From: johnn@roleplayingtips.

com
Sent: Monday, November 13, 2000 11:38 AM
To: erisrvn@bellsouth.net
Subject: Roleplaying Tips Weekly #49: 10 Ways To Find Inspiration

Roleplaying Tips Weekly E-Zine Issue #49:

Guest Article by Kate Manchester:

10 Ways To Find Inspiration

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SENT BY SUBSCRIPTION ONLY With Compliments
From: Johnn Four, http://www.roleplayingtips.com
mailto:feedback@roleplayingtips.com

CONTENTS:
--> A Brief Word From Johnn

--> This Week's Tips Summarized

1. Read, Read, Read
2. Keep Up On Current Events
3. What If?
4. Get Personal
5. Character Involvement
6. Check Out The Locale
7. Go To The Source Material
8. Search
9. Use Your Imagination
10. Tie-Ins

--> Readers' Tips Of The Week:

First Game Session Tips & The Color Card Trick

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A BRIEF WORD FROM JOHNN

Last week's issue highlighted the problem of players

wrecking the GM's plans by not taking things seriously
enough. There were so many great responses and stories from
you that I could fill an entire issue with them alone!
Thanks!

Also, last Summer, I polled you about your preference

regarding periodically publishing reader submitted tips
either in special ezine issues or extra-long Roleplaying
Tips Weekly issues. The voting was pretty close between the
options, so I'd like to offer you a third option which is a
win/win for everyone I believe.

I have assembled the best tips and emails about players

taking the game seriously into a single email which you can
receive automatically (via autoresponder) by sending a blank
email to:

seriousplayers@roleplayingtips.com
mailto:seriousplayers@roleplayingtips.com
No subject or message necessary. Just send an email to that
address and you'll have the tips in just a minute or two.
This means no one receives extra, unwanted emails, and those
who want the tips can help themselves.

If you have questions, comments or problems about this

method of delivering extra tips to you, email me directly:

johnn@roleplayingtips.com

* * *

FYI, This week's guest article about finding inspiration,

submitted by Kate Manchester, can also be found in the Fall
issue of the Amethyst Circle web zine:

http://www.amethyst-alliance.com/newsletter/current/index.htm

(An excellent zine by the way. I recommend checking it out,

especially the Academy Corner section for good GM advice.)

Cheers,

Johnn Four
mailto:johnn@roleplayingtips.com

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10 WAYS TO FIND INSPIRATION

by Kate Manchester
Copyright 2000
jadeofvegas@yahoo.com

As an administrator of an RPG, be your title Dungeon Master,

Game Master, Story Teller or what have you, perhaps one of
the most difficult tasks you will face is coming up with
adventures for your player characters. While pre-made
adventures can be terrific aids, they are not necessarily
conducive to maintaining the continuity of an extended
campaign and players can read the material in advance and
know how to solve it. In addition, these adventures can be
rather pricey. Not to mention you can only go through "The
Keep on the Borderlands" or "The Succubus Club" so many
times and still make it interesting for your players.

So just where do you look for ideas for adventures? Here are
ten suggestions, in no particular order, which can be
applied to virtually any sort of RPG:

1. Read, Read, Read

===================
Read books not just in the genre of your game but also any
other books that look interesting. With a little work, a
plot from a book can provide an adventure for your players.
Better yet, combine elements from more than one book to
confuse your players that might have read the book in
question. (Of course, I'm certainly NOT suggesting you
plagiarize and use something exactly as written in the book.
If you do that, be sure you mention after the scene is over
what book it's from. After all, you don't want to tell the
players beforehand, so they can read the book and find out
all the twists and turns of your plot)

For example, you might read a story of a prophecy and tailor

it to the background of one or more of the characters. Make
sure the prophecy is repeated, and the adventure is afoot.
This method can of course, also be applied to movies.

2. Keep Up On Current Events

============================
Perhaps not as useful for a fantasy setting, but read the
newspaper for interesting news articles that can either be
used as part of your story or subjected to a What If?
analysis. News is being written every day, so you have a
virtually endless source of possible plot lines. For example,
a story of a cure for a disease could be turned into a story
of danger and intrigue as rival groups vie for control of
the source of the drug, a rare plant found only in a
government protected forest. Perhaps the characters are
assigned to a team to find new locales for the plant, and
accidentally stumble on someone's illegal 'plantation'.

3. What If?
============
This is a question frequently asked by science-fiction
writers. Ask yourself what if? and create an adventure
around it. For example: What if Fantasy Literature were
outlawed? That is the premise of Ray Bradbury's classic
Fahrenheit 451.

4. Get Personal
===============
This is not as easy. Take your personal experiences and let
your imagination expand on them. For example, say you're
walking to class or hanging out with your friends.
Extrapolate upon this. Perhaps on your way you witness a
murder and the dying victim hands you a film container.
Then present this scenario to your players.

