Adventure Creation Handbook (Revised Edition) (Dewm)

e
A d ve n tu r
T h
C re ati o n
Handbook
e
REVISED
Cherie “Jade” Arbuckle

Legal Stuff
Credits
Author: Cherie “Jade” Arbuckle
Editor: Gretchen Romilly Mueller rpgGM.com
Book Design and Layout: Cherie Arbuckle 1421 Broad St. #345
Cover Artist: NJ Huff Fuquay-Varina, NC 27526
Cover Design: Cherie Arbuckle http://www.rpggm.com/
Interior Art: From the following Dover Electronic Clip

Art books: Bookplate Designs, Dragons and Wizards rpgGM.com is an RPG company
which publishes support material
for GMs and players of all rpg
The Adventure Creation Handbook, Revised is © 2013
genres and systems. We publish
Cherie D. Arbuckle, all rights reserved.
all of our books in PDF electronic
format; this allows us to keep our
books affordable to the average
gamer. It also allows us to regularly
Dedication update our books with corrections
and occasionally new content and
To my husband John, without whose dedication and
artwork, free of charge to you, thus
support, this book would never have been written.
avoiding errata. To gain the latest
version of this book, email us at:
jade@rpggm.com.
We love feedback on our products.

Please feel free to leave kuddos or
suggestions for improvement at this
book’s webpage: http://www.rpggm.
com/products/adventure-creation-
handbook/. You can also visit our
blog Evil Machinations (http://
www.rpggm.com/blog/) of GM and
player tips, ideas, and suggestions.
We also publish a newsletter of GM
advice and product news called Beg,
Borrow & Steal. You can sign up for
that on our website as well.
ii The Adventure Creation Handbook, Revised

©2013 rpgGM.com, All rights reserved
Contents

Introduction. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . v The Six W’s. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 15
Why Create Cutom Adventures?. . . . . vii Plot Details. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 20
The Adventure Writing Process. . . . . . . vii Plot Outline. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 20
Chapter 1 Chapter 3
Develop Your Idea . . . . . . . . . . . 1 Build Adventure Events . . . . . 21
Idea 1: Pick Your Players’ Brains. . . . . . . 1 Step 4: Look for Events . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 21
Check Character Backgrounds. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1 Convention Games. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 22
Listen to Player Conversations. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2 The Event Tree. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 22
Idea 2: Use an Idea Map . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2 Creating an Event Tree. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 22
Sample Adventure Idea. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3 Beg, Borrow & Steal. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 23
Idea 3: Limit Your Choices. . . . . . . . . . . . 4 Step 5: The Adventure Outline. . . . . . . 24
Terminology. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5 Keep Only the Good Ones. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 24
What Do Your Players Want?. . . . . . . . . . 6 It’s a Matter of Time. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 25
If You Hate It, They Will Too. . . . . . . . . . . 7 It’s a Matter of Place. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 25
Player Types. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 8 Writing the Outline or Flowchart . . . . . . . . . . . . 25
Mechanics . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 8 Terminology. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 25
Combat Mongers . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 9
Solvers. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 9 Chapter 4
Character Actors. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 9 Write the Adventure . . . . . . . . 29
Storytellers. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 10 The Beginning. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 29
Socialites. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 10 The Middle . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 30
The Climax. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 31
Chapter 2 The End. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 31
Ask and Answer Questions. . . 11 The Next Step. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 32
Step Two: Ask Questions. . . . . . . . . . . . 11
Step 3: Answer Questions. . . . . . . . . . . 11 Chapter 5
Worksheet Question Explanations . . . 12 Running the Adventure . . . . . 33
The Basics . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 12 You Wrote the Adventure, Let the Play-
Concepts. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 13 ers Write the tory. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 33
Plot Archetypes. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 13 Take Notes. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 34
The Adventure Creation Handbook, Revised iii
©2013 by Cherie D. Arbuckle, All rights reserved
Contents
Appendix A:
Menu Adventures. . . . . . . . . . 36
Appendix B:
Using Adventure Seeds. . . . . . 38
Appendix C:
About rpgGM.com. . . . . . . . . . 39
Our Mission. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 39
Jade’s Story. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 39
Product Support. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 39
More from rpgGM.com. . . . . . . . . . . . . 40
Appendix D:
Adventure Worksheet. . . . . ws-1
The Basics. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . ws-1
Concepts. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . ws-1
Who. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . ws-1
What. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . ws-2
When. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . ws-2
Where . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . ws-3
Why . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . ws-3
How . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . ws-4
Plot Details. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . ws-4
Notes. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . ws-5
Plot Outline . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . ws-7
Appendix E:
Adventure Checklist. . . . . . ws-9
iv The Adventure Creation Handbook, Revised


i
Introduction
Y
ou can write adventures. This book will turn to lists of “Adventure Seeds”. I’d find a intrigu-
show you how. ing idea and sit down to write the adventure from it,
I wrote this book to solve a problem. I love only to draw a blank. The idea would always sound
creating new game settings, interesting NPCs, rich cool, but I could never figure out how to translate
and complex game backgrounds, but one thing that idea into an actual adventure. I’d find myself
always stumped me: how to write adventures that thinking: okay, but what actually happens?
my players would enjoy. So, despite my
In my earliest GMing increasing frustration,
years, I stuck to published Terminology
adventures. The problem Adventure seed: a basic idea for a GM
I stuck with reworked
modules for several
was, most of these needed to build an adventure from years until I began run-
.
extensive rewriting to make ning both the Amber
them fit my campaigns; Diceless Roleplaying
usually the rewards were too large, the mix of Game and White Wolf’s World of Darkness. Sud-
encounter types didn’t fit my PCs, or the modules denly I found myself in a situation where there
contained elements that simply didn’t make sense. were few (if any) printed adventures for these
Still, it was better than not having anything for my games and they simply didn’t work for my game at
players to do on Tuesday nights. all. I had to come up with something original, but I
I’d think Surely I can do better. But when I’d still couldn’t get beyond the blank page.
try to write something, I’d find myself staring at What I did get was a marvelous group of players.
a blank page for hours on end. I could come up I could throw them an idea to and they’d take off
with a basic idea, interesting NPCs, and an idea of and run with it. All I had to do was keep up. Run-
where it all fit in the game world. What I couldn’t ning those games taught me how to GM well on the
come up with was what the PCs would actually do— fly. But while I got very good at improvising NPCs
what sequence of events and monsters they would and determining the outcomes of PCs’ actions off–
encounter during the adventure. In desperation, I’d the–cuff, I didn’t get any better at creating events
The Adventure Creation Handbook, Revised v

Introduction
and encounters. My GMing improved, but my it was different from the previous one. This wasn’t
adventure-writing skills didn’t. My players created a system for churning out formulaic “cookie cutter”
the adventures; I just tagged along for the ride. adventures, but something that produced scenarios
Trouble came when a job situation forced me to my players found intriguing and engaging. This
move to a new area away from my wonderful play- book is that method.
ers. I joined a group in my new area, but when I There are many ways to write adventures. This-
tried to run games the way method (I call it the “6 W’s”)
I usually did, my games fell is just one of them. It maps
completely flat.
“...with a pinch of practice out a path that guides you
My new group of play- and a dash of inspiration, through the process of cre-
ers needed more guidance. you can cook up an ating a customized adven-
They wanted the GM to pro- adventure your players will ture for any genre, any game
vide them with a sequence system. It takes you through
of planned encounters,
talk about long after it’s the entire adventure cre-
something I was terrible over.” ation process, from gener-
at. Around the same time, I ating an idea, to outlining
began running games at conventions. Convention the sequence of events. The method described here
games need to be planned from beginning to end, is only a set of tools: change, modify, delete, fold,
especially if they’re introducing people to a new spindle, mutilate to make them work for you. You
game system. have my blessing — and encouragement — to adapt
In desperation, I started looking at how adven- these tools so they work for you.
tures were built. I took notes and analyzed games And if you find yourself stuck along the way,
I particularly enjoyed. I started reading books on rpgGM.com offers three ways to help:
plotting fiction and screenplays. I broke movies and 1. A webpage on the rpgGM.com website ded-
TV shows down into their sequences of events. icated to this book. There you can leave comments
Slowly, piece-by-piece, I put together a method and share ideas. I stop by the page periodically, so
for writing adventures that worked. The total meth- if you have any questions about this book or its
od finally came together when I stumbled across a methods and ideas, you can post them there and I’ll
beginning writing book that stressed the 6 “W’s”: try to answer them. And if I can’t give you answer,
who, what, where, when, why, and how. I realized it’s possible someone else can. The page is Adven-
that if I applied those questions to an adventure ture Creation Handbook (http://www.rpggm.com/
idea, the answers would give me everything I need products/adventure-creation-handbook/).
to write an original, custom-designed adventure. 2. Free updates whenever this material is
The method worked. It worked when creat- rewritten. Appendix C covers this in detail, start-
ing convention adventures; it worked when creating on page 39.
ing adventures for on-going campaigns. It worked 3. A downloadable example of the process. In
with experienced groups and groups of brand-new seven to ten working days after buying this book,
players. Best of all, each adventure I created with you should receive a link to download a step-by-
vi The Adventure Creation Handbook, Revised

Why Create Custom Adventures?
step example of an adventure made using this pro- tice and a dash of inspiration, you can cook up an
cess. If not, please email jade@rpggm.com and I’ll adventure your players will talk about long after
be happy to send one to you. it’s over.
Why Create Cutom Adventures? The Adventure Writing Process

There are thousands of adventures available, There are five basic steps to writing an adven-
with more being created every day. You can find ture:
adventures in print at your local game store, in 1. Develop an idea.
gaming magazines, and on the thousands of gam- 2. Ask questions about that idea.
ing websites. So why go to the trouble of creating 3. Answer those questions.
one from scratch? For several reasons. Often, pre- 4. Look for events.
made adventures don’t fit your game world or your 5. Write the adventure outline.
gaming group. Or they don’t exist for your game Each of these has its own chapter that walks
system. Or if they do, they’re poorly written. you through that step. To help you keep track of
Even if decent adventures do exist for your sys- your work, there are two worksheets at the back of
tem, they may rely on monsters, NPCs, or treasure the book (beginning pg. ws-1). One is a checklist
that you’ve decided don’t exist in your game world of the adventure creation steps, the other, a work-
or are described in supplements you don’t own. sheet with space to record your anwers to the core
Or maybe your players would have no interest in 6 W’s questions (who, what, when, where, why,
the adventure’s contents. Sometimes, published and how).
adventures require so much reworking it takes as
much — if not more — effort to adapt them than it
does to write something from scratch.
When you write your own adventure, you can
customize it for your group. You can tailor rewards
to things your PCs will find meaningful (read “moti-
vating”). You can dangle specially-created incen-
tives for each PC, incentives that will make their
mouths water and make them say “What are we
waiting for? Let’s get going!” even before you’ve
finished setting the scene. You can include the
details of your game world, NPCs created by you or
your players, items of special interest to your group.
If that’s not enough to convince you, the process
of writing an adventure from scratch means that
you know the adventure inside and out, making it
easier to actually run.
Whatever your reason, with a pinch of prac-
The Adventure Creation Handbook, Revised vii

Introduction
“It maps out a path that guides you

through the process of creating
a customized adventure...”
viii The Adventure Creation Handbook, Revised


1 1
Chapter
Develop Your Idea
W
hat’s the hardest part of writing an of them flee an unwanted marriage? Think about
adventure? For many GMs, it’s coming up what a jilted suitor might do to save face and/or
with the original idea. You’ve heard the old find his “lost love.” Did another escape the law?
saws: “Ideas are everywhere, you just have to look Note ways the law might pursue her. Does a PC
for them,” “Write what you know,” “There are only have relatives back home? A million things might
seven main plots; it’s all in how you use them,” etc. happen to them while the character is gone.
While all of these harbor kernels of truth, they’re Building an adventure on something from a
not helpful when it’s Tuesday afternoon and your character’s history instantly hooks that PC into the
players will be knocking on your door in a few hours. adventure, but it can put off the rest of the party
You need concrete advice and you need it fast. who have no connection to the idea. With a little
thought — and possibly the use of an idea map (see
Idea 1: Pick Your pg. 2) — you can often find a way to connect the
Players’ Brains other PCs to the adventure idea.

