My journey to adventure seeds

[damiller]

For a long time I have wanted to combine two great flavors: adventures (or adventure seeds) and comic books. For the longest time I could not figure out how to structure it so that a Game Runner could use it. I wanted it to be a tool not a limitation.

Most of my problems with adventures are that they cannot take into account WHAT players are going to do. On top of that they try to tell a story, and the connecting tissue is not up to the adventure its up to the players. Their actions guide where the "story" really goes. As the saying goes "No players survive contact with your plans", no uh, "no survivors contact your plans", no that's not it...

Anyway, I think I finally figured out a way that works for me (and I'll share it below) but what helped were a couple of things. The concept of adventure seeds. I'd seen them before, but never paid them much attention. Not full blown adventures (important for me because I don't want to do mechanical bits of games, I want to create adventures) and a quote from a book about improv: Impro by Keith Johnstone:

"If I say make up a story then most people are paralyzed if I say describe a routine and then interrupt it people see no problem."

with those two ideas I finally figured out how I could draw a comic book page, make it an adventure seed, and create a throughline for GMs without, I think, limiting HOW players interact with the plot.

My proof of concept was a comic strip:

My final "product" a comic book page.

Both of these were produced with Marvel Multiverse RPG in mind.

I hope your find it useful, and I'm already working on more, but I'll using the Watchman 9 panel page format going forward.

 

[Wofano Wotanto]

That seems to work nicely. Gets the point across quickly and concisely, and obviously fits the genre.

I hope your find it useful, and I'm already working on more, but I'll using the Watchman 9 panel page format going forward.

That, on the other hand, fills me existential dread. The Nine Panel Grid is a crime against the concept of artistic expression. It's bad enough suffering through it (and the even worse 16 and 25 panel grids) when reading pre-superhero comics, but people keep reviving it who ought to know better. Watchman had the excuse of nodding to comic history. Giffen's Legion book did not. Let this horror of the past die and be forgotten.

 

[damiller]

That seems to work nicely. Gets the point across quickly and concisely, and obviously fits the genre.


That, on the other hand, fills me existential dread. The Nine Panel Grid is a crime against the concept of artistic expression. It's bad enough suffering through it (and the even worse 16 and 25 panel grids) when reading pre-superhero comics, but people keep reviving it who ought to know better. Watchman had the excuse of nodding to comic history. Giffen's Legion book did not. Let this horror of the past die and be forgotten.

Yea I can see that.

My first love is comic strips though, and I love the limitations that puts on a creative person. I think Bill Watersons best Calvin and Hobbes were when he HAD to stick to the daily and sunday strip limits. That is not to say he did not do amazing work later, I just find those less appealing. I think good art lives within limitations, both self imposed and culturally.