Dieser Abschnitt ist ein Sammelsurium verschiedenster Ideen und kommt nicht nur von Johnn Four, einige Abschnitte stammen auf den Spielleiterkapiteln von PnP-Regelwerken.
Planung #
Adventure Name #
Either working title or real name
Background Notes #
Key elements of the events that have lead up to the triggering of the adventure for the PCs. It could be a history, or just notes about how the villain's involved and how other adventure elements are involved.
Agents #
Types of Dangers #
- Ambitious Organizations
- Planar Forces
- Arcane Enemies
- Hordes
- Cursed Places
Ambitious Organizations #
- Misguided Good (impulse: to do what is “right” no matter the cost)
- Thieves Guild (impulse: to take by subterfuge)
- Cult (impulse: to infest from within)
- Religious Organization (impulse: to establish and follow doctrine)
- Corrupt Government (impulse: to maintain the status quo)
- Cabal (impulse: to absorb those in power, to grow)
GM Moves for Ambitious Organizations
- Attack someone by stealthy means (kidnapping, etc.)
- Attack someone directly (with a gang or single assailant)
- Absorb or buy out someone important (an ally, perhaps)
- Influence a powerful institution (change a law, manipulate doctrine)
- Establish a new rule (within the organization)
- Claim territory or resources
- Negotiate a deal
- Observe a potential foe in great detail
Planar Forces #
- God (impulse: to gather worshippers)
- Demon Prince (impulse: to open the gates of Hell)
- Elemental Lord (impulse: to tear down creation to its component parts)
- Force of Chaos (impulse: to destroy all semblance of order)
- Choir of Angels (impulse: to pass judgement)
- Construct of Law (impulse: to eliminate perceived disorder)
GM Moves for Planar Forces
- Turn an organization (corrupt or infiltrate with influence)
- Give dreams of prophecy
- Lay a Curse on a foe
- Extract a promise in exchange for a boon
- Attack indirectly, through intermediaries
- Rarely, when the stars are right, attack directly
- Foster rivalries with other, similar powers
- Expose someone to a Truth, wanted or otherwise
Arcane Enemies #
- Lord of the Undead (impulse: to seek true immortality)
- Power-mad Wizard (impulse: to seek magical power)
- Sentient Artifact (impulse: to find a worthy wielder)
- Ancient Curse (impulse: to ensnare)
- Chosen One (impulse: to fulfill or resent their destiny)
- Dragon (impulse: to hoard gold and jewels, to protect the clutch)
GM Moves for Arcane Enemies
- Learn forbidden knowledge
- Cast a spell over time and space
- Attack a foe with magic, directly or otherwise
- Spy on someone with a scrying spell
- Recruit a follower or toady
- Tempt someone with promises
- Demand a sacrifice
Hordes #
- Wandering Barbarians (impulse: to grow strong, to drive their enemies before them)
- Humanoid Vermin (impulse: to breed, to multiply and consume)
- Underground Dwellers (impulse: to defend the complex from outsiders)
- Plague of the Undead (impulse: to spread)
GM Moves for Hordes
- Assault a bastion of civilization
- Embrace internal chaos
- Change direction suddenly
- Overwhelm a weaker force
- Perform a show of dominance
- Abandon an old home, find a new one
- Grow in size by breeding or conquest
- Appoint a champion
- Declare war and act upon that declaration without hesitation or deliberation
Cursed Places #
- Abandoned Tower (impulse: to draw in the weak-willed)
- Unholy Ground (impulse: to spawn evil)
- Elemental Vortex (impulse: to grow, to tear apart reality)
- Dark Portal (impulse: to disgorge demons)
- Shadowland (impulse: to corrupt or consume the living)
- Place of Power (impulse: to be controlled or tamed)
GM Moves for Cursed Places
- Vomit forth a lesser monster
- Spread to an adjacent place
- Lure someone in
- Grow in intensity or depth
- Leave a lingering effect on an inhabitant or visitor
- Hide something from sight
- Offer power
- Dampen magic or increase its effects
- Confuse or obfuscate truth or direction
- Corrupt a natural law
Define grim portents and impending dooms for all your factions (do not need to be that negative but to gain an idea of how they want to interact with the world)
Impending Doom #
At the end of every danger’s path is an impending doom. This is the final toll of the bell that signals the danger’s triumphant resolution. When a grim portent comes to pass the impending doom grows stronger, more apparent and present in the world. These are the very bad things that every danger, in some way, seeks to bring into effect. Choose one of the types of impending dooms and give it a concrete form in your front. These often change in play, as the characters meddle in the affairs of the world. Don’t fret, you can change them later.
Tyranny (of the strong over the weak or the few over the many) Pestilence (the spread of sickness and disease, the end of wellness) Destruction (apocalypse, ruin and woe) Usurpation (the chain of order comes apart, someone rightful is displaced) Impoverishment (enslavement, the abandonment of goodness and right) Rampant Chaos (laws of reality, of society, or any order is dissolved) When all of the grim portents of a danger come to pass, the impending doom sets in. The danger is then resolved but the setting has changed in some meaningful way. This will almost certainly change the front at large as well. Making sure that these effects reverberate throughout the world is a big part of making them feel real.
