How to Design an Adventure
By Mark O’Bannon
You can download the PDF of this booklet here:
HowtoDesignanAdventure
Designing an adventure for use in an Interactive Storytelling Game is not as hard as it may seem. In the past, it could often take up to a week to create an adventure, but with the methods presented here, it can now be done in about half an hour.
How much preparation is required?
Many authors like to create character histories, backgrounds, detailed settings, plots, local events, rumors and other kinds of material they often refer to as background material, but in practice, you don’t need large piles of notes to create a good story. This is what they call, “World Builder’s Disease.” This preparation can be useful, but if carried to an extreme, it will only slow things down. When creating an adventure, put in only the essential elements of the story. This will drastically reduce your design time. In the end, you will find that an entire plotline can be written on one page.
While there are many techniques for running Interactive Storytelling Games, the method presented here is mainly concerned with creating a solid plot or structure in the form of an outline.
The most important thing to remember is to start to think in scenes.
A scene is the basic building block of a story, and a collection of scenes will form the basic structure that is used to tell a tale.
Unlike other kinds of role playing games where play consists of a free form ongoing collaborative narrative, an Interactive Storytelling Game will consist of a series of interconnected scenes that will allow the Storyteller to build towards a final goal, which is the climax of the story.
Story Goal & Opposition
A single page describing the main story goal, and the opposition (usually the villain & his henchmen), which is the main source of conflict.
Genre, Time, Setting & Mood
A single page describing what kind of story is being told. Is it a horror story, a romance, a mystery, a fairy tale, an action tale? The time period and the location of the story should also be described, as well as what kind of emotional atmosphere is used in telling the tale.
Backstory
A single page describing what happened in the past that led up to the events at the start of the story.
Scene Outline
A single page outline of the story, listing the 6 scenes in this format:
1. Scene Title [Introduction – Inciting Incident]
Goal:
Opposition:
Setting:
Tie-in:
2. Scene Title [Rising Action – Significant Event]
Goal:
Opposition:
Setting:
Tie-in:
3. Scene Title [Complications – Plot Twist]
Goal:
Opposition:
Setting:
Tie-in:
4. Scene Title [Crisis – Decisive Moment]
Goal:
Opposition:
Setting:
Tie-in:
5. Scene Title [Climax – Confrontation]
Goal:
Opposition:
Setting:
Tie-in:
6. Scene Title [Resolution – Outcome]
Goal:
Opposition:
Setting:
Tie-in:
Scene Details
Two pages describing in very high detail the scenes listed in the outline. These are to be used by the Storyteller to describe the setting where the scene takes place.
Scripted Scenes
There are certain elements that are important when you run games.
Here are some ideas:
How to Tell a Story
All stories have these elements:
1. The setting.
2.The characters (not only the players, but the other people in the story too).
3. The story goal.
4. The main villain.
5. A plot consisting of a list of scenes that rise toward the final goal (climax).
6. A changed character.
The six parts of a story include:
1. Introduction.
2. Rising Action.
3. Complications.
4. Crisis.
5. Climax.
6. Denoument.
The format of storytelling is fixed – the protagonist, the quest, the trials, and the resolution, positive or negative. Any number of variations are possible within this format, but the basic structure remains.
Protagonist.
Quest.
Trials.
Resolution.
Characters.
Goal.
Opposition.
Resolution.
How to Design Adventures
Think in scenes.
Goals & Conflict.
Motivation
First choose a setting and then create a plot.
Create a story goal and a villain. Then create a list of scenes.
Each scene will lead into the next one.
Then make maps of the places in the story (scenes) and place the players into the world.
In this way, an adventure should take about 30 minutes to 2 hours to create. An entire story should consist of from one to four gaming sessions. If you want to continue playing, just start another story.
Typically the first gaming session will go like this:
1. Introduction of the heroes and the Inciting Incident (an event that creates the goal and introduces the villain). ….
For example, the princess is kidnapped by the evil sorceror, etc.
2. Scene 1: ….Scene goal (acquire x or discover y). ….Scene opposition (monster, etc.)
3-5. Scene 2, Scene 3, etc. …..
6. Climax.
The big battle between the heroes and the main villain.
Scene Format
1. Scene
….Title of Scene
….Scene Goal
….Scene Opposition (monster, villain, etc.)
….Scene Location (pick a place like a castle, village, roadway, etc).
….Tie In to Next Scene
2. Scene 2 -5
….Same as above.
Example: A single line is used to describe each scene element (not 10 pages of text).
For instance, a scene could look like this:
Scene 3: The Shadows Attack
Scene Goal: Escape from the haunted tower!
Scene Opposition: A dozen wraiths.
Scene Location: The Black Tower
Tie In: Inscription on tower that leads to the lost city (scene 4).
Additional Elements
In addition to the single page used for the plot, have a page that describes the main villain. Then add the maps of the locations where the scenes take place and you are ready to begin.
As many as 6 scenes can be played in one night and the entire story can be finished in one game session.
