What Makes an Adventure Really Good?
- Thread starter robject
- Start date
Well.....
To get back to the OP (and concept),
I'd say an adventure would be flexible enough to allow a ref
to have all types of characters in it, involvement in a major
or minor way. It ( the adventure ) would have something
above average in drawing the players to it. It doesn't always
need to fit into a campaign, but that could help a ref/players.
An adventure (for Traveller) has a space/SF feel to it even if
the adventure is "world-bound". It doesn't lead you around by
the nose, but also won't wander-off. You should be able to
"chain" it to other adventures.It is fun to use for both the
players/ref.
To get back to the OP (and concept),
I'd say an adventure would be flexible enough to allow a ref
to have all types of characters in it, involvement in a major
or minor way. It ( the adventure ) would have something
above average in drawing the players to it. It doesn't always
need to fit into a campaign, but that could help a ref/players.
An adventure (for Traveller) has a space/SF feel to it even if
the adventure is "world-bound". It doesn't lead you around by
the nose, but also won't wander-off. You should be able to
"chain" it to other adventures.It is fun to use for both the
players/ref.
Saundby, would you please PLEASE write an article for Freelance Traveller about designing adventures using the principles you've hinted at here? I think it would be a GREAT resource!
Again, though, that's good refereeing, and I agree. My focus is more on the writing part, even though the initial post probably wasn't clear there: for example, when the Keith brothers wrote their adventures, they didn't have my gaming group in mind.
Writing...
I guess what you are asking is what makes a good writer.
That sounds like taking a premise and fleshing it out to become
a plot, adding detail so it becomes an adventure.
As you write you ask questions like: what would I see here?
Where? What? Why? Many questions so the material provides
a ref with something to pass on the feel of it.
I guess what you are asking is what makes a good writer.
That sounds like taking a premise and fleshing it out to become
a plot, adding detail so it becomes an adventure.
As you write you ask questions like: what would I see here?
Where? What? Why? Many questions so the material provides
a ref with something to pass on the feel of it.
Keklas Rekobah
SOC-14 1K
Hmm ... Disneyland is about 2 miles from my house ... it would make a decent Class C+ downport. And the commercial district to the south would make a fair model of a startown while the areas to the north and west could stand in for the seamier side. To the east would be the upscale residences and shops.
And Knotts Berry Farm could stand in for the original starport that was usurped, but not quite replaced ...
("Yankee seven-niner, you are directed to land at the auxiliary site five clicks to the west, and await customs agents there...")
Yess ... it worksess ... we likes thisss ...
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saundby
SOC-14 1K
Um, OK.
It'll give me a chance to organize my own notes, too, I suppose. You may have noted my list was in "order I jotted it down with pencilled notes on top" format. I'll see about coming up with a draft for you in the next few days. Feel free to PM me with/for contact info and any submission guidelines (or links) of which I should be aware.
I think you're right in that an adventure writer has to know how to write, and in general terms the two do require the same process.
Writing Good Adventures
Summing up so far.
Know the Ending.
Work small plotlines, gimmicks, pushes, pulls, and enigmas in among the bigger ones.
Theme and environment, in broad sketches, for places and scenes and props. Break cliches. Worry about the story more than creatures.
NPCs. History, family, personality, blind spots, plans for the future. Break stereotypes.
Example
I want the final scene to be a battle between the players and a main Bad Guy and his henchmen, aboard the Bad Guy's spacecraft, in orbit.
The bad guy's starship should have a memorable theme, then. For example, it may resemble the clean, dark, technical angularity of the Death Star, with a generous "boardroom", wide hexagonal corridors, dangerously heavy gravitically-controlled fire doors, and dual interfaces at workstations - one for sophonts, and one for robots. That last bit provides a hook for a robot player (there's a potential gimmick) or an NPC robot owned by a PC (there's another potential gimmick).