Another way to get personal: Take your darker thoughts or

feelings and turn them into an adventure. For example, after
a particularly nasty breakup, I felt jealous towards women
who had a boyfriend. Instead of continuing this negative
thought pattern, I decided to create an adventure for my
game where a female serial killer targets young couples,
killing only the male, and leaving the woman alive to
grieve. As a further twist, I looked for the PC that the
killer would be the most jealous of, and framed that
character for the murders.

It was a very successful scenario and helped in the healing

process.
5. Character Involvement
========================
Insist that your players create backgrounds for their
characters. Then look for possible adventures. Is the
character being pursued by an old enemy? Have the enemy
periodically show up and taunt the character. Was their
lover/mentor/parent/dog killed by someone? Give them a
chance at getting revenge.

Or look for common threads in the characters such as similar

ability levels, skills, what have you. In one campaign I
ran, all the female characters had fairly high appearance
levels, so I created a story of a 'beauty pageant by
gunpoint' with the 'winner' becoming the bad guy's
girlfriend for a year.

6. Check Out The Locale

=======================
If you are setting your game in a more modern setting or one
based on specific fiction works, research the locale for
places of interest that can serve as a springboard for
adventures. For example, if your campaign is set in the
Star Wars milieu, you could have your characters visit the
Mos Eisley Cantina, get caught up in a bar fight, and then
have the losing Imperial officers send stormtroopers to come
in and arrest them.

7. Go To The Source Material

============================
Read those pre-made adventures and use those as stepping
stones for your own campaign. For example, one scenario may
involve a reporter who decides to investigate the
character(s). In my scenario, I had the reporter work for
the bad guys, and he asks the characters to help him write
an 'expose' of the director of a local battered women's
shelter, who he accuses of embezzlement, in an attempt to
discredit her.

8. Search
=========
There are websites that can provide you with inspiration for
plots. One need only look for them. Just make sure that
you let the website's creator know what you're doing if they
specify that all the material is copyrighted and NOT to be
used without their permission. Hit search engines that are
tailored to RPGs or if possible, the specific game you're
interested in and you should be able to come up with some
usable web sites.

9. Use Your Imagination

=======================
If you can recall your dreams in detail, by all means use
them if you can. If your friends talk about dreams they
have, try to use them. For example, if you have a dream of
being chased, try to analyze it. Who was chasing you and
why? If you dream about a monster that scares you, try to
remember what it looks like, what it does, and then spring
the creature on your unsuspecting players.

10. Tie-Ins
===========
If you notice a particular locale or NPC that the players
enjoy, by all means, continue using it. Maybe that annoying
thief, that made off with the party's treasure while they
were sleeping, bumps into the party while trying to elude the
local authorities. Will the party attempt to detain him and
turn him over to them? Or will they use this opportunity to
get even? Besides, if some of your adventures are
connected, your campaign has the illusion of being well
planned way in advance, even if it's not.

To conclude, inspiration for adventures can be found just

about anywhere.

The only limit is your own imagination.

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READERS' TIPS OF THE WEEK:
First Game Session Tips & The Color Card Trick

From: John T.
Tip: First Game Session Tips

* One of the other nice side effects of starting [the

campaign] with a short fight is that it will allow you, as
the GM, to gauge the combat effectiveness of the party. I
often run Fantasy Hero where the combat power of my parties
can be quite low. A mini brawl with a hungry wolf will let
me know how careful I need to be.

* Make sure the first plot hook is really blatant and really
severe. Hooking characters into the first game of a campaign
is really important. Establishing a common ground and making
sure the PCs are grabbed by the adventure makes the play
smoother. After the first session you can let things slide.
In other words, do things like arrest the PC and force them
to clear their names, or run from the law. Whatever...don't
give them an option to escape the plot...at least for the
first session. ;)

====

From: Casey V. Dare

Tip: The Color Card Trick

Using color coded paper/index cards is a great way to

organize notes efficiently, but also can trick the players
and add excitement to the game.
Players watch the GM, and notice when he references note
cards, books, papers, etc. This tells the players
"something is coming" It's akin to every ten minutes or so,
or when there's a lull in the game, looking at players and
saying "Roll" Then leave it at that. But, that roll makes
the players think something is up, and they start looking
around for whatever caused the roll, which could spur the
adventure along.

The same thing with colored note cards. If the GM reserves

red cards for special events, and pulls out a red card, the
players will know something is coming. This is good and bad:
it builds excitement, especially if you pull out the card
and wait a few rounds or turns, and ask players to "roll"
every now and then.

But, it's also bad because the players learn the system and
know when something is coming. But, that's easily defeated
by altering the coding scheme or just pulling out a blank
red card, getting them excited for nothing, then hitting
them with something later one that was written on a plain
white card.

The bottom line is that colors are not only good for
organizing a game, they're also good for adding excitement
in the players minds and are another tool GMs can use to
ensure the game is enjoyed.

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That's it for this week's issue.

Have more fun at every game!

Johnn Four
mailto:johnn@roleplayingtips.com

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