I like to think about my NPCs' motivations and goals. Concretely. I find that they'll pursue things and make changes in pursuit of those goals and then those changes provide the groundwork for adventures.
When the PCs come around and try to disrupt those goals, or help achieve those goals, or whatever, we have the seeds of adventure. And unless the NPCs are utterly destroyed, they continue their pursuit of their goals.
I also like to consider philosophical conflicts on broad themes. Like order vs chaos or civilization vs nature or good vs evil and like that. And I think about how these formless conflicts between concepts manifest themselves concretely in my game world. So the events of my game world often become allegorical examples of the larger themes.
So in that sense, yeah, these adventures tend to reveal more about the world and it's workings as you go. However, I only end up writing about 1 adventure at a time (covering 6 sessions of play). The idea is that I'll accomplish 3 major plot points illustrative of my theme in sessions 1, 4, & 6. And then explore minor plot issues, character, & world development in sessions 2, 3, & 5. Sometimes session one bleeds into session 2 and session 4 bleeds into session 5. But I always reserve 3 for non-major-plot stuff.
Seems like some convoluted nonsense, right? But here's what I get out of it:
STRUCTURE restraining myself to this format forces my writing to have focus and builds-in pacing. It necessarily excludes excesses by mandating when major developments must occur. And 99% of the time this works out great.
PACING concluding my adventure in 6 sessions forces me to consider how I write the beginning and middle, and also the possibilities for the End. I don't know what the end will be, but I know what it Might be or might Likely be. But as we play through sessions, the End becomes clearer and clearer. So the adventure unfolds correctly in intensity when I know the end is coming and what I must do to achieve the conclusion.
NARRATIVE FLOW. Because I have a beginning, middle, and end, and because I've placed them, there's a dramatic arc in my adventures that corresponds to storytelling we're all familiar and comfortable with. I get my high and low points.
CONCLUSIVITY. I get endings. Things get resolved. They change. And from that change, I can now move to what happens next in my thematic conflict or display the ramifications of those changes. Keeps my world dynamic instead of having one long endless adventure where nothing really appears to change at all. The End of the Last Adventure informs the Beginning of the Next one.
All of these things are artificial. I've forced them by adhering to this writing discipline. But they Feel natural and familiar, so it works for me.
-Brad
