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<blockquote data-quote="barsoomcore" data-source="post: 1095762" data-attributes="member: 812">Usually, I start out by jotting down my basic ideas for what I want to happen. These are usually &quot;Wouldn't it be cool if...?&quot; notes.&quot;Wouldn't it be cool if they were attacked by a horde of flesh-eating zombies?&quot;&quot;Wouldn't it be cool if Isaac's mother was under arrest for murder?&quot;&quot;Wouldn't it be cool if they got sucked under a sand dune and found this crazy buried city full of crystal golems?&quot;Whatever. Then I brainstorm for a while, jotting down whatever comes into my head. References, monsters that fit the concept, NPC ideas -- I'll sketch out quick maps at this stage if I need them or go browsing through my massive image collections for inspiration. Leaf through sourcebooks for more ideas.Once I have a bunch of ideas, I usually go over my campaign notes and see if anything jumps out at my -- likely connections, UNLIKELY connections, contradictions, all that. Make more notes.I do a LOT of note-jotting. Don't try to force a structure too early, but just record everything. I even write down stuff like, &quot;I don't really have any idea how this'll fit into the current plan, but it's just so cool I can't resist.&quot; Just write it down and you can move on, not get hung up on making one element perfect.At some point I start getting more organized. I may stat out an NPC who looks to be significant. I might make a detailed map of some area and start thinking up encounters.At this point, I'll do as much as the adventure requires (and I have time). Some nights I show up with half-a-page of scribbled notes and a Map of Mystery from an old Dungeon magazine -- sometimes I have ten pages neatly formatted, with colour maps, handouts and lollypops.Does that help?</blockquote>

[QUOTE="barsoomcore, post: 1095762, member: 812"] Usually, I start out by jotting down my basic ideas for what I want to happen. These are usually "Wouldn't it be cool if...?" notes. "Wouldn't it be cool if they were attacked by a horde of flesh-eating zombies?" "Wouldn't it be cool if Isaac's mother was under arrest for murder?" "Wouldn't it be cool if they got sucked under a sand dune and found this crazy buried city full of crystal golems?" Whatever. Then I brainstorm for a while, jotting down whatever comes into my head. References, monsters that fit the concept, NPC ideas -- I'll sketch out quick maps at this stage if I need them or go browsing through my massive image collections for inspiration. Leaf through sourcebooks for more ideas. Once I have a bunch of ideas, I usually go over my campaign notes and see if anything jumps out at my -- likely connections, UNLIKELY connections, contradictions, all that. Make more notes. I do a LOT of note-jotting. Don't try to force a structure too early, but just record everything. I even write down stuff like, "I don't really have any idea how this'll fit into the current plan, but it's just so cool I can't resist." Just write it down and you can move on, not get hung up on making one element perfect. At some point I start getting more organized. I may stat out an NPC who looks to be significant. I might make a detailed map of some area and start thinking up encounters. At this point, I'll do as much as the adventure requires (and I have time). Some nights I show up with half-a-page of scribbled notes and a Map of Mystery from an old Dungeon magazine -- sometimes I have ten pages neatly formatted, with colour maps, handouts and lollypops. Does that help? [/QUOTE]

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