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Act structure in adventure design
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<blockquote data-quote="Alaxk Knight of Galt" data-source="post: 4714646" data-attributes="member: 4129"><p>7th Sea encouraged you to stage your adventures like plays</p><p></p><p>Act I Scene 1</p><p>Act II Scene 3 </p><p></p><p>I wrote all of my 7th Sea adventures in this style and it encourages a very cinematic style of game. Each Scene had some purpose, a clear starting point, and a clear ending point. You have to be careful with a narrative like this as you run the danger of railroading. If the Heroes go "off-script," you've got to be flexible enough in your plotting to give the heroes all the rope they want. </p><p></p><p>Beyond that, each act had a clear purpose that all of the scenes built upon. In building the adventures, I'd come up with the purpose of the Act first, figured out what I wanted the climax to be, then worked backwards fleshing out the scenes.</p><p></p><p>This type of game is not a sandbox (in the least). I would encourage players to keep the same characters throughout the game and have character death be for plot reasons only. If they are defeated, I'd find other ways then death to punish them.</p><p></p><p>Finally, apply Chekov's Gun to things. Show the party the villains, the objects, or the places they will need to go early in the Act. Most people are savvy to this rule (even if they don't know the formal name of it) and you can use it to create great drama in the game.</p></blockquote><p></p>
[QUOTE="Alaxk Knight of Galt, post: 4714646, member: 4129"] 7th Sea encouraged you to stage your adventures like plays Act I Scene 1 Act II Scene 3 I wrote all of my 7th Sea adventures in this style and it encourages a very cinematic style of game. Each Scene had some purpose, a clear starting point, and a clear ending point. You have to be careful with a narrative like this as you run the danger of railroading. If the Heroes go "off-script," you've got to be flexible enough in your plotting to give the heroes all the rope they want. Beyond that, each act had a clear purpose that all of the scenes built upon. In building the adventures, I'd come up with the purpose of the Act first, figured out what I wanted the climax to be, then worked backwards fleshing out the scenes. This type of game is not a sandbox (in the least). I would encourage players to keep the same characters throughout the game and have character death be for plot reasons only. If they are defeated, I'd find other ways then death to punish them. Finally, apply Chekov's Gun to things. Show the party the villains, the objects, or the places they will need to go early in the Act. Most people are savvy to this rule (even if they don't know the formal name of it) and you can use it to create great drama in the game. [/QUOTE]
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