Well, there’s a couple things we know right now. One, is that the mysterious challenger is a SISSY BABY (yes that’s right I called you that, you BABY.) And another is that I do want to write an adventure even if not as a direct reply to some comedy email that I most certainly know the source of anyway. Over the past few months, specifically after asking Chatty a question and it getting a good mailbag post, and trying to overcome some of my stage-fright when it comes to writing and putting things on these blogs, I’ve been wanting to write an adventure. The problems are threefold, however.
1) Content. What’s my forte? (Well, we know THAT one – dicking around like a ninny.) What could I possibly write for a long series of adventures over a level range, that’d be fun, worth running and not some rehash with a few encounters strewn in? One of my main problems is Skill Challenges (since this WILL be 4e). I like Skill Challenges, and yet I don’t like them. I like winging them like the one I posted about before. But I call that a “Skill Encounter” because it’s not really a skill challenge. It’s an improvised mess put on paper. (Digital paper at that.) So would I write WotC style skill challenges for accessibility, boring as I find them? Or would I tweak them to do whatever I want instead? I would probably go with the latter because I am a fiercely independent man. That is my excuse for being a bloody mess of a human being.
2) Maps. Encounter maps are easy – the dungeon tile mapper works wonders for that, and how much terrain do you really need beyond doodads, green tiles and grey tiles (coincidentally, there’s so many god damn tiles in the Dungeon Tiles series that are just “grey stone floor”). But what about area maps? Even if it’s a rough sketch, if the PCs are going to explore an area or dungeon that’s in a module, the DM should have a graphic of the area. For example, if I made an adventure take place in a forest, a rough sketch of the forest area, including the general locations of certain important things like a ranger’s house or a bear cave or something, it’d be good to show. But I can’t really draw worth a shit. It’d look like old-ass trail maps with small arrowy trees and squiggles for bushes and shit like that. Though a really abstract and stick-figurey map would be kind of cool in a whimsical way I suppose. For area maps, if I could get a hex mapper, that’d be so sweet. Making a hex map of a kingdom and it’s neighboring areas as a parody of an old-school map would be fun.
3) Speaking of parody, I’m still wondering if anyone would really care to see a more “Me”-style adventure, or a more serious adventure in the same tone and structure as WotC and such adventures.
So if you want to sound off on any of that, go ahead. I only write stuff if I know anyone’s gonna read it. Likely I’ll be doing the same setup I have going for Mystic City right now, which is putting stuff up on Google Docs with links in the blog posts. This can also help because potential players can have their own sections, and wont accidentally spoil themselves by reading GM sections. Or something. Anyway, Google Docs is a lifesaver. Until next time, have lots of love, platypuses and red, snarky female birds in backpacks.
You, your style duh. Let it be funny, let it be irreverent. We wouldn’t want it any other way
I want it to be an adventure where I’m the girl in Twilight and I get that lovable Edward away from that whore into my loving arms and also Harry Potter fights Edward for my love and we all get married and love each other for ever and ever!
…That’s nice dear.
Andrew… its a bit early to be dipping into the absinthe don’t you say?
Wyatt, I think your putting more pressure on yourself than anyone reading this blog would. Of course that’s the nature of being a writer. If you put the requirement on yourself that it be perfect the first time out, you’ll never be happy with what you are doing.
I would suggest you write the adventure the way you write a review. Do you tend to write a full outline and just fill in the details or do you just open up WordPress and start writing till you run out of things to say?
I’m of the former camp. I create a google doc for every post and start with an outline. I keep adding details to the outline until I’m at the point where I’m ready to start writing the actual text. Then it just flows from there. Many adventure/rpg book writers follow this exact same method.
If you tend to be more free form, then just write it one encounter at a time. Start with the hook that brings the party to the adventure. This should be one or two encounters. Next comes the event that sets everything in motion. One encounter plus a skill challenge. This is followed by a series of encounters and skill challenges in which the party gets to explore and investigate. They should get lots of clues about the BBEG, maybe even running into him/her/it once. This leads to the finale where the party fights the BBEG leading to denouement where they collect the reward and kiss the princess. Build the adventure this way one encounter at a time, filling in details like NPCs and backstory as necessary.
(Notice how the previous paragraph is basically an outline of the adventure structure, I just can’t not do it).
When writing these, don’t worry about formatting or big world maps. Make the maps and details necessary to run the encounters. Don’t even worry about the XP values of the encounters. This is the time to be creative, not balanced.
Once you have all of this out, take a look at everything as a whole. Are there any gaps in the story? Fill them. Any encounters that don’t seem to fit? Cut/rewrite them. Put together your encounter maps and see what the overall adventure looks like. Fill in any missing pieces there as well. If you aren’t comfortable making maps, ask someone else to do them. Go to the cartographers guild forum and just ask for help. They love to help.
Now that you have a cohesive adventure, go back over each encounter and see how they balance. Add/remove creatures to taste.
Finally, once all this is done, pull out some example adventures from Dungeon and build a template. Copy/paste your details in and fill in where necessary.
On the question of skill challenges, WotC is still experimenting with formatting, so I wouldn’t worry about sticking to any set structure yet. Format the way that works for you. Your structure/format may even be better and others can use it as an example for building their own.
Good luck, and have fun!
Thanks for all the details Crater! You’re right, I should loosen up. Especially since this adventure is of a more light-hearted (sort of) nature.
I’m onto you. Platypi are among the most venemous creatures on the planet.
The internet is full of tutorials for making maps. I have an .xcf file full of map textures, if that might interest you. Then it’s mostly cutting and pasting.
Silly adventures. We need more. I’ve yet to see one sillier than my own Zombies, Oh My God! for WoAdWriMo. At least, not one that is coherent.
I’m running into brick walls here and there too. It’s too easy to back-burner a hobby project when the gutters get plugged, or the kids need some attention
However, I am ading a typed page or two per week, and plan on consolidating soon, to put the first chunk together in coherent form.
Just keep plugging away!