Flowcharts and Adventure Design
- Thread starter pensiv
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derelictjay
Explorer
Done it before, not very useful for your standard linear adventure, but in city adventures, like hunt and find or even a chase, can help you out. It lets you keep track of events or encounters and helps out when you need to keep thing in a semi-cronological order. The last time I used one it became a wierd check list for various encounters I wanted to occur, but I wanted to make sure some came after others. (I know I missing something here, I just can't remember, sorry).
Definity used it for a campaign which is more free form in nature. Where the players have certain adventures to do but don't necessarily have to do them in order, and lets you as the DM could alter later adventures based upon what they did where.
Definity used it for a campaign which is more free form in nature. Where the players have certain adventures to do but don't necessarily have to do them in order, and lets you as the DM could alter later adventures based upon what they did where.
jerichothebard
First Post
I have, yes. Think of it, in some ways, as an open-ended dungeon crawl. They have certain places they can go to start with, which influence later possibilities - just like choosing the left or right hallway.
The difference, of course, is that the PCs can wander right off the map much more easily. And usually do. My flow charts tend to have arrows pointing right off the page around the edges with notes that say stuff like "well, your adventure's screwed - improvise" or "not an ideal outcome - mass panic ensues"...
As a general rule, I usually try to plot out, not what the heroes are doing, but what the villians are doing, and who that will effect, and then let the events take their course. If the PC's discover what's going on, great! If not... well, bad juju happens. but that's the way it works.
The advantage, I find, in thinking of it that way is that it adds an aura of urgency and believability to events - they progress naturally, rather than waiting on the heroes to get to point A so event B can happen just a little too late.
If you're a mac user, I highly recommend Omni-Graffle for flowcharting.
jtb
The difference, of course, is that the PCs can wander right off the map much more easily. And usually do. My flow charts tend to have arrows pointing right off the page around the edges with notes that say stuff like "well, your adventure's screwed - improvise" or "not an ideal outcome - mass panic ensues"...
As a general rule, I usually try to plot out, not what the heroes are doing, but what the villians are doing, and who that will effect, and then let the events take their course. If the PC's discover what's going on, great! If not... well, bad juju happens. but that's the way it works.
The advantage, I find, in thinking of it that way is that it adds an aura of urgency and believability to events - they progress naturally, rather than waiting on the heroes to get to point A so event B can happen just a little too late.
If you're a mac user, I highly recommend Omni-Graffle for flowcharting.
jtb
Last edited:
I work similar to Jericho, since I run a relatively free-form campaign.
I know what all my villains have planned, and for a particular adventure I start with a premise, (eg. three people have been kidnapped over the past two weekd from a small village) then make a list of clues and encounters. Once that is done I start my chart with the premise in the middle, and then lines running out to all the encounters and clues from my list, and how each of these encounter _could_ be joined to others (sometimes by multiple lines) thus assuring there is a way for the PCs to get from one encounter to the next without really being forced.
Events are sometims time-based as well, so that regardless of the PCs actions elsewhere, certain things will happen, things they _might_ have stopped had they been in the right place.
Yeah, I find Flowcharts and storyboarding very helpful.
I know what all my villains have planned, and for a particular adventure I start with a premise, (eg. three people have been kidnapped over the past two weekd from a small village) then make a list of clues and encounters. Once that is done I start my chart with the premise in the middle, and then lines running out to all the encounters and clues from my list, and how each of these encounter _could_ be joined to others (sometimes by multiple lines) thus assuring there is a way for the PCs to get from one encounter to the next without really being forced.
Events are sometims time-based as well, so that regardless of the PCs actions elsewhere, certain things will happen, things they _might_ have stopped had they been in the right place.
Yeah, I find Flowcharts and storyboarding very helpful.
Munin
First Post
I was on a flowchart kick awhile back, and while I do find it helpful, it also means an awful lot of work is wasted, because you end up charting out possible encounters that never see the light of day. I just don't have that kind of time.
Like the previous posters, I focus on what the baddies are doing, and let the players worry about the flow.
Try this:
Write down every major npc, what he/she/it knows, what it wants, who it likes, and who it doesn't like.
Write down every fact that your players need to discover in order to accomplish whatever task is set before them, plus any side info you want to throw out there.
Next, connect up the facts with the npcs who might have access to it, sketch out possible encounter locations, and Whammo! you're done.
After each game session, update your notes accordingly.
Like the previous posters, I focus on what the baddies are doing, and let the players worry about the flow.
Try this:
Write down every major npc, what he/she/it knows, what it wants, who it likes, and who it doesn't like.
Write down every fact that your players need to discover in order to accomplish whatever task is set before them, plus any side info you want to throw out there.
Next, connect up the facts with the npcs who might have access to it, sketch out possible encounter locations, and Whammo! you're done.
After each game session, update your notes accordingly.
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