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Creating Your Own Adventures; Authored by EuroSlavia & Dread Lady Nathicana
Topic Started: Jul 25 2010, 12:26 PM (50 Views)
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Creating Your Own Adventures



Starting a Campaign But Don't Know Where to Begin? Here Are a Few Suggestions To Start the Creative Process.

Many people begin their journeys by running pre-written modules. It's a good way to get their feet wet, learning the skills and secrets of controlling your own RP without having to worry about creating the story as well. Too soon, however, the impulse to create their own adventures and to put their own personal spins on these worlds take over. But where should they start? These are some points to consider as you try to run your own adventure.
It is quite easy and understandable to become overwhelmed with trying to do everything at once. There are so many variables you have to account for. What you need to do is focus. Where is the best place to start? Okay, the easy part: decide what type of adventure you want to run. Usually you already know what type of system or genre you are interested in running, or what the players want. Together with your friends, you decide it would be fun to run a good old fashioned western type adventure. There is nothing like the code of the old west. Next, decide where it will take place and the basic goal of your adventure.

For this beginning adventure you have decided on a simple quest. Your players have entered a neighboring town because there have been rumors of strange things going on. The basic goal is for your fellow RP’ers to find out what is happening. Sounds pretty simple. Now you explore the plot a little further. How did they hear about this problem? Were they hired by someone or is there a personal reason to get involved with the residents of the town. What is happening in the town? Are the residents part of the plot or are they being coerced? If it's a nefarious plot who is the mastermind behind it? Who will the PCs meet on their journey, and will those people be helpful or try to stop them? Is the only possible accomplishment information gathering or can they possibly help solve the problem?

After you start to put those basic plot points together you can work at how intricate you want the adventure to be. First of all, you can work on Non-player characters (NPCs). These are the characters run by the RP-creator, who the players will meet or interact with. If you are like me, you enjoy the roleplaying aspect of gaming more than the actual fighting, so creation of these NPCs is incredibly important. Just fill in the details about this character's life.

• Is he from the town or is he visiting?
• What is this person's family like? Does he have siblings? Are his parents alive? Is he married and does he have children?
• What are his motivations and aspirations? What events brought those wants and desires into being?
• What can this character do (both for fun and for a living)?
• What are this characters goals for the future, is he working on anything specific?
• What oddities or quirks does this person have. We all take some sort of disability or Achilles Heel. What is it for this person? Is he overconfident? Does he habitually lie? Does he trust everyone and everything?
• What is the character's basic personality - Does he react to specific things?
• Appearance – What will your fellow RP’ers see when they first meet him?

I know these seem like unimportant, maybe even boring aspects for building these characters, but the richer the detail you have for the NPCs the richer will be the dialogue within the game itself. You would be surprised how much material flows naturally once you have a basic idea of an individual. And this way, you, as the RP-creator, do not have to prepare specific dialogues for each fellow RP’er, it will all come out with the interaction.

Next you can plan out general obstacles the players will meet along the way. Most important is deciding how intricate you want their experiences to be. You can make them very simple or straightforward or you can have a series of interlinking clues that build on each other. Warning: Players DO NOT always do what you think. Always have a back-up clue or key to the mystery should the players not interpret it correctly, or walk right past it. Therefore, you really need to keep track so you can lead the wandering band of fellow RP’ers back on the correct path, or at least in (mostly) the same direction.

Some RP-creators and players like to have maps and drawings to give a better idea on what is going on. Here is a big controversy. How much detail do you put into your maps. It may be a good idea to make a map that isn’t too detailed, so that if one of the characters gets lost, they’ll be able to improvise their way back to the group.

It's really all about flexibility. You can never ascertain what your players may decide to do, so you need to be ready for anything. The more playable your preparation the more adaptable and ready you will be. Sure you can prepare things like NPC interaction possibilities. But I would not write out specific conversations or speeches. Your fellow RP’ers may just not ask questions where those come out and then you are trying to force it. Believe me, having been on the receiving end, that can be so frustrating as a player. You feel stifled and forced to follow your RP-creators’ path. Better to conceive the TYPE of answer and a general idea of what they would react to. And it's not exactly thrilling to put in HOURS of work writing specific details only to have to throw it out the window.

