Post/Author/DateTime	Post
imake13 03-14-07, 01:34 AM	Ok, so I have started this thread in the hopes of creating a resource for new DM's on our board. I myself could use the help of more experienced DM's. The Goal To create a thread with examples from experienced DM's to demonstrate how they write up an adventure before they run it. It would be great to create a basic template for new/less experienced DM's to use when planning out adventures. So What Can You Do? If you are an experienced DM you can post some of your wisdom for some of us less experienced out here. It would be great to here you tips, see your style, and try and create some kind of community template for new DM's to learn to plan out adventures. Thanks guys!
DMaster42 03-14-07, 02:22 AM	For me, it really helps to write out everything and then practice it. Read it and memorize the material, and think up some scenarios that that the PCs could do that differ from my plan. But then again, I'm an actor, so DMing is like another show for me so... Just my :twocents: But I don't pretend to be a master at DMing so I would like to have some advice as well.
EffigyOfFaith 03-14-07, 09:01 AM	Any adventures starts with a really great idea. You can start with anything. Paging through the monster manual you can come across a cool monster. Doodling in English class you can draw a weird dungeon. Cool adventures are ones that engage the characters, so look over your notes from past sessions. You do take notes don’t you? When I DM on the fly I drop adventure tidbits with out even thinking about it. The players will also let you know in and out of play what they find interesting and exciting adventure is made out of. If the group think dragon are really neat than chances are a dragon based adventure if what would get the super engaged. A friend of mine adores slad. If I threw a slad adventure at him he’d gobble it up. Be careful though not be too stereotypical about this a dragon adventure doesn’t need to be always about saving the princess, though it certainly can be sometimes, and demon down always have to be pouring through portals to the abyss. They’re too busy with the blood war most of the time anyway. A good way to do this is with a twist. Maybe a princess is holding a dragon prisoner. Maybe the drow your facing are evil. Another place to look for ideas is the real world. I’m not talking greek myth I’m talking about now. The conflict in the mideast is fodder for entire campaigns. Factions broken down in to more factions all trying to gain the upper hand and kill each other making for super sucky real life, but excellent adventuring. Most of all don’t shove anything down the PCs throats. If you’d enjoy it they probably would too but not necessarily. Cheers :behold:
GoriceXII 03-14-07, 10:29 AM	First of all, be ready to filch. Published adventures and settings will have ideas you can use, and so will films, stories, tv shows, incidents in real life and so on. Second: listen to your players. Your players even during character generation or discussion about entertainment they enjoy reveal to you what they like and what they'll respond to. One character may respond to a more romantic plot hook than someone who is intensely interested in mysteries. Third: Create an environment and situation and throw the players in as an X factor. The players WILL do things you don't expect--so instead of planning what the players will do plan what monsters and NPCs would do regardless of the players. Plan for instance that the orcs who have robbed the caravan intend to take their booty to sell it to the smugglers, and will fight with intent to eliminate witnesses if interfered with. If then the players disguise themselves as the smugglers--well, clever players! All you have to do is figure out if the orcs can detect it--the orcs' ability to observe for instance versus the players' ability to disguise. Fourth: Create maps in detail only of important places. There are lots of books with generic maps of inns, forts, houses, ruins, etc, so it is good to have some of these handy. However if you have a special place in mind--say specific traps and areas you need to remember, then by all minds draw that up. The same goes for area locations--you can always fill in the rest later. Again, filching can help here. A lot of adventures will have areas you can fit into a campaign anywhere. Fifth: Flesh out NPCs and their motivations. I find that giving the rescued villagers a story and a sense of personality will make the players feel more heroic. NPCs should have some reason for doing what they do. Some can be simple: the orcs and smugglers above may just want to each make some cash, but that's a clear motive for their behavior. Sixth: Make sure you have clear notes you can quickly refer to about the important stats of NPCs, monsters and magical devices etc. Work out how say the smugglers would deal with an unexpected attack or one they knew was coming. Seventh: Atmosphere is a big help. Have a sense of what the environment is like. Is the cave damp or dry? Is the tavern noisy and vibrant or does it seem quiet and rather poor?
Schmacker 03-14-07, 05:26 PM	Some nice advice guys. Thanks a bunch, keep it coming.
PoorHobo 03-14-07, 09:18 PM	Seventh: Atmosphere is a big help. Have a sense of what the environment is like. Is the cave damp or dry? Is the tavern noisy and vibrant or does it seem quiet and rather poor? As a counter to this, just take note that its bad to overdo it. Really bad. players can flesh out the mundane details for themselves. 2 or 3 sentences at most will do for each location. If the players decend into the cave, its enough to say "You decend into a dark damp cavern. Crystalic formations of rock loom almost threateningly overhead" The columns of plume-like pillars, the vibrantly colored mushrooms, and strange moss while maybe appropriate in a novel are too narrative and slow down the pace of the game, unless the players need to or can interact with it in a relative manner Most players know what a tavern looks like, going into detail of what each npc looks like at each table, what they are drinking what they look like they are thinking and facial expressions, whats's hanging on the wall etc.. is too much. If say "You walk into a noisy tavern in the busy dockside distict. The roar of drunken sea chanties fils the dimly lit room" This was one of my bigger mistakes as a new GM, In an effort to bring the scene alive and add a lot of color and description to the world I over did it and drug the pace of the game way down, essentialy borring my players. At the time I thought it was becasue I wasn't being descriptive enough, after talking with them, I found out I was doing too much talking
ssvegeta555 03-14-07, 09:30 PM	I'm currently doing a solo campaign with my friend, and I'm in the middle of designing the first adventure. My player loves stories, and I try to get some good narritive in to increase the overall experience. Here's an example of a room for the cultists' hidout (And if that said player is read this post, Stop Now. There are spoiler up ahead for this weekends game!) It's kind of long, but I like to be prepared. The format is similar to the one presented in Red Hand of Doom module (the beggining heading entries are at least). My rooms are usually shorter than this, but this is going to be one of the big battles in the adventure. Room 4: The Muffled Psion. (EL 9) Light: Shadowy (Candle Light) Creatures: Insane Psion, Illadobe Treasure: A Hand of the Magi under some bed sheets. You enter a room that is shaped like a large circle and has one square like indentation at the northern wall, it’s contents covered by a purple curtain. An oak desk and chair dot the right side of the room; each one has multiple large gashes all over the wooden surfaces. Opposite end of the desk is a small bed covered in white bloodstained sheets and a plush pillow. The air is cold and still, the faint smell of blood hangs in the air. You hear sounds of a struggling man, his voice muffled by something. And just then, the purple curtain moves bristling in a non-existent breeze. The room is served as a bedroom for the cultist leader, Charrin. He rarely uses the room, but when he does the ‘sweet’ sounds of the muffled psion tied up behind the curtain sooths him into a deep sleep. The psion is also used as a trap to get rid of intruders. The desk is empty and the bed contains a severed hand that is actually magical. It’s the Hand of the Magi magical item. The insane psion is named Illadobe (kinetisist 9). He was captured by the cultists a few months ago and was securely tied up, hanging just inches off the floor. The man is covered in completely from head to toe in white straps that makes him look like a mummy; one large black strip covers his eyes. The black strip blocks most of his psionic powers, but once removed he can muster his power, utilizing devastating telekinetic