Adventure Format [Archive] - Wizards Community

Adventure Format [Archive] - Wizards Community

Post/Author/DateTime Post
Maestro3030
10-30-06, 08:58 PM Hi all,

I'm reasonably new to DMing (I've run 3-4 adventures). The adventures I've run so far are fun (when I finally get around to them ;)) but I always get a bit lost in the preparation of them. My adventures look like such a mess on my notepad, with stats, maps and little notes all over the place. When we play, I spend half the time paging through my notes and rulebooks looking for obscure bits of information. It's hard to know just how much information I'm going to need before we start playing.

I'm just wondering how everyone else handles setting out their adventures in their notes so it's easier to handle and find stuff.

Cheers :)
Silmon
10-30-06, 09:24 PM Organization, Organization, organization :P

I prefer to write my own material. First I star with an outline and then more into a module formate based off of the outline. I place things in the sequence that I think the party will go with by the adventure hooks that I put in play. This starts with any info about the background, NPC's, etc and then move on to an area map along with a couple of pages following that with any notes, encounters, communities,etc. Then a map of the adventure area with more info like above. This method continues on through the dungeon (level map followed by a couple of pages of encounters, items, etc), villages and the like. I do make room for additions, or variances depending upon the path that my players follow.

Major NPC's I put on a 4x6 index card with all of their info and items or on an actual stat block page at the end of my notebook.

All of my dungeons that I stock are just critters, traps, and anything special. The descriptions of these areas I make up as I go along. This allows me to gauge the reaction of my players to the tone of the game I am trying to achieve. Besides, for me anyway, reading a description just doesnt have the same captive/enthralling ability that a good flowing description does while making eye contact with your players. The better that you can involve the senses (sight, smells, temperature, etc) the better your players will get a mental picture of what you are describing. This takes practice but is worth it when you see the players flinch :D .

Hope this helps.
MaximumPain
10-30-06, 10:04 PM I have some of the same issues as you do. I do try to seperate into several things.

1) I keep a totaly seperate notebook for player experiance, magic items, and other notes specific to what that party is doing. If there are more then one party running in the same world they each get a note book.

2) I make encounter sheets on 3 ring binder paper so I can pull out the encounter I want when I need it. I usualy try to make a few random encounters each session and a few specific to what I think the party will be doing. The random encounters have a great re-use value so I keep them in a folder in a 3 ring binder.

3) My actual adventures/dungeons I create on 3 ring binder paper and keep in a 3 ring binder. Ive also used notebooks but after a while you end up with 40+ notebooks and cant find what you are looking for or bring the wrong one to the session. Over the years Ive built up many home brewed dungeons and can frequently recycle maps and NPCs for new players.

4) Campagne stuff tends to be the most scatered as I work on various parts at different times and almost nothing is actualy finished. I like to start small and create a city/town and the region around it first. Then I create the major NPCs the party will know about and/or deal with. This helps me create a few starter adventures. After/during the first 1-2 adventures I create the basic politics/conflicts that drive the region often reverse linking them to the first adventures. Once the party is established I change to a top down approrch and create some of the larger scale players and there goals. This allows me to get some kind of long term goals for the party. All of this stuff tends to get mixed together and confused.

Sorry I rambled...:D

My sugestion is to invest in some kind of large 3 ring binder with folders. Then devide the folders into characters, current adventure, past adventures, and campaign stuff. At least you will only have to look in one place. I really need to figure out how to do all of this on the laptop.

Good luck and happy gaming.
M.P.
Thubby
10-30-06, 10:08 PM the easiest way i keep it together, deviders.
names of places (and short hand descriptions) in one page
people in another, and my world items.
then in the back i have in depth.
TheWerg
10-30-06, 11:20 PM If you're really having problems with sifting through your notes in-game, why don't you just reorganize everything before the game into a nice, neat adventure? Just take everything you wrote and rewrite it in a more organized form.
dmjacques
10-30-06, 11:27 PM This will most likely not help but I handle my sessions the same way as you do and im not all that new( wierd yes but it helps me stay focused) except the whole looking up things part
TheWerg
10-30-06, 11:29 PM Jacques, you might want to consider an sblock in your sig. That thing is friggin massive.
pukunui
10-31-06, 04:32 AM Hi all,

I'm reasonably new to DMing (I've run 3-4 adventures). The adventures I've run so far are fun (when I finally get around to them ;)) but I always get a bit lost in the preparation of them. My adventures look like such a mess on my notepad, with stats, maps and little notes all over the place. When we play, I spend half the time paging through my notes and rulebooks looking for obscure bits of information. It's hard to know just how much information I'm going to need before we start playing.