Sometimes (with a few tweaks here and there)
Some of your best inspiration can come from you can combine two or more PC backgrounds
your players. Players often have a wealth of ideas: together, giving those characters a common cause.
you just need to encourage them to share. Other times, you can create an in-game incentive
for the other PCs to aid the PC “in focus.” It’s a
Check Character Backgrounds good idea, as a general principle, to weave all of the
If your players give you character backgrounds characters in a party into each others’ backgrounds.
or histories, you’ve alread got a head start on com- For example, maybe Bobbin the Fighter’s uncle
ing up with adventure ideas. Read (or reread) any found a map that leads to a treasure horde known
background information your players have given to contain the magic staff Wendit the Wizard has
you about their characters. A good character back- been searching for.
ground will have lots of adventure hooks. What his- If you build an idea on one characcter’s back-
tory have the characters left unresolved? Did one ground, make sure you do it for each of the other
The Adventure Creation Handbook, Revised 1

Chapter 1: Develop Your Idea
PCs during the campaign. If you focus on each descriptive the word, the better your map will work.
character equally, the other PCs (and players) will However, don’t waste time fretting over finding the
be more willing to help other characters achieve perfect word. Just get a word on paper; even if its
their personal goals, knowing that their time to simply the word adventure.
shine is coming up. Once you’ve written your starting word (or
phrase), draw a circle around it:
Listen to Player Conversations
In addition to mining your PCs backgrounds,
listen to your players as they talk about the game.
Pay attention as they brainstorm and speculate.
What parts of your game intrigue them? What
ideas do they have about what’s going on? Use Now comes the fun part. Write down the very
your players’ speculations to fill in plot holes of an next thing that comes into your mind, even if it
adventure you’re currently writing. Or take one of seems completely unrelated to the first one. Don’t
them and build an adventure around it. Frequently, censor your idea — just write it down near the first
your players will have better insights than you do word and circle it:
and will come up with ideas you’d never think of.
Never be afraid to steal (er…borrow) a play-
er’s idea. If one player suggests something more
intriguing than what you’d planned, use it. Like-
wise, if you find yourself stuck without a solution,
present the problem — in game — to your players.
Then choose the solution you like best and run with
it. It’ll make your players feel like geniuses for hav- Next draw a line between the two words, like
ing guessed what you were up to. They don’t need so:
to know the truth about where it came from.
Idea 2: Use an Idea Map

If you find yourself stuck for inspiration and
even your players can’t get your ideas rolling, try
making an idea map. A idea map (also called a
“mind map”) is a diagram of your ideas. You can
use mind-mapping software (some free, others… Then write down the next idea that comes to
not), but a pen or pencil and a sheet of paper work you, placing it near the word it best relates to. For
just as well. example, if the next word you thought of was pick-
Creating a idea map is simple. In the middle pocket, you’d put it near the word rogue:
of the paper, write a word (or short phrase) that
expresses the idea you want to explore. The more
2 The Adventure Creation Handbook, Revised

PCs during the campaign. If you focus on each descriptive the word, the better your map will work.
character equally, the other PCs (and players) will However, don’t waste time fretting over finding the
be more willing to help other characters achieve perfect word. Just get a word on paper; even if its
their personal goals, knowing that their time to simply the word adventure.
shine is coming up. Once you’ve written your starting word (or
phrase), draw a circle around it:
Listen to Player Conversations
In addition to mining your PCs backgrounds,
listen to your players as they talk about the game.
Pay attention as they brainstorm and speculate.
What parts of your game intrigue them? What
ideas do they have about what’s going on? Use Now comes the fun part. Write down the very
your players’ speculations to fill in plot holes of an next thing that comes into your mind, even if it
adventure you’re currently writing. Or take one of seems completely unrelated to the first one. Don’t
them and build an adventure around it. Frequently, censor your idea — just write it down near the first
your players will have better insights than you do word and circle it:
and will come up with ideas you’d never think of.
Never be afraid to steal (er…borrow) a play-
er’s idea. If one player suggests something more
intriguing than what you’d planned, use it. Like-
wise, if you find yourself stuck without a solution,
present the problem — in game — to your players.
Then choose the solution you like best and run with
it. It’ll make your players feel like geniuses for hav- Next draw a line between the two words, like
ing guessed what you were up to. They don’t need so:
to know the truth about where it came from.
Idea 2: Use an Idea Map

If you find yourself stuck for inspiration and
even your players can’t get your ideas rolling, try
making an idea map. A idea map (also called a
“mind map”) is a diagram of your ideas. You can
use mind-mapping software (some free, others… Then write down the next idea that comes to
not), but a pen or pencil and a sheet of paper work you, placing it near the word it best relates to. For
just as well. example, if the next word you thought of was pick-
Creating a idea map is simple. In the middle pocket, you’d put it near the word rogue:
of the paper, write a word (or short phrase) that
expresses the idea you want to explore. The more

Idea Two: Use an Idea Map
For more information about idea

and mind mapping:
FreeMind. Free mind-mapping software
(http://freemind.sourceforge.net/wiki/
index.php/Main_Page)
Mindmeister. Online mind mapping
and brainstorming service (http://www.
mindmeister.com/)
Mind Maps. On Mind Tools; an article
on how to create a mind map. (http://
Just keep going like this. Often, you’ll think of a www.mindtools.com/pages/article/
word or idea that doesn’t seem to relate to anything newISS_01.htm)
you’ve already written. That’s okay. Write it down Mind Mapping.com. The basics of mind
anyway, and connect it to your starting word. Make mapping in detail (http://www.mind-
certain you write down every idea you think of, no mapping.com/)
matter how off-base it seems. On the next page is Study Guides and Strategies. Concept-
the map after a few more ideas: or Mind-Mapping. Another detailed
how to mind-map article (http://www.
studygs.net/mapping/)
Sample Adventure Idea

From the idea map examples above, I created this adventure idea:
The ghost of an accused theif plagues the residents of a small village. Many of
them feel guilty about his death, since their persecution drove the “theif” (who was
actually innocent) into the woods during the worst blizzard anyone could remember.
Without shelter, he quickly froze to death, but his spirit remained behind, haunting the
village’s residents. On deep winter nights, they can hear ghostly strains of a tune he
used to whistle constantly. The villagers place offerings of small items and food out-
side the doors of the their homes during winter storms, in an attempt to placate the
ghost. The items always disappear by the time the winter storm abates, but the ghost
remains.
Since then, the villagers have found some of their animals — mostly cats and a
dog — frozen after the storm. After the last storm, a young boy who’d been tucked
in his warm bed was found frozen to death on the same spot where the “thief’s” body
was found. The village priest has tried to exorcise the ghost thief many, many times
to no avail. So the villagers have turned to the PCs to get rid of the thieving ghost for
good
.
idea-map is to jump-start your creativity and get

your ideas flowing. This is your tool: use it however
works best for you.
Idea 3: Limit Your Choices

Sometimes your problem is too many ideas,
rather than too few. In the fantasy genre especially,
the existence of magic means you can create pretty
much anything your mind can imagine. Science fic-
tion isn’t as open-ended (since it’s supposed to be
at least theoretically plausible scientifically — or at
least feel like it is), but even here, the adventure-
You’ll notice that in some places a word con- writer’s options are legion. This goes for any other
nects with more than one of the other words. If an genre, from modern horror to steampunk to super-
idea seems to relate to multiple ideas, connect it to heros.
all the ones that seem relevant. You would think such freedom would be liberat-
That’s all there is to it. Just keep writing down ing, allowing ideas to flow effortlessly and for some
and connecting ideas. Eventually, your mind will writers, it is. But for most of us, there are simply
start to connect the words together into a coherent too many choices. We freeze up and our ideas run
idea. Sometimes that happens after only two words, dry. How can you get around this?
sometimes it takes an entire sheet of paper. But There is a surprising answer: limit your choices.
when it happens, you’ve got your adventure idea. It seems counter-intuitive. Yet, by placing limita-
There are many ways to create an idea map. You tions — rules, if you like — on your adventure-to-be,
can find entire websites and books dedicated to the you limit yourself to a smaller number of choices,
subject. The process can get pretty complex, using an amount you can more easily handle. The trick
different colors and symbols to relate items to one here is to strike a balance: too many rules and your
another. You may find these sites and books helpful. adventure can feel stiff, shallow, or trite; too few
On the other hand, you may find they overcompli- and it can feel unfocused and leave players won-
cate the process for you. Use the level of complexity dering what to do next.
that works best for you. Don’t get bogged down in How do you know you’ve got the right amount
doing things the “right” way. There’s no wrong way of limitations? By applying rules one at a time. This
to get your ideas on paper. way you can reach a point where your ideas start
Likewise, don’t feel you need to work all of the flowing. At that point, stop restricting and start
words from your idea map into your adventure brainstorming.
idea. It’s perfectly okay to use just a few words, or No matter what genre or system you’re using,
even none. You can also add things to your idea some limitations have already been set for you,
that aren’t in your map, like the frozen pets in the even if you don’t normally think of them as limita-
sample idea on the previous page. The point of an tions. The first limitation a GM usually has to take

Idea Three: Limit Your Choices

into account is the game’s genre. Unless you’re run- PCs putting it into the wrong hands….
ning a home-brew or cross-over game, you’re not You could probably take this adventure from here.
going to want to place magical wards in a Traveller Another way you can limit your options is by
adventure, for example. restricting the amount of “play space” available to
Another common the PCs. Perhaps they’re
restriction is the game’s trapped in a single room
setting, whether that set- Terminology
ting is created by you or Clark’s Law: posited by SF writer Arthur
for the entire adventure,
limiting the amount of
someone else. Your game C. Clarke: “Any sufficiently advanced environment they can
world has some estab- technology is indistinguishable from interact with. This may
lished rules, rising from magic.” seem like a bad idea, but
how this setting “works.” MacGuffin (McGuffin, maguffin): a plot it’s perfect for an adven-
Case one: per- element that drives the action of a story. ture that focuses on char-
haps the magic acter interaction. (It works
of your fantasy really well for con adven-
game come from ley lines and the further tures, too.) Pretty soon your PCs are going to have
you are from them, the weaker magic is. to start talking to each other and to any NPCs in
In this case, you know you can’t place a room, leading to several questions that need to be
magically dense area far from one of these answered. These questions can include:
lines, unless you have a good explanation What’s in this room?
about how it can exist. Where is the room located?
Case two: maybe your science fiction Why are the PCs trapped here?
game contains alien technology. If not, Who put them here?
then any Clarke’s Law MacGuffins (see What conditions do the PCs have to fulfill
sidebar above) are going to need to fit into to get released?
the setting’s available technology. By the time you’ve answered these questions,
Can you see plot ideas developing? Here’s an you’ve created your adventure.
example using a science fiction setting: the PCs You can set limitations for your whole campaign
find a piece of technology that seems too advanced or for a single adventure. Make sure you don’t vio-
to exist. Intrigued, they set out to track the item late the rules of your setting without good reason,
back to its source. Or at least to find someone who such as setting magic in a hard science game. It’s
can analyze the item and explain it. Along the way, okay to look like you’re violating the rules, as long
they’re shadowed by the company who created the as you have an explanation that makes sense within
item and who wants to get it back because: your setting. You can initially hide that reason from
1. it doesn’t actually work, the PCs, as long as they’ll be able to find it at some
2. the item is some proprietary new technol- point in the future. If they can’t, your players are
ogy they don’t want stolen, or going to have a hard time believing your setting.
3. it’s a military secret and they can’t risk the By selectively applying limitations or rules to