attacks. Being tied up in a cramped location for months has made Illadobe insane. He squirms in his prison not to get free, but it’s the only thing he seems to think he’s meant to do. If it weren’t for his constant use of sustenance power, he would’ve died a long time ago. If the PCs uncover the curtain read the following: You move the curtain aside to reveal a horrifying sight. A man completely wrapped up in tight white strips, hangs on the wall, inches off the floor. He wiggles and squirms around like a caterpillar caught in a spider’s webs. Despite him having eyes covered by a black strip, he can sense your presence. His muffling, which seems to be a cry for help, gets more pronounced. He starts to move his body faster in anticipation. You can make out one word, “…Eyes…” Even thought he can’t see, he can smell the PC’s and knows it’s not the cultists. The cultists smell like alcohol, smoke and blood. Unless the PCs mask their scent, Illadobe will know they’re intruders. His cries for help are acted; he just really wants to kill someone. It’s been too long for him. The PCs can notice that his cries of help are false with a Sense Motive check (DC 30). It’s much harder to tell since his face is covered and his voice is muffled, that they must rely solely on his body movements. If the PCs are fooled and decide to help him, they see that his is securely chained, and it will take some force to release the shackles. Do make note that the black strip along his eyes seems to be the most easily removed piece on him. When the PC’s remove the black strip read the following: You remove the black strip, slowly revealing bloodshot eyes and wide irises. The man stops squirming and begins to pant slowly. His eyes begin to wander taking in the view; he then focuses on you and starts to scream under his wrappings. He shakes his head madly and his eyes begin to bleed. In a split second you feel a strong telekinetic force trying to push you bag several feet. With his eyepiece removed, the psion now has access to his deadly powers. The power he cast was Telekinetic Thrust. Any PC caught within the blast is shoved forcibly 90 ft away, Will save 16 negates. During the battle he’ll summon an Astral Construct behind the PCs and will then bombard the PCs with Psionic Blast, Concussion Blast, Telekinetic Thrust, and Inflict Pain. When a PC gets close he’ll utilize Mental Barrier, and Mental Disruption to stun and then force them back with Telekinetic Thrust in the next round. When he takes lethal damage he’ll manifest Fiery Discorporation to avoid death. When he does read the following: Your last blow sends the mad man into a fiery rage, literally. His body begins to heat up and his skin turns bright red and starts to glow. You take cover fearing the worst. In a loud disgusting fleshy pop, the man explodes in a shower of blood and small chunks left best undescribed. What’s left behind is only a puddle of blood and the bloodstained wrappings. The psion escapes death and transfers his soul into a flickering candle on the wall. One day later his body will reform near the candle, free from his shackles…
imake13 03-14-07, 10:18 PM	wow! awesome! that is really well written and a great start towards a guide for new DM's. Thanks my friend, keep them coming.
M1kh43l_P4r4d1s0 03-14-07, 10:50 PM	also a great idea is listen to music! I know it sounds crazy, but some of my adventures are inspired by music. I'm currently writing an adventure based on the song "The Night Chicago Died" by Paper Lace. I've also made an adventure based off of Warren Zevon's "Roland the Healess Tompson Gunner." Just pay attention to what you watch, read, and listen to, and the ideas will start showing up.
DMDaddy 03-15-07, 01:36 AM	I would love to hear what other DMs have to say also. Especially great DMs. So here's my 2 cents. 1. Becoming a great DM and writing great dungeons doesn't happen over night, but takes time, practice, learning, and more. Ultimately there are two goals: Writing a full adventure like published and DMing on the fly (from scribbled notes) if need be. 2. Some basics: monsters, scenarios, terrain, themes and NPCs are biggies. --monsters: pick a few monsters and stat them up to your taste useing DMG to balance EL. Then build an adventure around them. ---scenarios: This is like, go into the tavern and persuade the inn keeper to give you a key. Or, the monsters are receiving a +4 from a magic throne, destroy the throne to reduce their effectiveness. ---terrain: use the DMG and other books to at least include one unique terrain setting. Don't forget floors, doors, walls etc...they add flavor ---themes: the BBEG dabbles in creating constructs or aberation or is a druid with many magical beasts. ---NPCs: always add a few NPCs with personalities from the DMG and other books. This adds flavor. 3. Every few sessions, create a small dungeon with 5 or so rooms and write it up just like a published module. This is good practice and after time, it will become easier and faster. 4. Tell the PCs exactly what they have to do. Go into the cave and kill the ogre but don't kill the guard dogs because they belong to the locals. 5. Until you get good at writing, keep it to dungeon delving and slowly add in more NPC interaction scenarios. For example, the PCs receiving a note saying that a special note in a scroll case is in a wishing fountain full of gold coins. Taking the coins is illegal and many people and guards walk about. How will you get the scroll tube from this 10' deep fountain? Ok, enough for now, I'll see what others add.
imake13 03-15-07, 02:41 AM	That was awesome man, thanks so much. Let's keep up the good work guys. I'd love to see someone with some time actually write up a template of what they do. Also, how do you write an adventure with a non-dungeon crawl/hack and slash theme?
Schmacker 03-15-07, 04:25 AM	Ok, I have a question for those that are reading and giving advice. How do you all handle traveling from A to B? Do you play it out, or do you say it happens? If you play it out, how detailed do you get? This is one part of my games that I can see as having the ability to be quite fun, but I just can't seem to get it working right.
GoriceXII 03-15-07, 06:10 AM	It depends. For instance if the trip is kind of routine then ask the players if they intend to do anything along the way and mention some information about what might be available if they ask, but otherwise be ready to skip some time. If the main point is to get them to the adventure jump off point then say "after a normal but slightly unpleasant journey on hot dusty roads, at times forced to skirt around slow moving caravans, your party arrives at..." As stated above a little atmosphere goes a long way sometimes. At other points the journey is part of the adventure. You might still skip parts of it but the players may be searching for a place or person. They may have to deal with enemy patrols or dangerous terrain.
DMaster42 03-15-07, 07:41 AM	However, and I realize this depends on the attention span and personality of the group, it's not good to give the players a new plot hook while they are going from A to B. It generally won't work well. A couple of random encounters at most, but don't put random encounters in too much. Also, it's very important to know your weaknesses as a DM. If you're terrible at something, like DMing on the spot for example, then try to stay away from it, but every once in awhile, try it out to get some practice and strengthen your weak points. I don't know if it's been mentioned before, but it's worth mentioning more than once, get feedback from your players! If they aren't having a good time, you need to talk to them about it and find out why so you can change it. Find out what works out well for them, and make sure they give some constructive criticism. But don't try to extract it forcefully either, just talk it through with them. Make it real. Make the players feel like they are in on the action. Scare them if the characters are scared (but don't get carried away). Players will find it easier to roleplay their characters if they feel like the world you're describing around them is real. And last but certainly not least, is NPC/monster personalities. It might be hard to make each and every NPC different, but this leads back to making the world as real as possible. If all the NPCs have the same basic personality (or none at all), it can take away from the playing experience. This is a made role playing game, strange people are quite possible. The DM's imagination is the limit.
imake13 03-15-07, 01:03 PM	I agree about the personalities. One of the things my players have consistantly told me is that they like how I do different voices for all of the NPC's. I grew up with my dad reading to me every night... and he did all kinds of voices, so I think I picked it up from him. I enjoy doing it alot and I can see that it really engages the players.
