Approaching writing adventures for home games?

[TheSword]

I follow the 'return of the lazy dungeon master' approach by @SlyFlourish .

I found this link On Writing Adventures

Very useful advice. With a really nice summary from @SlyFlourish

 

[TheSword]

I've created an adventure in a forest that was essentially a dungeon with permeable walls. I had clearings that were linked by paths but nothing stopped players going off the beaten track. For each clearing I had different encounters, some of them knew about other clearings (as in what was in them), some of them wanted specific things done which provided rewards that allowed easier progression towards their final destination.

So I guess I had:
1. A map
2. An overarching questline
3. Encounters/people with knowledge and minor quests.

Those three things combined into an adventure.

It’s clear that writing Dungeons dominate the advice. Both in the thread and in the links. To what extent do you think that all adventures are essentially dungeons? Because an encounter is an encounter whether it takes part in a tavern or a ruin. Is a mystery, a heist or a hunt just the same as a dungeon when you boil down to it.

I don’t have an answer. My gut tells me there is something different about them that doesn’t translate into dungeons. Something to do with the places you’ve been changing based on what you find out later on that doesn’t apply to dungeons.

 

[TheSword]

I am a big proponent of prepping situations rather than stories. If you focus on the situation as it is, the entities that have an interest in it and their motivations, and the locations associated with it, it is much easier to respond the the inevitability left turns your players are going to take.

For example, instead of writing an adventure in which the PCs have to unseat a cruel baron, define the people involved. Who is the baron and why is he cruel? Who wants the baron overthrown and why? Who knows things about the baron? What other events are going to occur if the PCs don't act? Then let them loose. See what they do. Play to find out.

This is definitely my preferred approach too. It’s one of the reasons I think Dungeons of Drakkenheim is so well put together. Clear factions with clear beliefs, visions and goals. Combined with interesting things to do.

 

[pemerton]

To what extent do you think that all adventures are essentially dungeons?

Not at all.

Here's an adventure I wrote - I haven't run it, but it is a good illustration of how Prince Valiant adventures are written up, and I have run plenty of them:

After the battle
Episode Type: Assistance

Begin with: As you crest the hill with the morning sun behind you, a sorry sight meets your eyes: a battle was fought here yesterday, and many dead bodies lie strewn across the ground, left unburned and unburied. Some of them are being mauled by war hounds, cruel dogs unleashed by one side upon the other. You hear a voice calling: one last knight is still alive!

Name: Sir Emmett

Situation: During the battle Sir Emmett was pulled from his horse by the dogs of war, and now he is dying. He wishes to be buried rather than eaten. Secret: if the Storyteller wishes, Sir Emmett can be a member of the winning side in the battle, Count Leal’s army. The master of hounds lost control of the frenzied dogs, and they attacked a knight on their own side. Sir Emmet was left behind because the dogs would not let anyone approach him, and in his state of collapse he was assumed to be dead.

Short Term Goal: Die with honour and dignity.

Long Term Goal: Go to a peaceful, eternal rest.

Planned Activity: Sir Emmett will ask the passing knights to keep him company as he dies, and then to bury him once he is dead.

Personality: Sir Emmett fought valiantly. He now wishes to be properly laid to rest. If the Storyteller is using the secret situation, Sir Emmett will be ashamed of Count Leal's use of the dogs and treatment of the dead, and will admit his participation only if encouraged or comforted or forced to confront the truth.

Special Effect: Inspire to Greatness (each Adventurer who helps Sir Emmett).

First scene: The arrival of the Adventurers will be poorly received by the war dogs. To get to Sir Emmett, the Adventurers will have to fight the hounds, or otherwise drive them away.

Second scene: When the Adventurers approach Sir Emmett, they will see that he is dying. Healing skill used against a Difficulty Factor of 4 can save his life. Otherwise he will ask the Adventurers to keep him company as he dies, and to bury him. To keep him calm as he dies is Presence + Fellowship against a Difficulty Factor of 2; if the Storyteller is using the secret situation, to persuade him to tell his story requires a throw against a Difficulty Factor of 3, with additional successes reducing the Difficulty Factor until all is revealed at zero. If Sir Emmett is in peace at the moment of his death, he will gift the ring that he wears to the Adventurer with the highest fame, as a token of thanks (+1 to Presence for the purposes of prestige and influence on Sir Emmett's manor and at Count Leal's court).