an adventure-to-be, you can actually increase your no matter how small, that you’d like to incorpo-
creativity and your ideas. Take one rule at a time, rate into the adventure. Perhaps you can create
explore it’s implications, think about the questions an encounter using an NPC from one character’s
it raises, and answer those questions. This can lead background or include an item another PC craves
to many interesting adventures you would never in the adventure’s reward. You may even be able
have thought of otherwise. to expand one of these tidbits of information into
a full adventure involving the entire party.
What Do Your Players Want? You’ll refer back to this list later as you write,
As you brainstorm, think about your players and to make sure you’ve incorporated these items into
their characters. What do your players enjoy most your adventure. After you’ve looked at the charac-
about gaming, individually and collectively? What ter sheets, if you’re still having trouble figuring out
brings them back to the table week after week?. One what your players might want from a game, look at
player may love digging around in political intrigue, the section on Player Types on pg. 8. If you want
while another won’t be happy unless there’s a rol- an even more in-depth description of player types,
licking fight. A character sheet holds a wealth of check out my book The GM’s Field Guide to Play-
detail about what a player likes best. ers, available from the rpgGM.com website, One
But don’t just look at what’s written on a char- Bookshelf sites (Drive-Thru RPG and RPGNow),
acter sheet — look at how it’s written. A player who and Amazon’s Kindle store.
lives for combat will usually list her character’s
weapons in extremely loving detail. A politically- If You Hate It, They Will Too
focused player will give his character lots of peo- These aren’t the only ways to create adventure
ple-related skills, especially in areas like diplomacy. ideas. Use any method that works for you. Exactly
A budding con artist will focus on abilities that how you generate an idea is much less important
involve manipulating others, such as fast-talking or
psi powers that allow her to read minds or control
Other Player Type

someone else’s behavior. Someone who wants to
explore a character concept will usually give you a
detailed character history. He’ll often take multiple
character flaws and abilities that give him no power
Lists
Breakdown of RPG Players: http://www.
advantage. What he will do is supply you with many
seankreynolds.com/rpgfiles/gaming/
plot hooks and ideas that will make life difficult for
BreakdownOfRPGPlayers.html
his character. And he’ll be very disappointed if you
Observing Player Types: http://rpggeek.
don’t use them, at least occasionally.
com/thread/632193/observing-player-
During your brainstorming phase, write down
types
one event for each of your PCs — one encounter
Roleplayer Types List: http://www.
to fight, one trap to thwart, one NPC to bargain
larian.com/forums/ubbthreads.
with — that appeals to each of their players. Try to
php?ubb=showflat&Number=416990
pull something from each character’s information,

If You Hate It, They Will Too
than finding an idea that excites you. If you’re

anything less than completely thrilled about an
idea, don’t use it. If you’re disinterested, unhap-
py, or bored with an idea, your players will be too.
Remember, you’re part of this game, too. If you’re
not having fun, no one else will, either.
However you develop your idea, write it down.
It doesn’t need to be more than a paragraph or two.
No matter how clear and complete your idea seems
right now, you’re not going to remember it all a
week later when you sit down to actually build that
adventure. If possible, show your idea to a gaming
buddy who’s not in your group. Does it make sense
to him? It should. If not, you need to go back and
refine your idea some more until it does.
Generating the idea is often the most excit-
ing part of creating an adventure. There are many,
many right ways of developing an adventure idea
and no wrong way; use whatever method works
best for you. The Idea Inquisition isn’t going to
jump out of the shadows to torture you with the
comfy chair. The important thing is to create an
idea that you can’t wait to develop and bring to
your players.

Player Types
If you’ve been gaming for any length of time, you’ve seen the same types of players in
game after game. Some prefer teasing out the intricacies of a game’s plot, while others
prefer wading through one glorious combat after another, with little interest in any over-
arching story. Some want to explore the depths of their characters’ minds and others are
happiest when confronted with a puzzle or mystery to unlock.
You can find many attempts to break players (rather than characters) into…well…
”classes”. Some writers break players down into as few as three types, others as many as
seventeen. Besides being fodder for on-line quizzes or after-game discussions, typing your
players can help you write better adventures. Players tend to be a blend of multiple types,
but figuring out which category your players fall into most of the time can help you write
adventures your players will savor.
Based on information from several sources and from my own experience as a player
and GM, I’ve developed my own list of six basic player types. If you find other classifications
more helpful, by all means, use them. I’ve listed a few sources of player types lists in the
box on page 6.
Mechanics
Also known as “power gamers,” ”min-maxers,” or “rules lawyers,” Mechanics often have
a bad reputation. But their style of gaming is no less valid than, say, the Character Actors’
or the Solvers’ style. Mechanics love kicking butt, whether in combat or at skill challenges.
While often similar to the Combat Monster (next page), in that they generally love a good
fight, the Mechanic wants it to be a fight he can win.
Mechanics tend to spend hours pouring over the details of a rules system to find the
best combination of bonuses to make their characters as powerful as possible. If you need
to remember the armor class bonus of lying prone in the middle of a corn field on a moon-
less night during a hurricane against a barrage of crossbow fire, ask your resident Mechan-
ic. And he’s usually quick to correct you if you mis-add or forget a possible modifier. He’s
likely calculated the difficulty of any particular task before you have.
Some Mechanics become dissatisfied with merely manipulating a rules system. These
are the players who will present you with “improved” combat rules that include, say, spear-
fighting, with modifiers based on what kind of wood the shaft is made of and how the
character is gripping it. Though dealing with these rules “suggestions” can tax your diplo-
macy skills, Mechanics can be useful players have around when you do need someone who
actually understands those esoteric grappling rules
.
Player Types
Combat Mongers
These are the players who live for combat. Give them an adventure that’s simply one
slug-fest after another and they’ll happily roll dice round after round, even if it means their
character goes down in a glorious defeat. Of course, Combat Mongers prefer to win (they’ll
often consult Mechanics to generate with the most combat-effective character possible),
but even if they lose, they’ll count it a successful night’s gaming, as long as they go down
“fighting the good fight.”
Combat Mongers can plan as well as Solvers (below), though they usually act sponta-
neously. If you don’t provide her with a good fight, a Combat Monger will happily start one
of her own. They tend to be competitive and may get into arguments with other players if
not fed a steady diet of action. Most Combat Mongers would rather resolve non-combat
encounters by rolling dice than by roleplaying.
Solvers
These players love to plan. Nothing engages them more than a puzzle they need to
solve. If the party gets wind of an invading army, by the time the Combat Mongers have fin-
ished purchasing their extensive weapon list, the Solvers will have detailed a defense plan
that will completely negate the war before it even begins. To them, a game is a conundrum
to be puzzled out and solved. Whether it’s figuring out why the King’s son has suddenly
developed total amnesia or breaking the 200-year-old wizard’s cypher that protects a valu-
able hoard, the Solver is your go-to guy.
Solvers tend to have heads for minutiae and can keep track of amazing numbers of
facts and clues. Drop information that the Antarean shuttle pilot has a pink label stuck to
the sole of his boot, the Solver will remember it twenty sessions later when the party discov-
ers that Kelarian beer shipments (which have pink labels) have been disappearing from
major trade routes. Use this ability: your game will be more internally consistent and your
resident Solver will feel important and needed.
Character Actors
While Solvers want to figure out solutions, Character Actors want to figure out peo-
ple — especially their own characters. There are many types of Character Actors. Some like
to play the same type of characters over and over (such as the player who only plays elves),
some like to recreate their favorite movie heroes or book protagonists, others like to create
the most tortured souls possible, and still others just like to “crawl into the heads” of their
characters and be someone else for a while.

Most of these Character Actors will thoroughly enjoy a game session where their dice
didn’t even come out of their bags, as long as there was plenty of character interaction,
both with NPCs and other PCs. Give a Character Actor an opportunity to explore her char-
acter’s psyche and history and she’ll reward you with rich background details for your world
that you don’t have time to create, but will make your game setting more real to all your
players.
Storytellers
Storytellers are all about the plot. They may seem like Character Actors at first blush,
but while Character Actors will happily roleplay one individual encounter after another,
Storytellers want to know how these encounters connect together and what they mean in
the context of the game’s storyline. They see a campaign like the plot of a movie or book
and expect the game to have a beginning, a middle, and an end.
A Storyteller wants individual encounters and events to make sense and will do his best
to connect them into a single narrative, even if you didn’t intend them to. Like Solvers, Sto-
rytellers often remember huge amounts narrative details. The Storyteller will be the player
who remembers the casual comment about the weather in East Moldovia made by the
West Moldovian ambassador five game sessions ago, when that same ambassador claims
he’s never been to East Moldovia. Use this memory — the Storyteller will save you hours of
flipping back through your notes.
Socialites
There’s usually one in every group: the player that isn’t really there to play, she just
wants to hang out with her friends. Sometimes she’s the joker who simply can’t take any-
thing seriously, other times he’s the wallflower who will go along with anything the party
wants to do, as long as he doesn’t have to take center stage.
Socialites aren’t necessarily new players who are still trying to get a handle on this
“roleplaying thing” (though they might be). They may have been playing for years, always
in the shadows, often paying more attention to the contents of your book shelves than
to the game itself. The Socialite just wants to hang out with her friends and since those
friends like to game…here she is. Usually you don’t have to worry much about these play-
ers — just let them maintain their backseat position and they’ll be happy.
Make sure, however, that you’re actually dealing with true Socialite, rather than a con-
fused or new player of another type, by offering as much help as the player seems to need.
If she gratefully accepts your help, she’s not a Socialite; a true Socialite will tend to resist
offered aid
.

2
Ask and Answer Questions
N
ow that you have your adventure idea, yet, that’s okay. They’ll come as you work through
you need to ask and answer a series of ques- the next step.
tions. These questions will fill out the “6 w”s
of writing: who, what, when, where, why and how.* Step 3: Answer Questions
Take out the Adventure Creation Worksheet from Here you’re going to answer the questions you
the back of the book (see page ws-1). By following this posed in the last step. You don’t have to answer
chapter step-by-step and filling out the worksheet, you’ll them in the order listed—jump around. Start with
build the foundation of your adventure. the ones you find easiest to answer. If you’ve got
more than one possible answer for a question,
Step Two: Ask Questions write them all down. If you find yourself stuck for
Read over the idea you created in Chapter One an answer, try idea mapping the question that’s
and write down any questions that occur to you. And stumping you. Often you’ll find that the answer to
I do mean any. These questions can be about any part one question will bring up more questions. That’s
of your idea. For example: okay: just keep writing them down and answering
What exactly is the problem the PCs need them.
to solve? As you answer questions, you’ll find an idea
Who’s causing the problem? coming together. It may take three questions to
Where is this problem taking place? reach that point or it may take thirty. That’s okay.
Why is the problem taking place? There’s no magic number here. every adventure
You may already have an idea of how to answer idea will require a different number of questions.
these first questions; If so, write them down. You’re Just keep asking and answering questions until you
still just brainstorming at this stage, so you can go feel you’ve got a good handle on your adventure.
back and change your answers at any time. You’ll
find more questions as you work through the rest *Yes, I know how doesn’t begin with a “w”, but
of this chapter — just add them and any possible the question is needed for completeness, and my
answers to the list. If you don’t have any answers English teachers always included it in the list.

