D&D 5E Advice in Adventure Writing

[Charlaquin]

I hate boxed text. I’d much prefer a bulleted list of important details to mention and leave the specifics up to the DM. However, Lora of DMs do like boxed text. If you include both, that would probably satisfy the largest number of DMs.

 

[Lanefan]

My next question involves travel. For encounter tables during travel between cities across a region, what does everyone prefer? Generalized encounter tables with information on how to scale encounters based on player level, or specific travel sections in the chapter accompanying the city?

Allow me to elaborate, for the first two chapters my adventure is quite linear, taking the characters on a predetermined path

Danger, Will Robinson!

If the adventure is supposed to be linear but there's travel (and thus choices) involved make good and sure you include all kinds of notes for the DM covering the inevitable 'what-ifs' for when - not if - the characters don't follow the path. Because it's ironclad guaranteed that some groups will stray, or come up with a way of bypassing or shortcutting the travel.

Designing a linear adventure that doesn't end up as a railroad is extremely delicate work.

until they reach a large capitol city in chapter three. From this point on, where they go is entirely up to them. They are presented with three major destinations to choose from to continue along the main questline, with smaller towns along the way. Two of the three destinations require travel through the same area before changing direction. This area can be covered in one of three ways, either with a generalized encounter table, its own chapter, or at the beginning of each destination's respective chapter. Thoughts?

I'd make "travel" its own chapter between the city chapter and the destination chapters. The travel chapter includes your maps and write-ups for the lands they're going through on any of these journeys, the random encounter tables (if any), the set-piece encounters the party are in theory going to meet, and again a bunch of what-if answers for the DM should any of these travels and-or areas be somehow bypassed, short-cutted, or avoided entirely.

My recommendation is to if at all possible not put any encounters in the 'travel' parts that are essential in order to complete the adventure, 'cause sure as dammit if you put an essential encounter out there that's the one they'll find a way to avoid or bypass.

For example: if the adventure expects them to travel from city A to city B along a rather obvious main road and has an essential encounter placed along said road you can bet there's going to be parties who will find a way to do one or more of the following, depending on their level and-or reasonably available resources:
- stick to back roads and-or go cross-country, to avoid being seen by the locals and-or to specifically avoid encounters on the main road
- go to the coast to city C, take a boat to city D, then walk inland from there to city A
- fly
- teleport
and the DM should expect the module to provide answers to these things.

Lanefan

 

[aco175]

You can have wandering encounters, or planned wandering encounters already made if they hit them. One thing of note is that if there is only one encounter during the day, the party can use all their resources and it makes the encounter rather easy. I tend to have a couple encounters planned depending on where the PCs go, but only use them if needed.

What I would do is place a set of encounters in a location to challenge the party. If they take the left road there is a tower taken over by goblins with 3-4 encounters, maybe even a night of playing. There can be a tie-in to the main module with some information or equipment that will make something easier later, like a potion of invisibility or protection from fire. This depends on your time or pace. I have also skipped travel and jumped back to the next chapter of play.

Another thing I have done is to have a few paths the PCs can take, but have one set of encounters they run into no mater which path they take. I may only have time to plan one maybe used location, or want them to have a specific piece of information and let them think they have choices, but basically railroad them.