Thought 03-15-07, 01:50 PM	I still vaguely remember the first session I DMed (which turned out rather well, considering how many mistakes I made). 0) Take a look at a downloadable adventure. That was actually the first thing I did, I looked at how a published DnD campaign did things, what sort of information the "experts" thought might be necessary. 1) Start with an idea that appeals to your creative side. Get another idea that appeals to your creative side. Combine them. Example: The PCs had already been playing their characters a little and I really like the personality on one of them (every time he did something great he'd add it to his list of titles when he would introduce himself, for example). So I got the idea of placing him at the center of an adventure, to borrow the likeability of that character for the setting (seems to have worked well, and provided a good reason for the adventurers to care). I then flipped through the monster Manuel and found a baddie that I liked. Playing off of the PC's arrogance and the monster, it was a basic revenge scenario that satisfied everyone. 2) Plan encounters and be wary of random encounters. The last thing you (probably) want is for the game to be the subject of an early 8-Bit Theatre strip (http://www.nuklearpower.com/daily.php?date=010329). There might be bandits along the road, wild animals ransacking the camp at night, but each of these events have motivation; random encounters seldom have motivation. On the flip side, be sure to test the encounter before throwing it at your PCs. Example: in my first game there were only three battle total; an ambush of baddies that wanted to kill the main PC, the fight against the monster that was terrorizing the PC's family home, and the fight against the BBEG who created the monster. Especially for a new DM, this was nice since it allowed me to get used to running combat as we were playing by upping the difficulty (so I started out easier). The problem was I didn't test the encounters first so I quickly found out that I had forgotten to take into consideration the magic items the players already had... my first baddies couldn't hit the PCs except on a critical, and the PCs could barely miss them. 3) Planning encounters will lead to mapping out those locations. If there is going to be an ambush, map out what makes the place good for an ambush. If there is a demon imprisoned in the ruins of a tower, know the details of those ruins. 4) Don't be afraid to make things up. Example: After realizing that I had planned all underpowered monsters for my PCs to fight, I tossed the premade stats and magically came up with an AC for the monster that gave the PCs a difficult time of hitting it (though hardly impossible), I gave it enough of an BAB to hit the PCs in turn, and I made up a few powers on the spot (it was an oozy thing that was being overwhelmed, so it spit out a few "mini-its" in order to distract some of the PCs from itself. Definitely wasn't a MM ability). When the PCs finally came to the lair of the BBEG, I had the first part mapped out but had lost my notes for the rest. Thus I made stuff up as I felt like it and it was one of the most memorable dungeons the PCs had ever encountered. Since I knew what I wanted, every random decision (... the corridor turns here! ... that room seals off!, etc) seemed intentional. As such when the dungeon became physically impossible ("we are in the exact same physical location as that other corridor that was submerged in water, but this is going a different direction and it bone dry!") the players took that as my plan and thought it creepy (and not poorly planned out). 5) Do be afraid of making up rewards on the spot. Example: After the players finished the campaign, I realized I had forgotten to figure out what rewards they would get. The baddies were terribly easy by the book, but with some quick thinking all the battles after the first were a challenge and interesting. I therefore made up an amount of EXP that I thought was good. Looking back, that was way too much. I did the same with treasure and quickly realized I had given too many magic items out (thereby making these "cool items" mundane because of how much they got). Of course, I wouldn't call myself an expert DM, and this was only a look at my first attempt at DMing and the process I went through.
Wayett 03-15-07, 04:49 PM	Hey all. When I DM, I try to remember of things my players say in other adventures or campaigns. i.e. "I wanna fight a mind flayer" or "Why can't we defend the castle?" and "How come we never leave the dungeon?". Though, sometimes I already have an idea from what I whine about when we are playing. I first brain storm the ideas so they want to leave the dungeon, they wanna fight mind flayers, and they want to defend a castle. I grab some paper and start writing down things that would be cool for the adventure. The 'who, what, where, when, and why' works well. Who: Evil mind flayers and their minons against *rolls dice* good haf-orcs and elf-elves. Sounds fun. What: A structure defence not in a dungeon. Where: A *rolls dice* fort in the *rolls dice* jungle that controls trade routes that go in and out of the mountain. When: In a week because the mind flayers are gathering their forces and allies. Why: Because the mind flayers are trying to secure points along the river to better the slave trade and to expand their empire. Now, why would the PCs want to go other then it involving all the things they want? How/Hooklet: The owners of the land are giving out land to any who help (furtile because of the jungle and that the mountain range is made out of some volcanoes makeing fertile soil), as well as treasure and spoils of the battle and recignition to the party. So now he have that. But the PCs still need a bump to get their. Maybe one of the defenders is a sibling of a PC, or the PC grew up there, or they really hate mind flayers. If their is a paladin, just say evil is afoot! You have everything together, now you need to make encounters. I make a before, during, and after kind of thing. I'll give an example: Before: The PCs need to train militia, help make defenses, act as scouts or guerrilla forces, make traps, protect refugees as the evil forces attack, the list goes on. Basicly, anything before the main part of the adventure. During: The PCs defend the walls, seal a breach, head out in a cavalry charge, flank attacks from outside, last stand, defending the gate house, all these and more. For a castle seige, I would watch LOTR, Kingdom of Heaven, Alamo, and other good stuff like that. Then the climax would be the final push, the last stand, the kick in the shins, etc. After: The PCs would route the enemy, hacking them down, renforcements come (always late) and finish the job. The PCs heal the wounded, give rites to their fallen comrades, and anything else after the climax, including getting the rewards. Well, after I finish the thinking process, I flesh out the NPCs, make maps, write up discriptions and stats, as well as treasure and give it some life. Also writing up extra names for NPCs that the PCs may meet and an encouter or two if the PCs go off track or they do something stupid/smart that PCs do. Sorry for the long post, I have lots of time, it;s spring break and all me mates are gone. Anyone who wants to use it is allowed, and any praise/ridicule is wanted. PEACE!!
imake13 03-15-07, 11:50 PM	I really like how you roll up adventures on the fly. I myself have been basing the campaign i'm currently working on off of the thoughts of players in my current group I don't DM in. "Why do we never fight dragons?" "Why is everything always being whiped out by some magical disease?" "Why do we never fight anything but demons and extraplanar disease ridden freaks?" So I applaud your method.
DMaster42 03-16-07, 08:48 AM	I wish I could DM on the fly better. That's number one on my list of things to do. Get better at DMing on the fly.
GoriceXII 03-16-07, 10:09 AM	Improvising is something you have to learn to be a really good DM. It is cool if the players give you hints about what they might do before the next session but otherwise you have to have a sense of the context down pat. The way to do this is to give your campaign area a life of its own. This helps a LOT. The players in my games are always the X factor. Regardless of what we all agree on it tends to come down to them suddenly getting ideas and doing things I wouldn't expect. It's like having a play or movie where suddenly some of the actors can do whatever they want to. You still know what the movie is about, who is in it and what the sets are but there's a certain entropy affecting it called the PCs.
Wayett 03-16-07, 11:41 AM	Personally, I agree with GoriceXII. To be a good DM (not saying that everyone who doesn't isn't good) you have to learn how to improv. And to flesh out the world/campaign/adventure by giving it some life. Really make the players interact with the people, let them go back to the first inn, and make memorable NPCs. To DMaster42, what helped me DM on the fly is to actually go into a game with no idea of what adventure your going to do, break out the DMG and MM, make a few rolls to see where they are going and have fun with it. Cause what is more fun then fighting gargoyles at an underwater castle trying to stop the aquatic kobolds from waking up the long dorment elder water elemental? I can name a few, but making it on the fly was so much fun.
imake13 03-16-07, 01:15 PM	DMing on the fly can be a really daunting task for unexperienced DM's. I once had a DM who had been at it or 20 years and all he did was on the fly. It was very impressive, he made like 20 dice rolls a minute and constantly was moving us all over the place and giving us something to do. It made it very easy for him to DM up to 10 of us at a time without overloading himself. I wish I could do that.
