Menu
News
All News
Dungeons & Dragons
Level Up: Advanced 5th Edition
Pathfinder
Starfinder
Warhammer
2d20 System
Year Zero Engine
Industry News
Reviews
Dragon Reflections
Columns
Weekly Digests
Weekly News Digest
Freebies, Sales & Bundles
RPG Print News
RPG Crowdfunding News
Game Content
ENterplanetary DimENsions
Mythological Figures
Opinion
Worlds of Design
Peregrine's Next
RPG Evolution
Other Columns
From the Freelancing Frontline
Monster ENcyclopedia
WotC/TSR Alumni Look Back
4 Hours w/RSD (Ryan Dancey)
The Road to 3E (Jonathan Tweet)
Greenwood's Realms (Ed Greenwood)
Drawmij's TSR (Jim Ward)
Community
Forums & Topics
Forum List
Latest Posts
Forum list
*Dungeons & Dragons
Level Up: Advanced 5th Edition
D&D Older Editions
*TTRPGs General
*Pathfinder & Starfinder
EN Publishing
*Geek Talk & Media
Search forums
Chat/Discord
Resources
Wiki
Pages
Latest activity
Media
New media
New comments
Search media
Downloads
Latest reviews
Search resources
EN Publishing
Store
EN5ider
Adventures in ZEITGEIST
Awfully Cheerful Engine
What's OLD is NEW
Judge Dredd & The Worlds Of 2000AD
War of the Burning Sky
Level Up: Advanced 5E
Events & Releases
Upcoming Events
Private Events
Featured Events
Socials!
Twitch
YouTube
Facebook (EN Publishing)
Facebook (EN World)
Twitter
Instagram
TikTok
Podcast
Features
Top 5 RPGs Compiled Charts 2004-Present
Adventure Game Industry Market Research Summary (RPGs) V1.0
Ryan Dancey: Acquiring TSR
Q&A With Gary Gygax
D&D Rules FAQs
TSR, WotC, & Paizo: A Comparative History
D&D Pronunciation Guide
Million Dollar TTRPG Kickstarters
Tabletop RPG Podcast Hall of Fame
Eric Noah's Unofficial D&D 3rd Edition News
D&D in the Mainstream
D&D & RPG History
About Morrus
Log in
Register
What's new
Search
Search
Search titles only
By:
Forums & Topics
Forum List
Latest Posts
Forum list
*Dungeons & Dragons
Level Up: Advanced 5th Edition
D&D Older Editions
*TTRPGs General
*Pathfinder & Starfinder
EN Publishing
*Geek Talk & Media
Search forums
Chat/Discord
Menu
Log in
Register
Install the app
Install
The
VOIDRUNNER'S CODEX
is coming! Explore new worlds, fight oppressive empires, fend off fearsome aliens, and wield deadly psionics with this comprehensive boxed set expansion for 5E and A5E!
Community
General Tabletop Discussion
*TTRPGs General
Judgement calls vs "railroading"
JavaScript is disabled. For a better experience, please enable JavaScript in your browser before proceeding.
You are using an out of date browser. It may not display this or other websites correctly.
You should upgrade or use an
alternative browser
.
Reply to thread
Message
<blockquote data-quote="Lanefan" data-source="post: 7087024" data-attributes="member: 29398"><p>Ay, marry, there's the rub! The unknown task is in fact known by the DM ahead of time - it's part of The Grand Plot - and the hope* is that the PCs will either a) somehow stumble onto it, realize its relevance, and do it; or b) do it without ever knowing what they've done until later when the relevance becomes more clear.</p><p></p><p>* - and if they miss it completely, no problem; it'll reappear somewhere else later. <img src="data:image/gif;base64,R0lGODlhAQABAIAAAAAAAP///yH5BAEAAAAALAAAAAABAAEAAAIBRAA7" class="smilie smilie--sprite smilie--sprite1" alt=":)" title="Smile :)" loading="lazy" data-shortname=":)" /></p><p></p><p>The Druid's goal is great - that's the sort of thing one can build a good long multi-faceted campaign around! Excellent stuff!</p><p></p><p>The Fighter's goal doesn't give much to work with - it can easily be solved in one adventure, if that. Then what do you do?</p><p></p><p>You know, as I type this I'm having a thought or two (alert the media, it's a rare occurrence!). Would it be the end of the world for the player to not only come up with a goal but to give a high-level storyboard at least ten adventures long* on how that goal might be achieved in the game? That's the player-drive side and with luck it'll force goals more like your Druid's and less like your Fighter's. Then, once the DM gets all these storyboards she takes them and merges them together (without telling the players exactly how she's doing so) into something of a master storyboard for the campaign, while perhaps throwing in a few ideas of her own. That's the DM-drive side. Then she runs the game in whatever manner she likes on the day-to-day scale, and it's up to her whether she informs players which adventures tie to whose goals or whatever.</p><p></p><p>* - an example of what I mean for the Druid in your game: (I suppose you could call these chapters instead of adventures, but whatever)</p><p></p><p>GOAL: Encounter Ghost of the Past intuitions and then to somehow use these intuitions to discover a way to bring some kind of healing to the planet.</p><p>STORYBOARD:</p><p>Adventure 1 - introductory, learn about the other party members, the setting, etc., including history that says the world was once a green place. Dungeon crawl with extras?</p><p>Adventure 2 - encounter GotP intuitions at some point, maybe learn what they are (this can be mostly someone else's adventure, my bits can be a sidebar)</p><p>Adventure 3 - learn of an item that relates to these intuitions, also start discovery process as to what they mean (another dungeon crawl followed by research)</p><p>Adventure 4 - find the Green Crystal: this clarifies the GotP intuitions, tells me I still need more (the intuitions by themselves aren't enough instruction) - typical item-recovery mission</p><p>Adventure 5 - locate then recover (then decipher) the Prophecies of Athasia, in effect the rather cryptic divinely-placed instructions on what to do and what is needed - and it's not in a safe place!</p><p>Adventure 6 - the Grand Oasis - nobody knows why it's where it is or why it's always green; in fact it's all that remains of what was once a divinely-blessed forest, a piece of which is needed. The adventure is the journey there and back and encounters in the settlements surrounding it, very dangerous.