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Message: <blockquote data-quote="PapersAndPaychecks" data-source="post: 2156531" data-attributes="member: 28854">For starter DM's, a good way to create a plot structure is one that's also often used in imitative fantasy novels.  I call it "Collect the Plot Coupons." The basics are simple.  The players have to collect an arbitrary number of Plot Coupons.  Once they have collected a sufficient number of Plot Coupons, they can trade these in for a Plot Voucher, which is valid for the accomplishment of a Plot Objective (traditionally the deus-ex-machina appearance of the white hat goodie-goodies and the consequent banishment of a generic Dark Lord from the universe forever (?).) What the Plot Coupons are is almost irrelevant - they can be magic swords, magic rings, NPC hostages, doesn't matter.  What matters is that they are widely scattered and therefore enable the DM to send the players on a cook's tour of places he wants them to visit. In a dungeon, for example, you might have a door on the first level that has seven unpickable locks.  The players need to retrieve the seven keys from various different parts of the dungeon, each key comprising a set-piece encounter, before the door can be opened. For a more epic game, you might have three spellbooks, each of which contains part of a spell.  One's in the possession of the High King, necessitating a courtly role-playing encounter in which the characters frustrate the Grand Vizier's Evil Plot To Take Over The Kingdom And Rule The World and earn the High King's gratitude; one's kept by the necromancer/vampire Thanatosis in his crypt; and one's at the bottom of the Riddle Maze of Elder Wisdom.  The players need to collect the three spellbooks and incant the spell, which will summon up the Toothpick of the Gods with which they can finally defeat the BBEG. The reason this structure is good is that it gives the players meaningful choices within a structured environment.  They can decide which piece to track down in which order, and if they're struggling with one section, they can put it off while they go work on another one, gaining levels of experience and magic items in the process.  But it also means that you can design encounter areas in advance in the certain knowledge that the characters will need to overcome them eventually.</blockquote>

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