quests from

scratch

Mathew hoy !

@mathewh mathewhoy@gmail.com

topics

foundations

breaking up

exploration

let’s build!

reminders

add magic

talk it out

q&A?

foundation

My game

I’m running a multi-session, ongoing adventure with 8 players at once.

one overarching plot timeline

all players were forced to write a background

if they didn’t or were too vague, they’re at my mercy (bwa-ha-ha!)

what are you running?

A big, multi-session game like i am?

strung-together stories?

just getting into it?

no wrong answers here.

your game

taking a break

Sometimes it’s fun to break up the story with a side quest or 2

How?

go away from your main storyline in an obvious way

slip away by running your game so that there are always avenues for side quests

breaking up

not hard to do

find an idea for your side quest:

One of your pc’s backstories mentioned something you can delve into

you had a sudden rush of inspiration on the bus ride to work

you just get a rush of inspiration and have to figure out how to do it

watch a movie, read a book (meh…)

refining ideas

Begin to explore your idea and flesh out a quick base for the story

write a paragraph that describes “the main scene”

find some art that shows the item from your pc’s backstory

jot down a 1-sentence elevator pitch to describe it

the skeleton

Build a skeleton for the adventure by writing three key things down:

the start

The middle

The end

the start

The start is how you begin the game. this should be the only chance you have to be 100% rigid in how the adventure will work out.

you control every part of this phase.

make it an epic intro, about 1 paragraph in length (unless your players like narrative)

the middle

the middle of your adventure should be a series of bullet points:

the key location

some key events that will happen

the key npcs

a possible bestiary

reward loot

the end

DOn’t affix your end to any specific point in time. your players will arrive there most often in very interesting ways.

tip: the adventure shouldn’t end.

exploration

fleshing out

flesh out the beginning, middle, and end bullet points

for each key asset, write a paragraph (or a stat block, or…)

tip: never go too deep

I keep saying not to go too deep or invest much time in it. why?

because your players will change it. if you need them to rescue a king and they kill her, the rest of your story might fall apart because dialogue or plot devices might hinge on that npc.

why do i stop you?

if you design assets instead of the whole story, your adventure becomes modular.

adaptable to anything

you can ditch stuff you don’t need this way too.

design nimbly

no one but you knows if things change.

new dm/gms get hung up on the story getting away from them.

if you write in modules it won’t. all you need to do is work out how the pieces could go back together.

golden rule

let’s make an

adventure!

a small town depends on a nearby silver mine for its livelihood.

the mine has been taken over by earth elementals.

pcs figure out why, stop it, return mine to town.

that’s it

Example

that’s how i write 98% of my games. i get an idea, jot down the start, middle, and end, and toss in a monster type.

rather that writing all the connective tissue now, i flesh out each bullet.

let’s do that right now

yeah, that’s it

the town is called Hawklode

there are ~200 people living there

mayor is a quiet woman who has a stutter when she gets nervous (which she is because of the loss of $)

offer her favour as payment

the beginning

next, i’d draw up the mine/dungeon

using something like evernote and the pathfinder srd, record the stats for the earth elementals

do they find any cool loot in the mine? put it in evernote.

extra credit: why are the elementals doing this?

the middle

the players discover the elementals are sentient and were at one time used as slave labour by the town to dig out the mine.

they dug into an anti-magic pocket that put them into a deep sleep. now that the pocket is dissipating, they’re waking up and want revenge on the town.

Resolve that in town.

the end

reminders

quick list

don’t waste time writing the adventure absolutely

put down key points and flesh them out separately

write them so the pcs could approach them in any order

Don’t rely on pcs

don’t rely on specific pcs for and resolutions.

If they die and you need them for a puzzle, the whole thing can be ruined.

pcs are like cats. herding them to a goal is almost impossible.

modularity

Modular design lets you change the entire adventure immediately if need be.

be adaptable and relax if things “go wrong”

ie: the pcs don’t bother to find out that the elementals were slaves and just destroy them.

add magic

get crafty

you can add unexpected flavour to the adventure in a bunch of ways:

adopt the mayor’s nervous stutter when you talk to the pcs. don’t stop.

go to a craft shop and get some silver paint and paint some rocks and put them on the table prior to the session to set the mood.

get crafty

instead of drawing your mine out on a battle mat, take those same rocks and use them as key features in the dungeon (maybe a cave-in or a central spire in the middle of a large chamber)

serve silver candies

get crafty

adopt a gravelly voice for the earth elementals in case the pcs talk to them.

maybe one of the pcs’ backgrounds mentions silver. weave it into this story in a subtle way.

ie: their parents were silver traders who went missing. crates with the family biz logo on them are nearby.

linking pcs

each session should revolve around 1 or 2 different pcs than last time

plot

loot

don’t leave anyone behind over time

weaving magic

drop hints to pick up on later

use lots to keep them guessing

source (or create!) artwork, maps, props, letters, costumes, battle terrain, soundtracks and sound effects

one two skip a few

every few sessions, try to do something completely new

eG: wagon chase

talk it out

refinement

once you’ve got your modular pieces in place, refine them

intro the session aloud in the car on the way to work.

narrate the entire adventure/session as you would to the pcs

get a voice recorder if needed.

feedback

after each session, especially when you do something brand new or unique, ask the pcs what they thought.

mix up the challenges in your adventures. you don’t always need to fight things. consider a pulley system puzzle in a mine or a cave in (natural) trap to deal with.

q&A?

quests from

scratch

keep in touch!

@mathewh

mathewhoy@gmail.com