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Post by DM Nim ToastHater on Jul 6, 2017 18:03:08 GMT
Hi guys, I'm a bit new here and a new DM. So far I've almost completed one run through of a custom HotDQ (starting chapter 8 as soon as I have time to prep...haha). Been around since 3.x, most of my contact with the game has been theorycrafting. Played in a hand full of games over the years, but never to completion.
I'm looking for some help or guidance to start building my own adventures. A single encounter isn't an issue. Stringing them together into a cohesive adventure is. I have gobs of creativity when it comes to mechanical stuff in the game, but I am no thespian.
Big on research...but not on reading (personal issue, don't really wanna talk about it). The DMG is useful but boring as hell. I'm just reaching out for different methods of adventure building to try out.
Thanks in advance for any help.
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dmdemon
Commoner
Your Friendly Neighborhood Demon
Posts: 19 
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Post by dmdemon on Jul 7, 2017 16:02:09 GMT
How many players? What kind of Setting? What kind of players do you have(RP of Mechanics types)? I think stringing encounters together into a story is the wrong way to look at. Take a story and build encounters that tell the story.
Example: I gave a player an Item, "told him to take it to the Fist of Kralan in the Northwest and not to tell anyone". I then put all the players on caravan duty heading northwest and threw them into an encounter just to get them to know each other. End of caravan journey the players are attacked by a group of tieflings demanding the "egg". No one really knows what the egg is, not even the tieflings trying to get it.
Ass hole tieflings will stop at nothing to get the item, Players bring item to "Fist of Kralan Cult"... PLOT TWIST... The tieflings were the good guys. Oops...
I'd love to help you out. so dump some more info.
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Post by DM Nim ToastHater on Jul 8, 2017 2:54:59 GMT
How many players? What kind of Setting? What kind of players do you have(RP of Mechanics types)? Basically, just looking to write up a couple of one-off adventures. Standard group dynamic and size in mind (4-6 players, mix of RP and Mechanics). Level range will be all over the place. I think stringing encounters together into a story is the wrong way to look at. Take a story and build encounters that tell the story. 100% Agreed. I was using encounter as a general term. What I'm trying to figure out is how can I tailor the adventure to fit within a time constraint (I understand that the players are an unknown variable that can change the desired outcome). Initially, what I'm looking to get help for from this post is to create a couple of adventures that can be completed within a short amount of time. The story part shouldn't be too difficult to figure out (although I won't turn away any ideas). Just seeing if I can get a sense of control over how long the adventure will take. The setting is still in the works, TL;DR version, it's Eberron + MTG with a **** load of geek culture thrown in. The main theme of the adventures will be...Slivers. I've got a big Sliver supplement that I've been working on, and I need to get some testing done on the creatures. One of my goals for the supplement is to include a lair adventure based on most of the "greater slivers" that are in it (Queen, Hivelord, Overlord, and Engine). Long-term, I'm hoping that this helps with my writer's block and I can finally put pen to paper (so to speak) and write my first adventure or twelve. The first of many building blocks, haha. I may be over-thinking it a bit, but it's kinda what I do... |
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dmdemon
Commoner
Your Friendly Neighborhood Demon
Posts: 19
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Post by dmdemon on Jul 8, 2017 4:37:50 GMT
I run 2 4+hour games every other sunday. 12 to 4 and 5 to 10ish. Timing is always a finicky thing. (Some times the players spend a lot of time finding out who screamed, why they screamed, and they're complete backstory that led to the screaming.)
The trick to timing is checkpoints. Multiple spots that you can stop the game with out breaking the flow too much. Just after a battle or skills challenge. Or just before a battle (Cliff hanger moment). End of my last game: The party steps into the teleportation circle to return home, NPC runs in shouting "Don't use the teleporter with the..." The party finds themselves falling into a pit of hot ash. The bard looks around and does a knowledge check and I say "looks like the plane of elemental fire, yep, probably the plane of elemental fire. That's it for today."
ok so building an adventure: hook, journey, action, revelation, cliffhanger(Aka another hook).
