad]

What technique do you use, what formula, do you type up copious amounts of detail, or are you basically winging it?

Tangentially I sometimes find that when I'm lacking inspiration I type up some detail just to get me going. For example I know I need a Zorak zoran rune lord* for the next session but I really wasn't too sure about some of the paths the session might take. So I sat down and statted out the rune lord and some supporting cast and that helped me think through some issues.

So sometimes detail helps solidify ideas in my head. Personally I suspect that an average session is probably about 3/4 full of stuff I expected and 1/4 full of other things.

*I wonder if any of my players are reading this? *Listens out for the screams*

 

[Simulacrum]

I'm with deleriad and ultor - the simple act of statting and describing an npc or npc group can actually end up writing a lot of the adventure for you. Once you start asking yourself who they are, what they want, and how they supply themselves with the tools, magic, artefacts or just simple necessities of life - and who they themselves have to interact with...the adventure hooks and plot arcs can start writing themselves.

 

[Jujitsudave]

I make sure the players know that their character's backgrounds are not window dressing. I try to tie all of their backgrounds together in some way and base what they are doing on that. As they continue through the adventure, I also try to keep it unpredictable by throwng stuff out of left field at them and they have to figure out the whys of it.

I partially wing it but I plan the major events and NPCs well before hand. Nothing is ever random or non-sensical, even if it seems so. EVERY single thing the characters do has an impact on the world, whether good or bad and the character's motivations are focal point of the game, not just some empty dungeon crawl.

 

[DamonJynx]

All of the above is excellent advice. There really is (IMO) no perfect way to GM or build scenarios. As Loz said, it depends on the rapport you have with your players and a whole heap of other stuff. If you want an example of organic adventures have a look at my google site (posted elsewhere in the threads) there are "session summaries" there and the link for Loz's campaign. Arkrasia has a much better flair for prose than I. You'll see that in mine, while we started off with a published scenario, I used the background of one of the players to drive the game forward as he had a "goal" which was to achieve a higher rank in his cult. Statistically he achieved the requirements very early, but I made him wait until he completed his mission. Then one of the other characters made a throw away line that he was going to offer his services as a healer and the whole "Blue Assassin" scenario derived from that.

It was funny, the character playing the Pan Tangian Deathbringer with a Cult skill of around 90%, basically a psychopathic serial killer - couldn't bear to kill a couple of children - his real world sensibilities (he's got a 2 year old and another on the way, due at any moment) intruded on his character. It was a great moment and rewarding roleplaying as he tried to justify sparing the kids. In the end he used guile to get them to be indoctrinated and join the cult .

 

[Vagni]

I find a simple bullet point plot line, a simple timeline and a few decent maps, plans and detailed NPC's work for me. I find keeping track of NPC's and mapping a local region is a great resource for future scenarios.

I'm very much a 'wing it' GM in many respects, as I find if I do too much prep on a scenario I hardly refer to it anyway. I'm a master of random tangents as well :lol:

I often drop little potential plot seeds about in an adventure as well so that I can pick them up another time and link them through to a new scenario. The Svear trader in my Viking campaign is one such seed for example, I know he's going to pop up again but I've not yet decided how.

 

[Grimolde]

Excellent advice

Thanks all

 

[danskmacabre]

I like to use pubslished scenarios and then adapt them.
I find once I kick off with one published scenario, even when the players have completed it, lots of other mini adventures get created from that, which is great.

I'd like to say I write scenarios from scratch, but being a husband and parent of 2 young kids and a busy schedule at work, I just don't have that sort of time.

 

[Dan True]

I prefer campaigns that is very sandboxed. I usually detail an area, or use a pre-described area (Sharn in my case, but could also be Pavis Rises) and then decide what is happening and what will happen later in major plotlines: earthquake, rivalry between guilds, change in rulership etc. but also smaller plots with more mundane themes (a priest starting a major campaign trying to convert more people).

For each session I then loosely prepare a few encounters for my group, this may be something like:

- The old warrior of the group runs into an old friend in a tavern, but is also watched by old rivals that later that night try to mug him when going home from the tavern (perhaps together with the old friend - opening up for adventures regarding what the old friend is doing now).
- A person in the group with a misplaced sense of ownership, gets a more interesting catch than simple silver coins - perhaps an ornate necklace or gold-inscribed book. The pc can then either try to find a reliable fence for the item (which can in itself create a lot of interesting play) or try to find out what the item is. The item itself can lead to an adventure.

etc.

