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Game Design 117: Adventures
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<blockquote data-quote="ExploderWizard" data-source="post: 7651856" data-attributes="member: 66434"><p>Adventures are the most important part of any rpg. Rules are merely the procedural technobabble that handles operations. The adventure is all about <em>what the PCs actually do during the course of the game. </em>From a design standpoint I prefer beginning with simple scenarios that offer players the opportunity to interact with them. This usually involves a basic rundown of the four W's- who,what,where, and when. </p><p></p><p>Who: I usually begin a scenario with who is primarily responsible for whatever is happening. An evil priest, a band of smugglers, a tribe of orcs, etc. These npcs will be the primary focus of the scenario. They will usually have particular motivations, resources, and plans that they wish to carry out. </p><p></p><p>What: This is the primary reason for the scenario. It can be an object, a murder plot, a hidden conspiracy to replace all villagers with giant chickens, or whatever. It will often be a fixation or goal of the who, in the scenario (not Roger Daltrey or Pete Townsend).</p><p></p><p>Where: The area where the scenario is taking place. It can be an entire barony or the old dungeon beneath the ruined castle depending on how site focused the scenario is. There could be multiple important sites in play at any given time. </p><p></p><p>When: Campaign time continues to flow so its important to know when certain events in the scenario will take place. I usually sketch out a rough timeline of what generally will take place assuming the scenario plays out like its principals intend it to. If the players decide not to get involved with a particular scenario there is an established timeline of what will happen when. It is also useful to know exactly where things are currently sitting, situation-wise, if the PCs decide to get involved at a date later than the initial hook is presented. This presents the world in motion and demonstrates to the players that adventures are opportunities and can slip away if the moment is allowed to pass. </p><p></p><p>As players explore new areas there will be several of these scenarios available for involvement. Some of them may be interconnected and draw the PCs into much more than they originall bargained for. Then again, that is the nature of adventure.</p></blockquote><p></p>
[QUOTE="ExploderWizard, post: 7651856, member: 66434"] Adventures are the most important part of any rpg. Rules are merely the procedural technobabble that handles operations. The adventure is all about [I]what the PCs actually do during the course of the game. [/I]From a design standpoint I prefer beginning with simple scenarios that offer players the opportunity to interact with them. This usually involves a basic rundown of the four W's- who,what,where, and when. Who: I usually begin a scenario with who is primarily responsible for whatever is happening. An evil priest, a band of smugglers, a tribe of orcs, etc. These npcs will be the primary focus of the scenario. They will usually have particular motivations, resources, and plans that they wish to carry out. What: This is the primary reason for the scenario. It can be an object, a murder plot, a hidden conspiracy to replace all villagers with giant chickens, or whatever. It will often be a fixation or goal of the who, in the scenario (not Roger Daltrey or Pete Townsend). Where: The area where the scenario is taking place. It can be an entire barony or the old dungeon beneath the ruined castle depending on how site focused the scenario is. There could be multiple important sites in play at any given time. When: Campaign time continues to flow so its important to know when certain events in the scenario will take place. I usually sketch out a rough timeline of what generally will take place assuming the scenario plays out like its principals intend it to. If the players decide not to get involved with a particular scenario there is an established timeline of what will happen when. It is also useful to know exactly where things are currently sitting, situation-wise, if the PCs decide to get involved at a date later than the initial hook is presented. This presents the world in motion and demonstrates to the players that adventures are opportunities and can slip away if the moment is allowed to pass. As players explore new areas there will be several of these scenarios available for involvement. Some of them may be interconnected and draw the PCs into much more than they originall bargained for. Then again, that is the nature of adventure. [/QUOTE]
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