Chapter Two: Ask and Answer Questions
The worksheet has space for you to write your notes, you’ll know where it goes. Some GMs reuse
own questions. If you run out of room, add as many campaigns with different groups. If you rename
blank pages as you need. You’re still brainstorming, your campaign each time you use it, you’ll remem-
so write down everything that occurs to you, even ber which adventure ran with what group of PCs.
if it sounds stupid. Once you’ve run out of your Geographical Location: Where in your
own questions, begin answering the worksheet’s campaign setting does this adventure take place?
preprinted questions. These answers will help you You’re going to have a very different adventure if
flesh out the bare bones of the adventure idea you you set it in a country town than if you set it in arc-
generated in Chapter 1. tic tundra or a huge urban
“Archetypes are particularly city.
Worksheet useful for GMs who have Start Date (real
Question time): This is the real
Explanations a difficult time thinking of world date you started
details and events for their running this adventure.
The Basics adventures: defining your Leave this blank until you
The questions in this
adventure’s archetype can actually begin running it.
section cover basic ideas Start Date (game
that apply to the adven-
provide you with basic plot time): This is the in-
ture as a whole. elements.” game date the adventure
Adventure Name: will take place in. You
Give your adventure a name. Naming your adven- don’t have to set this right now, but it you should
ture helps you remember it later in the campaign. establish it at some point during the adventure cre-
It also then serves as kind of shorthand for what ation. Setting an actual in-game date allows you to
happened during the adventure, something you add time-related elements to your adventure. For
can reference in later campaign notes. You want example, if the game is set near one of the world’s
it to be evocative, but not hard to remember and it holidays, you can add holiday-related details. Little
should reflect something about the adventure. touches like this can make your setting seem more
Don’t worry if the “perfect name” doesn’t come real and help to draw players into the game.
to you right away — it’s better to have a “lame” name If you don’t have a calendar for your game set-
like The Ghost Thief Adventure than no name at all. ting, you can set the date vaguely, like “late summer”
You just need something that will jog your memory or “harvest season.” The time of year you set your
when you see it in your notes. adventure in can suggest seasonal encounters and
Campaign Name: If your campaign has a could even provide clues to your players. For exam-
name, note it here. If you’re like me, you keep all ple, if your game is set during harvest season, but
your game notes as idea fodder for the future. Put- the characters find themselves trudging through an
ting a campaign name on every piece of paper con- early snowstorm, it could just be a freak weather
nected to that campaign will help you organize your phenomenon. Or there could be potent magic or
information. That way, if you find a stray page of

Plot Archetypes
Plot Archetypes
Bug Hunts: The PCs have to hunt down something big, dangerous and nasty, to either cap-
ture or destroy it. Example: Aliens.
Babysitting: Also called “escort missions,” these involve taking someone or something some-
where safely. The classic “escort the princess to this location” adventure falls in this catego-
ry. Example: Stargate (the movie — the troops are there mostly to protect Daniel).
Rescue: The PCs have to find and rescue someone from a highly-guarded and/or secret
location. Example: Die Hard.
Infiltration: The PCs must gain access to a secret and/or heavily-fortified location for a
specific purpose, whether that’s stealing a valuable item or information or planing a bomb.
Examples: Ocean’s Eleven and Mission Impossible.
The Big Con: The PCs have to fool someone in a major way for some reason. The best
example of a big con is The Sting.
Escape: Similar to a rescue, but in this case, the PCs themselves are being held captive and
must get out of where they are. Examples: Escape from L.A., Escape from Alcatraz.
Romance: The classic “star-crossed lovers” story. Example: The Princess Bride.
The Looming Threat: The PCs must destroy a seemingly overwhelming threat to the safety
of themselves, their country/planet/town, or someone they love. Example: Star Wars: A New
Hope.
Weird Tales: Something is not right with world. Strange events are occurring and the PCs
need to find the cause and stop the threat. Usually supernatural adventures fall under this
archetype, unless they fit one of the others better. Close Encounters could be classified as a
“Weird Tales” movie, as the characters try to find the cause of their own strange behavior.
Murder Mystery: The classic “whodunit”. Example: Any Agatha Christie, Sherlock Holmes
movie.
Quest: The players have to locate something or someone that’s difficult to find. The Quest
is usually a long journey that causes the characters to travel to a wide variety of places and
deal with a wide variety of people. Example: Raiders of the Lost Ark or Lord of the Rings
.
technology at work. The curiosity to find out which loosely grouped into types, based on the intended
can pull PCs into the adventure. plot. Some examples of plot archetypes are listed
in the sidebar above, along with some movie exam-
Concepts ples.
Adventure Archetype: This is a loose con- Of course, there are many more story arche-
cept and many GMs skip it. Most adventures can be types than I’ve listed. These are just some sug-

4. Make all necessary preparations
Plot Archetype 5. Run the con itself
Resources: Giving each adventure in a campaign an arche-

type can also help you vary the types of adventures
Structural Archetypes: http://tvtropes. you run. Too many of the same type of adventure
org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/Main/Structur- can bore your players — not to mention your-
alArchetypes self — and can make your game feel more predict-
The Plot Archetypes of Giant Monster able. If you find you’ve run three bug hunts in a row,
Movies: http://welltuncares.wordpress. for example, you might want to try using a different
com/2005/04/18/the-plot-archetypes- plot archetype to give your players some variety to
of-giant-monster-movies/ keep them interested.
The Plot Thins...Fiction Reduced to Theme: A theme is an open-ended question
Seven Tales: http://www.timesonline. you’d like the adventure to explore. You don’t need
co.uk/tol/news/uk/article1069369.ece a theme, but some GMs find them very useful. For
The Storyteller’s Handbook (by Tony example, your adventure could have the theme of
Harris). White Wolf Publishing: 1995 freedom. In it, you might put the PCs in situations
[First Edition Vampire: the Masquerade where they have to fight for freedom, (theirs or
Supplement] someone else’s) or decide whether or not to free
.
someone. You can also use the theme to suggest
background elements, such as having the PCs hear
gestions to get you started. A story may combine that a animal liberation group broke into the local
elements of one or more of these archetypes. Star university’s biology department and freed all of the
Wars: A New Hope, for example, uses elements of lab animals.
both the Rescue and Looming Threat archetypes. It’s easy to get heavy-handed with a theme. You
Archetypes are particularly useful for GMs who don’t want to beat your PCs over the head with
have a difficult time thinking of details and events it. It’s okay to want to convey a universal truth
for their adventures. Defining your adventure’s or explore a serious issue, but players quickly get
archetype can provide you with basic plot elements. turned off by moral lessons that masquerade as
For example: a rescue mission, requires someone adventures. Your players shouldn’t be able to guess
to rescue, a location where she’s being held, some- an adventure’s theme without putting some seri-
one who wants her rescued, etc. ous thought into it.
An archetype can even provide you with a basic Mood: What overall emotional atmosphere do
adventure structure. Using the Big Con as an exam- you want this adventure to have? Is it going to be
ple, you know that this adventure will have five dis- lighthearted and funny or dark and scary? Some
tinct phases: story archetypes seem to suggest particular moods:
1. Establish the reason for the con Weird Tales adventures (see Archetypes on pg. 13)
2. Plan the details of it just naturally lend themselves to an eerie mood,
3. Gather resources for example. For variety, try playing an adventure

Concepts
“against type,” such as a humorous Looming Threat An adventure doesn’t need subplots, but they can
(like Ghostbusters) or a creepy Romance. add depth and interest. Subplots can focus on a
Adventure Idea: Here’s where you summarize single character or can allow you to add ideas that
the adventure idea you created in Step One. Writing aren’t robust enough to carry an entire adventure
your idea down helps you stay on track while plan- by themselves. Romance, for example, often works
ning your adventure. If you find yourself creating best as a subplot.
a lengthy, complicated event or encounter, go back Watch for a tendency to add too many subplots.
to your adventure idea. Does this encounter fit Numerous side plots can confuse your players and
with your basic idea? It’s surprisingly easy to get make them lose track of the main plot line. It may
sidetracked and waste hours developing detailed take some experimentation to find the right num-
encounters or plot elements that serve no purpose ber of subplots for your adventure; many GMs find
in your adventure. All GMs have limited preparation that one or two subplots work best. Juggling three
time and you want to spend most of it on crucial or more can make an adventure difficult to run.
adventure elements.
Keep your summary brief. You’re looking at The Six W’s
one or two paragraphs, max. If you can’t summa- The next sections of the worksheet — the 6 “W”
rize your adventure in a handful of sentences, then questions (who, what, when, where, why and
you’re probably trying to accomplish too much. how) — help you flesh out the details of your adven-
Eliminate things from your idea, or break it into ture, taking it from a simple idea to a full-fledged
two (or more) adventures. series of encounters.
Important Subplots: Subplots are a great
way to get players emotionally invested in the
current adventure and to add events that lay the
foundation for adventures further down the road.

Who the resources they have available, you’ll get a bet-

Who questions cover the “actors” of your adven- ter idea of what PC’s are able to do as they play
ture. Here you determine what NPCs your adven- through the adventure. And knowing why each
ture will need and who those NPCs are. NPC would help allows you to role-play him better
PCs Involved: Which PCs will go on this when the time comes.
adventure? This may seem obvious — the whole Who want the PCs to fail? Why?: Who’s
party, right? But if you use “troupe-style” play, going to work against the PCs? If you know who
where each player has more than one character, or wants the PCs to fail, you know what resources
if one of your regular players misses a few sessions, they have available to thwart the players. After all,
it’s useful to have a list of who actually participated the local prince has many more resources to make
in this adventure. It especially helps when it comes
time to award experience. Making a list of PCs
while you build the adventure can help make sure
you’ve included something for each of them.
Important NPCs: What NPCs do you need
to create for this adventure? This is place to list
everyone from the major villain to the place guard.
It’s also helpful to list the importance of each NPC
next to his name or description. That way you won’t
waste time detailing out the city guard who’s only
function is to open the city gates.
You’ll probably come back to this question sev-
eral times while you write your adventure, adding
to and subtracting from your list as the needs of
your adventure change. That’s normal and expect-
ed. Even if a particular NPC doesn’t yet have a
name, add her to this list. Then come back and fill
in her name when inspiration strikes. Making a list
of NPCs as they occur to you allows you to focus
on creating adventure events, knowing that you
haven’t forgotten anyone important. And it allows the PCs lives difficult than a freelance pilot does.
you to flesh them out after you’ve worked out the Knowing why a particular NPC wants the PCs to
adventure’s basic plot, when you have a better idea fail makes those NPCs more believable and helps
how important each NPC is. the adventure make sense to the players.
Who wants the PCs to succeed? Why?:
Who’s rooting for the PCs? This will tell you which What
NPCs are likely to help the characters. By know- The Goal: Each adventure should have one
ing what each of these helpful NPCs can do and (and only one) main goal. It should be the reason

Who
for the adventure and should be concrete and ture goal. Secondary goals should be extras, inde-
tangible. At the end of the adventure, the players pendent of the main goal. If the PCs accomplish
should be able to tell if they’ve succeeded or failed them, great. If not, they should still be able to suc-
by whether or not they achieved the adventure’s cessfully finish the adventure.
goal. Good examples of goals are: Key Events: Key events are those events
Recover a stolen that must happen to give
item.
“Deadlines can give your the PCs a chance of suc-
Rescue the crown cessfully completing the
prince and bring
adventure a sense of urgency adventure’s main goal. For
him home safely. and help keep players on example: a rescue mission
Steal an ancient track, making them less likely requires the PCs to find out
artifact.
to take unnecessary side- where the captive is being
Defeat a horrible held, travel to that location,
monster.
trips.” discover what’s preventing
Find a buried the captive from escaping,
treasure. and overcome any guards or obstacles that prevent
Remove a dictator from power. them from reaching the captive, etc.
Secure an exclusive contract to supply What special items do the PCs need to
rare materials to a particular location. complete their goal?: Here’s where you list any
Of course, there’s a nearly infinite number special equipment, spells, or other items the PCs
of goals to choose from. Just make sure the goal will need to succeed. This could be intangibles,
is something the PCs actually have a chance of such as spells and/or powers, as well as actual
accomplishing. physical items.
Write this goal down and make sure that the What maps do you need?: It’s good to have
players (and you) understand it. This may seem list of maps you’ll need to create, so you don’t
obvious, but writing the goal down can help you start running the adventure and suddenly have to
focus your adventure. Too many GMs give the PCs improvise an important location.
goals along the lines of “Trouble…Chicago…fix.” What props do you need?: Props can add
Don’t do this. It’s extremely frustrating for your much to the players’ enjoyment of the game. If you
players; without a clear goal, the PCs are likely to really want to help your players feel immersed in
flounder, uncertain what to do or accomplish—and the adventure, hand them a copy of the map their
they may give up in frustration. characters have just found. Maps aren’t the only
An adventure can have more than one goal, as props you can create — newspaper articles, letters,
long as there’s only one main goal and the rest are travel papers, writs of authority and other such
less important. The success or failure of the adven- items really enhance your game and don’t require
ture should rest on the outcome of the main goal huge investments of time and money. The list of
only. You can use the secondary goals as lead-ins props you can create for your adventure is limited
to other adventures, or to enhance the main adven- only by your available resources.

