D&D 5E Advice in Adventure Writing

[Art the DM]

This thread is where I will make multiple posts asking my target demographic for the campaign I'm writing, specifically DMs, some advice. I want to fine-tune the campaign to be as efficient and easy to run as possible. I will eventually be either self-publishing it for sale on Amazon and the like or posting it for sale on DMs Guild.

My first question is about narrative. When running a published adventure, do you generally read the narrative boxes or just adlib your own based on the descriptions given? Which do you prefer?

 

[RangerWickett]

In the adventures I've published, I hate boxed text. Just paint an evocative scene for the GM, and trust him or her to describe it in a way the players will groove to.

 

[Lanefan]

Boxed text is very useful for newer DMs and I highly recommend including it.

HOWEVER! Be careful with it!

Far too many adventure modules have boxed text that annoyingly contains one or more of the following errors:

- it describes more than the characters could reasonably see from the entry with a normal light source
- it assumes entry from a particular direction, even though other options exist
- it overemphasizes the "important stuff" and thus does too much to solve the mystery. An example: the significant item the PCs are here to find is in a drawer in a desk; the boxed description for the room will give tons of detail about the desk but little to no detail about the table, the wardrobe, the bookshelves or the laboratory equipment. The level of detail should be about the same (relatively minimal) for each feature of an area; and if the PCs/players want more detail they can search for it.
- it doesn't agree with the module's map (e.g. map shows room is 30x30', text says it's 40x30')
- it goes on too long

Lanefan

 

[Nevvur]

I like boxed text when done well. [MENTION=29398]Lanefan[/MENTION] does a good job of summing up the things that can go wrong, though I have mixed feelings on the "important stuff" blurb. Some players really need to be smacked upside the head to register a clue.

That said, I haven't run an official module or AP since season 3 of adventurer's league. Since that time, I have pulled parts from official publications for use in homebrew campaigns and included boxed text in them, though this requires additional preparation. The most complex example of this was Castle Ravenloft, which hosted many NPCs that either did not exist or were not appropriate for the story.

A side note, the number of important NPCs and their interconnectedness with each other and the adventure zone may be a point of interest you'll want to explore for future threads. Personally, I find having many NPCs an enormous burden. Previewing OotA, the opening scene factored heavily into my decision to stop DMing AL.

Anyway, the reason I like boxed text is that I feel I have a good recital voice, while my regular speech when improvising is just average. The entire table becomes still when I slip into my narrator tone; it almost feels like a cheat code for capturing their attention.

 

[dropbear8mybaby]

Given what I'm seeing in Xanathar's, I'm going to say that it's more than likely going to be used as a guide for building, at the very least, Adventurer's League modules. So if you haven't picked that up yet, I'd recommend it.

 

[Xaelvaen]

I'm a bit of a dork in this regard. I read them aloud myself when I'm alone, throwing my deep dark DM voice (should the tone allow), and check it for representation. Sometimes I find the need to rewrite them because they do get very long-winded as [MENTION=29398]Lanefan[/MENTION] indicated. All of my players (and myself) have a difficult time with auditory learning, so I do have to often rework the text a bit. I also use a blank one Note page (or similar other digital format) and quickly draw rough sketches if it is a description of something unique or difficult to describe in three dimensions.

The ones I appreciate the most, are the ones that just set the tone and mood for an area - talking about the dark corridors that seem to engulf the light and the like.

 

[aco175]

I include them and like to use them. DMs can always skim through them and ad-lib as normal depending on how they play. If one of your goals is to sell it later, I would include them to reach as wide an audience.

 

[robus]

This thread is where I will make multiple posts asking my target demographic for the campaign I'm writing, specifically DMs, some advice. I want to fine-tune the campaign to be as efficient and easy to run as possible. I will eventually be either self-publishing it for sale on Amazon and the like or posting it for sale on DMs Guild.

My first question is about narrative. When running a published adventure, do you generally read the narrative boxes or just adlib your own based on the descriptions given? Which do you prefer?

Before going much further you should definitely peruse this excellent thread which addresses most of the questions you might have about writing adventures.

 

[Art the DM]

Thank you everyone, expecially [MENTION=29398]Lanefan[/MENTION], for the informative replies. I have begun trimming my boxed text down a bit and leaving most of the narration up to the GM.

My next question involves travel. For encounter tables during travel between cities across a region, what does everyone prefer? Generalized encounter tables with information on how to scale encounters based on player level, or specific travel sections in the chapter accompanying the city?

Allow me to elaborate, for the first two chapters my adventure is quite linear, taking the characters on a predetermined path until they reach a large capitol city in chapter three. From this point on, where they go is entirely up to them. They are presented with three major destinations to choose from to continue along the main questline, with smaller towns along the way. Two of the three destinations require travel through the same area before changing direction. This area can be covered in one of three ways, either with a generalized encounter table, its own chapter, or at the beginning of each destination's respective chapter. Thoughts?

 

[Quickleaf]

This thread is where I will make multiple posts asking my target demographic for the campaign I'm writing, specifically DMs, some advice. I want to fine-tune the campaign to be as efficient and easy to run as possible. I will eventually be either self-publishing it for sale on Amazon and the like or posting it for sale on DMs Guild.

My first question is about narrative. When running a published adventure, do you generally read the narrative boxes or just adlib your own based on the descriptions given? Which do you prefer?

I'll direct you to an older thread where this was discussed extensively (and informally polled): http://www.enworld.org/forum/showth...hed-adventure-Adventure-design-best-practices