Dr-Rotwang's THE ADVENTURE FUNNEL
"because it helps you focus your creativity. When it's time to whip up an adventure that I'm probably not going to run because nobody shows up or something else goes wrong, The Adventure Funnel lends a hand.
It's concise, it's free-form and it's interactive, so go get a piece of paper and a pencil. No, I'm serious. Get up and do it. Okay, open up Notepad, whatever. C'mon, I'll do one along with you. It'll be fun.
A caveat: this process is not a substitute for creativity, just a funnel for ideas. You've been warned.
STEP 1: GOAL
Write down a one-sentence objective for your players to accomplish. Resist the temptation to over complicate it -- you'll have plenty of time for crazy in a minute. (Plus, you can count on players for one thing: to bork everything up for you.) Make danged sure that your sentence begins with a verb! For example, here's a goal for a Traveller scenario:
GOAL: Deliver and sell 200 tons of books, music and magazines to a buyer on Arduun.
STEP 2: OBSTACLES
Scientific studies have proven time and again that when PCs just waltz in and win, it's not that much fun. Conflict = drama, baby! So jot down some things, ANY things, that could get between the players and the goal. Write down stupid stuff, too, as you think of it. Brainstorm! Starring you instead of Christopher Walken. You are following along, right...?
OBSTACLES:
Pirates
Customs
The merchandise is contraband
No buyer, ha ha
Conan shows up looking for a fight
Yes, I know Conan isn't the first guy you think of when you say Ex-Navy 4 Terms 797A86. That doesn't matter right now. Sticking ideas on paper matters now.
STEP 3: DETAILS
Here's where the real work begins. It's brainstormng on a finer scale. Look over your previous work and start sketching in the finer points, as you think of them. Anything that fleshes out the goal, the obstacles or just the world (the mise-en-scene, if you're toity) goes here. You'll be surprised at how quickly these details will start to resolve...let them. When something starts to click (and it will), go with it. Live!
DETAILS:
The media content is all pop culture stuff from Capital. The far-future equivalents of Tiger Beat, synth music, Cosmo, Carrot Top movies, etc.
The head of Starport Authority on Arduun is a guy named Frampton Roosh, 64, near retirement.
The government of Arduun just flipped over from an oligarchy to a charismatic dictatorship, focused on "cultural purity". Hence, Tiger Beat is illegal.
RE: Conan -- A brawny barbarian from the Sword Worlds gets drunk at the same bar as the PCs, and starts a fight. Inconsequential but fun. maybe an interesting, recurring NPC?
The pirates are Vargr, raiding not for profit but for survival.
The customs office is short-staffed on account of a flu epidemic.
The new government came into power following a short but bloody civil war. Fascists, the lot of 'em.
Cargo is contraband, and when word gets out that it's in the starport, TWO buyers present themselves: organized crime and freedm-fighters. PCs must choose with whom to do business!
The freedom fighter representative is an attractive lass named Cami ....
You get the point. Obviously the whole "Contraband" angle appealed to me; it started clicking and I ran with it. I could've kept going, and so could you.
If you start getting a big ball of wax rolling, simply take an idea out of your list and put it into its own Funnel, setting the minor goal, putting up minor obstacles and detailing fiddly bits that relate to it. It needn't become the main focus of the scenario, but if you think it'll help to have the stuff handy (or if the players Go There), you'll have some notes to guide you when the crap hits the fan."