These smaller encounters can, depending on the player's reactions, end up creating whole new adventures. Though mostly, these happenings act as a back-drop to filtering in hint about the major plot hooks (when trying to fence the necklace, the player discovers the rivalry between two formerly-close guilds, or a schism in the thieves guild).
Throw in some winged situations when players trade, or try to meet old contacts or just hang around doing what their character do - and you can have a memorable and lively session running.

I especially like to build these kind of campaigns, as they end up creating an atmosphere around the city, so it feels right. The players learn the names of streets, adresses and people, and they get contacts and a feel of what each quarter or district is about. Often they start feeling home and secure in the city, and will want to purchase property and build a home and a life there.

- Dan

 

[Redcrow]

When I prepare to run a campaign I always ask my players for a short-term and long-term motivation/goal for their characters. That helps me adapt whatever I have planned to better fit the individual characters and gives them a reason to want to do things.

When I plan individual scenes/scenarios, I keep a copy of each players character sheet handy so that I can try to work in the use of various skills or abilities to give each character equal time in the spotlight. I also consider how various skills or abilities might be used to 'break' a scene.

I always try to keep in mind the answer to two important questions when planning a scene. What happens if the character(s) succeed? What happens if the character(s) fail? While I typically let the dice fall where they may, sometimes a failed dice roll can actually be a success but with an unforeseen complication or setback.

 

[Mixster]

I usually decide on one of two ways depending on the setting. If I'm going to homebrew, I usually create the NPCs I want, then think of what world these types of guys would exists.

This may seem like a backwards way of doing it. But I sort of like this, as it gives me a nice framework to work from, and not just create a world of marvelous geography that seems terribly empty.
This also creates realistic NPCs that seem motivated by what they want to do, and instead of creating villains, I like it when the PCs actually decide that the character I would like to be the villain, is actually a decently thinking guy (well cutting down the forest might be a good idea if you have to defend against a billion orcs and you need lumber, but not if you are an elf), I also like it the other way around, when the players suddenly dislike the rash Witch hunter.
This does create the problem that I'll have to change the plot from session to session. But you can trust your PCs to screw over anything you planned anyway, unless you railroad recklessly.

If it is a fixed setting. I usually read as much as I can about the setting, and decide on a few ways I would like to put in scenarios and adventure seeds from around there. This gives me a good idea of locations I want to use, and from there I'd think what NPCs are interested in those areas and plots, then I attempt to tie a few NPCs to all of the adventure seeds. For example:

I start by choosing that I want a story about a young girl who disappears, and the PCs have to find her. I also want a thrilling hunt for a necromancer. I want a dungeon with loads of traps as well. And then I want that wine tasting competition as well. Well, what if the following happens:
One night as the players are invited to a wine tasting competition by a friendly nobleman that houses them, the daughter of the nobleman disappears, the girl has fallen in love with a charming necromancer, who took her with him and use his raised dead to cover their retreat, as he sees the PCs (who think he kidnapped the girl) follow him, he decides to go through a dungeon he knows of, because he knows of a way through. And thus I've gotten a short story, where I can write in more to tie it in with the overall plot (perhaps the girl is a fiancée of someone else, perhaps the nobleman is someone they've known for a long time, perhaps the necromancer has troubled them, or worked with them, before).

This system creates stories mindbogglingly fast, but at first glance the NPCs might seem a bit shallow. You'd need to flesh them out deeper to make sure they seem human, but that is mainly about making their motivations realistic.

---
But when I homebrew, as I do the most, I just keep in mind that the world is there for the story, and the players, not the other way around. And I'd change it on a whim, if I think there is fun to get from it.

 

[Jujitsudave]

In what may be even a greater moral dilemna, suppose the party actually tracks the two of them down and finds the necromancer is not necessarily a bad guy, but genuinely feels for the girl pleads with the group to let them be.

 

[Mixster]

In what may be even a greater moral dilemna, suppose the party actually tracks the two of them down and finds the necromancer is not necessarily a bad guy, but genuinely feels for the girl pleads with the group to let them be.

Exactly (that was my initial idea).

But there are loads of options, perhaps the girl is the bad guy, who blackmailed the necromancer to follow her through the dungeon in a wicked attempt to escape her abusive father, who had promised her to the duke of Blah Blah who she deemed too old for her.
Or, the necromancer has found through his studies that she is in fact a vampire, and he is trying to get her out of the city to a site where he can kill her instead of having her wreck havoc on the city, or so does he say.

The story can go on from here. Now the NPCs just need to be fleshed out, and you can always have them return if you want to.
An obvious choice, is if you go with the they feel for eachother, and the PCs either force the girl back to her parents, or kill either of them, the other one will come back to annoy the PCs. If they decide to let them go, her parents might become enemies of the PCs.

All in all this can create a larger plot.