Adventure Writing Tips (Part 2)
- Thread starter ArcaneSpringboard
- Start date
The Shaman
First Post
My adventure writing tip? Don't write adventures.
This is one of the reasons I'll never make it as a blogger.
Just out of curiosity, what happens if the adventurers don't bite in Acts 4 or 5? What if they ignore the ambushed caravan, or don't pursue the False Goal?
This is one of the reasons I'll never make it as a blogger.
Just out of curiosity, what happens if the adventurers don't bite in Acts 4 or 5? What if they ignore the ambushed caravan, or don't pursue the False Goal?
Doug McCrae
Legend
Do you think the nine act structure is beneficial for a rpg, or could one just take the key elements - major setback, big reveal, dramatic conclusion, denouement - and discard the rest?
My own games could probably benefit from more big reveals. Like the drow being Behind It All in G3. I didn't have a denouement for my last campaign, I just ended it after the final battle against Evil, which was probably a mistake.
My own games could probably benefit from more big reveals. Like the drow being Behind It All in G3. I didn't have a denouement for my last campaign, I just ended it after the final battle against Evil, which was probably a mistake.
KidSnide
Adventurer
Then you run a different adventure.
If you want to run "reveal" based adventures, you need to either (1) get an out-of-game agreement with your PCs to follow a particular adventure or (2) seed your world with a number of reveals and emphasize the mystery/reveal your players choose to pursue. If you're using a path (2) approach, you'll also want to be prepared for the possibility that your PCs pick from a number of possible "true objectives".
Movies obviously aren't RPGs. In particular, most RPG campaigns last a lot longer than a movie. So, while it is useful to learn something about narrative structure from movies, GMs have different sets of constraints. That sort of strict structure may be a useful guideline if you're writing a 4-hour convention game, but it's only going to be so useful for a weekly campaign.
But the broad idea - seed your campaign word with situations that "aren't what they seem" in which the big secret is most likely revealed under dangerous circumstances - well, that looks like good advice to me...
-KS
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ArcaneSpringboard
First Post
Like most things, you can take what you like and get rid of the rest. My interest was piqued in the format due to the fact that 95% of financially successful films use the 2-goal format.
Thanks for sharing.
I am not entirely convinced I want to see a whole bunch of adventures written with a twist/changing goals. Frankly, I think that works fine in a movie, but would feel kind of annoying in an adventure.
Often the "twist" happens organically... people just change their mind about what they want to do:
Part 1: Lets get into this dungeon and get as much loot as possible
Twist: Lets get the hell out of here while most of us are still alive.
The "twist" did work great in the Sinister Secret of Saltmarsh though.
I am not entirely convinced I want to see a whole bunch of adventures written with a twist/changing goals. Frankly, I think that works fine in a movie, but would feel kind of annoying in an adventure.
Often the "twist" happens organically... people just change their mind about what they want to do:
Part 1: Lets get into this dungeon and get as much loot as possible
Twist: Lets get the hell out of here while most of us are still alive.
The "twist" did work great in the Sinister Secret of Saltmarsh though.
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The Shaman
First Post
This is why I place my emphasis on making an interesting world filled with complex people, and let the consequences of the players' in-character decisions move the game forward, rather than trying to create a plot or an adventure.
That bears repeating.
Roleplaying games offer something distinct from literature and cinema, in my opinion, and to keep trying to shoehorn one into the other is to miss out on what makes roleplaying games great.
I'm good with that, but that's not at all how it was presented.
