Abstraction
First Post
This is inspired by the railroad thread. I thought I would share my tips for having a world setup that should never strike the players that their characters are unimportant, too important or being railroaded.
The first thing you need is at least three plots. These should be big, overarching ideas that characters won't learn the truth of for many levels, if ever. I am currently running a game with 10 overarching plots, but 3 will do. These only need to be about 3 sentences long. Remember, you only need to flesh out what the characters might be interacting with for the next session or two! Samples:
Plot one: The king is being subtly controlled with magic by creatures from a shadowy parallel dimension. They can't force him to do something, yet, but can only "nudge" him. This is based on the fact that the castle is a dimensional nexus, which also repeated in several other places in the kingdom.
Plot two: There is a huge orcish nation at the tip of the peninsula, around a million orcs. They are held in check by geography. Orcs are normally adverse to water and have no boat skills. The Orc king, in order to expand and conquer, is trying to develop a navy.
Plot three: An evil wizard is trying to open the Forbidden Tower. He believes that there are spells and magic items of significant power that can help him achieve greater power. He is being subtly guided through his cohort, a demon, and does not know a powerful demon is imprisoned within.
We have plots, now we need adventures. I usually like to do at least two completely different adventures for each plot. How about:
Adv 1: There is a castle ruin a few days away. The local lord would like to hire some adventurers to put to rest the idea that there are suddenly spirits coming from there. In reality, this is a dimensional nexus, where the influence of the shadowy dimension can be felt more easily. It also happens that you can use Module A with a little tweaking, changing the cavern to a castle, making the motivation of the hobgoblins be the influence of the shadow dimension and giving at least three bad guys or NPCs direct knowledge of the influence that they could relate to the players.
Adv. 2: One of the wizards on the wizard council has suspicions about another wizard delving into magics that are forbidden. This other wizard happens to be holding an ongoing contest. Whoever can get to the center of his labyrinth gains great treasure and can ask for a favor. The council wants a group to enter the labyrinth so the wizard will be distracted, and another group can infiltrate his magic laboratory beneath his keep to read his notes and report back. The players can choose to do either mission and another team will be hired for the other. (Note: wizard could be the one who wants to open Forbidden Tower. Or maybe his apprentice?) The info gained will show that the wizard was investigating the Shadowy Dimension and has a map of several nexus-points that should be investigated.
Adv. 3: The orcs have managed to gain control over a gnomish port city. They are holding hostage prisoners of importance to the City Council and Mayor. They have hidden catapults near the town that can be used to fire at the city and harbor. They are using these to pressure the gnomes into teaching some select (stronger, smarter, classed) orcs into how to sail and another group (smarter, expert) of orcs into how to build ocean-going ships. The port city uses the map for City B, but add a cliff overlook above the city where the catapult/caves are.
Adv. 4: Scouts have reported back to the Kingdom that orcs have retreated from or significantly reduced the number of forces at their border outposts. It seems that they have pulled back for no known reason. The high command would like a small, quick, stealthy group that is not directly related to the government to capture one of the lightly-fortified garrisons and interrogate prisoners.
Adv. 5: A wizard interviews the group for a mission he has coming up. As soon as he learns there is a paladin in the group (white wizard, good priest, etc.), he send them away without even meeting them. A week later, he sends another group with people the PCs know are evil to an ancient ruin. If the PCs follow, they can thwart a plan and learn about the magic item the group was sent to get, although they don't know why. This is a good place to use several different modules, but with a different focus. Bad guy group and PC group both fight their way in. Bad guys have put the monsters on high alert. Add in magic item wizard wants that can be combined with some others to recreate an artifact for opening the Forbidden Tower and have a climactic battle in the center of the ruin. Maybe with monsters attacking both sides also?
Adv. 6: A group of pegasus-riders the regularly fly patrol around the Forbidden Tower came under attack recently. They managed to fend off the attackers with few casualties. They have a pretty good idea of where the attackers retreated to, but need to engage the PCs to investigate because they cannot leave the tower. This is a good place to put in nearly any standalone module with no major revisions.
