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General Tabletop Discussion
*Dungeons & Dragons
Adventure hype and meeting expectations
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<blockquote data-quote="Quickleaf" data-source="post: 9219860" data-attributes="member: 20323"><p>I found that quote - it's a helpful framework to analyze usability: <a href="https://www.sageadvice.eu/one-key-method-to-increase-the-usability-of-your-dd-adventure-is-to-strip-out-anything-that-doesnt-help-the-dm-at-the-table/amp/" target="_blank">https://www.sageadvice.eu/one-key-method-to-increase-the-usability-of-your-dd-adventure-is-to-strip-out-anything-that-doesnt-help-the-dm-at-the-table/amp/</a></p><p></p><p>From M.T. Black: <span style="color: rgb(251, 160, 38)">One key method to increase the usability of your D&D adventure is to strip out anything that doesn't help the DM at the table. Consider the following room description from an old Dungeon magazine adventure (apologies for image quality)</span></p><p><span style="color: rgb(251, 160, 38)"></span></p><p><span style="color: rgb(251, 160, 38)">What's worse is that the author, in telling us interesting things about the past, doesn't tell us anything interesting about the current state. What sort of refuse? What sort of rusty equipment?</span></p><p><span style="color: rgb(251, 160, 38)"></span></p><p><span style="color: rgb(251, 160, 38)">Massively long backstories at the start of an adventure are another culprit here. Please - just tell me enough backstory to make the adventure coherent. If you have heaps of additional flavor info about the history of the empire or whatever, perhaps put it in an appendix</span></p><p></p><p>Shawn Merwin: <span style="color: rgb(251, 160, 38)">This is why designers need several drafts of a project. The first draft gets down ideas. Then write a draft where you're thinking like the DMs running it. Then write a draft thinking like the players playing it. Each iteration adds needed content and eliminates the dross.</span></p></blockquote><p></p>
[QUOTE="Quickleaf, post: 9219860, member: 20323"] I found that quote - it's a helpful framework to analyze usability: [URL]https://www.sageadvice.eu/one-key-method-to-increase-the-usability-of-your-dd-adventure-is-to-strip-out-anything-that-doesnt-help-the-dm-at-the-table/amp/[/URL] From M.T. Black: [COLOR=rgb(251, 160, 38)]One key method to increase the usability of your D&D adventure is to strip out anything that doesn't help the DM at the table. Consider the following room description from an old Dungeon magazine adventure (apologies for image quality) What's worse is that the author, in telling us interesting things about the past, doesn't tell us anything interesting about the current state. What sort of refuse? What sort of rusty equipment? Massively long backstories at the start of an adventure are another culprit here. Please - just tell me enough backstory to make the adventure coherent. If you have heaps of additional flavor info about the history of the empire or whatever, perhaps put it in an appendix[/COLOR] Shawn Merwin: [COLOR=rgb(251, 160, 38)]This is why designers need several drafts of a project. The first draft gets down ideas. Then write a draft where you're thinking like the DMs running it. Then write a draft thinking like the players playing it. Each iteration adds needed content and eliminates the dross.[/COLOR] [/QUOTE]
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