How do you write an adventure?

[Altalazar]

For me, it all depends on the inspiration.

What is most important is having the overall concept together in my head. Obviously not all the details will be there, but I need to be able to picture it, in rough form, all in my head.

Then, if it is clear enough, I could run it all from the hip.

Or I may draw detailed maps, with notes written right on the maps as to what is important about each location.

Sometimes I'll just take maps out of Dungeon or elsewhere and use them for my own thing.

I also do run published adventures on occasion, from Dungeon or elsewhere - I ran through the 3.0 edition wizards modules when I first started 3.0. I really enjoyed those, though didn't make it through all of them. I also ran some of my own adventures.

It really varies - but so long as I have a coherent plot in my head, I can really make do with a minimum of preparation. I often do more, not because I have to to run it, but because I enjoy the process and have fun with it.

 

[Piratecat]

First I come up with a really cool scene, which may or may not be part of the climax. For instance, a pile of coins animating into a horrible monster... or a mounted trophy head on the wall turning out to be the head of a tricky dracolich, or a battle on a swinging bridge. Then I try to figure out how such a scene might take place. Once I have that I think of the bad guys who would be involved, and how to get the PCs into the adventure.

My notes are usually minimal; I'lll make a rough map, but prefer to limit comments to a sentence or two scrawled in the margin of each room.

 

[Kastil]

First I grab a fresh wide ruled 1 subject notebook. The first page is typically a rough drawing of the campaign map/area with notes on the cities/towns scrawled on the side.

From there I put at least three ideas of 'plots' for the PCs to follow up on. The book basically becomes the progression of the campaign and includes NPC stats and potential encounters along with any notes of their current surrounding area. Having a webpage has helped too. Now the plots are broken down into chapters and they have those to choose from. I add chapters as they switch directions. ((currently have 4 chapters))

I've said it before and I'll say it again, my players have tendency to go in the opposite direction of what I had planned so I plan my sessions on a weekky basis using the plot ideas in my 'golden' book.

 

[Qualir]

I like to start with a general plot and map.

Next I look at the current character list I make the players fill out so that I can tailor encounters to strengths and weaknesses.

My main concern at this point becomes the big villain/monster and the treasure I would like to give the party. The main baddy has to be climactic in some manner. Treasure has to be measurable.

Then I fill in the gaps with genric NPCs I have created over the years of DMing. I can always put a new spin on the same old stats.

Afterwards it tends to be fly by the seet of my pants since we all know what happens to the best laid plans of mice and men. Too much detail can often lead to annoyance with the players when they trash something you worked on for days.

 

[Frostmarrow]

How do you write an adventure?

-Twice.

 

[ThirdWizard]

The first thing I accept when creating an adventure is that it will never go as planned, and it will end completley differently than I imagine in my mind. Such are my players. This has altered my adventure creation significantly over the years.

First thing I do is look over past adventures. Every adventure has a loose thread which can be utilized in another adventure, and every adventure utilizes at least one loose thread from a previous adventure. It might not be central to the plot and it could even be a slight detail that will be expanded on later. It could also be the whole reason for the adventure depending on what the PCs have been up to lately.

After I decide what to use from a previous adventure I look at the NPCs the PCs are involved in. I ask myself what they want, how they want to achieve it, and if it will involve the PCs in any way. If it won't, I decide what they're up to at the time and move on. Otherwise, I decide motivations and sketch some encounters that might take place.This could or could not decide the direction of the adventure.

Now that I've got some independant events planned out, if I don't have a main plot for the adventure, I think of one. I look at the PCs' abilities, motivations, and goals and put in something that will move along their own stories. I enjoy the random adventure that has nothing to do with the campaign's main plot, and so do my players, but we don't play enough to indulge in this kind of thing very often. At the end of sessions, I usually ask what the PCs plan on doing next as well, which gives me an idea of where to take the story. If the PCs want to investigate some area, then I'll detail that area beforehand and make NPCs and such for them to meet along the way.

There are two main elements that go into most adventures: twist and conflict. The twist is almost never some campaign shifting effect or huge deal. It could be a misplaced expectation or ironic situation. The main conflict doesn't have to involve the PCs fighting, it could be them having to negotiate with someone or solve a puzzle. I do have a rule, however, that there must always be at least one combat per session, which I rarely break.

Once I figure out what the main conflict surrounding the PCs and the twist that will take effect, I pretty much have the entire adventure. I have to detail the NPCs that I've thought of and make a few maps if necessary to the adventure (I would say half my adventures have rough maps). With NPC motivations I typically run the adventure how they would react under the circumstances. Often I plan what they would do without PC involvement and the PCs influence these events by their actions. Often the NPCs plan with the PCs in mind and ask for aid of some sort or try to get rid of them if they're annoyed with them.

My adventures are very open ended and I usually make up the details as I go along because my PCs have the ability to break highly detailed adventures otherwise.

 

[Gundark]

I start with a cool villain (traits, class, gear, tactics, etc), then I go on to what is this villian up to (power, wealth, revenge, flat out wanting to destroy)? How does this villian go about his/her plan? does the villian have a stronghold? What is the villian's stronghold like, defenses, special features etc? What henchmen does the villian have? Who is the villians allies? Who besides the PCs are the villians enemies? Basically I keep fleshing out from the villian to the villians plans, allies, and before long I have an adventure. Before I would sit down and try to think of a plot first...this works for some people. It didn't work for me, I would be stumped for ideas. Working from the villian out is what I would recommend

 

[Ranes]

I use Gundark's method. It's very flexible. I can use it to design an adventure that may or may not be the beginning of a campaign. If it turns into a campaign, the method allows me to build it easily. Another advantage of the method is that it's ideal for following the players' lead. Essentially the players tip me off as to what they want and I think about the individuals who will present the most interesting obstacle to those goals. Plots practically write themselves this way and they are never redundant, because I'm never relying on the players to follow a lead, that I've tried to give them, into the next adventure.