Six adventures. Now we just need to get the PCs involved in one, then we can stat that one out totally. To do so, I use a Rumor List. Two rumors per possible adventure, maybe some that are red herrings or lead to one-shot adventures that have nothing to do with the plots.
Here's how I do rumors. This is actually the most time-consuming part for me, so I'll just outline it and provide one sample. The PCs spend an evening in the tavern, at the sage library, at court or whatever. The point is, several of them (if not all) are in places they can hear rumors. Each has a choice, do they want to just listen or do they want to pick up information on specific things they already heard about? If they just listen, they make a Gather Info check. A roll of 10 means they hear about 1 rumor, a roll of 15 is 2, 20 is 3, etc. Then, for each rumor, you roll randomly to see which one they hear about. Duplication is okay, more than one person can hear the same rumor. Then that person makes a Gather Info check against each rumor they hear. There information levels are 5 - basic rumor, most people here have heard this. 10 - Info that somebody who knows somebody who works there heard. 15 - Info from an insignificant person who was actually there. 20 - Info from a significant person who was actually there. 25 - Special info/secret from a specific person. 30 - Very significant secret that can dramatically alter the adventure. If somebody chooses to do the Diplomacy check, they simply roll a Diplomacy against the rumor list and get bonuses/penalties depending on who they are asking and how much that person would know.
Sample:
Rumor 1:
05 - I hear that Baron Wickshire hasn't been at court for weeks. They say he's ill.
10 - Well, I heard that he isn't ill, he's having trouble with the serfs. They're all upset about something.
15 - I just come from Wickshire! You won't catch me going back there again. The old, ruined summer palace is haunted. Ghost have been coming from it and it's only a matter of time afore they kill someone!
20 - I traveled there with a merchant caravan. I heard the rumors from the commoners, but thought they were full of foolish superstitions. While the market was going on, I climbed up the ruined palace myself. I didn't think anything could happen at noon on a sunny day. Well, I'll tell you that I saw these apparitions myself. The strange thing is, they didn't see like ghosts to me. They weren't white or scary and they were out in the day. They seemed like people that you could barely see.
25 - I was with him when he went up there, and later I came back with several friends to see if we could pull some treasure from the keep. Well, when we got close to the keep, we could see ghostly guards up where the walls woulda been if they hadn't fell down. These ghosts didn't notice us, but let me tell you that they weren't human! They were some kind of goblin or something. An apparition of a human person approached then, and the goblin apparitions saw him and shot him. I swear to the gods I saw a ghostly goblin shoot and kill a ghostly human!
30 - I never told the other guards this, because they woulda thought I was crazy. I went inside the ruins while they waited out. I crept into where the main hall was. There was goblin spirits all around, but I don't think they could see me! There was an intact door in there. When I went through it, all of a sudden all of the palace was whole again the goblins were as solid as you or I! There was a bunch of humans sitting with the goblins there and they seemed as shocked as me. Well, I lit out of there, but the whole place was whole and solid again! It was all a blur but I kept running and running until somehow I found myself back in the ruins and went back to my friends. I ain't ever going there again, no siree!
So, here we have about 45 minutes of work setting the stage for the player to hear several rumors and, just as importantly, not hear several rumors. They have a quite a few choices. If you are good adlib DM, they can even choose to do something not on the list. Then after they adventure. You just just a few more sentences about what happened in the plotlines that the didn't follow. Then you can lead them further along their same plot or generate new rumors that reflect how things have changed. You have a dynamic world with, again, maybe 45 min - 1 hour worth of work initially and an extra 30-60 min a week of upkeep. They players always have choices and there is always consequences. The consequences are not just for making a bad choice, but for making a different right choice. Because they investigated the shadowy ruins, nobody trailed the evil party that managed to capture a significant magic item for an evil wizard. That is the second part of choice, creating a dynamic world. Things happen, probably far more things than the PCs alone can handle. Some will have different heroes step up (and possibly cause a rivalry with the PCs). Some will continue unabated until they get so big that can no longer escape notice (when the orcs field a navy and attack, it cannot be ignored).