Perhaps their main goal is to steal the Bad Guy's Black Globe Generator. That's a cliche taken from Star Trek, and I have to break cliches, so maybe their main goal would be to swap the BGG with a non-working copy (or, perhaps, a fancy bomb that slags the engine room). So what's the push or pull behind that? The Bad Guy and his ship must be a threat to the players somehow. If they players have their own little outpost or base, then the Bad Guy may be en route to destroy it -- but that cliche is taken from Star Wars, so I have to break it, so maybe the Bad Guy is out to capture the players' little base. So that's a push, right? The Bad Guy pushes, so they have to neutralize the Bad Guy in order to defend themselves.
That means the players' base is a gimmick as well. It must be something special: assume the players themselves haven't put time into customizing their very own base. That means the base itself is valuable. It may contain something special, such as a non-working pre-Maghiz Darrian relic starship which is repairable and has some impressive features, and the players can potentially obtain the missing parts to get it working again. This may also mean that the little base itself might be TL16, though perhaps only partly functional. So the base has its own theme - exotic, old, and of undiscovered potential.
So the Bad Guy's BGG is also a pull. Maybe components of the BGG can repair or replace something broken in the relic starship.
The point though is to give the base value to the players to use; the players could also sell the base and its craft, in which case the plot becomes complicated by having to line up prospective buyers and at the same time staving off the Bad Guy... who in fact may have originally posed as a potential buyer who just wanted the thing for free, to further his own personal reign of anonymous terror. Or perhaps he's a powerful factor of Arkesh Spacers et al. So his first attempt is to scout out the base and try to take it via henchmen. (So it turns out that this thing writes itself.) There's the manifestation of the push.
Thus we have a few major NPCs already who require histories and personalities, including of course the Main Bad Guy in this segment, but potentially also the "NPC robot" if there's no robot PC, because an NPC robot is not just an automaton, but will in fact have a history, potentially could even have a "family", and will have blind spots and "personal" goals. It may or may not be a full crew member; if it's a possession, there may well be questions raised about slavery by the players; let them mull that over. At any rate, an NPC robot will require compensation in order to work toward its own goals, but the nature of that compensation depends on the NPC itself.
So anyway, the players need to get aboard an enemy vessel. That means smuggling themselves aboard as cargo; or being captured and having a confederate aboard who can free them; or impersonating crew members (if the ship is large) or being hired as new crew. Typical Traveller fare.
To be hired as new crew, they would have to infiltrate the sort of sordid company that said Evil Bad Guy uses to conduct business, and build some sort of trust there. So they have to act sort of evil for a bit, which could be an interesting masquerade. This means there's a pirate base/freeport out there where the unsavory, the unwanted, and the outcast hang out. They're not all evil, either -- every society rejects some people based on non-evil premises, and those people are forced to mix with true evil. Anyway, the base will have a theme, probably a measure of neglect and dissipation along with unreliable, unsafe "modifications" of equipment and ships. Could be a marketplace for special items, including drugs and slaves and weapons. Potential gimmicks there.
Now, how do the players learn about the BGG on the Bad Guy's ship? Well they have to overhear a discussion or intercept a transmission that ordinary law enforcement personnel would not be able to detect. Maybe this is auxiliary to their trying to neutralize the Bad Guy? So they already decide to stop this evil guy, and only after they've spent time in the pirate base/freeport do they hear rumors about the Bad Guy's BGG. So that's when the pull comes in, perhaps.
Winding back, then, the earliest scene so far is the players' discovery of the small base. The referee can just give it to them at the beginning, or it can become a scene in and of itself in order to build its value in the players' minds. So they're doing some horribly boring job for someone, prospecting in some asteroid belt, when they stumble upon the base. They get to figure out the puzzle of how to reactivate the power source, then how to send the "open hangar bay" command, then they explore it.
It has to be off the beaten path; otherwise some government would claim eminent domain or immediately send a flight of patrol cruisers and strike a "bargain" with the players. This requires some thought. The base can't be so powerful that it poses a threat to anyone, nor should it be useless to the players. In other words, great for players and pirates, generally useless for strategy.
Summing up so far.
Know the Ending.
Work small plotlines, gimmicks, pushes, pulls, and enigmas in among the bigger ones.