I'm just wondering how everyone else handles setting out their adventures in their notes so it's easier to handle and find stuff.

Cheers :)
I use a laptop. Makes it super easy. It's also fun to hook it up to the TV so I can show the players maps and pictures and things without having to print them off. You just have to make sure you don't spend more time looking at the computer than you do interacting with your players.
CroBob
10-31-06, 04:43 AM I guess I'm abnormal. The only thing I really need to write down are specifics. NPCs and Monsters are easy to generate spontaniously, and key NPC can easily be given small character sheets of their own. That, plus some maps, and you should be set. After every few sessions, your notes will run amuck, though. Rewrite the important ones (still or possibly still pertinent ones) on a sheet of paper and put it in a folder. Before putting it in the folder, go through the folder to see if you still need everything in it. This folder is your important stuff folder, so don't lose it. Everything else is just notes and scribbles.
White_Wizard
10-31-06, 01:33 PM Hi all,

I'm reasonably new to DMing (I've run 3-4 adventures). The adventures I've run so far are fun (when I finally get around to them ;)) but I always get a bit lost in the preparation of them. My adventures look like such a mess on my notepad, with stats, maps and little notes all over the place. When we play, I spend half the time paging through my notes and rulebooks looking for obscure bits of information. It's hard to know just how much information I'm going to need before we start playing.

I'm just wondering how everyone else handles setting out their adventures in their notes so it's easier to handle and find stuff.

Cheers :)

I put on paper a tree structure that develops my adventure when I have the idea, then I put it down on computer and develop it using writing programs, so I can easily correct what's wrong before printing the final result.
I use a table very similar to that of an official adventure, with readaloud text and lists of check required/monsters etc.

Here is an example of a fictionary location 21 in a dungeon:

21) Readaloud text: "evocative description of the place; we have two mind flayers in it"
There's also a trap in the room - Trap: how the trap works, Disable Device/Search DCs; Damage dealt, any other useful info.
There are two doors in the room: one is that from which the PCs enter, the other is locked - locked door: stone, hardness 8, 60 hp, break DC 28, Pick Lock DC 30.

Monters - mind flayers (2): AC, hp, atk. modifier, damage, salient SA and their DCs (this is a bit more complete than official adventures, and it saves the day when many combat scenes will occur in a row).
tactics: how the mind flayers prepare themselves and fight.
treasure: what will be left after mayhem and bloodshed.

I put on paper statistics for every monster present (even those that are the same to MM, so I can use a pencil to modify them in a minute if needed - trust me this is useful, becuase not always the ECL will be perfectly balanced and some last minute adjustment either to boost them up or down could be necessary).
These stats are very complete.
Monster name: type (subtype), class, CR, HD, hp, speed(s), initiative, AC, bab, melee full atk(s) (damage and notes, type of weapon), ranged full atk(s) (damage and notes, type of weapon), SA, SQ, Alignment, ST F R W; Str, Dex, Con, Int, Wis, Cha.
Abilities and feats: abilities; feats.
Possessions: list of possessions.
Spells prepared/known: (number of spells per level x/x/x/x/x/x/x/x, DC, notes on specializations, domain and focus, with additional DCs if neccessary) spells known or written in the spellbook 0 - jfndskjdsk; - 1 - fdshdkjusk; 2 - fdsuodsuioaks;
various notes: domain powers, Special Attacks detailed description, poison, roleplay hints...

Then I prepare a lot of maps, using different colors to highlight secret passages, traps, relevant elements.
Maestro3030
11-03-06, 12:52 AM Thanks guys. This advice has all been great.

I've been trying to figure out a way I can put this on a laptop, but haven't yet had the time to sit down and write it all down.

When I'm on my laptop, I tend to get distracted, looking at pdfs of various DnD books, reading these forums, chatting on MSN, hehe.

