D&D General Iron DM 2020 Interest Thread

[Rune]

I've been reading last year's entries and I'm not gonna lie - I'm pretty intimidated at the idea of participating. I feel like a total amateur compared to these great entries. But then, what's the harm in trying it out? Worse case scenario, I'll suck, and you can tell me as much. I've never done anything like it - to be honest, I've never written an adventure before. To be clear, I've written many thousands of hours of adventures, I've just never written them down ahead of time, nor have I ever shared them with anyone other than my players. There's a first time for everything. Let's give it a shot.

Winning is great, but losing is worth the experience, too. Not gonna say the losses don’t sting (sometimes the wins do, too!), but every match I’ve competed in has made me a better adventure-writer. And I’ve certainly lost my share!

As for the judges: we aim to be constructive in our criticism. Specifically, with the aim of seeing an improved entry the next time around. My best general advice: don’t worry about your competition. Just craft an adventure around the ingredients provided.

 

[Wicht]

I've been reading last year's entries and I'm not gonna lie - I'm pretty intimidated at the idea of participating. I feel like a total amateur compared to these great entries. But then, what's the harm in trying it out? Worse case scenario, I'll suck, and you can tell me as much. I've never done anything like it - to be honest, I've never written an adventure before. To be clear, I've written many thousands of hours of adventures, I've just never written them down ahead of time, nor have I ever shared them with anyone other than my players. There's a first time for everything. Let's give it a shot.

The journey of a thousand miles begins with a single step.

If you can tolerate some good-natured advice... (and I was going to post this anyway, but your post gives me a chance to riff off of it).

1. Word limits are not an obstacle, but a tool to keep yourself in check. Be descriptive but pithy. Let the reader's imagination do some of the work.
2. You are writing an adventure summary, not a module. You don't need stats. You don't need many game terms. Focus on story not rules.
3. Adventures are not backstory. Don't waste so much time on backstory that you fail to incorporate the adventure. (Seriously. Its a common mistake, so be careful of the trap.)
4. Game adventures are not novels. Make sure there are actual choices for the characters to make. Its going to be their story, not yours. Let them tell it. Avoid deus-ex-machina, aggressive railroading (the best railroads provide an illusion of agency), or villainous monologues.
5. Neatness and sensible formatting (including breaking your writing apart into the classical tropes of backstory, adventure summary, plot hook and encounters) go a long way towards readability. Don't make the judges eyes bleed.
6. And as you get confidence, try to write for your audience (in this case the judges). Your writing should please yourself but that only gets you so far.

 

[Rune]

The time has come. Recruitment for the IRON DM 2020 Tournament has begun over in this thread!