Who Actually Has Time for Bloated Adventures?

[CleverNickName]

It's a weird question. If I have time for the adventure, it's probably not very "bloated" to begin with.

 

[Jd Smith1]

I was not looking to add fluff, but evocative art and DM guidance (summarize the chapter, the main goals / decisions / branching points, and things to look out for / keep in mind, etc.), instead of having room description after room description from start to finish

Sure, having to find the key info in 30 unstructured pages is easier than in 100, but my point is they should be better structured in the first place

I don't need art, evocative or otherwise (and rarely in 43+ year have I found evocative art); I want concise data. I'll add what descriptions such as suit my campaign.

 

[Hex08]

You seem to be talking about adventure paths here, rather than single stand-alone adventures.

I also prefer that campaigns have side quests etc.; but a campaign is (or should be) bigger than any one adventure anyway.

I am mostly referring to adventure paths and similar campaigns (things like Night Below, which predate adventure paths) since that seemed to be the point of Retreater's original post. Shorter, standalone adventures shouldn't be stuffed with too much bloat but even then I can't say I would be opposed to a little depending on the adventure.

 

[Hex08]

Honestly, I could get by with a lot less detail and fewer encounters. I would rather have a handful of great, memorable encounters than a bunch of middling ones.

Without the middling ones to compare against would the great, memorable encounters still be great and memorable?

 

[FitzTheRuke]

Here's an idea: I understand why in the current world, it is far more profitable to make larger adventures than it is to make those old 32-pg pamphlets. So, aside from anthologies, how do you make an adventure that is "worth" a big book, but doesn't take two years to run?

My approach would be to keep the adventure shorter (like, say, 5 levels of play), but fill the book with far more information on the surroundings: Alternative paths to get to adventure sites; more on towns & NPCs; more unique monsters; more gazetteers.

In other words, make them more useful sourcebooks for DMs who want to steal for their homebrew; more useful for DMs who have players who go "off-track"; more useful for replayability (in that you could do the same adventure in a different way a second time, say a few years later, and have a different experience).

Fill the book with detail, not grind.

What do you think?

 

[Retreater]

Here's an idea: I understand why in the current world, it is far more profitable to make larger adventures than it is to make those old 32-pg pamphlets. So, aside from anthologies, how do you make an adventure that is "worth" a big book, but doesn't take two years to run?

My approach would be to keep the adventure shorter (like, say, 5 levels of play), but fill the book with far more information on the surroundings: Alternative paths to get to adventure sites; more on towns & NPCs; more unique monsters; more gazetteers.

That's basically what Cubicle 7 did with their latest re-release of The Enemy Within campaign. Five core books, with 5 books of expanded content. Each of the 5 main adventure books is like 2 chapters of a WotC "mega campaign."
That's a great campaign - even if I don't love the system.

 

[ART!]

I don't need art, evocative or otherwise (and rarely in 43+ year have I found evocative art);

Oooo, I absolutely need art! I'm kind of all about the art, but I'm an artist married to an artist, so I definitely have a predilection. Visuals are really important for my brain.

That said, I don't necessarily need any art printed in the adventure (or sourcebook, or whatever). I will hunt down the images I need to get in the headspace I want to be in for my interpretation of the adventure.

I want concise data. I'll add what descriptions such as suit my campaign.

One thousand million percent!

The last thing I want to do - especially while running a game - is look for some important bit of information that turns out to be buried halfway through the fifth paragraph on page 52. I mean, what is even the point of that?

Here's an idea: I understand why in the current world, it is far more profitable to make larger adventures than it is to make those old 32-pg pamphlets. So, aside from anthologies, how do you make an adventure that is "worth" a big book, but doesn't take two years to run?

My approach would be to keep the adventure shorter (like, say, 5 levels of play), but fill the book with far more information on the surroundings: Alternative paths to get to adventure sites; more on towns & NPCs; more unique monsters; more gazetteers.

In other words, make them more useful sourcebooks for DMs who want to steal for their homebrew; more useful for DMs who have players who go "off-track"; more useful for replayability (in that you could do the same adventure in a different way a second time, say a few years later, and have a different experience).

Fill the book with detail, not grind.

What do you think?

I like this idea a lot! Give me the bullet points laid out clearly and consistently, and then a bunch of support.

 

[FitzTheRuke]

Oooo, I absolutely need art!

Your name is ART! I'd be pretty surprised if you didn't like art.

I like this idea a lot! Give me the bullet points laid out clearly and consistently, and then a bunch of support.

Yes, there would need to be sidebars and flowcharts, I would think.

Personally, I don't think that those things would make an adventure a worse "read" for those who like to pretend that they're novels, but then, I don't use adventures that way, so what do I know?

 

[Lanefan]

Here's an idea: I understand why in the current world, it is far more profitable to make larger adventures than it is to make those old 32-pg pamphlets. So, aside from anthologies, how do you make an adventure that is "worth" a big book, but doesn't take two years to run?

My approach would be to keep the adventure shorter (like, say, 5 levels of play), but fill the book with far more information on the surroundings: Alternative paths to get to adventure sites; more on towns & NPCs; more unique monsters; more gazetteers.

In other words, make them more useful sourcebooks for DMs who want to steal for their homebrew; more useful for DMs who have players who go "off-track"; more useful for replayability (in that you could do the same adventure in a different way a second time, say a few years later, and have a different experience).

Fill the book with detail, not grind.

What do you think?

So, kind of like what TSR did with B-10 Night's Dark Terror.

 

[aramis erak]

My approach would be to keep the adventure shorter (like, say, 5 levels of play), but fill the book with far more information on the surroundings: Alternative paths to get to adventure sites; more on towns & NPCs; more unique monsters; more gazetteers.

In other words, make them more useful sourcebooks for DMs who want to steal for their homebrew; more useful for DMs who have players who go "off-track"; more useful for replayability (in that you could do the same adventure in a different way a second time, say a few years later, and have a different experience).

Fill the book with detail, not grind.

What do you think?

Some of my favorites shipped in that mode... WFRP 1E TEW, all the adventures for Justifiers, certain Traveller adventures (TTA, Knightfall, The Flaming Eye)

That's basically what Cubicle 7 did with their latest re-release of The Enemy Within campaign. Five core books, with 5 books of expanded content. Each of the 5 main adventure books is like 2 chapters of a WotC "mega campaign."
That's a great campaign - even if I don't love the system.

which is precisely what GW/Flame did with the originals; C7was being true to the original versions, not being innovative.