Theme and environment, in broad sketches, for places and scenes and props. Break cliches. Worry about the story more than creatures.
NPCs. History, family, personality, blind spots, plans for the future. Break stereotypes.
Example
I want the final scene to be a battle between the players and a main Bad Guy and his henchmen, aboard the Bad Guy's spacecraft, in orbit.
The bad guy's starship should have a memorable theme, then. For example, it may resemble the clean, dark, technical angularity of the Death Star, with a generous "boardroom", wide hexagonal corridors, dangerously heavy gravitically-controlled fire doors, and dual interfaces at workstations - one for sophonts, and one for robots. That last bit provides a hook for a robot player (there's a potential gimmick) or an NPC robot owned by a PC (there's another potential gimmick).
Perhaps their main goal is to steal the Bad Guy's Black Globe Generator. That's a cliche taken from Star Trek, and I have to break cliches, so maybe their main goal would be to swap the BGG with a non-working copy (or, perhaps, a fancy bomb that slags the engine room). So what's the push or pull behind that? The Bad Guy and his ship must be a threat to the players somehow. If they players have their own little outpost or base, then the Bad Guy may be en route to destroy it -- but that cliche is taken from Star Wars, so I have to break it, so maybe the Bad Guy is out to capture the players' little base. So that's a push, right? The Bad Guy pushes, so they have to neutralize the Bad Guy in order to defend themselves.
That means the players' base is a gimmick as well. It must be something special: assume the players themselves haven't put time into customizing their very own base. That means the base itself is valuable. It may contain something special, such as a non-working pre-Maghiz Darrian relic starship which is repairable and has some impressive features, and the players can potentially obtain the missing parts to get it working again. This may also mean that the little base itself might be TL16, though perhaps only partly functional. So the base has its own theme - exotic, old, and of undiscovered potential.
So the Bad Guy's BGG is also a pull. Maybe components of the BGG can repair or replace something broken in the relic starship.
The point though is to give the base value to the players to use; the players could also sell the base and its craft, in which case the plot becomes complicated by having to line up prospective buyers and at the same time staving off the Bad Guy... who in fact may have originally posed as a potential buyer who just wanted the thing for free, to further his own personal reign of anonymous terror. Or perhaps he's a powerful factor of Arkesh Spacers et al. So his first attempt is to scout out the base and try to take it via henchmen. (So it turns out that this thing writes itself.) There's the manifestation of the push.
Thus we have a few major NPCs already who require histories and personalities, including of course the Main Bad Guy in this segment, but potentially also the "NPC robot" if there's no robot PC, because an NPC robot is not just an automaton, but will in fact have a history, potentially could even have a "family", and will have blind spots and "personal" goals. It may or may not be a full crew member; if it's a possession, there may well be questions raised about slavery by the players; let them mull that over. At any rate, an NPC robot will require compensation in order to work toward its own goals, but the nature of that compensation depends on the NPC itself.
So anyway, the players need to get aboard an enemy vessel. That means smuggling themselves aboard as cargo; or being captured and having a confederate aboard who can free them; or impersonating crew members (if the ship is large) or being hired as new crew. Typical Traveller fare.
To be hired as new crew, they would have to infiltrate the sort of sordid company that said Evil Bad Guy uses to conduct business, and build some sort of trust there. So they have to act sort of evil for a bit, which could be an interesting masquerade. This means there's a pirate base/freeport out there where the unsavory, the unwanted, and the outcast hang out. They're not all evil, either -- every society rejects some people based on non-evil premises, and those people are forced to mix with true evil. Anyway, the base will have a theme, probably a measure of neglect and dissipation along with unreliable, unsafe "modifications" of equipment and ships. Could be a marketplace for special items, including drugs and slaves and weapons. Potential gimmicks there.
Now, how do the players learn about the BGG on the Bad Guy's ship? Well they have to overhear a discussion or intercept a transmission that ordinary law enforcement personnel would not be able to detect. Maybe this is auxiliary to their trying to neutralize the Bad Guy? So they already decide to stop this evil guy, and only after they've spent time in the pirate base/freeport do they hear rumors about the Bad Guy's BGG. So that's when the pull comes in, perhaps.