Grim Portents #
Grim portents are dark designs for what could happen if a danger goes unchecked. Think about what would happen if the danger existed in the world but the PCs didn’t—if all these awful things you’ve conjured up had their run of the world. Scary, huh? The grim portents are your way to codify the plans and machinations of your dangers. A grim portent can be a single interesting event or a chain of steps. When you’re not sure what to do next, push your danger towards resolving a grim portent.
More often than not grim portents have a logical order. The orcs tear down the city only after the peace talks fail, for example. A simple front will progress from bad to worse to much worse in a clear path forward. Sometimes, grim portents are unconnected pathways to the impending doom. The early manifestations of danger might not all be related. It’s up to you to decide how complex your front will be. Whenever a danger comes to pass, check the other dangers in the front. In a complex front, you may need to cross off or alter the grim portents. That’s fine, you’re allowed. Keep scale in mind, too. Grim portents don’t all have to be world-shaking. They can simply represent a change in direction for a danger. Some new way for it to cause trouble in the world.
Think of your grim portents as possible moves waiting in the wings. When the time is right, unleash them on the world.
When a grim portent comes to pass, check it off—the prophecy has come true! A grim portent that has come to pass might have ramifications for your other fronts, too. Have a quick look when your players aren’t demanding your attention and feel free to make changes. One small grim portent may resound across the whole campaign in subtle ways.
You can advance a grim portent descriptively or prescriptively. Descriptively means that you’ve seen the change happen during play, so you mark it off. Maybe the players sided with the goblin tribes against their lizardman enemies—now the goblins control the tunnels. Lo and behold, this was the next step in a grim portent. Prescriptive is when, due to a failed player move or a golden opportunity, you advance the grim portent as your hard move. That step comes to pass, show its effects and keep on asking, “What do you do, now?”
Theme #
Example themes are horror, comedy, mystery, revenge.
You create a theme so you can try to make all parts of your adventure resonate with this single mood or atmosphere. This makes your adventure feel like a cohesive story and a connected experience.
Dramatic Question: PCs, GM #
I think the best way to get a handle on this in gaming terms is to read Angry GM's post on it:
My take on it is, this technique helps you get into the minds of players to figure out what actions they might take and decisions they might make. If you go through this exercise for the adventure and also for each encounter, you will build a more robust adventure that anticipates the players better and is likely to be more fun as a result.
The Crucible #
What are the borders, boundaries, or edges of the adventure? What will limit the story.
A glass of water without edges is just a puddle of water. The sides and bottom of the glass - the crucible - hold the water. Likewise, we want to figure out the sides of our adventure so we know what the story is about.
For example, my adventure is taking place in a valley. Your might be with the PCs trapped in a dungeon. Or maybe there's a deadline before the volcano explodes. Or maybe it's the character's love for the villagers that makes them stick around and protect them.
Special Conditions (Plot Overlays) #
Are there any custom game mechanics, in-game situations, or special effects? An example would be magic stops working. For me, I'm thinking it's a zombie plague that grows.
This is a bit like the Crucible, except I feel a Crucible is about hard edges, and Special Conditions do not necessarily have to define any of the story's borders or boundaries.
Key Locations (Major Locations and Sub-Locations) #
An example in my adventure would be Tomar's Crossing - the PC's home base village. From Score, I also know I need at least three dungeons. I'll also add items from my ideas and bucket list here.
Eventually, these Key Locations will become settings for events and encounters, and my hope for my module is some Key Locations will get used multiple times.
Key NPCs (Allies, Neutrals, Minor Villains, Villain Minions) #
Who can help? Who can you use as plot devices, quest givers, clue providers, merchants, and other things characters might need or want in the adventure?
And who might hinder? Note, it's ok to have multiple villains who aren't connected. The mad scientist in the cave might have nothing to do with the vampire plotting revenue(?) from his prison. That said, there's nothing wrong with villains connecting during the adventure, and becoming allies (zoiks!) or enemies the PCs can pit against each other.
Neutrals are opportunities. The PCs should have a chance to make friends or enemies of these people. These NPCs are the "Undecided voters" at adventure start. What the PCs do should have consequences for the regard Neutrals have for them.
Monsters #
If your adventure is going to have creatures, horrors, or aliens, list them here.
Traps, Hazards, Dilemmas #
Put ideas you have to make encounters interesting. Also start thinking about how NPCs and monsters will defend themselves.
Treasures & Rewards #
Money, magic, equipment. Gem, jewelry, and art. These are all great rewards. However, also think about how you can reward characters and players in other ways during the adventure. Remember, reward behavior you want to get more of it.
Twists, Secrets & Mysteries #
List ideas here. You might write some in stone, and others are possibilities that might trigger as the adventure unfolds. Here's an article with twist design patterns you might find useful:
Grand Finale Ideas #
We cannot proscribe an ending. While an ending might be simple, likely, and obvious, we cannot assume the adventure will culminate that way, because players do unexpected things, and dice generate unexpected results.
So use this section to think about alternate endings to help give you ideas during your encounter design.
Character Hooks & Campaign Integration #
Why should the players care? What's in it for them? Key questions to answer for your campaign.
Also, what are possible connections between the people, places, and things in your adventure and your setting? Make as many connections as possible, as if each connection was a stitch binding two tissues so that over time the tissues grow to be one.