Third scene (if Sir Emmett dies): the Adventurers can bury him if they wish. If Sir Emmett is buried, the Adventurers will see a flash of light in the sky as his spirit passes on. (If the Storyteller is using the secret situation, this happens only if Sir Emmett has repented and come to terms with the wrongful conduct that he took part in.) Each Adventurer who assisted him gets one use of a limited Inspire to Greatness, adding two coins/dice to one future throw.

Further development: If the Adventurers wish to seek out Count Leal and his army who left the bodies of the dead to be eaten by dogs, they have several options: they may ask Sir Emmett for information before he dies; they may follow the tracks of the victorious army; or they may wait for the master of hounds to return to collect the dogs. The Storyteller will have to develop the details if necessary; but the Adventurers can be confident that any attempt to confront Count Leal will undoubtedly meet with a poor reception, doubly so if they are accompanied by a healed and still-living Sir Emmett, who will be ready to give Count Leal all the credit he is due.

Statistics: Dogs of war (two per Adventurer) Brawn 4, Presence 3, Brawling 4, combat total 9 with fangs (+1 weapon).

Sir Emmett (Fame 3,000) Brawn 4 (currently reduced to zero), Presence 3, Agility 1, Arms 3, Battle 2, Courtesie 1, Hunting 2, Jousting 1, Riding 2, combat total 10 with medium armour (+2) and sword (+1) or lance (+1; 11 with Riding).

Here's an adventure that I wrote that I have run. It's not much like a dungeon; it's an island for Agon 2e:

Kassos
A steep-sloped island of handicrafters and traders

Signs of the Gods
Demeter (Goddess of Law): Her sign is the seal - promises made and obligations kept.

Hephaistos (God of Crafting): His sign is a star-shaped brooch wrought out of tin, the imposition of form onto the chaos of the natural world.

Zeus (Lord of the Sky): A storm rages and torrential rain is falling as your sailors dock your vessel.

Arrival
Water flows through the streets of the town, sweeping away the market stalls and hand carts.

A crowd gathers at the edge of a cliff that overlooks the port - led by Dares, the priest of Zeus, they are going to throw a young man, Pythios, over the edge as a sacrifice.

A middle-aged woman, bedraggled in the downpour, recognises you as heroes and looks at you imploringly. She is Chryse, mother of Pythios.

You must choose swiftly: will you listen to Chryse (Arts & Oration to stop the crowd performing the sacrifice), or comfort her (Resolve & Spirit: if she wins, she hurls herself into the sea after her son), or join the crowd on the cliff (Resolve & Spirit: if the heroes win, the Strife Level is lowered by one)?

Trials
To learn the truth about Dares choice of sacrifice: he is in debt to Chryse (Craft & Reason in the temple records; Arts & Oration vs Dares).

To repair the drains and sewers (Craft & Reason; Arts & Oration my ad an advantage from willing townsfolk).

To offer a different sacrifice to Zeus to end the storm (Resolve & Spirit; if the storm continues, raise the strife level and repairing the drains and sewers becomes Perilous).

Battle
Will the heroes confront the wild cultists who dance in the under temple, praying for the sky and earth to swallow up the town and restore Kassos to its primeval state? Threats: the cultists kill Dares; more rain falls.

Or will the heroes topple Dares from his position of influence? Threats: Dares destroys the records in the temple; violence breaks out among the townsfolk as old debts are called in and new ones established in the struggle for power.

Characters
Dares, Priest of Zeus (d8). Cunning (d6). Pious (d8, and Sacred in his temple).
Chryse, Townswoman (d6). Devoted to her son (d8). Honest (d6).
Townsfolk (d6). Industrious (d6). Cooperative: Advantage on any endeavour where they work together.
Thesela, cult leader (d8). Zealous (d6). Hidden knife (d8 Perilous). Accompanied by her cultists, she is Epic.

Places
The buildings in the town have copper downpipes; the sewers and drains made of brick and clay pipe, into which these flow, are in disrepair.

The temple of Zeus contains records of all debts and promises.