Winding back, then, the earliest scene so far is the players' discovery of the small base. The referee can just give it to them at the beginning, or it can become a scene in and of itself in order to build its value in the players' minds. So they're doing some horribly boring job for someone, prospecting in some asteroid belt, when they stumble upon the base. They get to figure out the puzzle of how to reactivate the power source, then how to send the "open hangar bay" command, then they explore it.
It has to be off the beaten path; otherwise some government would claim eminent domain or immediately send a flight of patrol cruisers and strike a "bargain" with the players. This requires some thought. The base can't be so powerful that it poses a threat to anyone, nor should it be useless to the players. In other words, great for players and pirates, generally useless for strategy.
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For me, it is always about a multitude of actions taking place. For that reason, Psionic Knights (think that was the title) was a trilogy that came with Traveller's Digest. A quick follow-up would be Knightfall. Generally, I like also an adventure in which the Referee also has a point in the game where it goes into freefall and the player's determine the storyline.
For that reason, Flynn's GenCon adventures are memorable.
I find myself liking Tripwire but finding that there is alot that I have to add to it to make more workable.
For that reason, Flynn's GenCon adventures are memorable.
I find myself liking Tripwire but finding that there is alot that I have to add to it to make more workable.
As would I.
I tend to run Sandbox mode. Knowing the ending means railroading players to it in most cases.
OK, good point - a written adventure doesn't have to have a hard-coded ending.
But part of that is how to be a good referee, and I believe that's a different, though related, discussion than writing an adventure. Written adventures can have an ending and be good (The Traveller Adventure, the Chamax Plague, Twilight's Peak, Sky Raiders Trilogy), just as adventures in Sandbox Mode can be bad, or perhaps too sketchy (Spinward Marches Campaign, Leviathan, Shadows). As in all things, the referee must mine the text and be flexible.
I agree that railroading players is generally not fun for players, because they often have their own goals to pursue.
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Maybe this contains the point Wil and Flykiller are trying to make:
http://www.thealexandrian.net/creations/misc/prep-scenario.html
So instead of just saying "this is a railroad", why not suggest that the whole shebang be boiled down into an EPIC?
(1) The players encounter an unknown base (need to detail the base)
* has a neat corvette (need to detail the ship)
* has a couple of Dr. Evil's henchmen (need to detail henchmen). Dr. Evil does business at a particular pirate base/freeport.
(2) Pirate base/freeport.
* Dr. Evil used some critical parts of the neat corvette in his personal ship (need to detail his ship).
(3) Dr. Evil's Ship
http://www.thealexandrian.net/creations/misc/prep-scenario.html
So instead of just saying "this is a railroad", why not suggest that the whole shebang be boiled down into an EPIC?
(1) The players encounter an unknown base (need to detail the base)
* has a neat corvette (need to detail the ship)
* has a couple of Dr. Evil's henchmen (need to detail henchmen). Dr. Evil does business at a particular pirate base/freeport.
(2) Pirate base/freeport.
* Dr. Evil used some critical parts of the neat corvette in his personal ship (need to detail his ship).
(3) Dr. Evil's Ship
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E.D.Quibell
SOC-13
I use a mix of EPIC and Nuget formats with a cast of charcters and equipment at the back, and then set goals for the Bad Guys and then plan for the most likely PC cause of action.
It's a mix of plot driven and situation driven, but it works for me.
Regards,
Ewan
I don't like EPIC. It's a format for railroad.
In fact, Shadows and Twilight's peak are amongst the best adventures ever IMO, because they provide an open ended experience, strong kicker, and prepared environment. Heck, Exit visa is pretty well done, too. Same reasons.
In fact, Shadows and Twilight's peak are amongst the best adventures ever IMO, because they provide an open ended experience, strong kicker, and prepared environment. Heck, Exit visa is pretty well done, too. Same reasons.