khyron1144 03-16-07, 01:38 PM	I usually start with a dungeon map and then start working out a way to deliver PCs to the dungeon, sometimes simple, sometimes pretty elaborate. Here's a little bit of an elaborate one from my world of Tera (http://boards1.wizards.com/showthread.php?t=796777): Castle Granite [This is the introductory text I've written to an adventure that I've started writing but haven't tried to run yet. The bracketed bits are my comments directly to you, the Campaign Workshop audience. How things start is often murky with events getting disordered and justifications being made up after the fact. Such is the genesis of this project. As far as I can figure the following events came together some time last year: my acquisition of the orignal AD&D hardbacks Unearthed Arcana, Oriental Adventures and Fiend Folio making my collection of first edition rulebooks reasonably complete with the 1e PHB, DMG, MM, and MM2 that I already had; my starting to write the recent history of Tera, knowing that I wanted the current Emperor to be a scholar descended from a recently started dynasty and that the founder is a bit of a Conan-type figure, leading me to create Gladius Steel; and a back to school sale at Office Max where I picked up a bunch of one subject notebooks; somewhere along the line, I thought: it's a shame Gladius is part of the past relative to my current game; he'd be fun to run as an NPC buddy for the party; why don't I devote one of these notebooks to a classic dungeon-crawl style adventure set in Tera's past for 1e rules?] They say all roads lead to Tera Prima, capital of the Human Empire on Tera. Probably because only humans are ambitious and arrogant enough to assemble the crew necessary to put in a road where a perfectly good forest was. They also say it's a city rich in oppurtunities for those looking to earn fame and wealth by adventuring. That's why you're there. Everywhere there are posters saying: Emperor Manus Iron wants you for his legions. You've heard tell that the legions are still understaffed for The New Goblinoid War, even though the Emperor has begun recalling troops from the Beastlands mission that has the official name of Manus's Southern Expedition. Your slightly subversive grandpa calls it Manus's Folly. [I am making a bit of a leap saying that the PCs all have slightly subversive grandpas, but I feel it is merited.] For those that go willingly: The nearest recruitment office is surprisingly small and shabby. The man at the desk has an eyepatch and is missing two fingers on his left hand. He says, "Thanks for considering the Legions. We just have a brief Physical. Let's see you can stand and walk under your own power. That's a definite plus. Now can you see the chart on the back wall? Okay how about the back wall then? Well, you're in. You'll be reporting to the Swords Street Barracks for further instruction." For those with a weakness for women: You find your way to the seemier side of the city. One of the women of negotiable affection calls out from an alleyway. If they step into the alley: Just as you begin to engage her services, the world fades to black. When you wake up, you're on a cot in a room with a bunch of other cots. Judging by the uniforms of the other men in the room, you're in the Legions now. If they pass up the alleyway: You find Miss Rose's Girls' Finishing School, and, knowing what Finishing School is a euphemism for in Tera Prima, you slip the bouncer a few coins to get in. You pay the headmistress for a girl and a room for the night. You have a reasonably good time and then fall asleep for the night. When you wake up, you're on a cot in a room with a bunch of other cots. Judging by the uniforms of the other men in the room, you're in the Legions now. For those who prefer the fermented beverages: You make your way to the Ace of Swords, King of Wands, King of Coins, or Page of Cups. Whichever one: you buy drinks and after the third one everything goes black. When you wake up, you're on a cot in a room with a bunch of other cots. Judging by the uniforms of the other men in the room, you're in the Legions now. For those who like a good brawl: You make your way to The Ace of Swords, famed far and wide as the best brawling tavern in all the Empire. There's about twenty in tonight's melee. (treat all combatants as Fighter 1s with AC 8 (leather armor), +2 to hit (Strength bonus), and doing 1d4+3 damage (tankards and cahris). Five immediately gang up on brawling PC. When PC is knocked unconscious: When you wake up, you're on a cot in a room with a bunch of other cots. Judging by the uniforms of the other men in the room, you're in the Legions now. [Yes it's railroading, but it's railroading with style and it offers a decent illusion of choice. PCs can jump the tracks later by going AWOL or similar.] In the barracks: A large man in a Legion uniform walks into the room and starts bellowing: "All right men, rise and shine. A new day is before us and so are a thousand ways to die valiantly. I'm your Sergeant, Gladius Steel. If you can get dressed and down to the mess in under a minute, you've got a cahnce to eat before you die. Seeing as to how it's grain mush, I wouldn't hurry though." After finishing his inspirational speach, he walks out of the room and the more prepared Legionnaires file out of the room behind him. One of them mutters: "He says that every morning, but we've been drilling for a whole week now. I think he's eager to recieve combat orders." "Must be his barbarian blood showing through," says another. The mess is a large room with lots of tables. Along one side of the room, a line of Legionnaires are recieving a bowl of grain mush from a big, ugly, scary cook. One of your comrades-in-arms explains: "That's Smashfist; he's a half-ogre; they chose him for his way of discouraging folks asking for seconds." The Sergeant strides back into the mess and says: " Well men, we've got orders. We're being sent to retake Castle Granite from the goblinoids. We don't know what we'll find there. That castle has been in Goblinoid hands for over a hundred years. That's a long time, but the Emperor says we're not going to let any Tarterus-spawned golbins use one of our own fortresses to launch attacks against us. Now, since a mere sergeant is not distinguished enough to lead this mission, they've assigned a nob with an academy commision to lead us. Let me present to you the Lieutenant Silvus Emerald." When he ends his speach, a clean-shaven, young man in shiny polished armor and with a family crest painted on his shield strides confidently into the room: "Once, you've finished your mush, report to quartemaster um..." he consults his notes. "Oh yes, Forthingay Fingers. What an odd name. Report to the quartermaster to receive your armaments. Once everyone's done that, we march."
imake13 03-16-07, 01:42 PM	Very well written. I like it alot. This thread is really starting to turn into something useful.
E_Vernon 03-16-07, 03:49 PM	Here's my method for a single encounter. http://img442.imageshack.us/img442/7646/44147434sq7.png Room 4 – Royal Common Burial (EL 5) Creatures: Birdman 2nd-level Fighter (2) Treasure: 375 experience points, masterwork longsword, masterwork battleaxe, scale mail, chain shirt, light steel shield, 6 potions of Endure Elements, wand of Enlarge Person with 29 charges (1849gp total) Description As the heavy stone door lights and slides open, you hear the sudden end of a conversation in the loud squawking language of the birdmen. Two of the creatures stand on the far side of a long, trashed room. Coffins are thrown all about, their wood cracked and shattered in places and their lids lying scattered. Torches light the entire hall. One of the birdmen bears an axe threateningly while the other turns and runs for the far door. Story The Royal Common Burial was for the final resting place of lower upper class birdmen. The thieves’ looted every coffin when they drilled into the tomb. The birdmen guards are talking amongst themselves about the success of the freeze in eradicating the humans. They have potions of Endure Elements to survive the cold, though they’re running low. They also have a wand of Enlarge Person to better service the massive Cold Stone. Miscellaneous Unless the PCs find a way to bypass the door without opening it, the birdmen will become immediately aware of their presence because of the loud scraping. The room is so trashed that movement is halved and the DC of Balance and Tumble checks is increased by 5. The coffins provide cover for whoever is closer. Ducking into the coffin recesses provides total cover. Besides the birdmen’s possessions, there is only a quarter-full cart of potions on the far side of the room. Combat The birdmen with the axe will hold his ground unless the PCs engage in ranged combat. He then flies towards them to attack. He’ll fight until death. The other birdman runs to warn those in the next room. He realizes he isn’t the one with the Stone of Passage, though, and can’t unlock the door. He draws a longsword and joins combat to the death.Room # – Title (EL #) Creatures: Type (#), Type (#) Treasure: ### experience points, item, item, item (#### gp total) Description What the players see Story Background, motives, reasons Miscellaneous Features, options, skill checks, and such Combat Tactics and suchGood luck :).
