As a starting point to preparing your game, take something the players want (treasure) and put it somewhere dangerous but interesting. THE TREASURE Finding treasure is the heart of the game. The Key Principles of Treasure are: © Its value exceeds its usefulness. © There's a reason it hasn't been claimed already. © It doesn’t need to be complex, but it can provoke thought. The easiest way to hit all three of these principles is to make the treasure something big, heavy, useless, and valuable. © If you think they can get it in one session, make it worth £1k to the right patron. © If it's going to take more, make it worth £10k. © Treasure worth hundreds of thousands must be truly special. © As well as the main treasure, create a couple of lesser pieces of treasure (each worth around a tenth of the main treasure’s value) to hide away.THE EXPEDITION © Place the treasure somewhere dangerous but interesting, driving the players towards an expedition. © See the individual sections for mapping Bastion, Deep Country, and the Underground. © Alongside the map, a good table of encounters is the most important planning you'll do for your game. THE RIVAL © Somebody else always has the same lead as the group. © Either make them a better version of one of the group, or their polar opposite. © Give them a few lackeys, but keep the focus on the individual.ENCOUNTERS o Create a table of 6 encounters, calling for a roll of dé when a random encounter is triggered. Different results can represent the same type of person/ creature varying in their behaviour or group composition. o Make at least one of these results very dangerous. © All pose at least a potential threat, but always have a purpose beyond hostility. Give them something they're already doing.BEHAVIOURS © List three things that the encounter does, usually their frequent responses or most interesting abilities. © Infuse these behaviours with as much of their drives and motives as you can. © For encounters bound to a particular place, tie these in with the environment as much as you can. THE CHECKLIST When reviewing your encounter table, make sure each entry ticks all three of the following: ° Drive: They should be motivated to do something. © Impact: They should have the potential to permanently change the characters. © Flavour:They should be memorable, and speak to the flavour of the setting.CREATE THE OPENING © Tell the players about the treasure, and a patron that would pay a good price for it. ° Tell them a couple of the worst things about the expedition site, but let them discover the rest for themselves. © Don’t keep your best ideas for later. Use them right away. LayvereD DEscRIPTION o When writing your notes, list immediately obvious features of rooms, characters, paths etc. © In parentheses, list the details that the characters can only discover through investigation and interaction. © Fit as many of your notes on your map as you can, using overflow notes only when necessary. CREATE THREATS © The more dangerous a threat, the more obvious it should be. o Despite the above, don't create soft threats. They should be memorable and leave impact. © It’s fine to create a threat that cannot be overcome as long as it is widely known and signposted. Risk AND REWARD @ Generally, higher rewards should involve higher risks. © Both should be made obvious to the players. The reward to draw them in, the risk to make them consider their actions. @ If in doubt, give the players more information than you feel you should.SEASONING YOUR IDEAS © Start with a list of broad ideas e.g.“‘A brain in a jar”. © Go through each, one by one, and add a new detail that. wouldn't be assumed e.g.“A brain in a jar that loves music”. © Repeat this process until your world is alive e.g.“A brain in a jar that loves music, hates feeling old, and wants the admiration of modern youths”. ForREGROUND GROWTH o Character growth happens during play, not in downtime between sessions. © A Character'’s growth is defined by their specific experiences. © It is messy and unplanned. o Characters grow more interesting, not necessarily more powerful. HIGH Impact © The expedition should always leave an impact on the characters, changing them in significant ways. © Impact can be as brutal as death or as complex as spilling out into their lives back in Bastion. © Some beings have the potential to permanently change a character, beyond giving them Scars. COLLECTING ODDITIES © Anywhere containing treasure is likely to have Oddities dotted around. © Oddities make themselves and their general purpose known, if not their intricacies. © Oddities differ from treasure in that they are generally more useful or interesting than they are valuable. INTERESTING CHOICES Whatever you are preparing, the goal is to create interesting choices for the players. Try to put the following factors all in place: © INFORMATION: Without enough information there is no real choice. Create situations that indulge their senses and prepare to be more open and honest than you would expect. © CuHorce: No-brainer decisions are not interesting. Create a situation that is going to cause at least a moment of indecision. © Impact: Choice is meaningless unless there is impact. Consider the possible consequences of the choice you're presenting. If the impact is lacking, raise the stakes by making things more dangerous or complicated.