Anyway, I'll make sure to keep this all in mind. It should hopefully make preparing and running adventures much easier and less painful ;)
icnivad
11-03-06, 04:34 PM If you have a laptop or computer present, it can be a huge help. I keep pretty much everything on my laptop in a couple of excel spreadsheets (one for the players and the universe, and one for the current adventure/area) and just print off maps and pages that I'll want to referrence quickly. Writing up an adventure on a computer helps as you can move blocks of data around in a more organized manner, rather than having notes in stream-of-though order. A laptop makes it easy to keep track of combat order and monster hit points too.

Another thing to note, is that when I started dming, I had pretty strict adventure outline, but since then I've moved to keeping the game more organic and open. I generally prepare for an adventure by thinking about what's happening in the world around the characters and a few possible events that might happen and guess as to what the caracters are going to do. The players constantly suprise me, so I try not to spend too much time on any one plot path.
Arcen
11-03-06, 05:26 PM Keep a couple of notebooks around so you don't have to keep flipping through the same one to find stuff.
BaneBlade
11-03-06, 06:18 PM here's a few things that I do, but that doesnt mean that they're right or even good ideas :)

First, when you're writing an adventure, try not to focus on every small detail for every room. For the most part, just do general outlines for the minor rooms and encounters and just have a general idea for them. Save your effort for the major encounters. This is because no matter how well you plan, the party will never do what you think they will. If you spend hours on a cool room encounter...they will never in a million years go to that room, and then the effort is wasted.

Second, keep a small notepad and a pencil with you at ALL TIMES. You never know when a cool idea is going to come to you and you wanna be able to write it done for later.

Third, read the plot outlines to bad B movies. Some of the ideas make for cool adventure ideas even if the movie itself sucks. Besides, if they're bad enough, chances are none of your players have seen it and it won't spoil it. On the other hand, do NOT make adventures with the same story line as popular movies. An adventure to drop a powerful ring in a volcano will probably not go over well.

Fourth, A laptop is your friend. Make a doc file for adventure ideas, one for bad guy stats, one with room descriptions along with monster ideas for those rooms(dont worry about listing all their stats, thats what the MM is for) and one to keep a log of what has happened in the adventure if you want.

Oh, and search the internet for all kinds of cool generic maps for you to download, that was you always have some on hand
icnivad
11-03-06, 06:26 PM also, remember that you only need to have specifics planned out for the next session. not the whole adventure/campaign. Don't spend a lot of time designing a tower of the bbeg that the players might not even get to by some change of plan on their part.

