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
Module Layout: what's important to you?
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="Beginning of the End" data-source="post: 5041446" data-attributes="member: 55271"><p>Modules should not read like short stories. If you've got long passages of pseudo-narrative describing the "likely" course of events, your structure is flawed:</p><p></p><p>(1) I can rarely predict what my PCs are "likely" to do, and I play with them every other week. There's no way you're predicting it.</p><p></p><p>(2) Material presented in narrative-like paragraphs is difficult to parse and use rapidly at the gaming table.</p><p></p><p>What you want to identify are the basic, discrete elements that make up your adventure. Then you need to communicate those discrete elements in a format that makes it easy to quickly find, read, process, and use it.</p><p></p><p>Here's an example how not to do it (from <a href="http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/1588461203/digitalcomics" target="_blank">The Serpent Amphora</a> trilogy):</p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p>And here's how that same information should be presented:</p><p></p><p>Note that the information is not only concise, it's organized into "headlines". A quick scan of these headlines will tell me what every important component of the encounter is. That way I don't end up missing the reference to "5 ogres" in the third paragraph or the "if things go badly, they go to get help from the other ogres in the next room" stuck towards the end of the eighth paragraph.</p><p></p><p>In short: Don't write for someone reading the adventure. Write for someone running the adventure.</p><p></p><p>I recommend looking at <em>In the Belly of the Beast</em> and <em>Maiden Voyage</em> from Atlas Games' Penumbra line for examples of how to present NPCs for roleplaying-intensive scenarios.</p><p></p><p>I suggest that encounter keys should not be split across multiple pages if at all possible. If they have to be on multiple pages, make them facing pages.</p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p>Maps can be functional <em>and</em> pretty, but if you have to choose one or the other, choose functionality.</p><p></p><p>And if you do get pretty maps, there's very little reason in the modern era NOT to provide a version of those pretty maps that can serve as a battlemap.</p><p></p><p>Don't railroad the players. Follow the <a href="http://www.thealexandrian.net/creations/misc/three-clue-rule.html" target="_blank">Three Clue Rule</a>.</p><p></p><p>If you include boxed text, try to make as few assumptions as possible about the situation. DO NOT describe the actions or reactions of the PCs. My players tell me what their characters do; not some anonymous module writer.</p></blockquote><p></p>
[QUOTE="Beginning of the End, post: 5041446, member: 55271"] Modules should not read like short stories. If you've got long passages of pseudo-narrative describing the "likely" course of events, your structure is flawed: (1) I can rarely predict what my PCs are "likely" to do, and I play with them every other week. There's no way you're predicting it. (2) Material presented in narrative-like paragraphs is difficult to parse and use rapidly at the gaming table. What you want to identify are the basic, discrete elements that make up your adventure. Then you need to communicate those discrete elements in a format that makes it easy to quickly find, read, process, and use it. Here's an example how not to do it (from [URL="http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/1588461203/digitalcomics"]The Serpent Amphora[/URL] trilogy): And here's how that same information should be presented: Note that the information is not only concise, it's organized into "headlines". A quick scan of these headlines will tell me what every important component of the encounter is. That way I don't end up missing the reference to "5 ogres" in the third paragraph or the "if things go badly, they go to get help from the other ogres in the next room" stuck towards the end of the eighth paragraph. In short: Don't write for someone reading the adventure. Write for someone running the adventure. I recommend looking at [I]In the Belly of the Beast[/I] and [I]Maiden Voyage[/I] from Atlas Games' Penumbra line for examples of how to present NPCs for roleplaying-intensive scenarios. I suggest that encounter keys should not be split across multiple pages if at all possible. If they have to be on multiple pages, make them facing pages. Maps can be functional [I]and[/I] pretty, but if you have to choose one or the other, choose functionality. And if you do get pretty maps, there's very little reason in the modern era NOT to provide a version of those pretty maps that can serve as a battlemap. Don't railroad the players. Follow the [URL="http://www.thealexandrian.net/creations/misc/three-clue-rule.html"]Three Clue Rule[/URL]. If you include boxed text, try to make as few assumptions as possible about the situation. DO NOT describe the actions or reactions of the PCs. My players tell me what their characters do; not some anonymous module writer. [/QUOTE]
Insert quotes…
Verification
Post reply
Community
General Tabletop Discussion
*TTRPGs General
Module Layout: what's important to you?
Top