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Message: <blockquote data-quote="ThirdWizard" data-source="post: 1424896" data-attributes="member: 12037">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.</blockquote>

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