Post/Author/DateTime	Post
Maestro3030 10-30-06, 08:58 PM	Hi all, I'm reasonably new to DMing (I've run 3-4 adventures). The adventures I've run so far are fun (when I finally get around to them ;)) but I always get a bit lost in the preparation of them. My adventures look like such a mess on my notepad, with stats, maps and little notes all over the place. When we play, I spend half the time paging through my notes and rulebooks looking for obscure bits of information. It's hard to know just how much information I'm going to need before we start playing. I'm just wondering how everyone else handles setting out their adventures in their notes so it's easier to handle and find stuff. Cheers :)
Silmon 10-30-06, 09:24 PM	Organization, Organization, organization :P I prefer to write my own material. First I star with an outline and then more into a module formate based off of the outline. I place things in the sequence that I think the party will go with by the adventure hooks that I put in play. This starts with any info about the background, NPC's, etc and then move on to an area map along with a couple of pages following that with any notes, encounters, communities,etc. Then a map of the adventure area with more info like above. This method continues on through the dungeon (level map followed by a couple of pages of encounters, items, etc), villages and the like. I do make room for additions, or variances depending upon the path that my players follow. Major NPC's I put on a 4x6 index card with all of their info and items or on an actual stat block page at the end of my notebook. All of my dungeons that I stock are just critters, traps, and anything special. The descriptions of these areas I make up as I go along. This allows me to gauge the reaction of my players to the tone of the game I am trying to achieve. Besides, for me anyway, reading a description just doesnt have the same captive/enthralling ability that a good flowing description does while making eye contact with your players. The better that you can involve the senses (sight, smells, temperature, etc) the better your players will get a mental picture of what you are describing. This takes practice but is worth it when you see the players flinch :D . Hope this helps.
MaximumPain 10-30-06, 10:04 PM	I have some of the same issues as you do. I do try to seperate into several things. 1) I keep a totaly seperate notebook for player experiance, magic items, and other notes specific to what that party is doing. If there are more then one party running in the same world they each get a note book. 2) I make encounter sheets on 3 ring binder paper so I can pull out the encounter I want when I need it. I usualy try to make a few random encounters each session and a few specific to what I think the party will be doing. The random encounters have a great re-use value so I keep them in a folder in a 3 ring binder. 3) My actual adventures/dungeons I create on 3 ring binder paper and keep in a 3 ring binder. Ive also used notebooks but after a while you end up with 40+ notebooks and cant find what you are looking for or bring the wrong one to the session. Over the years Ive built up many home brewed dungeons and can frequently recycle maps and NPCs for new players. 4) Campagne stuff tends to be the most scatered as I work on various parts at different times and almost nothing is actualy finished. I like to start small and create a city/town and the region around it first. Then I create the major NPCs the party will know about and/or deal with. This helps me create a few starter adventures. After/during the first 1-2 adventures I create the basic politics/conflicts that drive the region often reverse linking them to the first adventures. Once the party is established I change to a top down approrch and create some of the larger scale players and there goals. This allows me to get some kind of long term goals for the party. All of this stuff tends to get mixed together and confused. Sorry I rambled...:D My sugestion is to invest in some kind of large 3 ring binder with folders. Then devide the folders into characters, current adventure, past adventures, and campaign stuff. At least you will only have to look in one place. I really need to figure out how to do all of this on the laptop. Good luck and happy gaming. M.P.
Thubby 10-30-06, 10:08 PM	the easiest way i keep it together, deviders. names of places (and short hand descriptions) in one page people in another, and my world items. then in the back i have in depth.
TheWerg 10-30-06, 11:20 PM	If you're really having problems with sifting through your notes in-game, why don't you just reorganize everything before the game into a nice, neat adventure? Just take everything you wrote and rewrite it in a more organized form.
dmjacques 10-30-06, 11:27 PM	This will most likely not help but I handle my sessions the same way as you do and im not all that new( wierd yes but it helps me stay focused) except the whole looking up things part
TheWerg 10-30-06, 11:29 PM	Jacques, you might want to consider an sblock in your sig. That thing is friggin massive.
pukunui 10-31-06, 04:32 AM	Hi all, I'm reasonably new to DMing (I've run 3-4 adventures). The adventures I've run so far are fun (when I finally get around to them ;)) but I always get a bit lost in the preparation of them. My adventures look like such a mess on my notepad, with stats, maps and little notes all over the place. When we play, I spend half the time paging through my notes and rulebooks looking for obscure bits of information. It's hard to know just how much information I'm going to need before we start playing. I'm just wondering how everyone else handles setting out their adventures in their notes so it's easier to handle and find stuff. Cheers :) I use a laptop. Makes it super easy. It's also fun to hook it up to the TV so I can show the players maps and pictures and things without having to print them off. You just have to make sure you don't spend more time looking at the computer than you do interacting with your players.
CroBob 10-31-06, 04:43 AM	I guess I'm abnormal. The only thing I really need to write down are specifics. NPCs and Monsters are easy to generate spontaniously, and key NPC can easily be given small character sheets of their own. That, plus some maps, and you should be set. After every few sessions, your notes will run amuck, though. Rewrite the important ones (still or possibly still pertinent ones) on a sheet of paper and put it in a folder. Before putting it in the folder, go through the folder to see if you still need everything in it. This folder is your important stuff folder, so don't lose it. Everything else is just notes and scribbles.