When Where
Time Frame (Does the adventure have a Starting and Ending Locations: Some
deadline?): Deadlines can give your adventure a adventures, particularly “babysitting” or escort
sense of urgency and help keep players on track, missions, automatically involve travel between at
making them less likely to take unnecessary side- least two locations. They start where the person or
trips. On the other hand, they can cause your PCs thing is and end in the place she or it is going, so
to rush through an adventure, missing important you’ll need to detail at least these two locations. For
details. Your deadline could be a specific date or a other types of adventures, it’s useful to list both the
triggering event, such as “before the next blizzard.” starting and ending locations, so you can describe
Keep in mind, these are in game deadlines, so if them to the PCs.
you’re setting a specific date, use your in–game Even if you don’t know exactly where the
calendar. adventure will end (PCs
What happens
“Your PCs are likely to ask have a habit of changing
if the PCs miss the this during the course of
deadline?: You need to
the question: ‘Why us? Why an adventure), write down
know what will happen were we chosen?’ It’s good the most likely ending spot
if the PCs miss the dead- to have an answer ready for This gives you a place to
line, and what will hap-
them.” default to if the players
pen if they don’t. These don’t change things.
consequences should Starting and ending
really motivate the PCs. The rewards for success spots can be sites within a single location. For
should be mouthwatering and the consequences of example, your adventure may take place in a single
failure truly awful. Make these things your players town, but it starts in the local tavern and ends in the
will find compelling, otherwise your deadline may wedding chapel. By listing them here, you can help
be greeted with a yawn. And if the PCs miss the ensure you actually detail those two locations.
deadline, you have to follow through with the con- Other Important Locations: Make a list of
sequences or your players will never take another other locations that will be important to the adven-
deadline seriously. ture, so you don’t suddenly discover you forgot to
What season does the adventure take map out the catacombs beneath the village.
place in?: Determining the season allows you to What information do the PCs need to
add seasonal elements or obstacles to your adven- know about these locations?: Jot down the
ture, such as winter ice or summer hurricanes. essential features of each of your important loca-
Seasons can also give the PCs clues. If the PCs get tions. That way, you know what aspects of a loca-
trapped in a blizzard in the winter, that’s to be tion you need to develop, in case you run short
expected; if they get trapped in a blizzard during on preparation time. Worry about creating other
the summer, they’ll know something very strange details when you have time for them. You may find
is going on. you need to improvise a location’s description; hav-

Why
ing a list of essential features will help keep you piece value. Sometimes, information or favors can
from omitting something important. be more valuable than gold, credits, gems. The
rewards should fit the adventure — it helps to think
Why of the reason each reward would be available or
Why does this adventure need to hap- offered.
pen? It’s useful to think about how each adventure What are the consequences of failure?
fits into the larger campaign story, if there is one. Failure should always have a consequence, even
Do the PCs need to clear their good name to avoid if it’s just the loss of a rich treasure. Like success
jail or do they need something interesting to do rewards, failure consequences should make sense
during a vacation? You don’t need to answer this, in the context of the adventure. The best thing
but it can add a sense of depth to your game. about PC failure is that you can use it as a spring-
Why are the PCs the ones to do it? Your board to another adventure.
PCs are likely to ask the question: “Why us? Why
were we chosen?” It’s good to have an answer ready
for them. Why do the PCs need to undertake this
adventure, instead of (for example) the king’s
guards?
Why would the PCs undertake this adven-
ture? What will your PCs get out of this adventure,
both individually and as a party? If your PCs are
all classic heroes or “good guys” who feel it’s their
duty to fix the troubles of anyone they come across,
you don’t really need to answer this question. But
most parties aren’t so altruistic — they want more
personal reasons to participate. If the previous
question answers “Why were we chosen?”, this one
answers “What’s in it for us?”
What are the rewards for success? This
question and the next are listed in the Why section
because they go hand-in-hand with the previous
two questions — they provide reasons for the PCs
to undertake this adventure. List all the tangible
(gold, magic items, etc.) and intangible (increased
prestige, favor with a powerful noble, etc.) benefits
the PCs can gain from this adventure.
Listing all the possible rewards makes it easier
for you to tell if you’re being too stingy or too gen-
erous. Remember that not all rewards need a gold

How Give some thought to what will happen after

How might the PCs achieve their goal(s)? your grand climax. What “mopping up” will the
These should be suggestions only: let the PCs create PCs have to do? How will they receive their rewards,
their own solution to the adventure’s goal(s). How- if any? This epilogue adds a sense of finality and
ever, it’s a good idea to write down at least one (pref- accomplishment to your adventure. It can be as
erably two) ways the PCs could accomplish it. Doing simple as the boss buying the party a round of
this provides you with something of a reality check drinks at the local watering hole or as grand as the
so you know the goal is attainable. Plus, it allows king knighting them in an elaborate ceremony.
you to drop hints if your party gets completely stuck Ending Location: Where will the ending
and has no idea how to move forward. most likely take place?
NPCs: What NPCs will be important during
Plot Details the ending scenes?
This section begins building the adventure Midpoints: Briefly list important milestones
outline. Here’s where you rough out the beginning, of the adventure: steps you know the PCs need to
middle, and end of your adventure. take to solve the problem(s) at hand. A good place
Opening: This is a brief, one to two sentence to look for these is your list of key events in the
statement describing where and how the adven- What section.
ture will start. Start your adventure with something Midpoint Locations: List the locations these
exciting, something that will pull the PCs immedi- events will likely take place at. Don’t get too attached
ately into it. While no other part of the adventure to them, however. You may find you have to shift
is likely to go as planned, you can usually count on events from one location to another, depending on
the opening event to begin as you designed it. So what the PCs do during the adventure. In any case,
it’s worth taking time to plan it in detail. you want each of your key events to have default
Opening Location: Where will the opening locations where the events will happen if the PCs
scene take place? don’t do anything to change it.
NPCs: What NPCs will be important during NPCs: What NPCs will each of these events
the opening scene? need?
Ending: Briefly description the climactic scene
of the adventure. Realize that this scene probably Plot Outline
won’t take place as written; no adventure ever sur- This is the adventure flow chart that we’ll devel-
vives intact after contact with the PCs. But it’s still op in the next chapter.
a good idea to plan something exciting for your
ending scenes. Usually, you can use at least part
of your ending plan. Just be prepared to change
NPCs, locations, and other details in response to
what the PCs actually do during the adventure. And
once, just once in a great while, you’ll actually get
to run your ending as written.


3
Build Adventure Events
Y
ou could say an adventure is a series take the rest of your key events and list them in an
of connected events or encounters. This is order that makes sense to you. Don’t worry about
the part many GMs have trouble with. You getting it “right” — you’re likely to change the order
can develop intriguing background information, as you write the adventure. If you’re writing your
engaging NPCs and a panoramic setting, but if you list on a sheet of paper, leave a fair amount of room
don’t have something for the PCs to do — that is, a between your key events. This will allow you to add
series of planned encounters that lead them from more events between them, if you need to.
the beginning to the end—you don’t have an adven- Now you’re got the beginning of your adven-
ture. In this chapter, you’ll translate your questions ture timeline. Look at each event in order, one at
and answers into a list of events that you’ll use to a time. What needs to happen for the PCs to get to
create the adventure itself in Chapter 4. these events? Write down any ideas you have for
events that will lead to your key events and add
Step 4: Look for Events them to your timeline.
Now that you’ve filled out your Adventure What if you don’t have any ideas for those
Worksheet, it’s time to put those answers to use. lead-in events? Or maybe you do have ideas, but
First things first, you need to create a list of pos- not enough to fill an entire adventure? Now’s the
sible events. How you do it is up to you. Some GMs time to start brainstorming event ideas. Look over
(myself included), find index cards very helpful. your list of key locations. What are the PCs likely
Others prefer to use a sheet of paper or a word- to encounter at those locations? Think about when
processing file. your adventure takes place: what weather or sea-
Start with your list of key events—they’re the sonal events could happen?
backbone of your adventure. Write each key event Go back over the answers on your Adventure
on it’s own index card or its own line, if you’re mak- Worksheet. List any event ideas that come to mind.
ing a single list on paper or in a computer file. List What things are the PCs likely to do, given what
your beginning event first and your ending event you’ve decided about your adventure so far? List
last, leaving plenty of space between them. Then these as well. What information do the PCs need

Chapter 3: Build Adventure Events
Convention Games
to know to accomplish the objective? How can the
PCs learn this information? What can they do to
discover each piece? List any event ideas that come If you’re creating an adventure for
to mind.You’re brainstorming again, so write down a convention game, you’re not going
every idea that comes to you, no matter how stupid to know much about your players until
it may appear. There’ll be plenty of time later to they actually show up at your table.
edit out bad ones. So how to you create events they’ll
Try to create a variety of events. Include some enjoy? You create a variety of event
combat events, but also include obstacles the PCs types — roleplaying, combat, puzzle/
can solve through roleplaying and skill challenges. skill challenges, etc. That way, no mat-
Add these to your growing list of possible events. ter what kind of player sits down at your
Most likely, you won’t know where on your table, she’s likely to find something in
timeline to put some of these events. If you’re the adventure she enjoys.
working on index cards, just keep making cards for For more information about creat-
them. You’ll sort them into an order when you get ing convention game, see rpgGM’s How
to outlining your adventure. If you’re working with to Run Your First Convention Game
a list, write these “unordered” events on a separate booklet. It’s available for free when you
sheet of paper or at the bottom of your file. sign up for Beg, Borrow, and Steal, my
Remember that list of things to include for monthly newsletter of quick GM tips.
each player that you created in Chapter 1? Dig it You can sign up at the rpgGM.com
out. Compare the things on this list to the event website (http://www.rpggm.com/)
.
ideas you’ve created so far. Do you have an event
or two for each PC — one that showcases her best
talents? Do you have an event for each player — one Creating an Event Tree
that includes the aspect of gaming he likes best? If Step 1: Start with a blank sheet of paper or new
not, brainstorm more event ideas until you have computer file. In the upper left-hand corner, write
something for everyone, characters and players. the final outcome of the adventure — the adventure
goal on your questionnaire — like so:
The Event Tree
You can use an idea map (see pg. 2) to brain- Ghost
storm events, or you can use an event tree, either rests peace-
with the idea map or on it’s own. An event tree is fully
a flow-chart, outlining the events of your adven-
ture. The advantage of an event tree over an idea
map alone, is that an event tree gives you a step- Step 2: The PCs won’t be able to complete the
by-step plan outlining how the PCs could complete final outcome right now; if they could, you wouldn’t
the adventure. have much of an adventure. They’re going to have
to do something before they can accomplish the

Creating an Event Tree
adventure goal. What is that something? The event Step 4: Can the PCs achieve these new actions
that leads directly to that outcome you just wrote at the very beginning of the adventure? If not,
down. There may be a couple (or more) possible repeat step three. Keep repeating step three until
events that could lead the PCs to the final goal. you reach a set of small actions the PCs can accom-
Write those possibe events (actions the PCs could plish at the very beginning of the adventure.
take) in circles connecting to the final outcome: Sometimes you may not know what the PCs
will need to accomplish a specific action. In that
Ghost case, write a question mark, circle it, and connect
rests peace- Discover it to the action in question. There are a couple of
fully reason not ways to handle these unknown actions:
at rest 1. Brainstorm possible actions, perhaps by
using an idea map
2. Leave it blank and hope your PCs will be
Find out very clever and do something unexpected
who ghost
that will lead to the action in question.
was
Use your best judgment. Which method you
choose depends on the creativity of your group and
Step 3: Can your PCs accomplish those actions your comfort level with “winging it” while running
at the very beginning of the adventure? Probably an adventure. Neither way is better than the other;
not. So what do they need to do to get to the actions use what works best for you.
you just wrote down? Write these new actions in
circles and connect them to the circles you created Beg, Borrow & Steal
in step two. There’s a third way to come up with event ideas:
steal them. Taking ideas from another source and
changing them to fit your game is a time-honored
Wishcraft tradition. Think back over games you’ve played in:
are there any encounters or events that stand out
I adapted the event tree from the
flow chart described by Barbara Sher in in your mind? Can you change the details of those
her book Wishcraft. You can download events to make them fit your adventure? Look
the much more detailed information on through some published adventures, either on-line
creating a flow chart at the Wishcraft or in print. Find encounters and events that, with
website (http://wishcraft.com/). The flow- some tweaking, you could use in your own adven-
cart instructions are in Chapter 6 (page ture. Don’t limit yourself to good adventures: even
25). She uses the flow chart as a tool for bad ones can contain some good ideas.
achieving personal goals. After all, what But you don’t need to rely on adventures alone.
are adventures, if not goals set by the Think back over movies and TV shows you’ve seen,
GM for PCs? books you’ve read. What ideas can you steal from
them? When you’re using an idea from another