The under temple, lit by torches, has brick walls but an earthen floor.

Special Rewards
Trade goods to fill the hold of your vessel.

Mysteries
Why does Zeus send rain? Is it at the supplication of the cultists? To punish Dares for allowing the temple to fall into debt?

Who are the cultists? Are they townsfolk who despise urban life? Are they descendants of the farmers and hunters who once ruled on Kassos? And do they have some hold over Dares such that he dare not drive them from the under temple?

Here's an adventure I wrote that included a "dungeon" - a small area, the former hold of a petty-Dwarf; it's for Torchbearer 2e: Torchbearer 2e - actual play of this AWESOME system! (+)

 

[SlyFlourish]

I found this link On Writing Adventures

Very useful advice. With a really nice summary from @SlyFlourish

I forgot I wrote this!

 

[TheSword]

Not at all.

Here's an adventure I wrote - I haven't run it, but it is a good illustration of how Prince Valiant adventures are written up, and I have run plenty of them:


Here's an adventure that I wrote that I have run. It's not much like a dungeon; it's an island for Agon 2e:


Here's an adventure I wrote that included a "dungeon" - a small area, the former hold of a petty-Dwarf; it's for Torchbearer 2e: Torchbearer 2e - actual play of this AWESOME system! (+)

Feels more like these are encounters than adventures? Particularly saving the knight from the dogs. Is that fair?

Would your adventure be just lots of these joined together? What is the structure to join the encounters together?

 

[TheSword]

I forgot I wrote this!

It’s very good!

 

[cbwjm]

It’s clear that writing Dungeons dominate the advice. Both in the thread and in the links. To what extent do you think that all adventures are essentially dungeons? Because an encounter is an encounter whether it takes part in a tavern or a ruin. Is a mystery, a heist or a hunt just the same as a dungeon when you boil down to it.

I don’t have an answer. My gut tells me there is something different about them that doesn’t translate into dungeons. Something to do with the places you’ve been changing based on what you find out later on that doesn’t apply to dungeons.

Sorry, I don't mean to say every adventure is a dungeon, just that the adventure I created in the forest was. It had clearings (rooms), forest paths (dungeon corridors) linking them and various encounters in the clearings or on the paths. The only real difference was that unlike a dungeon, you can go easily off into the forest and effectively through the walls. It was just how I ran that adventure, I could have instead done a point crawl or a series of encounters that might lead to other encounters.

Having said that, a heist could be like a dungeon, if it's a bounded space. I think there would be more options than a dungeon, going over a wall of a merchant compound could lead to starting in different points of a dungeon rather than having to go through the dungeon entrance. I think the more open the area the players are interacting with the less like a dungeon it becomes. Something like a mystery I think could even take place in a single room if there is enough information for the players to crack it (though admittedly, I'm useless at writing mysteries).

 

[HaroldTheHobbit]

I am a big proponent of prepping situations rather than stories. If you focus on the situation as it is, the entities that have an interest in it and their motivations, and the locations associated with it, it is much easier to respond the the inevitability left turns your players are going to take.

For example, instead of writing an adventure in which the PCs have to unseat a cruel baron, define the people involved. Who is the baron and why is he cruel? Who wants the baron overthrown and why? Who knows things about the baron? What other events are going to occur if the PCs don't act? Then let them loose. See what they do. Play to find out.

Yeah, this is how I do it too, for adventures and campaigns.

 

[Piperken]

I think there's kind of a logical process everyone circles around. Have a concept, a setting or something that pushes you to want to write it. Have an idea bout the length, the system, the tone, etc. Then I think maybe people might do the concrete work in different order. Identify some key moments or rooms, put some monsters in there, some loot, some puzzles. Playtest, iterate.

I can't vouch for their effectiveness (haven't really pulled the juice from them yet) but I can share two resources I've saved for later recently.

The author of His Majesty the Worm wrote a full multi-step course on adventure building.

Joseph R. Lewis, who wrote several well known adventures in the OSR, has a YouTube series about adventure creation. I consider his adventures to be of really high quality. Here's the playlist.

I don't think either are revolutionary, but sometimes it's nice to have a clear order to follow.

The 1st two recommendations that came to mind, and both are quite recent.

Useful bits in each.