E.D.Quibell
SOC-13
It's a scene based format, you just have to make sure there are no single points of failure in any of the scense. Your players must be able to do the key sceans, so you just make sure that the goal is achieveable in any number of ways. How the players get to the scense should be up to them.
There is no "Role playing" in Shadows (it's a dungeon crawl) and the premis of going there is crap (It lacks "Pull"). The Gimick can be overlooked or lost, and the solution means the players don't need to do the adventure.
The "Pull" of Exit Visa is railroaded (the PCs are there!) and it can be frustrating as the players keep hitting brick walls and there isn't much of a push (that's why I think Escape from Arden is better).
As one offs they arn't very inspiering, however they would fit well into a campainge as side adventures on the way to somewhere else. IMO of course, as the campaign background would provide the push and pull needed to get the players into the scenrarios in the first place.
YMMV of course.
Regards,
Ewan
It also depends on the players --
Some players -- especially the min-maxer "power-gamers" of D20 fame .. will usually be the ones talking about railroading, as they aren't taking advantage of their characters strengths...
Thus, the GM has to rachet up the difficulty so as to take away from the "power-gamers" thirst for glory .. lol. But power-gamers are usally Roll-players, instead of role-players .. So the GM has to see what kind of group he has -- as "role" players will be distinctly different from "roll" players .. lol
--
Which is why I do tough settings -- as it challenges both sides or a push-pull debate as it brings in situational aspects bigtime ..
-- eg. The party has just done the local resistance cell a big-favor by offing a corrupt official; But, forgot to tell the local crime-family of the operation -- as the official was a plant to infiltrate the govt. Thus, they have both sides annoyed and looking for them --
So, is the party on the "good" side -- and thus allied with the govt (Religious Dictatorship, Law Level E)? or are they "bad" and thus allied with the crime-family or resistence-cells.
So Situational aspects come into BIG focus -- and push-pull -- so do they fight -- do they negotiate -- do they run -- do they clear their name (as they might just have been framed).
-- so a party, such as an ex-marine, scout, merchant, computer programmer/hacker -- will have a very tough time of it, but will be able to get thru with wise decision making
-- while a party of a Cleric/Noble, Beaureucraft, Diplomat, ex-marine will have an easier time due to various contacts, and govt paper-work tactics...
-- while a Psi, Merchant, Rebel, Criminal will have a tough time, but will also have enough contacts and skills to use a different 'plan' but also suceed..
-- So not only do the players make a big difference, but the party composition -- so that ALSO has to be considered in an adventure.
Some players -- especially the min-maxer "power-gamers" of D20 fame .. will usually be the ones talking about railroading, as they aren't taking advantage of their characters strengths...
Thus, the GM has to rachet up the difficulty so as to take away from the "power-gamers" thirst for glory .. lol. But power-gamers are usally Roll-players, instead of role-players .. So the GM has to see what kind of group he has -- as "role" players will be distinctly different from "roll" players .. lol
--
Which is why I do tough settings -- as it challenges both sides or a push-pull debate as it brings in situational aspects bigtime ..
-- eg. The party has just done the local resistance cell a big-favor by offing a corrupt official; But, forgot to tell the local crime-family of the operation -- as the official was a plant to infiltrate the govt. Thus, they have both sides annoyed and looking for them --
So, is the party on the "good" side -- and thus allied with the govt (Religious Dictatorship, Law Level E)? or are they "bad" and thus allied with the crime-family or resistence-cells.
So Situational aspects come into BIG focus -- and push-pull -- so do they fight -- do they negotiate -- do they run -- do they clear their name (as they might just have been framed).
-- so a party, such as an ex-marine, scout, merchant, computer programmer/hacker -- will have a very tough time of it, but will be able to get thru with wise decision making
-- while a party of a Cleric/Noble, Beaureucraft, Diplomat, ex-marine will have an easier time due to various contacts, and govt paper-work tactics...
-- while a Psi, Merchant, Rebel, Criminal will have a tough time, but will also have enough contacts and skills to use a different 'plan' but also suceed..