rid of those. Also cut anything you would feel too

uncomfortable or too embarrassed to play through.
Each adventure can only manage a limited num-
ber of encounters, so you want to make sure you’re
using the best ones. Keep the cards for your key
events, as well as a handful or two of your most
relevant and exciting event ideas.
How many events should your adventure have?
That depends on how long you want your adven-
ture to be. Be flexible here: if you’re running a short
source, you’ll want to change some of the details adventure, such as a convention game, three major
to so your players won’t recognize the source. events or so is a good number. If you’re running a
Change names, locations, numbers of participants, regular campaign, add as many events as the plot
etc. The last thing you want is for your players to and subplots require. In a campaign, you might
call out “Hey, this just like that scene from Star also want to add a small event or two that hint
Wars where….” You don’t have to limit yourself at future adventures. Don’t forget the events you
to science fiction or fantasy sources, either. Often, listed for each character and player. By the end of
adapting something from another genre can be this step, you want to have a group of events that
more effective (and easier to disguise). truly excite you, that you can’t wait to present to
your players.
Step 5: The Adventure Outline Now compare these events to your adven-
Now that you’ve got a list of possible events, ture idea or summary. Do they fit your adventure
it’s time to write an adventure outline. This is the idea? Set aside any that don’t. Keep hold of these,
point where you sort through your ideas, take the though; it’s likely you’ll be able to use them in a
best ones and put them together into a step-by- future adventure. Your events should all seem like
step plan. If you created an event tree (see pg. 22), they go together, that they share a common base.
you’re already a pace or two ahead. Or, if you like your group of events better than your
You’ll need to be able to move your events original adventure idea, change your idea to fit the
around. This is why I suggested writing your events events.
on index cards. But you can also take a written list It’s okay to throw in an occasional event that
and cut it into strips of paper, each with a single idea. seems “off,” but avoid putting in too many “red
It’s true that a computer file allows you to move herrings.” You don’t want to your players to lose
things around at will, but you may find it easier to the goal of the adventure.
have something you can physically manipulate. Make sure each index card or paper strip con-
tains only one event. Then lay your cards or strips
Keep Only the Good Ones out on the table or floor — some place where you
Go through your list or your stack of cards. have plenty of room to spread out. You want to be
What events seem trite, boring, or overdone? Get able to see as many of your events as possible.

It’s a Matter of Time
Now start grouping events. What events logi- the events trigger when the PCs arrive at a particu-
cally belong together? Which events need to come lar location. If they don’t go to that location, those
first? What events are caused by other events? particular events don’t happen. The classic dun-
What events take place in geon crawl is an exam-
the same areas? Shuffle
your cards or paper strips Terminology ple of a location-based
adventure: events and
until you get the events Railroading: forcing players to follow a encounters happen
in an order you like and predetermined course of events or set of when the PCs find them.
that makes sense for your actions. The term comes from the idea If they skip an entire
adventure idea. that the adventure’s events are the like section of rooms, they
the tracks of a railroad and they PCs also skip the events
It’s a Matter are like a train which can only run on that would happen in
of Time the set tracks
.
those rooms.
There are a couple of The advantage of
basic approaches to putting your events in order. this method is that players usually feel they have
One is the timeline approach. In this case, each more freedom of choice. They can explore things
event triggers the next in a specific sequence. Event in any order they choose and if the party splits up
B must come after event A and before event C. This and goes to different locations, each group of PCs
type of adventure has it’s merits and drawbacks. will encounter whatever events are set to take place
On the plus side, it’s easy to keep the PCs moving in their particular area. You don’t have to worry
through the adventure, since each event will tell about keeping each group on the timeline.
the players what to do next. The downside to this approach is if the PCs
On the downside, players often have their own skip a location, they may miss crucial clues. This
ideas of where their characters are going to go, what may make it much harder for them to complete the
they’re going to do, and when they’re going to do it. adventure’s goal. You can overcome this by listing
You’ll need to build some flexibility into your time- two (or even three) possible locations for an event
line, or you’ll find yourself railroading your players. to take place at, depending on where the PCs actu-
No one likes being told that their character has to ally go during the game. Often, you’ll find yourself
do something. With practice, you’ll be able to sub- using a combination of location and timing based
tly guide the PCs through your planned sequence events.
of events, while still making the players feel as if
they’re ones who decided to do what when. Writing the Outline or Flowchart
Now that you’ve settled on your events and
It’s a Matter of Place grouped them together whatever way makes the
Sometimes your list of events don’t seem to most sense, you’re ready to write the adventure
need a specific order; it may make more sense to outline. There are a couple of ways to do this:
group your events by location. In this case, one list in outline form
event doesn’t necessarily trigger another. Instead, draw the adventure as a flow chart.

Creating an Outline 1. Dead–end events that serve no useful

An adventure outline can be as formal or infor- purpose. Throw these out.
mal as you wish. To write the outline, take your 2. “Orphan” events that are important, but
stack of events and write them down on a sheet of nothing leads to them.
paper or in a computer file, one event per line, in You may find you don’t know how to get from
the order you organized them. Leave some space one event to another. For now, just put an empty
under each event to list important details. box in the flow chart to represent these missing
steps. There are a couple of ways you can fill this
Creating a Flow Chart box:
If you created an Event “Use your flowchart as 1. Brainstorm until you come
Tree earlier in this chapter, up with something to tie the
you’ve basically created a flow-
a guide. Be aware that events together, perhaps us-
chart. You can either use the your PCs will probably ing an idea map.
Event Tree as is, or you can change the order of 2. Run the adventure and
create a more formal flow- events.” hope your PCs think of a
chart. way to get from one event to
To create a flow-chart, another.
place your opening event in a box at the top of the Which method you use depends on how cre-
page. Draw arrows pointing away from this box, ative your players are and how comfortable you
one for each possible action the PCs could take. At are improvising. It often helps to wait until you’ve
the end of each arrow, draw a box and write the outlined the rest of the adventure, then come back
event that will result from that action. Repeat for and fill in these blank spots. Solutions may come
each event you have until you’ve placed them all. to you as you work.
Sometimes you’ll have multiple paths the PCs You may find it helpful to create both an out-
could take to arrive at a particular event, or an line and a flow chart (I usually do). Having the out-
event farther down the chart could lead back to line can make the job of creating a flowchart much
an event listed earlier. Connect these events with easier than trying to synthesize one from piles of
arrows, labeling each arrow with actions the PCs notes.
could take. Some GMs can run with just the outline or flow
With a flow chart, if your players miss an event chart, others will need to write out their adventure
(or skip to one in another part of the chart) you can in detail. Neither way is better than the other. If
see if they’ve missed any crucial information or you need to write out the adventure before you run
resources they’ll need to complete the adventure. it, by all means, do so. Even a GM who runs well
You can then improvise a way to lead the PCs back “off the cuff” should read “Chapter 4: Writing the
to the important events they missed. Creating a flow Adventure,” since she’ll still need to create notes
chart can also help you see if there are any “holes” in describing locations, monsters, and NPCs.
your adventure. These usually come in two types: Use your outline or flowchart as a guide, not a
script. The players will not follow the adventure

Creating a Flow Chart
exactly as you planned it. Don’t try to force them,

no matter how cool your adventure is. So why have
an outline or flow-chart at all? It’s good to have
an idea of at least one way through the adven-
ture. This way, you can drop hints, add or subtract
events, or move a particular event’s location or tim-
ing. You can use it to guide your players back on
track, should they run off on a tangent that takes
them completely away from the adventure.
Now that you’ve gotten your adventure mapped
out, it’s time to write it. The next chapter covers
that process in detail.

“The players will not follow the

adventure exactly as you planned
it. Don’t try to force them…”


4
Write the Adventure
N
ow that you have your adventure out- altogether. To avoid this, make you’ve built hooks
line or flow chart, you can begin writing into the beginning of your adventure. Hooks are
the adventure in detail. How much detail things that motivate a PC, that grab the players’
depends on how you GM best. If you can run your interests and pull them into the game. They’re the
game from the flowchart itself, that’s great. If not, mouthwatering reasons for undertaking a particu-
there’s nothing wrong with writing everything out, lar adventure that your players find impossible to
as if it was a published adventure. Just be ready to refuse.
jump around between events and sections as your If you listed reasons for your PCs to go on this
players do. adventure in they Why section of your worksheet,
You’ll need to break your adventure up into you’ve got your hooks. Go back over these reasons
three parts: the beginning, the middle and the end. and see how you can “punch them up.” How can
The “Plot Details” section of your worksheet will you make them even more mouthwatering? What
help with this. can you include to make this adventure absolutely
irresistible to your players? Reviewing the player
The Beginning types (pp. 8-9) may help.
Your beginning serves one purpose: to draw The best hooks come from your PCs’ back-
the players into the adventure. You want them to grounds, along with their goals and ambitions.
develop an emotional stake in what’s about to hap- This is one of the best things about writing your
pen. The more emotionally invested a player is in own adventures: you can build hooks for each char-
an adventure, the more motivated he’ll be to play acter into the plot of the adventure itself. With a
it out to the end. But how do you get your players published adventure, you can find yourself need-
emotionally invested? ing to invent convoluted reasons to substitute for
This is where you need to know your players. these personalized hooks. A hook might be rescu-
One of the most embarrassing things that can hap- ing a loved one, or it could be the chance for a PC
pen to a GM is to have his players either totally to clear her name.
ignore his adventure’s opening event or reject it Some of the most effective hooks tie into unfin-

Chapter 4: Write the Adventure
ished business that happened earlier in your cam- outline or flowchart. Often the challenge of writing
paign. Say a party let a villain go free during an the middle encounters is not what should happen
earlier adventure. Or perhaps the villain escaped (you’ve already figured that out), but how it should
their custody. Either way, when the villain emerg- happen.
es for this adventure, the PCs are likely to feel a The middle should challenge the PCs: make
responsibility to set things right. Instant hook, them struggle, but don’t set them up for over-
instant involvement. whelming failure. It
Nothing keeps a play-
“…when the players do have should not be easy...
er more invested in a but it should be possi-
game than a responsi-
an emotionally-wrenching ble. If the PCs are going
bility he takes on vol- experience, you’ll have created an to fail, let their own
untarily. adventure your players will talk actions cause it. Bal-
Keep your begin-
about for years afterwards.” ancing the difficulty of
ning short. It should these middle encoun-
let your players know ters can be tricky, and
things are not as they should be. Start with an is something that only comes with practice.
exciting scene that conveys what’s wrong and gives To really immerse your players in your game,
a idea that it could be fixed by the PCs. You don’t create events that are likely to stir up strong emo-
have spell out the whole adventure goal in the first tions. The more a player’s emotions are involved, the
encounter. In fact, it’s usually more effective to more invested he’ll be in the adventure. Don’t make
just hint at the adventure’s main goal. Curiosity is every event a gut-wrenching tear-jerker (that can
a powerful motivator. exhaust your players and make them lose interest
It’s also important to give the PCs a few hints in your campaign). Just pepper a few intense events
that they are capable of taking on the adventure’s among more light-hearted fare. That way, when the
goal. Without that, you run the risk of your players players do have an emotionally-wrenching experi-
avoiding the adventure out of fear that the problem ence, you’ll have created an adventure your players
is too big for them to handle. If you’re having trou- will talk about for years afterwards.
ble these hints, look back over Adventure Work- How do you engage your players emotionally?
sheet, especially the “Why are the PCs the ones to Look at your adventure hooks. A good adventure
go on this adventure?” section. hook—something that’s really meaningful to their
In a nutshell, your opening event should be character—can grab a player’s emotions from the
immersive, challenging, but not completely over- get-go.
whelming. Another way is give the PCs something they real-
ly want...then take it away. Destroy a favorite item
The Middle or kill a much-loved NPC. Have them encounter a
This is the main section of your adventure. hated villain, then let that villain get away (pref-
It should consist of approximately 80% of your erably with something the PCs really care about).
events and encounters, as mapped out by your Have an NPC rival steal an important victory away