Wayett 03-16-07, 04:25 PM	I know eh, this thread is awesome.
imake13 03-16-07, 04:46 PM	Vernon, your template is both concise and very easy to follow. Thank you so much for your support of this thread and your contribution to the newer DM's out there.
DMaster42 03-16-07, 11:29 PM	This is a great thread guys, don't let it die! Thanks, I'll take your advice, Wayett.
Violet Typhoon 03-17-07, 02:07 AM	All the advice so far is very useful and wise indeed, but I was a bit surprised that no one has mentioned the aspects of writing adventures that go beyond maps, notes, and plot flowcharts. Every session of D&D is like an improvised mini-play, and there's a lot more to planning and directing a play or film than just the script, there's scenery, props, and sometimes even music and sound effects. You can take a couple of those elements and insert them into your adventure writing, too. I am a strong believer about the value of using music in D&D in order to create atmosphere, get the players excited, and convey information about places, characters, and events. If you have a sizable music library on your computer (and if you're able to use it directly in your sessions, which is good), you can plan out specific songs to be character themes, area background music, battles with specific monsters, etc. I use iTunes to manage my D&D music by creating a seperate playlist for each adventure or area of the campaign world, often with a common theme or style throughout for that whole section of the story. For example, for an adventure in a rural area, you could pick classical music with a pastoral feel, or borrow from soundtracks to games like Morrowind and Final Fantasy or movies like LotR, Kingdom of Heaven, etc. For the dank cavern, pick a song that's mysterious and deep, for the battle with the evil priest or demon, pick something powerful with an ominous choral sound. Assign a distinctive theme song to the BBEG and it will send chills down your players' spines every time he appears from the shadows (trust me, it works!). Props can also make a big difference, too. Rather than reading the letter the party receives from the archmage, act as the messenger and hand an actual hard copy to the party leader so he can read it in character to the rest of the party. This not only adds a touch of realism to the acting, but gives the players a fun souvenir of their adventures. For one adventure, the characters were unexpectedly invited to the king's birthday party, and I printed out fancy-looking invitations for each of the characters, which was a nice touch that added a lot of charm to the event. As far as general story tips to go with the other stuff, I wouldn't underestimate the fun inherent in the good old plot twist, both for you and the players. Make your party think they're marching straight into a cliche, like "clear the old mine of goblins," but when they reach the mine, all the goblins (including the women and children) have already been brutally killed. As the adventurers search for the cause of the massacre, the goblin corpses suddenly begin rising as zombies, trapping the party deep in the mine, forcing them to either cut through hordes of undead or find the old emergency exit that's vaguely suggested on their map. In the process, they find veins of glowing purple rock deep in the mountain, but when they bring a sample of it back to the village that hired them, it turns out the mayor is an aspiring necromancer who was searching for negative-energy-infused rock, etc., etc., etc. You shouldn't overuse plot twists, but nothing should ever have to be exactly what it seems in an adventure. Plot twists are also the easy way to give your adventure a mystery-style feel without having to plan out complicated strings of clues.
imake13 03-17-07, 02:16 AM	Excellent post. I highly like the idea of having theme music for your main baddy. I think I would really like to use some of your ideas for my upcoming campaign. Thanks so much for your post.
Pegasos989 03-17-07, 04:56 PM	You shouldn't overuse plot twists, but nothing should ever have to be exactly what it seems in an adventure. Plot twists are also the easy way to give your adventure a mystery-style feel without having to plan out complicated strings of clues. Disagreed here. I think it is healthy to once in a while have the PCs save the beautiful princess the dragon is keeping imprisoned in the tower or some similar basic, old plot with no twists whatsoever. BTW, I think there has been far too little information on designing battles. Really, it is the cornerstore of combat heavy campaigns and in the others, it is even more important that they are memorable! Not every combat should be special but all should be diffrent. I will never again have an encounter where PCs are walking in a dungeon when they meet three orcs and fight them. When players are told that they see three hostile orcs in this narrow dungeon, it is very anticlimatic. Maybe they conversate before the fight, maybe that helps? NO IT DOESN'T! You should make sure that combat is interesting too, not just what leads to it! You should avoid overdoing it: When every battle has a diffrent and wierd tactical element, it loses the point. But didn't I say all battles should be diffrent? Examples of diffrent kinds of combats: -Combat happens when PCs and NPCs are jumping on slippery stones to not fall on water (optionally add sharks for those who fell). Where they jump? Where their opponents jump? How can they avoid being pushed so they fall? What can diffrent partymembers do? --Rogue gets to use balance and jump (good because the player felt bad for having wasted skillpoints to them earlier) --Wizard gets to use grease, gust of wind, etc. in creative manners --Cleric gets to use the water type summoning he hasn't had a chance to use earlier --Fighter's player gets to prove others he was wise to spend that money on the expensive bow -Huge horde of easy enemies charges from every direction --Rogue gets to tumble around and be creative, with even his weak hits killing enemies --Wizard gets to use AoE, battlefield control spells, etc. --Cleric gets the benefit from all those "-2 to all enemies" spells for the first time --Fighter gets to have fun with cleave etc... It is good if there is roleplaying and conversation before the fight but it isn't enough for optimal fun unless the fight is interesting in itself too! Too many DMs just have the LBEG be in his room when the PCs come, talk a bit and fight, with nothing special added. Even little things, like him throwing a lot of burning alchemist's fire on the floor (so people must try to avoid it while moving but can also use it as their advantage, like bull rushing enemy into it!) can enchance the whole situation.
Violet Typhoon 03-18-07, 01:24 AM	Disagreed here. I think it is healthy to once in a while have the PCs save the beautiful princess the dragon is keeping imprisoned in the tower or some similar basic, old plot with no twists whatsoever. Just to clarify, I did say that nothing should ever have to be as it seems, not that it should never be! Cliches are cliches because they work, after all, and it's best to strike a balance between twisty and straightforward stories. A story is only interesting in the long term if it has enough variety, after all. I guess the best thing to do is just mix things up and ensure that the story types never get repetitive. Another tip for interesting combats is that mixed groups of monsters are often more interesting than multiples of a single creature. The party will handle a fight with a manticore differently than a fight with a gnoll, but if you give the squad of gnolls a manticore as a pet, then the party will have to fight both ways at once, creating more complicated challenges that require more interesting strategies. It's also fun to mix monsters with complimentary abilities (such as Strength or Dexterity-reducing monsters with other critters that love to grapple) so that players will have an instantaneous weakness that they will have to overcome. I have a fight planned where a mimic holds an intruder in place while shadows come out of the walls to drain strength that uses this same tactic.
E_Vernon 03-18-07, 02:52 PM	Here's a question: Do you all tailor your adventures to the characters? For example, some articles say it is good to give each character a place to shine in each adventure. Give the rogue a trap, give the fighter a test of strength, give the wizard a duel or magical obstacle, give the cleric some undead or some faithful trouble. Do you all do this?