-- So not only do the players make a big difference, but the party composition -- so that ALSO has to be considered in an adventure.
As an introductory adventure, Exit visa is both excellent and horrid. It's far less railroad than it seems, since it doesn't drag players scene to scene. It's a prepared set of encounters that can be taken in any order. It should have been done as a solo module, tho'... it is almost to that level already. Yes, it relies upon a you are here, and here's the situation. It's a starting point, not a mid point, of a campaign. And the horrid part is that it's not a good exemplar of the setting nor the rules. It provides alternative resolutions to several skill uses. (Grist for the CT has no task system debate...)
Shadows is a push, absolutely. It needs no pull because the situation is so dire; accompish the push or die. And true, there are no NPC's... but that does NOT mean it isn't roleplaying. It's often caused excelent inter-party roleplay. In point of fact, I've found it to be one of the best tournament/convention adventures specifically because it has a built in time limit, and provides an initial enigma for later resolution... or not... as desired.
Ewan, I think you need to actually reread Shadows, because you're misremembering. The initial situation is that the pyramid just came online AND SHOT THEM DOWN. they are downed far enough away that foot isn't viable, if they try the air/raft, it's gonna die, too. So, the option is in or die, and death is choice of starve aboard while waiting to see if someone else gets shot down and tackles it instead; die trying to escape from it; die trying to walk away from the site towards what passes for civilization; take out the pyramid. So far, most parties I've run it for spent an hour of play just figuring out whether to go in... an hour of pure in-character play.
Plus, when run well, it's a creepy atmospheric bit... done right, it can have players thinking "Alien" (as in the movie) rather than "The Planet Crusher".
The best thing about both is that neither relies upon direct sequential play. I don't have to aim them scene to scene. (which does get to be a problem with TTA.) And the same for ATBF, Marooned, and Prison Planet.
Shadows is a push, absolutely. It needs no pull because the situation is so dire; accompish the push or die. And true, there are no NPC's... but that does NOT mean it isn't roleplaying. It's often caused excelent inter-party roleplay. In point of fact, I've found it to be one of the best tournament/convention adventures specifically because it has a built in time limit, and provides an initial enigma for later resolution... or not... as desired.
Ewan, I think you need to actually reread Shadows, because you're misremembering. The initial situation is that the pyramid just came online AND SHOT THEM DOWN. they are downed far enough away that foot isn't viable, if they try the air/raft, it's gonna die, too. So, the option is in or die, and death is choice of starve aboard while waiting to see if someone else gets shot down and tackles it instead; die trying to escape from it; die trying to walk away from the site towards what passes for civilization; take out the pyramid. So far, most parties I've run it for spent an hour of play just figuring out whether to go in... an hour of pure in-character play.
Plus, when run well, it's a creepy atmospheric bit... done right, it can have players thinking "Alien" (as in the movie) rather than "The Planet Crusher".
The best thing about both is that neither relies upon direct sequential play. I don't have to aim them scene to scene. (which does get to be a problem with TTA.) And the same for ATBF, Marooned, and Prison Planet.
S
scrabble
Guest
In my opinion, a coherent, interesting plot makes for good adventures.
An incoherent listing of encounters and random events for people to blunder into doth not an adventure make, which is why I dislike most of the Classic Traveller adventures.
Though IMO "Shadows" is one of the worst "adventures" ever. It is one big railroad, and does not allow characters much leeway in what they do. For one thing, there is no good reason for the characters to investigate the pyramid in the first place, given that they could (and arguably should) just radio the starport and let them know about it so that they can send a properly equipped team there.
An incoherent listing of encounters and random events for people to blunder into doth not an adventure make, which is why I dislike most of the Classic Traveller adventures.
Though IMO "Shadows" is one of the worst "adventures" ever. It is one big railroad, and does not allow characters much leeway in what they do. For one thing, there is no good reason for the characters to investigate the pyramid in the first place, given that they could (and arguably should) just radio the starport and let them know about it so that they can send a properly equipped team there.
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