The Middle
has his thumb on the trigger of the thermonuclear

warhead button, the last chance for the PCs to set
things right.
Everything in your adventure should lead to
this moment. Ideally, your players will be at a fever
pitch, eager for this confrontation. You know your
middle has really succeeded if, at this point, your
players want to defeat the bad guy as much (or
even more) than their characters do.
Players need to really care about the outcome
of this final showdown. Do everything you can
to set the mood for the moment. Props, candles,
music (if you’re comfortable using them) can all
from the party or besmirch the party’s good name. help immerse your players in the game even more,
Imprison them for fake crimes. Anything. The key? help them feel like they’re actually experiencing
Make it personal. the action and not just narrating it.
Don’t overuse this technique. It’s like spice; a The outcome of the climactic encounter should
little brings the dish to life, but too much kills it. be in doubt and players should feel like they have
Overuse it and your players will simply stop car- a real chance of failure. Make that failure have
ing about … well … anything. You know you’ve gone real consequences for the PCs and the game world.
too far when you hear your players saying “They’re Likewise, success should also have real rewards, for
just going to die anyway” or “Nothing we do makes the PCs and the game world alike.
a difference, the GM will just take it back.” If your
game reaches this point, you need to dial back The End
the emotional intensity and start letting the PCs Usually, the ends of adventures take care of
succeed more often. Allow their actions to have a themselves. The PCs defeat the bad guy and claim
lasting effect on the adventure and on your game their reward. Or they don’t and dire consequences
world. happen, which can often lead to new adventures as
Begin your middle at a low intensity level. Your the PCs try to set things right. The most important
beginning should be exciting and intriguing, but thing to remember at the end of your adventure:
should not have a “life or death” feeling to it — that leave your players wanting more. That’s what will
comes at the adventure’s climax. The main purpose bring them back to your table again and again.
of the middle is to build up to that climax. Let the players’ actions make a difference; let
the PCs make history, even if it’s only small his-
The Climax tory. Maybe they inspire a bard, receive a title or a
At last, the culmination of the entire adven- small award, get a street or shuttle bay named after
ture. Here is the huge battle you’ve been planning them. Likewise, if they have a negative affect on the
for weeks, the confrontation with the villain who game world, let that stand too. If they blow up a city

Chapter 4: Write the Adventure
block, have the PCs meet people trying to put their

homes and businesses back together or show the
explosion over and over on the evening news.
Players love it when the game world changes
because of PCs actions. If nothing changes, if the
world “resets” at the beginning of each adventure,
players can have a feeling of “Why bother? Noth-
ing we do makes a difference anyway.” Allow your
players to become co-creators of your game world
and they will reward you with their time, attention,
and creativity.
The Next Step

Once you’ve written your adventure, set it aside
for a few days. A week is ideal, if you have the time.
Then re-read it. If you can, have someone else
(who’s not going to be playing this adventure) look
it over. It always helps to have a second set of eyes
looking to see if you’ve left out crucial information
or to determine if your events make sense with
adventure as a whole.
When you read over your adventure, take spe-
cial note of two things:
1. The hooks: what pushes each PC into the
adventure?
2. The rewards: what pulls each PC into the
adventure?
Is there a compelling reason for each character
to go on this adventure? If not, add one. Is there
something in the adventure for each character and
each player? Make you’ve included at least one
event tailored to each of them. While the PCs will
(most likely) be happy with rewards of cash and
goodies, players need emotional rewards — a taste
of what they like best about roleplaying.
The next chapter will cover running the adven-
ture you just created.


Running the Adventure
Y
ou’ve written your adventure, double- your finely crafted work and turn it inside out and
and triple-checked everything. You carefully upside down. They’ll shred your carefully laid-out
planned the traps, lovingly balanced encoun- sequence of events and turn it into a plate of tangled
ter ratings to fit the party’s level. You’ve created spaghetti. They’ll insist on exploring unmapped
events tailor made for each of your PCs and their areas. They’ll ascribe motives to your NPCs that
players. You’ve got fiendish traps, challenging but never remotely crossed your mind, make major
not overpowering monsters, engaging roleplaying conflicts out of minor encounters you intended to
encounters — everything is perfect. Now you’re be “local color” and occasionally come to the right
ready for the moment of truth: actually running it. conclusions for all the wrong reasons.
What can you do to prevent this?
You Wrote the Adventure, Nothing.
You can’t stop players from running roughshod
Let the Players Write the Story over your carefully-crafted adventure. Nor should
You may be nervous; that’s normal. You’ve put you try. Let them make a hash of your planned
weeks (or at least days) of work into creating this timeline and follow their lead. You wrote the plot,
adventure. But will your players see this as the let the PCs write the story. They’re the stars of the
labor of love you know it to be? show, after all. They’re the reason the show exists
No. They don’t care that it took you a week to in the first place.
balance the challenge rating of all the monsters. Granted, this is a lot easier said than done,
They don’t care that you spent hours construct- especially if you have problems “winging” it. But
ing traps or researching the effects of cold on the no matter how carefully you planned your adven-
human body for the climatic encounter with the ice ture, there’s going to be some point during it when
wizard. They generally don’t even care if the name you’ll have to improvise. This is another advantag-
under “written by” is yours or Monte Cook’s. They es of writing adventure from scratch: you know it
only care about one thing: is going to be it fun? inside and out, all its whys and wherefores. This
And in the name of fun, your players will take will make it easier for you to adjust it on the fly.

Chapter 5: Running the Adventure
You know what needs to happen and why it needs Take Notes
to happen. You can gently steer the PCs back on As you run the adventure, take notes. What
course. You can drop hints, move important clues actually happens? What do the PCs change? How
to where the PCs will find them, create an NPC on do they solve the central conflict? What unforseen
the spot who will send the characters back to the side roads do they take and how do those roads
main storyline, if you need to. affect the adventure? Do they make it better? Does
If you’re feeling really confident, you can ignore the party do something you might want to incorpo-
your own timeline and rate into the “official” ver-
simply follow your players’ sion of the adventure?
“If you can pull it off, the
collective lead. But sup- Is this an adventure
pose the PCs “take a wrong players will think you’re a you can use again? You
turn at Albuquerque?” and genius. More importantly, probably don’t want to
you’re floundering to keep they’ll think they’re geniuses run it over with the same
up? Go back to the core of group, but you could use it
for having correctly ‘guessed’
the adventure. What is the again with another group.
basic conflict the PCs have your intentions. “ Perhaps you can adapt it
to resolve? How can they for a convention game or
accomplish that goal from where they are now? You for an open gaming night at your local game store.
may be able to shuffle around some events in your Could you use it to introduce new players to a game
adventure or reorganize the timeline. You may find system or setting? Or do you just want to burn the
yourself improvising encounters. whole thing and forget it ever happened? If you do
But whatever you do, don’t let the players know want to run it again, look carefully over the notes
they’ve made hash of your plans. Let them think you took while running it. What problems came
they’re still on your timeline. Pretend you planned up? You’ll want to fix those before you run the
all of this, that you foresaw the PCs’ actions and adventure again.
planned accordingly. If you can pull it off, the play- Looking over what went wrong can also help
ers will think you’re a genius. More importantly, you write your next adventure. Did your group
they’ll think they’re geniuses for having correctly want more combat (or less), more roleplaying, or
“guessed” your intentions. more dangerous traps? Get in the habit of asking
And that feeling that bring them back for more. your players for feedback at the end of every adven-
The more you can give your players a sense of ture, especially those you write yourself. After all,
ownership of the adventure, the more you let their you don’t know what your players liked or disliked
actions influence its course, the more fun they’ll unless you ask them. Armed with this new infor-
have. Let them surprise you. You may find that mation, you can make your next adventure even
what they create will be even better than what you more exciting, even more engaging, even more tai-
planned in the first place. lored to your group.
Don’t beat yourself up if this adventure proved
to be too hard or too easy for your players. You can

Take Notes
always write another adventure to correct what By asking and answering questions, you’re able
went wrong with the last one. If the adventure to create a group of events that will draw your play-
was too easy, make it a “warm-up” that leads to ers and their PCs into the adventure. You can cre-
something much more difficult. Perhaps the PCs ate custom events your PCs won’t want to miss out
encountered one of the main villain’s lieutenants, on and custom rewards they’ll find impossible to
rather than the villain himself. Or have it turn out refuse. All of this will help your players immerse
that they destroyed only one of themselves in your game…
villain’s weapon storehouses. and that’s really the point of
Don’t make their previous suc- Terminology
cess meaningless — just up the Retcon: Short for “retroactive
roleplaying, isn’t it?
ante in your next adventure. continuity”, retconning is the

Anything the players alteration of previously estab-
haven’t already discovered is lished facts. “Established” is the
fair game for change. Try to key word here. If you change
avoid “retconning” the results something only you know, it’s
of the adventure, but feel free not a retcon.
to change anything only you
know. It’s also possible that
the information the players gained is wrong or
misleading. Don’t do this too often or your players
won’t trust any information they get. Also, don’t be
quick to correct any mistaken player conclusions.
You can build entire adventures around player mis-
conceptions.
If the adventure was too hard, give the PCs a
chance at the goal again, later in the campaign when
they have better skills, knowledge, and equipment.
Comparing your party’s assets against the list of
what the characters need to succeed (check the
What section of your worksheet) can help prevent
an adventure from being too difficult.
Conclusion
There you have it: an RPG adventure, ready to
run. It can be a long process from brainstorming
your initial idea to actually running your adventure.
Hopefully, this handbook has made the job much
easier.

A
Menu Adventures
H
ave you ever eaten at a restaurant Example: On a series of random rolls, I got
where you make your own combination dish the following words: Traveling musician/bard (col-
by choosing one from column A, one from umn A), Steal (column B), City (column C). Since
column B, etc.? You can apply this idea to adven- I’m running a steampunk game setting, I can inter-
tures, too. pret these results as:
On the next page is a table that will create a
basic adventure idea. Then just use the method While touring in New York (C-
outlined in this book to flesh out the idea. Or, if City), Jenny Lind, the “Swedish Nightin-
you have the right group and you’re good at think- gale” (A-Traveling musician), had her
ing on your feet, you can just present basic idea favorite jeweled necklace stolen (B-Steal).
to the players, listen as they speculate about pos- She has offered the PCs a substantial
sible details, pick the ones you like best, and look reward to find and return it to her before
like a genius for having “forseen” what the players word leaks to the press.
decided to throw at you at the last minute.
So, in the spirit of such menus, pick one from The list items are just suggestions to get your
Column A, one from Column B and one from Col- imagination going. If a word or two sparks an idea
umn C. Or, just roll randomly, once on each col- of something that isn’t listed on the table, that’s
umn, if you’re feeling particularly daring. If you get fine. Go with your own ideas. If you don’t like
a result that doesn’t seem to fit your genre or game something on the table, substitute something you
setting, you have two choices: do like. As always, fold, spindle and mutilate to fit
1. Substitute your setting’s closest equiva- your group and your game.
lent. For example, you could change space This table can be It can be really handy when
station to floating sky island. players, being the independant creatures they are,
2. Pick something else from the table that suddenly take a left turn at Albequerque and you
does fit. find yourself scrambling for an adventure idea
right now.

