The plot is difficult to make. A good rule is to keep it simple. Not that the players should be able to foresee everything. There is a huge difference between simplicity and blatancy. Shakespeare’s plays are very simple: right versus wrong, good versus evil. Everyone can understand them. That is what makes them popular. You can hardly find a movie today that is not following a very simple plotline. The general theme needs to be simple. No one, not even you, is able to present an adventure with three dozens people intriguing against each other and having different aims.

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The general mood of an adventure is of great importance. Although some people think that it is predetermined by the game, which is why Warhammer Fantasy RP is always associated with dark fantasy and AD&D with dungeon bashing. This is false. The mood is determined by the GM and the adventure. Just because the rulebook reads of grim world, does not mean of how the adventures will look like.

Take the computer game Discworld as an example. The first part was very close to the novels, very funny and full of absurdities. Then take a look at Discworld:Noir. Totally different. If you like AD&D and want to play in a dark fantasy environment, just do it. It is not necessary to buy a new rulebook.

The general mood has a big impact on the game itself. When it takes place in a so called dark fantasy environment, the players are often much less likely to trust anyone. When you set it in a world full of powerful magic and chivalry, they are much more self-confident.

What you prefer is up to you, but it is necessary to think about the mood before the game starts. It is plainly stupid to create an adventure full of dragons, balrogs and sorcerers and then make them so powerful, that no PC can stand up against them.

Also remember that the PCs have to be aware of the general mood. Make it clear that they cannot have a “wish” every now and then or you end up with dead PC and angry players.

To be continued…

This article was written by Leif U. Schrader and originaly published by Strike to Stun in 2001

The first step is always the hardest. The first step involves to sit down and try. Sometimes you will have hundreds of possible ideas and none the following day. You cannot do anything against that. Even great authors had times where they could not come up with even an average idea. The best way to deal with a blockage is to do something else: Visit friends, go into a pub, watch TV, read a book, but do not try to force it. It would not work anyway. Discipline is of course another thing. When you really want to start writing an adventure, it is necessary to work on it. Work does not always involve pleasure. It also means sweat and tears. A good rule of thumb is to sit down once a week for a few hours to read what you have written, change it where necessary and develop the story a little bit further. Most adventures are not finished, because the authors just wanted to interrupt it for a while and never came back. To come up with a coherent storyline means that you need to have a more or less constant stream of thought in your head.

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Liber Fanatica just annouced their unofficial expansion to Black Industries “The Thousand Thrones”-campaing. In my (very personal) opinion the major intention of this expansions is to fix the flaws the original campaign had. You can download it at  Liber Fanaticas site.

Everyone of us has written an adventure. Unfortunately most are not beware of that and the reason for this cannot be found in alcoholic beverages. Most GMs have spend much of their spare in the creation of an adventure, carefully creating scene after scene, balancing the whole plot, inventing new creatures, places and spells. Others prefer to buy ready made adventure, where almost every aspect is covered and dealt with. Another way is to use small adventure hooks or scenarios that are filled with life. All of them have something in common: They are not perfect! No matter how much time you spend on an adventure, how much money you invested in a supplement or how good you know your players, there are situations where you have to come up with your own ideas, you have to improvise. Your players are human beings and their actions can hardly be predicted (otherwise everyone would make a
million on the stock exchange). This improvisation is the first step to create an adventure, although only small parts of an adventure are improvised, a huge world of new adventures are behind the veil and all that is necessary is to lift it.

Even players create adventures. Roleplaying is not a one-way-street. Instead players manipulate the world they play in - sometimes metaphorically, sometimes literally. I remember an adventure where my PC - unintentionally - killed the princes he wanted to rescue; just image all the possible adventures afterwards. These are also the first steps to create new adventures.

There are hundreds of good adventures on the market - and probably thousands of bad ones. This article is meant to show you some of the possible ways to create good adventures. It does not guarantee a good adventure and the one’s that are made need constant modification during game-play. Even if you fail spectacularly, you should not hesitate to try again.

To create an adventure all you need is a pen and a pencil. A rulebook may be nice, but it is not necessary. The rest is your imagination.

More to follow…

This article was written by Leif U. Schrader and originaly published by Strike to Stun in 2001

America has voted.

With this article the series “A stick and a carrot” is finished. I really hope you enjoyed reading this posts over the last months. Honestly I do not like the concept of experience points very much. When you kill ten people you may be more experienced, but you can hardly say that this can lead to better skills in reading and writing. I have always preferred to take down notes who did what. (more…)

Have you ever taken a look at the map of the Empire? The river Talabec is far more longer thant the upper Reik, nevertheless when both rivers join the river is called Reik:

I recently found this series of excellent documentary films on the web. It is about the history of germany from its beginnings around 900 AD. Especially the first four or five episodes are great as they show a lot of fluff for WFRP and give you an idea how a mediveal/renaissance society worked and looked like. As it is a very new production it only exists in the german original. But I think that it is even worth to watch it even if you cannot understand a word

This is a complex issue. It happens that a PC dies during gameplay. In the end most games are more or less combat oriented. Combat rules occupy major parts of the rulebook and there are few adventures totally free of combat. So you should be prepared to let them die. However do not kill them. There is no bodycount you have to achieve to be granted entrance to the Hall of Fame of GMs. (more…)