</p><p>Adventure 7 - plants need water - maritime adventure where we sail to find the fountain of youth (base the events on Pirates of Caribbean 4?) and recover some of its waters</p><p>Adventure 8 - to find the last surviving Ent on the planet, a small part of whom is necessary both to green the planet and contunie his race (dangerous forest adventure)</p><p>Adventure 9 - off-plane travel to gain direct divine blessing on parts gathered; danger is the astral journey there and back</p><p>Adventure 10 - grand finale - heal the planet and make it green once more. Many people oppose this, so a big sprawling adventure maybe in several parts? Civil war? Battlesystem-type stuff?</p><p></p><p>You see what I'm after here. Each player gives in something like this for their character, and the DM then synthesizes them into something vaguely resembling a campaign combining adventure ideas where she can. For example, if someone else also needs a written work maybe the adventure to find that can be combined with the Prophecies of Athasia adventure (or maybe the Prophecies can do for both?).</p><p></p><p>And the "final" storyboard built by the DM will never be final at all - characters come and go, goals and ideals change, and of course nothing ever survives contact with the dice.</p><p></p><p>Thoughts?</p><p></p><p>Lanefan</p></blockquote><p></p>
[QUOTE="Lanefan, post: 7087024, member: 29398"] Ay, marry, there's the rub! The unknown task is in fact known by the DM ahead of time - it's part of The Grand Plot - and the hope* is that the PCs will either a) somehow stumble onto it, realize its relevance, and do it; or b) do it without ever knowing what they've done until later when the relevance becomes more clear. * - and if they miss it completely, no problem; it'll reappear somewhere else later. :) The Druid's goal is great - that's the sort of thing one can build a good long multi-faceted campaign around! Excellent stuff! The Fighter's goal doesn't give much to work with - it can easily be solved in one adventure, if that. Then what do you do? You know, as I type this I'm having a thought or two (alert the media, it's a rare occurrence!). Would it be the end of the world for the player to not only come up with a goal but to give a high-level storyboard at least ten adventures long* on how that goal might be achieved in the game? That's the player-drive side and with luck it'll force goals more like your Druid's and less like your Fighter's. Then, once the DM gets all these storyboards she takes them and merges them together (without telling the players exactly how she's doing so) into something of a master storyboard for the campaign, while perhaps throwing in a few ideas of her own. That's the DM-drive side. Then she runs the game in whatever manner she likes on the day-to-day scale, and it's up to her whether she informs players which adventures tie to whose goals or whatever. * - an example of what I mean for the Druid in your game: (I suppose you could call these chapters instead of adventures, but whatever) GOAL: Encounter Ghost of the Past intuitions and then to somehow use these intuitions to discover a way to bring some kind of healing to the planet. STORYBOARD: Adventure 1 - introductory, learn about the other party members, the setting, etc., including history that says the world was once a green place. Dungeon crawl with extras? Adventure 2 - encounter GotP intuitions at some point, maybe learn what they are (this can be mostly someone else's adventure, my bits can be a sidebar) Adventure 3 - learn of an item that relates to these intuitions, also start discovery process as to what they mean (another dungeon crawl followed by research) Adventure 4 - find the Green Crystal: this clarifies the GotP intuitions, tells me I still need more (the intuitions by themselves aren't enough instruction) - typical item-recovery mission Adventure 5 - locate then recover (then decipher) the Prophecies of Athasia, in effect the rather cryptic divinely-placed instructions on what to do and what is needed - and it's not in a safe place! Adventure 6 - the Grand Oasis - nobody knows why it's where it is or why it's always green; in fact it's all that remains of what was once a divinely-blessed forest, a piece of which is needed. The adventure is the journey there and back and encounters in the settlements surrounding it, very dangerous. Adventure 7 - plants need water - maritime adventure where we sail to find the fountain of youth (base the events on Pirates of Caribbean 4?) and recover some of its waters Adventure 8 - to find the last surviving Ent on the planet, a small part of whom is necessary both to green the planet and contunie his race (dangerous forest adventure) Adventure 9 - off-plane travel to gain direct divine blessing on parts gathered; danger is the astral journey there and back Adventure 10 - grand finale - heal the planet and make it green once more. Many people oppose this, so a big sprawling adventure maybe in several parts? Civil war? Battlesystem-type stuff? You see what I'm after here. Each player gives in something like this for their character, and the DM then synthesizes them into something vaguely resembling a campaign combining adventure ideas where she can. For example, if someone else also needs a written work maybe the adventure to find that can be combined with the Prophecies of Athasia adventure (or maybe the Prophecies can do for both?). And the "final" storyboard built by the DM will never be final at all - characters come and go, goals and ideals change, and of course nothing ever survives contact with the dice. Thoughts? Lanefan [/QUOTE]
Insert quotes…
Verification
Post reply
Community
General Tabletop Discussion
*TTRPGs General
Judgement calls vs "railroading"
Top