Menu Adventures
Roll Column A: Who Column B: What Column C: Where

1 Ravaging monster Rescue Murky swamp
2 Princess Kidnap Isolated fortress
3 Prince Raid Deserted island
4 President or queen Hunt Town
5 CEO or king Escort City
6 Spoiled teenager Bounty hunt Village
7 Noble or executive Assault Farmstead
8 Shopkeeper Steal Desert
9 Favorite pet Infiltrate Arctic wasteland
10 Beggar Demolish At sea
11 Slave Escape Underwater
12 Town mayor Hijack Tropical rainforest
13 Bandit or pirate Salvage Traveling caravan
14 Assassin Sabotage Space station
15 Small child Con/Swindle Mountain top
16 Madman Search Religious monastery
17 Traveling performer Smuggle Deep mine
18 Ship captain Bribe Dungeon/prison
19 Rich merchant Protect Natural cave
20 Impoverished worker Sell Underground city
Choose one from each column or roll randomly. You can roll seperately for each col-
umn or do a single roll and use that for all three. If you don’t like your results, reroll or
change them so they fit your game and setting
.
B
Using Adventure Seeds
H
as this happened to you? You see something So what do you do if you’re not the kind of GM
intriguing in a list of adventure ideas (often who can create an eight-hour adventure out of
called adventure seeds). You’d love to use in (metaphorically speaking) chewing gum, a pocket-
your game, but now what? You have no idea how knife, and a few leftover pizza crusts? You can use
to actually build an adventure from it. If so, you’re the same process we outlined in this book to create
not alone. a full adventure from an adventure start or “seed”.
The biggest trouble many GMs have with adve- By using an adventure seed, you can bypass the
ture seeds is “What comes next?” Okay, you’ve got idea-generating stage and straight into the ques-
the start of an adventure, but what happens from tion stage. Then proceed as if the idea was your
there? How much information do you need to cre- own. Your idea or someone else’s: the process is
ate before you present your idea to your players? still the same.
That depends on your players. You could take
the seed and present it to your group as is. If you’ve
got a really imaginative or self-directed group,
they’ll take it from there. Players often come up
with ideas you could never have thought of in your
wildest dreams.
The upside of this is that you don’t have to do a
lot of preparation and the players will take care of
the “what comes next” problem all by themselves.
The big downside is that you have to think fast on
your feet, because you’re going to have make up
NPCs, locations, and rewards (just to name a few
things) on the spot. And you have to keep track of
what you’ve told your PCs so the adventure stays
internally consistent


C
About rpgGM.com
Our Mission loved best — gaming. What I love best about gam-
No GM I know likes prep work. No GM likes ing is becoming immersed in the characters and
dealing with problems. Our mission is to create their world and watching my players become
tools that make the more difficult parts of GMing equally immersed. Combining that with a degree in
a little easier, giving you more time to focus on the theatrical design led me to create a game company
parts you love. with the focus of helping gamers create a sense of
being really, truly caught up in their games. This
Jade’s Story book has it’s own webpage (http://www.rpggm.
I
sn’t it amazing how chance encounter can com/products/adventure-creation-handbook/) at
change your life? For me, it began at summer the rpgGM.com website, where we announce the
camp in August of 1980 when I stumbled across availability of updated versions as well as listing
a group of people playing AD&D. I managed to talk customer comments and ideas. Please feel free to
myself into the group, little knowing I’d started a email us about your experiences using the ACH and
life-long addiction that day. Later, like so many we’ll post them here on this page. What worked for
gamers, I thought “wouldn’t it be great if I could you and what didn’t? What can we change to make
make money gaming?” So I began to write articles the book more useful to you? Please share with us
and submit them to gaming magazines. your experiences, good and bad. If you’ve come
Have you ever been told to give up writing up with a better way to do something, we’d love to
because you obviously had no talent for it? That hear it. If you’re having trouble with a particular
was the basic gist of my first rejection letter from portion of the process, feel free to leave a question
Dragon Magazine. Luckily, I didn’t listen. Since and likely someone in our community will be able
that time, I’ve written articles for White Wolf to answer it.
Magazine, Challenge Magazine, Shadis (all, alas,
defunct) and the Ars Magica 4th edition supple- Product Support
ment A Medieval Tapestry. We believe in our products. And in our commit-
I still wanted to make my living doing what I ment to serving the RPG community. To that end,

Appendix C: About rpgGM.com
we offer free updates on all our products for the This book is also available in Kindle format from
life of the product. Each of our product pages will Amazon: The Adventure Creation Handbook.
list the current version of product available. Your Additionally, I’m currently working on The
product purchase allows you to receive each new Campaign Creation Handbook: Setting Up Your
updated version of a product, one per customer. Campaign, which I hope to have ready late 2013.
When a new edition of any of our books come Also in the works are:
out, you’ll be notified by email at the address you The City Creation Handbook
gave when you purchased the book. If you pur- The Campaign Handbook: Running Your
chased your copy through a OneBookshelf site (like Campaign
Drive-Thru RPG or RPGNow), they will notify you The Worldbuilding Handbook
by email and you can download the new version
from their site for free.
If your email changes or you give this book as
a gift to a friend, please send us an email letting us
know the original email address you used to pur-
chase the book and the new email address. We’ll
make the proper changes to our database so that
future updates will reach you at the new address.
More from rpgGM.com

If you’re having trouble with players, rpgGM.
com has an entire book book focused on that prob-
lem. It’s called The GM’s Field Guide to Players
and you can get it from:
rpgGM.com website: (http://www.
rpggm.com/products/gms-field-guide-to-
players/).
Drive-Thru RPG: (http://rpg.driv-
ethrustuff.com/product/106355/The-
GM%27s-Field-Guide-to-Players)
RPGNow: (http://www.rpgnow.com/
product/106355/The-GM%27s-Field-
Guide-to-Players)
Amazon’s Kindle Store: (http://www.
amazon.com/The-Field-Guide-Players-
ebook/dp/B00AQOFASM

Adventure Creation Worksheet
The Basics
Adventure Name:
Campaign Name:
Geographical Location:
Start Date (real time):

Start Date (game time):
Concepts
Adventure Archetype:
Theme:
Mood:
Adventure Idea:
Important Subplots:
Who
PCs involved:
Important NPCs:
Who wants the PCs to succeed? Why?
Who wants the PCs to fail? Why?
Adventure Name: Adventure Creation Worksheet

Campaign Name: © 2013 by Cherie D. Arbuckle
http://www.rpggm.com/
ws-1
What
The Goal:
Key Events:
What special items (if any) do the PCs need to complete the goal?
What maps do you need?
What props do you need?
When
Time Frame (Does this adventure have a deadline?):
What happens if the PCs miss the deadline?
What season does the adventure take place in?
Adventure Name: Adventure Creation Worksheet, ©rpgGM.com 2010

Campaign Name: http://www.rpggm.com/
pg. 2
Where
Starting Location:
Ending Location:
Other Important Locations:
What information do the PCs need to know about these locations?
Why
Why does this adventure need to happen?
Why are the PCs the ones to do it?
Why would the PCs undertake this adventure?
What are the rewards for success?
What are the consequences of failure?

ws-3
How
How might the PCs achieve their goal(s)?
Plot Details
Opening:
Opening Location:
Opening NPCs:
Ending:
Ending Location:
Ending NPCs:
Midpoints:
Midpoint Locations:
Midpoint NPCs:

ws-4
Notes

ws-5
Notes

ws-6
Plot Outline

ws-7
Plot Outline Continued

ws-8
Adventure Creation Checklist
¨ Step One: Develop Your Idea
¨ Check PCs’ backgrounds for ideas
¨ Create Idea Map (if needed)
¨ Set needed limitations
¨ Write down one event for each PC
¨ Write down your idea (no more than two paragraphs)
¨ Step Two: Ask and Answer

¨ Write down questions that occur to you about your idea
¨ Answer those questions
¨ Fill out “Basics” section of Worksheet
¨ Fill out “Concepts” section
¨ Answer “Who” questions
¨ Answer “What” questions
¨ Answer “When” questions
¨ Answer “Where” questions
¨ Answer “Why” questions
¨ Answer “How” questions
¨ Fill out “Plot Details” section
¨ Add any other ideas that come to mind
¨ Step Three: Build Adventure

¨ Write down key events (from Worksheet), if you haven’t already
¨ Put key events in a logical order
¨ Make list of events that lead to key events
¨ Write down event ideas related to adventure location
¨ Write down event ideas related to when adventure takes place
¨ Write down any other event ideas
¨ Write down events for each PC from Step One list
¨ Create Event Tree, if needed
¨ Weed out bad event ideas
Adventure Name: Adventure Creation Checklist

Campaign Name: ©2011 by Cherie D. Arbuckle
ws-9
Adventure Creation Checklist
¨ Step Three: Build Adventure Events
¨ Decide if you’re going to organize events by time or place
¨ Group events in the way that makes the most sense
¨ Create adventure outline (if needed)
¨ Create adventure flowchart
¨ Create events to fill in any “holes” in your flowchart
¨ Step Four: Write the Adventure

¨ Break your flowchart or Event Tree into three parts: beginning, middle, end
¨ Write down the goal of your adventure
¨ Write down one or two ways the PCs can achieve that goal
¨ Make sure you have hooks to pull PCs into the adventure
¨ Are your beginning events challenging without being overwhelming?
¨ Does your middle engage your players emotionally?
¨ Does your middle begin at a low intensity level, then build to an intense climax?
¨ Is your climax something your players will really care about?
¨ Make a list of props you might want to use
¨ Purchase or create props, if any
¨ Are there consequences for the PCs if they fail?
¨ Are there rewards for the PCs if they succeed?
¨ Set the adventure aside for a few days
¨ Re-read the adventure. Make any needed corrections
¨ Have someone else read the adventure, if possible. Make any needed corrections
¨ Make sure you have some events for every player: combat, roleplaying, puzzles, etc.
Adventure Name: Adventure Creation Checklist

Campaign Name: ©2011 by Cherie D. Arbuckle
ws-10

Adventure Creation Handbook (Revised Edition) (Dewm)

Uploaded by

Document Information

Original Title

Copyright

Available Formats

Share this document

Share or Embed Document

Sharing Options

Did you find this document useful?

Is this content inappropriate?

Copyright:

Available Formats

Adventure Creation Handbook (Revised Edition) (Dewm)

Uploaded by

Copyright:

Available Formats

e

Cherie “Jade” Arbuckle

Interior Art: From the following Dover Electronic Clip

We love feedback on our products.

ii The Adventure Creation Handbook, Revised

iv The Adventure Creation Handbook, Revised

The Adventure Creation Handbook, Revised v

vi The Adventure Creation Handbook, Revised

Why Create Cutom Adventures? The Adventure Writing Process

The Adventure Creation Handbook, Revised vii

“It maps out a path that guides you

viii The Adventure Creation Handbook, Revised

Players’ Brains other PCs to the adventure idea.

The Adventure Creation Handbook, Revised 1

Idea 2: Use an Idea Map

2 The Adventure Creation Handbook, Revised

Idea 2: Use an Idea Map

2 The Adventure Creation Handbook, Revised

For more information about idea

Sample Adventure Idea

idea-map is to jump-start your creativity and get

Idea 3: Limit Your Choices

4 The Adventure Creation Handbook, Revised

The Adventure Creation Handbook, Revised 5

Other Player Type

6 The Adventure Creation Handbook, Revised

than finding an idea that excites you. If you’re

The Adventure Creation Handbook, Revised 7

The Adventure Creation Handbook, Revised 9

The Adventure Creation Handbook, Revised 11

12 The Adventure Creation Handbook, Revised

The Adventure Creation Handbook, Revised 13

4. Make all necessary preparations

Plot Archetype 5. Run the con itself

Resources: Giving each adventure in a campaign an arche-

The Adventure Creation Handbook, Revised 15

Who the resources they have available, you’ll get a bet-

16 The Adventure Creation Handbook, Revised

The Adventure Creation Handbook, Revised 17

18 The Adventure Creation Handbook, Revised

The Adventure Creation Handbook, Revised 19

How Give some thought to what will happen after

20 The Adventure Creation Handbook, Revised

The Adventure Creation Handbook, Revised 21

22 The Adventure Creation Handbook, Revised

The Adventure Creation Handbook, Revised 23

rid of those. Also cut anything you would feel too

The Adventure Creation Handbook, Revised 25

Creating an Outline 1. Dead–end events that serve no useful

26 The Adventure Creation Handbook, Revised

exactly as you planned it. Don’t try to force them,

The Adventure Creation Handbook, Revised 27

“The players will not follow the

28 The Adventure Creation Handbook, Revised

The Adventure Creation Handbook, Revised 29

30 The Adventure Creation Handbook, Revised

has his thumb on the trigger of the thermonuclear

The Adventure Creation Handbook, Revised 31

block, have the PCs meet people trying to put their

The Next Step

32 The Adventure Creation Handbook, Revised

The Adventure Creation Handbook, Revised 33

34 The Adventure Creation Handbook, Revised