Hook: The party are traveling in/through the ______, When ______ happens/Attacks.
Journey: The trail/badguys ran off to the ______, which is through the ______, and pass the ______.
Action: Big fight with the _____.
Revelation: Turns out the ______ was just a minion of _______.
Cliffhanger: The trail/sound if from ______.
help me with the blanks.
Is this helping? Or am I way off track?
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Post by friartook on Jul 10, 2017 20:39:40 GMT
It might help to clarify what you mean by "timing". Are you trying to figure out how to run a one-shot, to be finished in one session? Or, are you trying to time manage a long form campaign, to be finished in many sessions?
More clearly: When you say "timing", what is your unit of measurement? Hours, sessions, months, etc.?
A tricky aspect of this is that most of that sort of time management happens on fly, by the DM. Its not necessarily baked into the adventure, although some adventures are meant to be one-shots and some are meant to last many sessions.
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Post by DM Nim ToastHater on Jul 11, 2017 4:07:57 GMT
Heh. Guess I have less of a clue than I thought I did.
Yeah, basically how much "content" fills up how much "time" (generally speaking). How dense should a one-shot be vs a multiple session adventure? I might be looking for too much control.
I'm just looking to write easy to use material for others to use, to test the creatures in the supplement I'm working on. Then provide feedback on said creatures. I've tried to outsource the play testing because I have little time to game myself. Every time I reach out (on facebook), I get people willing to help me ... as long as I write an adventure for them to use them in. I've never written an adventure, and am struggling to devote time to figuring out how (haha).
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Post by friartook on Jul 11, 2017 20:17:40 GMT
As far as I know, there is no hard and fast way to gauge how much time a piece of written material will take in game time. I think there are too many variables.
For example, say you insert an NPC; a shop keeper who sells precious baubles and antiques. That encounter may take 5 minutes of game time; get in, sell the item you have/get the info you need (whatever), players move on.
But...say you have "that one player". You know the one, the player who has to talk to every. Single. NPC. This player wants to hear all about the shop's stock; what sort of baubles? Where did they come from? Who made them? What materials are they made of? Oh, the Gnomes of Bald Mountain craft them from rare jade? I want a new ornament for my helmet! SIDE QUEST! What sort of antiques? Are any of them linked to the lost Dragonborn civilization alluded to by the Pirate King from three sessions ago? Some are?! SIDE QUEST! Who is the shopkeeper related to? What's their family like? What?! Their sister went missing last month? SIDE QUEST!
A single social encounter can last an entire game session if you have players who are into that.
Rather than concern yourself with time, concern yourself with character advancement. Most modules are set up to carry characters through a level range. Players start at level X, encounters are balanced for that level at the start, and provide a certain amount of XP. The encounters get harder as you work through the module and the characters gain XP and level up. Provide those materials to GMs for playtesting, then ask them how long a given section took to work through. That info could be part of your playtest feedback.
I feel like you are looking for an "hours of gameplay" number, like video games give. TTRPGs are way too open ended for such estimates (in my opinion/experience anyway).
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Post by DM Nim ToastHater on Jul 12, 2017 0:50:22 GMT
Ok, I see what you're saying. I'm looking at it from the wrong perspective.
This helps a lot.
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Post by friartook on Jul 12, 2017 17:43:38 GMT
Ok, I see what you're saying. I'm looking at it from the wrong perspective. This helps a lot. Glad I could help! Good luck and remember to keep it fun. If it feels like work, and you're not getting paid, then what's the point, right? |
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Post by DM Nim ToastHater on Jul 15, 2017 22:22:19 GMT
I enjoy the entire process, including the research and learning. I'd like to see if I can turn this into a fruitful hobby.
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Post by DM Nim ToastHater on Jul 21, 2017 16:56:29 GMT
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