White_Wizard 10-31-06, 01:33 PM	Hi all, I'm reasonably new to DMing (I've run 3-4 adventures). The adventures I've run so far are fun (when I finally get around to them ;)) but I always get a bit lost in the preparation of them. My adventures look like such a mess on my notepad, with stats, maps and little notes all over the place. When we play, I spend half the time paging through my notes and rulebooks looking for obscure bits of information. It's hard to know just how much information I'm going to need before we start playing. I'm just wondering how everyone else handles setting out their adventures in their notes so it's easier to handle and find stuff. Cheers :) I put on paper a tree structure that develops my adventure when I have the idea, then I put it down on computer and develop it using writing programs, so I can easily correct what's wrong before printing the final result. I use a table very similar to that of an official adventure, with readaloud text and lists of check required/monsters etc. Here is an example of a fictionary location 21 in a dungeon: 21) Readaloud text: "evocative description of the place; we have two mind flayers in it" There's also a trap in the room - Trap: how the trap works, Disable Device/Search DCs; Damage dealt, any other useful info. There are two doors in the room: one is that from which the PCs enter, the other is locked - locked door: stone, hardness 8, 60 hp, break DC 28, Pick Lock DC 30. Monters - mind flayers (2): AC, hp, atk. modifier, damage, salient SA and their DCs (this is a bit more complete than official adventures, and it saves the day when many combat scenes will occur in a row). tactics: how the mind flayers prepare themselves and fight. treasure: what will be left after mayhem and bloodshed. I put on paper statistics for every monster present (even those that are the same to MM, so I can use a pencil to modify them in a minute if needed - trust me this is useful, becuase not always the ECL will be perfectly balanced and some last minute adjustment either to boost them up or down could be necessary). These stats are very complete. Monster name: type (subtype), class, CR, HD, hp, speed(s), initiative, AC, bab, melee full atk(s) (damage and notes, type of weapon), ranged full atk(s) (damage and notes, type of weapon), SA, SQ, Alignment, ST F R W; Str, Dex, Con, Int, Wis, Cha. Abilities and feats: abilities; feats. Possessions: list of possessions. Spells prepared/known: (number of spells per level x/x/x/x/x/x/x/x, DC, notes on specializations, domain and focus, with additional DCs if neccessary) spells known or written in the spellbook 0 - jfndskjdsk; - 1 - fdshdkjusk; 2 - fdsuodsuioaks; various notes: domain powers, Special Attacks detailed description, poison, roleplay hints... Then I prepare a lot of maps, using different colors to highlight secret passages, traps, relevant elements.
Maestro3030 11-03-06, 12:52 AM	Thanks guys. This advice has all been great. I've been trying to figure out a way I can put this on a laptop, but haven't yet had the time to sit down and write it all down. When I'm on my laptop, I tend to get distracted, looking at pdfs of various DnD books, reading these forums, chatting on MSN, hehe. Anyway, I'll make sure to keep this all in mind. It should hopefully make preparing and running adventures much easier and less painful ;)
icnivad 11-03-06, 04:34 PM	If you have a laptop or computer present, it can be a huge help. I keep pretty much everything on my laptop in a couple of excel spreadsheets (one for the players and the universe, and one for the current adventure/area) and just print off maps and pages that I'll want to referrence quickly. Writing up an adventure on a computer helps as you can move blocks of data around in a more organized manner, rather than having notes in stream-of-though order. A laptop makes it easy to keep track of combat order and monster hit points too. Another thing to note, is that when I started dming, I had pretty strict adventure outline, but since then I've moved to keeping the game more organic and open. I generally prepare for an adventure by thinking about what's happening in the world around the characters and a few possible events that might happen and guess as to what the caracters are going to do. The players constantly suprise me, so I try not to spend too much time on any one plot path.
Arcen 11-03-06, 05:26 PM	Keep a couple of notebooks around so you don't have to keep flipping through the same one to find stuff.
BaneBlade 11-03-06, 06:18 PM	here's a few things that I do, but that doesnt mean that they're right or even good ideas :) First, when you're writing an adventure, try not to focus on every small detail for every room. For the most part, just do general outlines for the minor rooms and encounters and just have a general idea for them. Save your effort for the major encounters. This is because no matter how well you plan, the party will never do what you think they will. If you spend hours on a cool room encounter...they will never in a million years go to that room, and then the effort is wasted. Second, keep a small notepad and a pencil with you at ALL TIMES. You never know when a cool idea is going to come to you and you wanna be able to write it done for later. Third, read the plot outlines to bad B movies. Some of the ideas make for cool adventure ideas even if the movie itself sucks. Besides, if they're bad enough, chances are none of your players have seen it and it won't spoil it. On the other hand, do NOT make adventures with the same story line as popular movies. An adventure to drop a powerful ring in a volcano will probably not go over well. Fourth, A laptop is your friend. Make a doc file for adventure ideas, one for bad guy stats, one with room descriptions along with monster ideas for those rooms(dont worry about listing all their stats, thats what the MM is for) and one to keep a log of what has happened in the adventure if you want. Oh, and search the internet for all kinds of cool generic maps for you to download, that was you always have some on hand
icnivad 11-03-06, 06:26 PM	also, remember that you only need to have specifics planned out for the next session. not the whole adventure/campaign. Don't spend a lot of time designing a tower of the bbeg that the players might not even get to by some change of plan on their part.