Adventure Generation: Setting, Conflict, Position, Detail

Christopher Rice suggested writing something about how people write and prepare for adventures, and I thought I'd share how I generate my adventures, or at least my adventure ideas. I love coming up with ideas and scenarios for adventures, even if they aren't always complete until the game actually gets played. I have a fairly simple set of steps I use to generate ideas, and I actually follow them pretty formally: while sometimes I'll start with one of the later steps in mind, most of the time I quickly duck back and go through the steps.

First, find a Setting. This could be a published setting, or it could be one you made up, or it could be a few vague ideas about something you want to run. Or it could be determined by the long-running campaign you have. But start with a concept of place.

Second, find a Conflict. This can be any sort of conflict: perhaps the elves and dwarves are fighting a war, or the kingdom is approaching a succession crisis. It could be a valuable treasure someone is going to steal, a werewolf going on a rampage, or two alien races are about to meet (potential conflict counts as well). Conflict should involve sets of people who want different things. But don't work out the details yet. Just get a general idea of what the conflict is like.

Third, Position the heroes somewhere in the conflict. Try to maximize the number and importance of the decisions the players can make, the amount of interesting information they can find, and the number of people they can meet and impact. Games are inherently about choices. A well-told story can be enjoyable, but player interaction relies on choices. Try to give the players a simple goal so that you can predict their general arc, but otherwise find the place that gives them the most freedom. Try to initially obscure at least some information from them (but not their end goal). And remember that players love combat and talking to NPC's, so put the PC's in a position where they get their own hands dirty... though that doesn't have to mean combat. It could mean just make sure they are in a position where they can reach and talk to all of the relevant people. 

Once you have your Setting, Conflict, and Position, Detail your adventure. Look at what parts of the conflict the PC's will be interacting with, and start detailing them. If the players are escorting dwarven diplomats through elven forests to make an alliance with humans, you don't especially need to figure out the armies, but the scouts guarding the forest and their tactics to prevent intruders are useful. If the players are imperial police hunting down were-wolves, figuring out the village's reaction to strangers and the empire is useful. 

Detailing doesn't require finishing the adventure. It's just about answering the questions the players are likely to need answers for in the next session or two, and figuring out the core facts of the adventure (like how the murder was committed). Of course, you will likely need to continue to prepare and finalize as the adventure develops, and that's just running a game.

This may sound fairly formal, but this is pretty much how I write/prepare my adventures. Start with a core setting idea, find a conflict in it, find the player's position of agency and power in that conflict, and then start fleshing out what I need to run it. There is a lot more to detailing, of course, but that's a different post. I should also warn that sometimes I need to back up a step, because not all ideas work. I generate multiple ideas and then ask which one is best, especially when looking at maximizing decisions, information to find, and power over the story. I also find that figuring out the position of the heroes in the conflict before fleshing out the adventure helps direct preparation and make the whole scenario better.

This is not the only way to come up with an adventure, of course, and its not the only way I use, but I find the steps are a good way to get my creativity flowing.

I hope this gives you a useful tool for generating adventures, whether as part of a new campaign, or as the basis for an entirely new one. I certainly love this method, and whether you realize it or not, it will continue to effect what gets placed on this blog. Happy Story-Crafting!