The necessity of an introductory adventure with a new RPG

[Hand of Evil]

Depends -

• Does a ruleset need to be taught? Intro adventures help the GM and Players learn about rules and characters.
• Does it promote the setting or a campaign?

 

[Hard8Staff]

We included three in the free PDF of HackMaster we released today*. The logic was that people need to be able to break it open and play with as little effort as possible. Also, everyone likes free stuff, so including an adventure is nice.

*Kenzer & Company

 

[Jupp]

In reply to Hand of Evil:

I think every new edition should have a dedicated "starter" adventure to teach and show the rules for those migrating from former editions but also for those that are totally new to D&D. Basically the starter adventure should be part* of the PHB. And it should not be a tragedy like that module about Tragidor.

Whether it should promote the setting or not is a matter of taste. Part of me feels like the first starter adventure should be setting-agnostic; the other part wouldn't mind some basic information about the setting just so the players know their immediate surrounding and the basic feel of the world.

* Edit: Part of the package, not an integrated part of the book

 

[Lokiare]

I've begun work on a new table top role playing game. I'm wondering if it is a good idea to include an adventure with the core rules. I'm thinking it wouldn't hurt from the gist of this thread.

What kind of adventure should I include? Should it be a fully rounded adventure with plenty of exploration, interaction and combat? Or should I just highlight certain areas?

What I was thinking was including the adventure as well as a kind of play through where Players and Game Referees can read what other players did during each part of the adventure...

 

[gamerprinter]

I would say it tends to be necessary.

Consider that right now, I'm running a Kickstarter to publish my setting handbooks for Kaidan, my Japanese horror setting for Pathfinder. And that is a year since the release of my introductory mini-campaign arc, The Curse of the Golden Spear trilogy for Kaidan.

Had I a big budget to start with, I would have probably created the setting handbooks first, with an adventure second. Not only didn't I have a large budget, but I was also an 'unknown quantity'. Setting handbooks are expensive to produce, so an unknown trying to publish something like that has the odds against you.

So instead, I came up with a trilogy of adventure modules that contained the most important, unique aspects of the setting as it applies to the modules. Releasing this and selling it helped create the market, that I apply to now, trying to publish my setting guide books.

For the very small publisher/content creator such as myself, had I not created a set of intro adventures, I might not ever be able to publish the actual setting. In my case, I had to create intro adventures first... (that's how important intro adventures are.)

 

[Lokiare]

Hmmm....

Very interesting. Because I'm an 'unknown' I'm going to release the core rules of the game for free and then sell adventures and settings and splat books for a small fee through drivethrurpg.com.

I'm thinking this would be the best way market my ttrpg...

 

[gamerprinter]

Hmmm....

Very interesting. Because I'm an 'unknown' I'm going to release the core rules of the game for free and then sell adventures and settings and splat books for a small fee through drivethrurpg.com.

I'm thinking this would be the best way market my ttrpg...

Again, I thought so too, but now I have many experienced RPG industry people who work closely with me, and it was their emphatic suggestion that I release my products as described in my post.

Of course, I guess it depends upon your setting, (and mine isn't a free setting).

Mine, being Japanese horror, a genre not really in existence in the tabletop industry - being a new thing, I had to prove there was actually a market. While publishing a set of adventures isn't cheap either, for 3 modules and cover art, interior art, maps, writing, editing, page layout (96,000 words), cost less than 1/3 the cost of producing a Gamemaster's Handbook, and my intentions are to create that, a Player's Guide and a Bestiary.

Also since the module trilogy release, I have also released 7 other supplemental products for the setting between that first set of adventures, and my current Kickstarter to create the setting guide books.

Setting books cost more and without a defined ready market interested in my product, the likelihood of success was small. Adventure modules, also a sought after product, costs less to create, so by successfully selling those, I created a market with it. (Also note my setting books are intended to be printed books with accompanying PDFs - so my setting has a much greater expense.)

Consider that there are other Kickstarters out there being created by equally unknown quantities, who haven't pre-built their market, such as I have and those Kickstarters (no matter how great the product really is) tends not to make funding. While mine reached funding in about 2 weeks, with many to go until completion of the funding portion of the project.

I'm not saying that you creating your setting first won't succeed, it's just harder to succeed (financially) doing it that way.