I hope that helps some people move away from strictly-linear, railroading type DMing if that's what they're looking for.
The first thing you need is at least three plots. These should be big, overarching ideas that characters won't learn the truth of for many levels, if ever. I am currently running a game with 10 overarching plots, but 3 will do. These only need to be about 3 sentences long. Remember, you only need to flesh out what the characters might be interacting with for the next session or two! Samples:
Plot one: The king is being subtly controlled with magic by creatures from a shadowy parallel dimension. They can't force him to do something, yet, but can only "nudge" him. This is based on the fact that the castle is a dimensional nexus, which also repeated in several other places in the kingdom.
Plot two: There is a huge orcish nation at the tip of the peninsula, around a million orcs. They are held in check by geography. Orcs are normally adverse to water and have no boat skills. The Orc king, in order to expand and conquer, is trying to develop a navy.
Plot three: An evil wizard is trying to open the Forbidden Tower. He believes that there are spells and magic items of significant power that can help him achieve greater power. He is being subtly guided through his cohort, a demon, and does not know a powerful demon is imprisoned within.
We have plots, now we need adventures. I usually like to do at least two completely different adventures for each plot. How about:
Adv 1: There is a castle ruin a few days away. The local lord would like to hire some adventurers to put to rest the idea that there are suddenly spirits coming from there. In reality, this is a dimensional nexus, where the influence of the shadowy dimension can be felt more easily. It also happens that you can use Module A with a little tweaking, changing the cavern to a castle, making the motivation of the hobgoblins be the influence of the shadow dimension and giving at least three bad guys or NPCs direct knowledge of the influence that they could relate to the players.
Adv. 2: One of the wizards on the wizard council has suspicions about another wizard delving into magics that are forbidden. This other wizard happens to be holding an ongoing contest. Whoever can get to the center of his labyrinth gains great treasure and can ask for a favor. The council wants a group to enter the labyrinth so the wizard will be distracted, and another group can infiltrate his magic laboratory beneath his keep to read his notes and report back. The players can choose to do either mission and another team will be hired for the other. (Note: wizard could be the one who wants to open Forbidden Tower. Or maybe his apprentice?) The info gained will show that the wizard was investigating the Shadowy Dimension and has a map of several nexus-points that should be investigated.
Adv. 3: The orcs have managed to gain control over a gnomish port city. They are holding hostage prisoners of importance to the City Council and Mayor. They have hidden catapults near the town that can be used to fire at the city and harbor. They are using these to pressure the gnomes into teaching some select (stronger, smarter, classed) orcs into how to sail and another group (smarter, expert) of orcs into how to build ocean-going ships. The port city uses the map for City B, but add a cliff overlook above the city where the catapult/caves are.
Adv. 4: Scouts have reported back to the Kingdom that orcs have retreated from or significantly reduced the number of forces at their border outposts. It seems that they have pulled back for no known reason. The high command would like a small, quick, stealthy group that is not directly related to the government to capture one of the lightly-fortified garrisons and interrogate prisoners.
Adv. 5: A wizard interviews the group for a mission he has coming up. As soon as he learns there is a paladin in the group (white wizard, good priest, etc.), he send them away without even meeting them. A week later, he sends another group with people the PCs know are evil to an ancient ruin. If the PCs follow, they can thwart a plan and learn about the magic item the group was sent to get, although they don't know why. This is a good place to use several different modules, but with a different focus. Bad guy group and PC group both fight their way in. Bad guys have put the monsters on high alert. Add in magic item wizard wants that can be combined with some others to recreate an artifact for opening the Forbidden Tower and have a climactic battle in the center of the ruin. Maybe with monsters attacking both sides also?
Adv. 6: A group of pegasus-riders the regularly fly patrol around the Forbidden Tower came under attack recently. They managed to fend off the attackers with few casualties. They have a pretty good idea of where the attackers retreated to, but need to engage the PCs to investigate because they cannot leave the tower. This is a good place to put in nearly any standalone module with no major revisions.