Wayett 03-18-07, 05:14 PM	No, I don not give all the players a chance to shine all the time. Because the other DMs in our group all have their own little campaigns that intertwine. One of our DMs has an undead adventure, another likes to do urban stuff with lots of role-playing and npc interaction, and the last one likes wilderness adventures. I just do adventures off the fly and sometimes maybe if the fighter hasn't been doing anything cause of all the talking the bard is doing, so I do a heavy fighting thing just for him and the creepy sorcerer. But most ofthe time I do adventures on the fly, and if the rogue is whining about a trap to disable, I give him one, or seven fire/death traps. Everyone should have a chance to shine, but life doesn't always work that way. I haven't gotten a complaint in a while, so one of those would be great, but praise is always needed. PEACE!!
ssvegeta555 03-18-07, 05:50 PM	I just finally ran a game last night (it's been over 9 months at least!) and I found out something that would help a few new DMs. Reward clever thinking! In last night's game, my player reached a psion completely wrapped like a mummy and just hung there (I've gave the actual room description in the first post in this thread). My player took off the black strip over his eyes and the psion greeted him with a telekinetic thrust. He made a successful Will save from the onslught, while the DMPC got thrown 90ft away. Oddly enough my player wanted to calm the psion down, but his attemps were futile. The psion was able to get an Astral contruct without any hinderance, and I was thinking "This is going to be a good battle." The player realized this psion is adament to kill him and his ally. So he asked me this. Player: "He's tied up and helpless right?" Me: "Yes, he's completley secured by the chains and the wrappings. He can't move from his position." Player: "I snap his neck." Me: "Oh damn..." After a sucessful grapple check, the PC snapped the psions neck ending the fight before the psion can muster another attack. At first I wanted to be mean and fudge the die rolls, but I reward his clever thinking, and give him full experience for overcomming the challenge. So what I learned DMing that day is to reward your player for using their wits, and abilities to overcome challenges that you can never foresee. You may want that BBEG to live, but if your players stomp the floor with him with supior tactics and clever use of abilities than let happen. If you do deny them their just reward, they will feel like they can't do anything, and maybe even think you are railroading them. They'll feel cheated. Besides there is always next time, and a new baddy just around the corner. :devil:
DMaster42 03-19-07, 01:37 AM	Oh and if your PCs bypass parts of the adventure, so what. Try not to worry. It keeps them at lower level longer sometimes. I've always liked lower levels better. It's easier to scare the players then.
bartleby42 03-19-07, 02:28 AM	It appears I have a different approch than most of the posters. I'm a very "top down" DM. I don't think in adventures so much as I do in campains and campain settings, as such it shows in both good and bad ways in my adventures. Most of my players wouldn't belive me, because I am also an "on the fly" DM. That being said here is my step by step breakdown of making an adventure. 0. Make/decide on setting, talk with players ect.... 1. Come up with a problem. Any sort of problem will do, but it is best to have an epic scale in mind (you don't want you PCs getting thread for a quilt [non-magical]*). The second consideration I have when coming up with a problem is does it have the Three solutions? They are a)military, b)Political and c)Magical. So a "good" problem should be able to be solved by the application of extreme force, obscene political manuevering or some sort of mystic/divine hogwash that the PCs push for. The best of problems need a little help from all three. A) An Elder God is returning to kill all of the current gods. B) An Admiral has been replaced by a doppleganger and is about to become the minister of the Navy. *Sadly the concept of PCs aiding a demigod in making a magic quilt could be a good campain, so If you go mundane make sure to have a bit of flair about it! 2) Decide who is already concerened about this and what they are doing about it. Sounds easy but there is more work in this step. Who knows of the problem, who can gains from the current situation, who gains from a positive out come and who gains from a negitive out come. Idealy you will have many "bad guys" and few "good guys". This way the PCs won't be sure who the "biggest baddie" is until they have solved the problem, and can end up in situations of picking unsavory allies or going it alone. A) The current pantheon has everyhing to lose so they are working to stop the EG (elder god) from arriving. Let's say the illithids want massive slaughter and are building devices that will attract the EG from the outlands (a planar lighthouse). And the Githyanki want to keep the gods fully mobilized so they can be free to assault the Prime matreial without fear of divine interevention and as such are posing as githzeria and staging raids against the illithids whilst attacking the gods power base. B)Let's have a rival officer, who is a Yaun-ti, in a the capital who has wants the position so that he can send the fleet off to war and take the city with the lizardmen who live in the sewers. A "merchant" who knows(and aided) in the switch who wishes only to exploit the admirals position of power. The list on this one can go on for a while. 3) Come up with how the PCs will find out. This is the first real adventure step, but I can't work without the previous legwork being done. I find that you can link together adventures and sites much more fluidly with the prior work being done. A) The PCs might find a person driven mad by the proximity of the EG B) The PCs could find a "mutiny manifest" of the ship that the, late, admiral captained before the switch and the begin of his rise to power. 4) Understand how all the parties involved would react to various situations. Build a plot tree if it helps, the PCs will come up with something different or pick the choice you wouldn't (I've actually had PCs decide to go to hell instead of finding a NPC's ex-wife). Know what it would take to force the hand of a major player. When the assassins would be sent, what would warrent a friendly meeting. This step could be called, "Know thy NPCs". But once you master this the scene the PCs are in will not only be relvent to the actions they have taken, but will still make sense in your world. This is the hardest part, and be sure to write down a couple of bold moves that might happen (such as what death curses should be). 5)Let the PCs be. It's tough. Don't steer them to the plot you've devloped any more than the few hooks you keep droping for them. If they are more concerened about a goblins, work goblins into the plot. Don't try to remove thier concern, try to make both goal conincide. A) Do not stop granting spells. But do feel free to have 1 vision, and if that doesn't work, start using what the PCs are giving ya! B) If the PCs are more concered about rumors of a brewing war that they overheard (phase one of Yaun-ti's plan) let them sniff out that trail first and try to get them to see the politics from a different angle. 6) Flavor text is nice but don't give them anything they can loot. Kind of a silly rule, but don't put expesive works or art or thousand year old books in the flavor text, it only gives them money you didn't intend to give. Hope that helps someone.
imake13 03-19-07, 12:53 PM	absolutely amazing post! I have been wanting to see some posts on campaign building on a larger scale and this really is a great step in that direction. Thanks so much. Also, step 6 is so hilariously true.
Maxxim 03-19-07, 12:54 PM	This is a great thread, tons of useful information. I'm starting my first campaign, and just finished writing the first adventure, using a ton of tips and such from this and other threads. One thing I read somewhere on the board (can't remember the thread) stuck with me, and after utilizing the tip, I think it is minor, but very important. When writing descriptions of rooms, areas, etc., start with the first thing the PCs would see. Seems obvious, but I never thought about it until I read the tip. Here's two examples of this. The first example does not follow the tip, the second does. 1. "You enter a room. It is about 30 feet by 40 feet. There is a door in the southeast corner. The walls are made of dark wood, and there are numerous old paintings hanging on them. There is a beautifully carved wooden desk and chair in one corner. As you enter, you see a large ogre staring at you, a club in its hand." 2. "You enter a room. Looking up, you find yourself staring into the face of a large ogre with a club in its hand." The PCs don't even get to the description. If they were really there, they'd surely have to deal with that ogre before even looking around the room. After reading this and thinking about it, I was surprised how often people use the first example. I am often the mapper for my games, and I like having the full description up front so I can put it on paper. But if there's a big fat baddie waiting to kill me, he isn't going to delay if I say, "One sec, ogre, let me just get this down right. Okay, the desk is 5 feet long and on the north wall . . ." No, he's going to club me and eat my graph paper. So when I was writing this adventure last night, I wrote it like the second example. The PCs will get some of the description during the fight, and the remainder after the enemy is dealt with. It's a minor issue compared to some of the stuff here, but I found it helpful, so hopefully others might as well.
DMaster42 03-20-07, 11:15 PM	Nice posts guys. I love the advice. I'm also a big fan of major campaign overall goals, but I usually don't get to finish because of adventure design and campaigns ending, but this thread is very helpful.
