Best practices for easy-to-run modules [+]

[ruemere]

The elements of a good module that make me enjoy using it. There are actually quite a few of them, however, this being a mobile device and the time being almost an hour past midnight, I'll focus on priority stuff.

One, provide a quick 'what has gone before' section to ensure that a GM can improvise on leftover loose entry points.

Two, allies and neutrals. Make them colorful. They are the likeliest points of extensive interaction. Five key takeaways for a good NPC would be: descriptive one-liner, something of worth for trade, NPC's stake or agenda in the story, a statblock (in case of a likely conflict; a link to a default is fine), and a hidden background gem to mine should the PC put some effort.

Three, add Developments section. This is what happens if the characters ignore a key situation or let the things develop on their own.

Four, rely on defaults, just add a spicy single ability.

Five, for wizards always list spell book contents.

 

[zakael19]

I think a really interesting exercise might be to "rewrite" a WotC adventure in the accessibility style we are talking about here. What does that look like? Where is the balance?

How about a Symbaroum adventure? Alas, I lost all my WOTC rewrite stuff when I disable my Legendkeeper subscription.

 

[Scribe]

Bullet points, terse description, bolding/italics, some kind of keying identifier that draws attention to what is happening.

Read it, a few notes, and off you go.

No walls of text please, but some art instead.

A picture is worth a thousand words as they say.

 

[Golden Bee]

One thing I make for myself that I am not sure I have ever seen in a published module are relationship webs: just a bunch of pictures of NPCs in the situation (I steal headshots from the internet) with a name and basic description, connected to the other NPCs with various kinds of lines and arrows that give an indication of the relationship. A line with a heart means romantic ties, a line with a lightning bolt means contentious, etc... That way, with a glance I can see who feels what about whom, so when the PCs get involved I can have NPCs respond according to their relationships without having to try and keep all that stuff in my head.

Gumshoe does these a lot. The Conspyramid, Cthulu 1-to-1.

 

[Reynard]

Gumshoe does these a lot. The Conspyramid, Cthulu 1-to-1.

The Conspiramid is much more big picture than I am talking about here. I mean when the PCs come to the town or the court or even the dungeon, mapping out how the individual NPCs and/or factions interact with one another on even a micro level.

 

[Reynard]

How about a Symbaroum adventure? Alas, I lost all my WOTC rewrite stuff when I disable my Legendkeeper subscription.

I don't own any of those. Are they hard to follow? Are they "wall of text" adventures?

 

[GothmogIV]

I'll tell you what, my friends: I've read probably 100+ modules over my decades of gaming, but I'm writing my first one, and it is an exercise in humility!

 

[Reynard]

I'll tell you what, my friends: I've read probably 100+ modules over my decades of gaming, but I'm writing my first one, and it is an exercise in humility!

Write it for playability, not readability.

 

[Bill Zebub]

How about:

1. Put a very brief history/backstory at the beginning of the adventure that only has the essential information the GM will need to run the adventure.
2. For authors who just can't resist writing out the detailed, long form version of the backstory, put that in an appendix. And in the appendix, anything that ties into the adventure can be noted in the margin. E.g., "In the year 2,347, Gravin the Grave singlehandedly defeated the lich king, but on his way to claim his reward he took an ill-fated shortcut through Tucker's Caverns, and never emerged from the other side. (Margin: Area 42. Kobold's golden ring has Gravin's seal.)"

That way instead of reading through the long history wondering how it all...or any of it...relates to the adventure, you'll already be familiar with the adventure, and that context makes it easier to make sense of the backstory.

Or you can just skip the appendix if you don't care.

 

[Reynard]

Another thing you can do is integrate that background into actual information the PCs can learn and/or access otherwise. it could be as simple as Knowledge check charts: roll X, and you learn this much. Etc. But all that background is mostly wasted if the PCs never engage with it, so a good module should find a way to let the PCs learn and use that info without being infodumps.