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

[Reynard]

• Evident seperation of player-facing description vs. GM-only secrets. I hate it when I'm paraphrasing a room description and it immediately flows into secrets ("the heroes see a fireplace full of charred bones covering a secret panel where the macguffin was hidden")

This one has caught me on occassion, especially with Paizo APs.

 

[Bill Zebub]

While the long-winded background might help, specific suggestions of what the villain could do instead would be far better.

That's exactly what I was thinking. A long background could be replaced with very brief comments about personality, goals, and tactics/strategy.

 

[Sacrosanct]

Another little thing: if the author wants to convey their idea of a situation (a room, an environment, a moment), give us 3 senses of descriptions. Tell us an interesting sound, a compelling scent, maybe even a touch. “You see…blah blah blah” only goes so far. Plus the more sense cues you give the GM, the more interesting details they can provide as players investigate the environment.

I agree. I tried this with Tomb of Entropy, and got lots of good feedback on it.

 

[Sacrosanct]

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?

Working on it

As soon as I wrap up Shadow Fables, I plan on doing just this for B2. It's my favorite module, but could use some improvement presentation style-wise after 50 years of lessons learned while keeping the sandboxy aspect still important and up front. We just finished it recently in a 1e game I was a player in, and while playing it, lots of ideas about how to rewrite it came up.

 

[Bill Zebub]

Eg:
Scarlett, faery (??? Aged).
Flowing red evening gown that hides her feet. Glamour wavers around slowly pulsing moth wings. Arresting eyes you want to tip into like a deep black pool. Quote: Oh aren’t you all just ADORABLE children.

I like this example, aaaand to be totally nitpicky, I would want it even more terse:

• Flowing red evening gown that hides her feet.
• Glamour wavers around slowly pulsing moth wings.
• Arresting eyes you want to tip into like a deep black pools.

P.S. I also really like giving NPCs an archetypical quote. Done right (and I think the above does it right) it both gives the GM something to use and conveys more than a much longer description.

 

[Piperken]

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!

You'll get there. Revising is where most stuff happens!

 

[overgeeked]

I like this example, aaaand to be totally nitpicky, I would want it even more terse:

• Flowing red evening gown that hides her feet.
• Glamour wavers around slowly pulsing moth wings.
• Arresting eyes you want to tip into like a deep black pools.

P.S. I also really like giving NPCs an archetypical quote. Done right (and I think the above does it right) it both gives the GM something to use and conveys more than a much longer description.

Agreed.

The more I’m thinking about this the more I seem to want any descriptions in exactly that kind of barebones, stripped down, “Just the facts, ma’am” style. The module should provide the facts. I’ll provide the flourishes.

 

[timbannock]

Repeating what others have said, but maybe with my own spin...

• Absolutely brutal editing. Whatever words the author things are brilliant, the editor should be ready to excise in the name of brevity and clarity.
• Ample cross-referencing: use page numbers often, even if it's ugly. But if you get a good layout person, it doesn't have to be ugly; margins are your friend.
• A focus on integrating the players, not expanding upon your oh-so-precious NPCs. If you can't sum up your NPC's role in the game and history in a couple of sentences, that's a problem. If the players' hooks amount to "just shove them in the front door and tell them they care" without giving them a reason to, then you're adventure isn't about them and they shouldn't care. (Caveat: If the specific game's hook is so good it can't be denied, then it just might work. OD&D's "you either get money and thus power, or you die starving" is pretty strong.)
• Use randomness to increase replayability, and to keep the threat level ever-changing (but also within some form of expected boundaries, whatever that means for your system.)
• If you need a lot of words to explain a situation, scenario, motive, clue, or trap, that's okay, but also have a way to summarize it.
• Frankly, just have summaries wherever you can, unless your module is very short.

 

[LordEntrails]

Clarity of text layout (ie, obvious hierarchy for headings) and being consistent about it

Absolutely. Consistency. Use formatting styles and stick to them!

Evident seperation of player-facing description vs. GM-only secrets. I hate it when I'm paraphrasing a room description and it immediately flows into secrets ("the heroes see a fireplace full of charred bones covering a secret panel where the macguffin was hidden")

Yea, this should go without saying, but unfortunately it needs to be said.

 

[LordEntrails]

Here's the latest format I'm using for full adventures, and it changes based upon the type of adventure. i.e. dungeons are different than investigative sandboxes, etc.

Background (or sometimes called Campaign Premise)​

<Descriptive text. not overly concise, not overly verbose, hopefully. IMO it's important that this section invoke the feeling and context. And that needs to be in narrative, not bullet form.>

Plot Synopsis​

<Descriptive concise text. May include plot graphics like story boards, relationship maps etc.>

Adventure Hooks​

• <bullet point ideas>

Foreshadowing​

• <bullet point ideas of how a GM can drop leads to this adventure in advance, these my be tavern songs, news articles, etc>

Factions​

<If applicable, depends on the type of adventure>

GM Description​

<Motivations, secrets, etc>

Placing-Facing Summary​

<What the players know about the faction, concise.>

NPCs​

• <bullet points for each faction NPC, might include things like encounter seeds, hooks, motivations>

Locations​

<Location Name>​

<Description>
NPCs
<name, motivation, etc>
Tactics
<if combat encounter>
Treasure
<items>
See Also
<if needed, what else to reference, like factions etc>