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<blockquote data-quote="Fenes 2" data-source="post: 853144" data-attributes="member: 6166">I usually start with the idea of an adventure (&quot;Party needs to get misplaced scroll safely back to its owner with no one the wiser&quot;) , then add complications (&quot;Scroll is stored in a noble's mansion who has other things to hide and will get attacked by local rebels or bandits just when the party is at work.&quot;), options (&quot;party can infiltrate as wandering performers, snatch an invitation to a ball from some friends, or sneak in through an old escape tunnel if they listen to the right sage&quot;) and sidetracks (&quot;Noble's fiancée is secretly having an affair with the captain of the guard and plans to poison the noble after the wedding.&quot;).Then I tailor the adventure to the party. The owner of the scroll could be a mentor of a PC, the noble's family be rivals of a PC's clan etc. - but taking care not to overdo it.After this is done I sketch out the NPCs, starting with descriptions, character and motivations. If needed (i.e. if generic NPCs from the DMG are not sufficient or if there is a great likelyhood there will be an important fight with them) they get statted out.Any surviving NPC gets transfered into my NPC file, with short notes how the party met and dealt with him or her, for later use. After a few adventures, especially if in the same region, you have a staple of background plot hooks, loose ends and NPCs with ties, for good or evil, to the PCs, making it easier to build or spice up new adventures with that &quot;personal touch&quot; (&quot;Hey! We know that knight from the assault at the city gate. How is he doing - and what is he doing here?&quot;) and making it easier to show the consequences of actions (&quot;Well, we could just talk to the noble, if we had not crashed his ball last summer when we were chasing a thief, humilating his daughter in the process when we accidentally exposed her affair...&quot;).</blockquote>

[QUOTE="Fenes 2, post: 853144, member: 6166"] I usually start with the idea of an adventure ("Party needs to get misplaced scroll safely back to its owner with no one the wiser") , then add complications ("Scroll is stored in a noble's mansion who has other things to hide and will get attacked by local rebels or bandits just when the party is at work."), options ("party can infiltrate as wandering performers, snatch an invitation to a ball from some friends, or sneak in through an old escape tunnel if they listen to the right sage") and sidetracks ("Noble's fiancée is secretly having an affair with the captain of the guard and plans to poison the noble after the wedding."). Then I tailor the adventure to the party. The owner of the scroll could be a mentor of a PC, the noble's family be rivals of a PC's clan etc. - but taking care not to overdo it. After this is done I sketch out the NPCs, starting with descriptions, character and motivations. If needed (i.e. if generic NPCs from the DMG are not sufficient or if there is a great likelyhood there will be an important fight with them) they get statted out. Any surviving NPC gets transfered into my NPC file, with short notes how the party met and dealt with him or her, for later use. After a few adventures, especially if in the same region, you have a staple of background plot hooks, loose ends and NPCs with ties, for good or evil, to the PCs, making it easier to build or spice up new adventures with that "personal touch" ("Hey! We know that knight from the assault at the city gate. How is he doing - and what is he doing here?") and making it easier to show the consequences of actions ("Well, we could just talk to the noble, if we had not crashed his ball last summer when we were chasing a thief, humilating his daughter in the process when we accidentally exposed her affair..."). [/QUOTE]

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