Six adventures. Now we just need to get the PCs involved in one, then we can stat that one out totally. To do so, I use a Rumor List. Two rumors per possible adventure, maybe some that are red herrings or lead to one-shot adventures that have nothing to do with the plots.
Here's how I do rumors. This is actually the most time-consuming part for me, so I'll just outline it and provide one sample. The PCs spend an evening in the tavern, at the sage library, at court or whatever. The point is, several of them (if not all) are in places they can hear rumors. Each has a choice, do they want to just listen or do they want to pick up information on specific things they already heard about? If they just listen, they make a Gather Info check. A roll of 10 means they hear about 1 rumor, a roll of 15 is 2, 20 is 3, etc. Then, for each rumor, you roll randomly to see which one they hear about. Duplication is okay, more than one person can hear the same rumor. Then that person makes a Gather Info check against each rumor they hear. There information levels are 5 - basic rumor, most people here have heard this. 10 - Info that somebody who knows somebody who works there heard. 15 - Info from an insignificant person who was actually there. 20 - Info from a significant person who was actually there. 25 - Special info/secret from a specific person. 30 - Very significant secret that can dramatically alter the adventure. If somebody chooses to do the Diplomacy check, they simply roll a Diplomacy against the rumor list and get bonuses/penalties depending on who they are asking and how much that person would know.
Sample:
Rumor 1:
05 - I hear that Baron Wickshire hasn't been at court for weeks. They say he's ill.
10 - Well, I heard that he isn't ill, he's having trouble with the serfs. They're all upset about something.
15 - I just come from Wickshire! You won't catch me going back there again. The old, ruined summer palace is haunted. Ghost have been coming from it and it's only a matter of time afore they kill someone!
20 - I traveled there with a merchant caravan. I heard the rumors from the commoners, but thought they were full of foolish superstitions. While the market was going on, I climbed up the ruined palace myself. I didn't think anything could happen at noon on a sunny day. Well, I'll tell you that I saw these apparitions myself. The strange thing is, they didn't see like ghosts to me. They weren't white or scary and they were out in the day. They seemed like people that you could barely see.
25 - I was with him when he went up there, and later I came back with several friends to see if we could pull some treasure from the keep. Well, when we got close to the keep, we could see ghostly guards up where the walls woulda been if they hadn't fell down. These ghosts didn't notice us, but let me tell you that they weren't human! They were some kind of goblin or something. An apparition of a human person approached then, and the goblin apparitions saw him and shot him. I swear to the gods I saw a ghostly goblin shoot and kill a ghostly human!
30 - I never told the other guards this, because they woulda thought I was crazy. I went inside the ruins while they waited out. I crept into where the main hall was. There was goblin spirits all around, but I don't think they could see me! There was an intact door in there. When I went through it, all of a sudden all of the palace was whole again the goblins were as solid as you or I! There was a bunch of humans sitting with the goblins there and they seemed as shocked as me. Well, I lit out of there, but the whole place was whole and solid again! It was all a blur but I kept running and running until somehow I found myself back in the ruins and went back to my friends. I ain't ever going there again, no siree!
So, here we have about 45 minutes of work setting the stage for the player to hear several rumors and, just as importantly, not hear several rumors. They have a quite a few choices. If you are good adlib DM, they can even choose to do something not on the list. Then after they adventure. You just just a few more sentences about what happened in the plotlines that the didn't follow. Then you can lead them further along their same plot or generate new rumors that reflect how things have changed. You have a dynamic world with, again, maybe 45 min - 1 hour worth of work initially and an extra 30-60 min a week of upkeep. They players always have choices and there is always consequences. The consequences are not just for making a bad choice, but for making a different right choice. Because they investigated the shadowy ruins, nobody trailed the evil party that managed to capture a significant magic item for an evil wizard. That is the second part of choice, creating a dynamic world. Things happen, probably far more things than the PCs alone can handle. Some will have different heroes step up (and possibly cause a rivalry with the PCs). Some will continue unabated until they get so big that can no longer escape notice (when the orcs field a navy and attack, it cannot be ignored).
I hope that helps some people move away from strictly-linear, railroading type DMing if that's what they're looking for.