On the other hand, last Halloween, I released a free one-shot adventure, Frozen Wind - since then, I'd say lots of my current customers and Kickstarter supporters first began looking at Kaidan, only once the free adventure was available. Free stuff does help sell your products.

 

[Lokiare]

Again, I thought so too, but now I have many experienced RPG industry people who work closely with me, and it was their emphatic suggestion that I release my products as described in my post.

Of course, I guess it depends upon your setting, (and mine isn't a free setting).

Mine, being Japanese horror, a genre not really in existence in the tabletop industry - being a new thing, I had to prove there was actually a market. While publishing a set of adventures isn't cheap either, for 3 modules and cover art, interior art, maps, writing, editing, page layout (96,000 words), cost less than 1/3 the cost of producing a Gamemaster's Handbook, and my intentions are to create that, a Player's Guide and a Bestiary.

Also since the module trilogy release, I have also released 7 other supplemental products for the setting between that first set of adventures, and my current Kickstarter to create the setting guide books.

Setting books cost more and without a defined ready market interested in my product, the likelihood of success was small. Adventure modules, also a sought after product, costs less to create, so by successfully selling those, I created a market with it. (Also note my setting books are intended to be printed books with accompanying PDFs - so my setting has a much greater expense.)

Consider that there are other Kickstarters out there being created by equally unknown quantities, who haven't pre-built their market, such as I have and those Kickstarters (no matter how great the product really is) tends not to make funding. While mine reached funding in about 2 weeks, with many to go until completion of the funding portion of the project.

I'm not saying that you creating your setting first won't succeed, it's just harder to succeed (financially) doing it that way.

That sounds good. The only real difference is I'm creating a whole new game system. Its not based on D20 or anything like that. I started a kick starter but due to problems with banks and CVV numbers it hasn't gone live. I have produced a few adventure modules on drivethrurpg.com.

So my problem is a little different than yours.

I think that the core rules for free then release Splat books and adventures and settings for a small fee might be workable. Of course a fully funded kickstarter project would be my dream, but not going to happen right out of the gate. Maybe at a later time...

 

[Desdichado]

I think it's also important that any introductory adventures be good adventures, because a bad first experience with the game more or less guarantees that there won't be a second experience. These mini-adventures that many games have in their Core Rulebook are okay, but only from a strict "showcase the system" point of view. Viewed as adventures, they tend to be very poor - too short to be anything other than extremely linear, very limited, and generally not too good. They're better than nothing... but only just.

In addition, most of those introductory adventures I've seen tend to do a poor job of actually... y'know, showcasing the game. There's nothing about them that speaks to how the game is different from any other RPG. I think including one is a good idea still, and kind of traditional, but I hardly have high expectations for them anymore. There are very few that I've actually enjoyed. And games that come with several? Usually a bad idea. It really starts to feel like wasted space.

An introductory adventure should really highlight what makes this game unique, focus on kick-starting a potential campaign, (i.e., feel like a starting point, but leave the conclusion somewhat open-ended) and avoid the cliches as much as possible. If it's just going to be cliched, well heck, I don't need pagecount devoted to that. I can do that on my own.

My favorite ones tend to be from modern horror themed games. "Exit 23" that came with the original Dark•Matter setting for Alternity is a great one that I've adapted and run several times. I also think "Jenkin Lives!", the d20 Call of Cthulhu web enhancement adventure was quite intriguing.

Again; they manage to take the unitiated character types and show off the main draws of the game that they're playing, by contrasting it in many ways with the kinds of adventures that you might be running if it were D&D, or something. They're also quite moody and well done, IMO. Great, great little adventures. I especially like modifying "Exit 23" to be a con-game.

 

[Lord Pendragon]

Assuming we're talking about a game system entirely unfamiliar to both the GM and the players, I'd definitely say an intro adventure is necessary. Even if the GM doesn't run it, he can read through it and develop some familiarity for how the new rules work.

Part of this can be accomplished in the core rulebook itself ("Lydia then moves diagonally 5' to flank, as she is now opposite yadda yadda...") but an intro adventure, start to finish, can be a real aid to the GM looking to be competent enough to make table rulings during the first session.

I've found that players mostly need an intro combat and are good to go.