DMaster42 03-23-07, 12:07 AM	:bump: This is a great thread, tons of useful information. I'm starting my first campaign, and just finished writing the first adventure, using a ton of tips and such from this and other threads. One thing I read somewhere on the board (can't remember the thread) stuck with me, and after utilizing the tip, I think it is minor, but very important. When writing descriptions of rooms, areas, etc., start with the first thing the PCs would see. Seems obvious, but I never thought about it until I read the tip. Here's two examples of this. The first example does not follow the tip, the second does. 1. "You enter a room. It is about 30 feet by 40 feet. There is a door in the southeast corner. The walls are made of dark wood, and there are numerous old paintings hanging on them. There is a beautifully carved wooden desk and chair in one corner. As you enter, you see a large ogre staring at you, a club in its hand." 2. "You enter a room. Looking up, you find yourself staring into the face of a large ogre with a club in its hand." The PCs don't even get to the description. If they were really there, they'd surely have to deal with that ogre before even looking around the room. After reading this and thinking about it, I was surprised how often people use the first example. I am often the mapper for my games, and I like having the full description up front so I can put it on paper. But if there's a big fat baddie waiting to kill me, he isn't going to delay if I say, "One sec, ogre, let me just get this down right. Okay, the desk is 5 feet long and on the north wall . . ." No, he's going to club me and eat my graph paper. So when I was writing this adventure last night, I wrote it like the second example. The PCs will get some of the description during the fight, and the remainder after the enemy is dealt with. It's a minor issue compared to some of the stuff here, but I found it helpful, so hopefully others might as well. I think it really depends on the group. The group I play in now would be fine with the second way I bet, but the group I used to play in would yell at me if I didn't describe places with great detail. It's a matter of opinion. Also, I think it's important to not have too many of the same types of adventures. They tend to get boring, fast.
UltimateReality 03-24-07, 09:36 PM	The best improv DMing advice I've ever seen was given to me by an old DM. He said: "I always ask myself: What would be the coolest thing that could happen right now?"
Araes 03-25-07, 07:24 PM	This veers somewhat outside the goal of the thread of "write an adventure", but I'm reasonably close to the improv person imake13 mentioned earlier. (Not 10 at a time, that's just too many, but 5's pretty manageable) In a sense, improv is actually fairly easy once you get the basic mechanics of how to organize your brain around it down. Basically, if you're going to do an adventure on the fly then you can think about it kind of like doing public speaking on the fly. I've laid out all the important things you should probably think about in order of importance to me (which is obviously subjective). If you're actively trying to work at getting better at improv, then try tackling them in chunks just like my first step of running an improv adventure. Its how your brain works most efficiently and helps avoid overload. Partition up your thoughts into a heirarchal pattern of manageable chunks. Nothing is more important. Once you can do this pretty much everything else is gravy. To do this I often follow a pattern similar to the one that bartleby42 gave. However, this is because I'm also a big picture to small details thinker. Just like world creation, there are generally two schools of thought to adventure creation. The first tends to be much more conducive to improv though, as you can segment and create information for tasks as needed. Big picture creation Think up a general conflict that is going on around the players or a sub part of a greater whole that you're working on Think of a few quick hooks that might tempt the players into action (if one doesn't catch, throw another) Think of the major players who are probably involved in this and why (Possibly before the last or spurred by the hooks) Have everyone the PCs encounter simply react normally to the PCs actions based upon their own agendas, make up the smaller details as you go, and watch the adventure progress. Small details to big picture (harder to implement) Think up some detail such as a character, a monster, a treasure, a dungeon. Think of why that exists, what it wants or does, where it is. Think of how the players might find out about it. (Maybe)Tie it into a bigger picture plan Be flexible to change. This encompasses a huge number of things about the game, but it is probably the second most important thing to improv. Do not be afraid when things wander out of your plans. Let them progress, and add detail as needed. If necessary, provide minor distractions that don't take much thought while you reformulate steps 1-3 of the prior step. Avoid rule fights at all costs. They distract you and stop you thinking about the adventure and fun. You are the DM and your word is law. A good rule that I've found works well in this case is like football challenges. If they want to argue something, give them one a night. If they are right and its quick, let them have it back, if they are wrong they can't bring anything else up. They'll usually just sit on it all night. If they want to bring up grievances and concerns outside the game, let them, at least then it won't drag things down. Don't feel straight jacketed by rules. If a result would be cooler outside the rules for the players, then let it be that way. Don't cheat the players out of success and I've generally found it better to do things in the open. Don't let others straight jacket you with their knowledge. Not every Orc is an Orc from page 203 of the Monster Manual. If you're making major changes, notify the players so you're all on the same page. Don't be afraid to make your own rules as long as they make sense. I used to get around some huge tables and modifiers that didn't add much by just rolling percentile dice and seeing where they landed. Average numbers, average things happen or are found. Extreme numbers, extreme things happen or are found. It had a vaguely craps-like aspect to it when people would be praying for / dreading 01 or 100 and it gives you some inspiration or a couple seconds to think while the dice are spinning. Learn to lie with a straight face. (half joke / half serious) You can pull anything over on people as long as you project confidence in the fact that you are speaking the truth. Know your background material thoroughly This doesn't mean exhaustively preparing everything about the adventure. It instead just means have a general level of preperation for the game. This information on your part makes it much easier to deal with step 2 when events stretch your framework. If you're using monsters, bring out monsters that you are comfortable with and have some idea of the abilities of. Know the general capabilities and powers of your party and the people who are playing them (extremely important! - some people see every obstacle as a hammer and a nail, some are renaissance men) Have a good handle on the geographic region you're playing in and what kinds of people are likely to show up (common folk as well as big players) Know the needs of your audience and generally match the content to the needs This has been mentioned in every article ever written on the subject, but generally write a game to your players not to your needs. Ex: If your players are hack and slashers, give em stuff to hit or if they are larpers and diplomats, let em talk. If they're a heavy mix, then give em some of each and watch the sparks fly. Important: Players don't Always know what they want. Every once in a while, try something new and see how they respond. Don't gamble everything, but just work it in and see if they bite. If its been a lot of hack and talk, maybe a little bit of Sherlock Holmes style mystery, or some horror and suspense. You could find they have a new thing they want. Let your players make up as much of your content as possible for you In some ways, this is one of the bigger mistakes I've seen and heard lots of people make. They start feeling like they need to provide everything for the players and begin to stress out about it. Player ideas are often better than your own ideas. Learn to recognize this by the reaction of the group and reward the behavior that generates it. Don't accept every concept they make, but pick off the good ones and steal those. (Just make them think that's what it was all along) Every idea that someone else comes up with for you is one more idea that you don't have to make. Know your strong and weak points and play to those This can sometimes come into conflict with giving them what they want, but work new things in at a pace you are comfortable with. If you have a tough time dealing with monsters that have crazy abilities or lots of magic, then don't use them that much and maybe work on getting better at it. If you're good at conversational stuff, and you're players like it, then work that into areas where you might not have used it, like in encounters in dungeons. (Maybe they'll parley with that ogre in the room someone mentioned rather than hitting it. Maybe he's actually a nice guy named Bob.) Give everything a personality, and if you can handle it and the situation warrants it, add some humor. Very little brings your world to life and immerses players in the experience of their characters like adding quirks and personality touches to the things and people they encounter. If you can do voices, they are a wonderful addition. Note: If you can't, please don't try too hard. Reference "knowing your strengths." Start simple and then add where your players look. See what your players are doing, respond to their actions, and meet them with more information. Your world should be an infinte fractal of detail. Don't go crazy, but if they ask about something, they're obviously interested, so don't just say "its a pot" or "an old shopkeeper". To a point, do as little as you can from a table. Tables are the devil. Random encounters are the abyss. Logical progressions of events are your friend. Treasure should make sense (as far as D&D goes) to where you are. For people, choose a voice and then wrap your conversation in it. If someone's shy and demure because they think a character's cute, then make everything they say come out that way. If your villain's a cocky smartass, then have him tossing barbs not just rolling dice. Fights are crazy messes of action and suspense. The 3.5 setup reduces this to a strategic wargame. If you can, give a quick artistic air to things that matter. Rolling a 20 is not "you score a critical hit", it is "you open a gaping wound in his arm and you see a light flash of bone". Within reason let, and encourage, your players to do it themselves.
