Adventure Architecture

[TypewriterLove]

Hey all,

So, I've been called on to do some GM'ing for the first time in a long time, and it's made me do a retrospective on my GM'ing past, particularly my reliance on improv and randomness in game. The story comes out okay, but I often feel like I've made impulsive decisions that I'd rather have thought through in the planning stages... without straitjacketing the adventure into something where the players feel like they're just following a trail instead of making choices.

So, I was thinking this thread could discuss what an ideal adventure story arc might be. What do you think should be considered as you're planning it out? It'd be nice if the conversation could include the abstract ideals, the anecdotal fond remembrances of how great adventures came together, and practical frameworks to use when planning.

We can use the framework of session-by-session, and in that maybe I can get some feedback on my own theoretical 'architecture':

-inciting incident: starting with action and excitement (not always combat, but often)

-discovery/planning: the players discover what's going on and decide what they want to do about it

-action: the players doing their best to executeon their idea

-surprise: either in the execution or soon after, players discover something that was unexpected and need to deal with it.

-secondary action: often relating to surprise, players respond

-ending / cliffhanger / denouement : depending on if this session is in the middle or at the end of the adventure, you either leave the players at another moment of surprise/revelation, you tie up the story of this particular adventure and possibly begin setup of next, or if it's the ending of campaign you tie off those larger stories as well, and everyone rides into the sunset.


Some of these touchpoints don't track to every adventure; sometimes the story doesn't lend itself to a 'surprise' in the story, or the main action is involving enough that you don't need extra moments within that session for a fulfilling story. Also, 'action' doesn't have to be combat; it could be conversations, skill tests, just about anything that involves the player trying to get or do something in the service of the story...

Thoughts?

[sgtcallistan]

My adventures tend to follow a very loose thread, through a mass of possibilities.
Hard to make a list out of something so nebulous, but here goes.

(The empty lines between paragraphs contain the GM feverishly thinking what to do next, by the way.)

Part1
Chat about (remind everyone of) previous adventures and characters / do updates.

Established ongoing events or loose ends are recalled by talking about recent events / news within the game.

Players plan / reveal their next actions.

New information comes in from contacts / 'letter from old friend'.
Optional: Formal requirement to investigate something from superiors, if any.

Gathering together / equipping / discussion.

Part2
Journey, investigation, exploration.


-and I rarely have the adventure plotted any further.

I suggest a list of places, names, useful things, events you'd like to see happen, all ready in a random pile to be slotted in where needed, or kept for later.

Adapt to, and adopt from your players. A casual remark by one player has led to major events in my current campaign.

Be ready to follow unexpected side-tracks: adopt them to become a clue to the correct way, or have a mini-adventure clearly only slightly connected to the main one.
Don't be scared to use plots the player's recognise; especially if things don't turn out the way they expect.

I find a golden rule is: their opponents are thinking creatures with their own plans; they do not wait in a room guarding a chest... ;)

Hope this is useful.

[moldymaltquaffer]

Things I try to plan:

Once per session:
At least one PC will encounter a moral dilemma
One moment of comic relief
One moment of sheer terror
One chance to make a friend who will come in handy later
One chance to make an enemy
Something previously mentioned “in passing” becomes relevant
An answer is given that only raises more questions
Something odd/unexpected happens
One opportunity for combat (and means to avoid it)
One PC gets separated from the safety of the group
One PC encounters something that sets off a disadvantage
One PC gets the chance to shine

Once per campaign:
Religious characters must have a crisis of faith
Other characters must have a personal crisis of a different sort
An enemy must be bearded in his lair
The PCs will be double-crossed
The PCs will run away (and be pursued)
The PCs must uncover at least one mystery/conspiracy
The PCs will save the life of somebody powerful/influential
Each PC will be tempted to betray the party
The PCs will get hopelessly lost (and find something interesting)

That said, these are guidelines only. I don't tend to run structured adventures. I work out what's going on the background ahead of time. Then I write up a series of vignettes (generally 16-20) and apply them as appropriate. After the session, I'll write up new ones to replace the four or so I used during the game.
Example: "The PCs are somewhere with a view. They see a blonde woman in green dress being forced into a white limo by two men in black suits. They're too far away to intervene, and limo drives off well before they get there."
If they come up with a brilliant way to track down the limo I can pull out another vignette. For illustration, we'll pull femme fatale off the list. She wants something, which segues into yet other vignettes (macguffin and enemies--including her).
If they don't, it's a plot hook hanging out there for me to use later when things slow down. Example: "You're listening to the mayor's speech with various amounts of attention and boredom, when you suddenly realize where you've seen his secretary before."

Schrodinger's Gun is your friend. http://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.ph...chrodingersGun
(Obligatory warning: tvtropes link. Do not click without large amounts of free time to squander.)

[TypewriterLove]

Some really cool ideas in here: a big thing that I'm taking away is keeping the structure loose enough that you can adapt to new developments by the players. If anything the design can encourage and foster that player development, making it more of a collaboration than delivering a product.

I came across something called 'island design theory' which seemed to involve looking at the important people/places/things in your story, and letting the players make the choices about when to go to which one. What is interesting here is that it involves no sense of narrative structure, which makes it very organic... but I don't totally want to forgo my desire to plan ahead a bit, and I do think players enjoy when they feel a story has culminated or progressed, something you can't rely on with a general sandbox concept.

Here's the link to the theory...

http://www.gnomestew.com/gming-advic...-design-theory

[Sydney]

Once system is decided, setting, genre, and characters are all made...

First, I throw out several adventure hooks to see what the players are interested in...

Step 2: Figure out what the BBEG (or even if there is one) is up to and why...

Step 3: let the PCs in and see what they do...

Step 4: Let the BBEG try to kill the PCs...

I really don't script beyond that, however...Oh, I also draw up maps that I think might be important to the adventure...