Being flexible allows both you and your players the freedom to take the adventure on a whole different level, to interact and play off each other. Once you have the basics in place, I can almost guarantee the roleplaying will come more naturally and be more satisfying.

Copied 25 July 2010 from NS Forum "Rolelaying Tips & Suggestions" orginally posted by Euroslavia and last edited by Dread Lady Nathicana on Sat May 16, 2009.
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Creating a Scenario...Be Prepared




Do a little research – I always do my homework before I start a game. It makes for a better developed, more intriguing scenario.

Complement your scenario – Add to the mood. If you are playing in a horror campaign, bring some atmospheric music, or lower the lights. Playing by candlelight can add to the exhilaration when your players are discovering the truth about the C'thulu mythos. There are many other touches you can bring. Don't be afraid to experiment.

Be the final arbitrator – When it comes down to it, you are the final judge. Do not let the players intimidate you into changing your mind. You can definitely admit if you've made a mistake, nobody is perfect after all. But do not allow yourself to be swayed because you want everyone to like your decision. That is just not going to happen. Just make sure your decisions are fair. For example if there is a contest between Selena and Boris, both magic users. Let the roleplaying, skills, and the rolls speak for themselves. Do not give the edge to one over the other just because you like the character better. If your players see you are a fair arbiter, they will come to trust your instinct and judgment.
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Limit the number of players

When you are first learning how to create your own RP, you have so many different items to keep track of, the NPCs, the flow of the story, adversaries, and many more. If you allow too many player characters into a game, it's hard to make sure that every single one is accounted for. I have found that for a good game you should have between 4 and 6 players. It's a good number and it leaves room for good interplay with rarely anyone getting lost in the shuffle. This of course leads to the next point:

Keeping your Players Interested

Other ways of keeping your players interested:

Creative NPCs – Make sure that your NPCs are not generic. Give each one a distinct possibility and roleplay those differences. Do not hesitate to go for nontraditional gender roles or other "differences." It will keep your players on their toes.

Ask your players for advice – I think this is one of the hardest. You may feel nervous about asking for advice, fearing to lose authority. But, sometimes, you run out of ideas. You have a group that can help you. It has nothing to do with your knowledge of the game. Make it clear that you are still the referee, you just want some input. It will really help your players feel a part of the creative process. And besides, they will see for themselves, its not always that easy to come up with ideas. A new respect will grow from this.

Reward Creativity
Make sure that the only answer to a solution is not being sliced by Bart's dagger. If the players are crafty, they make find a way around the problem you were stumping them with. Even if the idea had never occurred to you, if its intelligent and well thought out, let it work. Show them that roleplaying is not only beating up the bad guy. Maybe the villain is too hard to actually beat in combat so the players need to think of a new way around the problem. See how the players handle some loss and if they regroup and make the best of the situation. As you gain in experience you can give your players new and exciting challenges to deal with.

Keep it Simple
As you can see in the previous paragraph, by no means am I saying you cannot have puzzles, riddles or a couple of subplots or plot twists brewing. There is nothing more satisfying than being in a group that has just figured out the set of clues or exhilarating as a creative plot twist. But be careful. I have seen many Role-Players have so many subplots going on that the main storyline is lost. Unless players are mindreaders they may not see where this is all leading. Both players and the RP-creator can get frustrated at this point and the story get stranded. Too many red herrings makes players wary of trusting the RP-creator. Don't get carried away. And the most important issue:

Have fun with it!

Remember, that is the number one reason for roleplaying. It's a game for you and your friends. Relax, trust your instincts, and don't take things too seriously. I have seen many fights break out over unimportant issues. You need to keep this in mind
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