DMaster42 03-29-07, 02:49 AM	This veers somewhat outside the goal of the thread of "write an adventure", but I'm reasonably close to the improv person imake13 mentioned earlier. (Not 10 at a time, that's just too many, but 5's pretty manageable) In a sense, improv is actually fairly easy once you get the basic mechanics of how to organize your brain around it down. Basically, if you're going to do an adventure on the fly then you can think about it kind of like doing public speaking on the fly. I've laid out all the important things you should probably think about in order of importance to me (which is obviously subjective). If you're actively trying to work at getting better at improv, then try tackling them in chunks just like my first step of running an improv adventure. Its how your brain works most efficiently and helps avoid overload. Partition up your thoughts into a heirarchal pattern of manageable chunks. Nothing is more important. Once you can do this pretty much everything else is gravy. To do this I often follow a pattern similar to the one that bartleby42 gave. However, this is because I'm also a big picture to small details thinker. Just like world creation, there are generally two schools of thought to adventure creation. The first tends to be much more conducive to improv though, as you can segment and create information for tasks as needed. Big picture creation Think up a general conflict that is going on around the players or a sub part of a greater whole that you're working on Think of a few quick hooks that might tempt the players into action (if one doesn't catch, throw another) Think of the major players who are probably involved in this and why (Possibly before the last or spurred by the hooks) Have everyone the PCs encounter simply react normally to the PCs actions based upon their own agendas, make up the smaller details as you go, and watch the adventure progress. Small details to big picture (harder to implement) Think up some detail such as a character, a monster, a treasure, a dungeon. Think of why that exists, what it wants or does, where it is. Think of how the players might find out about it. (Maybe)Tie it into a bigger picture plan Be flexible to change. This encompasses a huge number of things about the game, but it is probably the second most important thing to improv. Do not be afraid when things wander out of your plans. Let them progress, and add detail as needed. If necessary, provide minor distractions that don't take much thought while you reformulate steps 1-3 of the prior step. Avoid rule fights at all costs. They distract you and stop you thinking about the adventure and fun. You are the DM and your word is law. A good rule that I've found works well in this case is like football challenges. If they want to argue something, give them one a night. If they are right and its quick, let them have it back, if they are wrong they can't bring anything else up. They'll usually just sit on it all night. If they want to bring up grievances and concerns outside the game, let them, at least then it won't drag things down. Don't feel straight jacketed by rules. If a result would be cooler outside the rules for the players, then let it be that way. Don't cheat the players out of success and I've generally found it better to do things in the open. Don't let others straight jacket you with their knowledge. Not every Orc is an Orc from page 203 of the Monster Manual. If you're making major changes, notify the players so you're all on the same page. Don't be afraid to make your own rules as long as they make sense. I used to get around some huge tables and modifiers that didn't add much by just rolling percentile dice and seeing where they landed. Average numbers, average things happen or are found. Extreme numbers, extreme things happen or are found. It had a vaguely craps-like aspect to it when people would be praying for / dreading 01 or 100 and it gives you some inspiration or a couple seconds to think while the dice are spinning. Learn to lie with a straight face. (half joke / half serious) You can pull anything over on people as long as you project confidence in the fact that you are speaking the truth. Know your background material thoroughly This doesn't mean exhaustively preparing everything about the adventure. It instead just means have a general level of preperation for the game. This information on your part makes it much easier to deal with step 2 when events stretch your framework. If you're using monsters, bring out monsters that you are comfortable with and have some idea of the abilities of. Know the general capabilities and powers of your party and the people who are playing them (extremely important! - some people see every obstacle as a hammer and a nail, some are renaissance men) Have a good handle on the geographic region you're playing in and what kinds of people are likely to show up (common folk as well as big players) Know the needs of your audience and generally match the content to the needs This has been mentioned in every article ever written on the subject, but generally write a game to your players not to your needs. Ex: If your players are hack and slashers, give em stuff to hit or if they are larpers and diplomats, let em talk. If they're a heavy mix, then give em some of each and watch the sparks fly. Important: Players don't Always know what they want. Every once in a while, try something new and see how they respond. Don't gamble everything, but just work it in and see if they bite. If its been a lot of hack and talk, maybe a little bit of Sherlock Holmes style mystery, or some horror and suspense. You could find they have a new thing they want. Let your players make up as much of your content as possible for you In some ways, this is one of the bigger mistakes I've seen and heard lots of people make. They start feeling like they need to provide everything for the players and begin to stress out about it. Player ideas are often better than your own ideas. Learn to recognize this by the reaction of the group and reward the behavior that generates it. Don't accept every concept they make, but pick off the good ones and steal those. (Just make them think that's what it was all along) Every idea that someone else comes up with for you is one more idea that you don't have to make. Know your strong and weak points and play to those This can sometimes come into conflict with giving them what they want, but work new things in at a pace you are comfortable with. If you have a tough time dealing with monsters that have crazy abilities or lots of magic, then don't use them that much and maybe work on getting better at it. If you're good at conversational stuff, and you're players like it, then work that into areas where you might not have used it, like in encounters in dungeons. (Maybe they'll parley with that ogre in the room someone mentioned rather than hitting it. Maybe he's actually a nice guy named Bob.) Give everything a personality, and if you can handle it and the situation warrants it, add some humor. Very little brings your world to life and immerses players in the experience of their characters like adding quirks and personality touches to the things and people they encounter. If you can do voices, they are a wonderful addition. Note: If you can't, please don't try too hard. Reference "knowing your strengths." Start simple and then add where your players look. See what your players are doing, respond to their actions, and meet them with more information. Your world should be an infinte fractal of detail. Don't go crazy, but if they ask about something, they're obviously interested, so don't just say "its a pot" or "an old shopkeeper". To a point, do as little as you can from a table. Tables are the devil. Random encounters are the abyss. Logical progressions of events are your friend. Treasure should make sense (as far as D&D goes) to where you are. For people, choose a voice and then wrap your conversation in it. If someone's shy and demure because they think a character's cute, then make everything they say come out that way. If your villain's a cocky smartass, then have him tossing barbs not just rolling dice. Fights are crazy messes of action and suspense. The 3.5 setup reduces this to a strategic wargame. If you can, give a quick artistic air to things that matter. Rolling a 20 is not "you score a critical hit", it is "you open a gaping wound in his arm and you see a light flash of bone". Within reason let, and encourage, your players to do it themselves. :bump: Excellent post! Wow. I'm gonna take your advice this weekend when I DM. I just have to remember not to be too random in my improv DMing because then it's awkward playing. I hate the awkward silences as a DM. This thread is really helping me though.
Araes 03-29-07, 07:11 PM	Yeah, like I mentioned in the sixth step, you basically want to stay inside or at least near your comfort zone when you're doing improv. Know what you're good at doing, and as you partition off the adventure into chunks in your mind, build the majority of it around things that you have little doubt you can run, and then work in the more random / esoteric stuff a bit at a time so you can hit them with a full head of steam and really give them your undivided effort. The more you do of this, the more comfortable you'll become with a wide range of adventure types. Soon you'll build up a whole repertoire of scenes and events that you can string into interesting and creative narratives. It takes a bit of practice, but once you get good at it there's little more satisfying than hearing your players talking about this really cool bit of adventure and knowing that you came up with the core of it in about 2 minutes while they were fighting some orcs, and then just fleshed it out as the game ran on and their interest focused on it.