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Message: <blockquote data-quote="FireLance" data-source="post: 5186448" data-attributes="member: 3424">Like the thread title says. What would you consider to be the basic building blocks of your games, adventures and campaigns? For me, the basic building blocks of my games tend to be challenges. When I think of the adventures I run, I tend to separate them out into discrete challenges (a fight, a puzzle, a trap, etc.) and graft onto that an overall structure for how the PCs could move from one challenge to another. The focus of the game is thus for the PCs to simply overcome each challenge as they encounter it. Arugably, challenges are the basic building blocks of the basic dungeon crawl.Some of the other possibilities I can think of are:NPCs and Motivations: A DM who thinks in terms of NPCs and motivations as the basic building blocks of his games would probably have in his head a fairly complex web of alliances and animosities between the PCs and the main power players. The emphasis of such games is not so much on whether the PCs overcome the challenges they face, but the effect that success or failure would have on the relationships that the key NPCs have with the PCs and with each other. Such games would probably be quite dynamic since even if the PCs don't do anything, various NPCs will have their own agendas which drive change in the campaign world. Arguably, NPCs and motivations are the basic building blocks of a political campaign.Interactions. A DM who thinks in terms of interactions as the basic building blocks of his games will probably include a variety of locations, creatures and objects in his game that are interesting and which may be interacted with in a variety of ways. The PCs drive the campaign and effectively select their own challenges and influence NPC motivations through the way they interact with the various game elements. Success or failure at challenges is less important than whether the interaction experience was an interesting one. Arguably, interactions are the basic building blocks of a sandbox or exploration-themed campaign. Of course, most games would feature elements of all three of the basic building blocks that I mentioned. Even in my games, there will be a few NPCs with objectives and motivations and interesting objects and locations to interact with, but the main focus is on the challenges that the PCs face.What do you consider to be the basic building blocks of your games? Are there other basic building blocks you can think of?</blockquote>

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