Plot vs Character
We could be confusing two elements of story. Which is more important? Plot or character?
It has been said that a story is not what happens, but a story is who it happens to.
A story is about how characters react to and are affected by the events in the story.
Don’t confuse the events of a story (plot) with a forced path.
The true path of a story is how it affects the characters.
If they are emotionally involved in the story, then they will not feel railroaded because they are doing what they want (pursuing the goal, which is provided by a GM that understands how to motivate them).
So if a game is structured with a plot, it doesn’t mean that the players are forced to do anything.
In a plot that really matters to the characters, they will have no choice as to their actions.
For instance, if your girlfriend was kidnapped, wouldn’t you go after her?
The characters of a story have to care about it.
Just because you have a structured story doesn’t mean you are railroading the players. Railroading is just being a clumsy GM. Forcing the players to “go down the stairs” without letting them try anything else. I always let them try whatever they want, but I know that they will eventually “go down the stairs” because they will want to find out “whats down there” so to speak.
The trick is to give the players the feeling that they have absolute freedom of action, and to give them the feeling that they are totally free to do whatever they want.
If you’re running a structured story, then the characters should go towards your next scene. They won’t always go directly however.
If they want to deviate, I always let them.
I will create a list of scenes, but I will only write a one line description of the scene.
Just enough to give me the idea of what it is, what the goal is, what the opposition is, and where it is.
If the players want to try something different, then I’ll often run the scenes out of order, or I will even skip them entirely.
If a player wants to try something that I haven’t thought of, then I can quickly make it happen, since all I have to do is write a one liner to describe the scene they invent themselves.
Another trick is that before every game, I’ll look at my list of scenes and see what has been checked off.
Then I’ll evaluate what the players are doing and what is important to them. Then I’ll try to integrate the story events into what the players are interested in. In this way, they will be interested enough to go forward in the story.
One big difference between railroading and not railroading in a game with a plot is to refrain from pushing, and pull instead.
Get them interested in pursuing the goal and have NPC’s remind them of it.
If you want them to go in the direction of your plot, then you have to get their attention.
There must be something at stake. If they don’t go foreward, something bad will happen. The more personal it is, the better.
So thats how it seems to work….
How to run a scripted plot without forcing the characters.
How to Run a Structured Plot without Railroading Players
When I first tried running a structured plot, it sucked big time.
The players hated it. This is because I tried to force them to do what I wanted when they weren’t interested in the plot I was offering.
Now, I run strong plots with scripted scenes and the players love it.
They tell me that they never feel railroaded though.
I think there are a few reasons why….
Every story has to answer three questions:
1. So what? The players have to care about it. If they don’t care about the story, then you are sunk.
2. Oh Yeah? The players have to believe in the story. It has to make sense.
3. Huh? The story must be clear. If they don’t understand what to do, then nothing will happen.
We could be confusing two elements of story.
Which is more important? Plot or character?
It has been said that a story is not what happens, but a story is who it happens to.
A story is about how characters react to and are affected by the events in the story.
Don’t confuse the events of a story (plot) with a forced path.
The true path of a story is how it affects the characters.
If they are emotionally involved in the story, then they will not feel railroaded because they are doing what they want (pursuing the goal, which is provided by a GM that understands how to motivate them).
So if a game is structured with a plot, it doesn’t mean that the players are forced to do anything.
In a plot that really matters to the characters, they will have no choice as to their actions.
For instance, if your girlfriend was kidnapped, wouldn’t you go after her?
The characters of a story have to care about it.
Just because you have a structured story doesn’t mean you are railroading the players. Railroading is just being a clumsy GM. Forcing the players to “go down the stairs” without letting them try anything else. I always let them try whatever they want, but I know that they will eventually “go down the stairs” because they will want to find out “whats down there” so to speak.
The trick is to give the players the feeling that they have absolute freedom of action, and to give them the feeling that they are totally free to do whatever they want.
If you’re running a structured story, then the characters should go towards your next scene. They won’t always go directly however.
If they want to deviate, I always let them.
I will create a list of scenes, but I will only write a one line description of the scene.
Just enough to give me the idea of what it is, what the goal is, what the opposition is, and where it is.
If the players want to try something different, then I’ll often run the scenes out of order, or I will even skip them entirely.
If a player wants to try something that I haven’t thought of, then I can quickly make it happen, since all I have to do is write a one liner to describe the scene they invent themselves.
Another trick is that before every game, I’ll look at my list of scenes and see what has been checked off.
Then I’ll evaluate what the players are doing and what is important to them. Then I’ll try to integrate the story events into what the players are interested in. In this way, they will be interested enough to go forward in the story.
One big difference between railroading and not railroading in a game with a plot is to refrain from pushing, and pull instead.
Get them interested in pursuing the goal and have NPC’s remind them of it.
If you want them to go in the direction of your plot, then you have to get their attention.
There must be something at stake. If they don’t go foreward, something bad will happen. The more personal it is, the better.