tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3871409676946408069.post634137227438393821..comments2023-10-14T03:58:59.333-06:00Comments on The Tao of D&D: Adventure WritingAlexis Smolenskhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10539170107563075967noreply@blogger.comBlogger5125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3871409676946408069.post-13718312322359549232017-08-19T10:11:18.314-06:002017-08-19T10:11:18.314-06:00Not to push you hard, Mike, but if you really want...Not to push you hard, Mike, but if you really want to see the maps, and you have access to Microsoft Publisher, you ought to donate $10 one time through Patreon to see what those maps really look like.<br /><br />I'm glad the post scored with you.Alexis Smolenskhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/10539170107563075967noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3871409676946408069.post-83039809720450444372017-08-19T09:40:11.008-06:002017-08-19T09:40:11.008-06:00Well said,
It took me years to learn this, but l...Well said,<br /> It took me years to learn this, but luckily have been doing this for 35+ years.<br /><br /> Long ago I found a good in-game reason to give players a map of at least a goodly part of a dungeon. Why to show it off and also so could lay it all (or as much as could fit) out on the table ahead of time. Now with Dwarven Forge products I really can't resist. A great part, if I miss layout the tiles, well then the map must be off. :)<br /><br /> These days my design focuses on having ready details, like all NPCs stated up but more importantly making "political/social relationship maps" between NPCs. Who hates who, who loves who, who is jealous of who, who is lazy, (continue with the other deadly sins, or seven virtues), key goals, etc. Still love my maps though.<br /><br />P.S. Pretty much in awe of your world maps.Mikehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/08231609275892907901noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3871409676946408069.post-87277103764617962002017-08-12T06:29:38.432-06:002017-08-12T06:29:38.432-06:00Huh, never expected to see agile design come up he...Huh, never expected to see agile design come up here. Lots of software developers bitch about it (especially if you've worked at a big old company like I have where they <i>want</i> to be agile but the organization has grown too complex for most people to know what's going on) but agile design does indeed help with some of what you mention, and the iterative approach is really useful.<br />The alpha/beta analogy did strike me however as I've always been one to avoid such games until they are stable (although again nowadays the open beta is mostly just to drum up interest) so that I don't spoil the experience for myself because I come across some ridiculous bug in the code. But in a small tabletop setting you can make mistakes all the time and work it out with the players because the game isn't so formal (and hopefully they have not payed for it).<br /><br />On that note, I really can't get enough of the module bashing! The whole thing kind of shocks me now, because it's so authoritarian: it says that you, the DM, must give us your money for some dull little magazine we've tossed together that you can then <b>subject</b> your players to. It's ludicrously capitalist: no other game outside of video games does this sort of weird hierarchization of the group where the DM becomes elevated over the players by the fact that they made a purchase. The kid playing hockey who buys the fancy equipment is not by any means the superior to the other kids (a poor analogy perhaps). If there's anything that helps perpetuate DM screens, DM fiat and DM arrogance, it's module culture which tells the DM "here's this organizational document we will give you to apply to the players which you may know but they may not".Timhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/03496502173819113887noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3871409676946408069.post-44370329699336713912017-08-08T14:12:55.658-06:002017-08-08T14:12:55.658-06:00"Agile design" is a new concept to me (&..."Agile design" is a new concept to me ('cause I'm hopelessly out of touch...natch), but what you're talking about certainly applies to the design process of your average "new" RPG...the testing involved at the game table, prior to its release. Applying it to adventure design (unless testing an adventure for publication...which is absurd since what works for one game group doesn't necessarily work for others...*sigh* never mind. There's a reason I don't publish adventures, I suppose...)...<br /><br />This lifting the fog thing is the real sparkling kernel of this post for me. I know I get stuck in the rut of "here's this mystery for you to explore and illuminate" when you're absolutely right...it's entirely unnecessary. One of the last adventures I penned for a group involved them going after a dragon in its lair. They were presented with everything they needed to know (where it was, the type of creature, its range and habits, etc.) and told "have at it." When they balked ("A dragon?!") I was forced to explain that the scenario would not have been presented if it was beyond their abilities. It felt a little weird (given my history with gaming) to provide so much information up front...but then I remembered it's a damn game! This isn't a gameshow where they're trying to win a thousand bucks guessing in the dark! The game is about rising to the occasion and striving against the challenge presented. It's not about groping around blindly.<br /><br />[well, only under certain circumstances]<br /><br />JBhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/03263662621289630246noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3871409676946408069.post-8705555032600182062017-08-07T08:19:23.228-06:002017-08-07T08:19:23.228-06:00Having spent the last 7 years becoming professiona...Having spent the last 7 years becoming professionally acquainted with spiral and agile development and more years before that with waterfall design I can say that while you're taking some liberties for the sake of simplicity, they are still very appropriate analogies for what you're trying to express. <br /><br />Breaking myself of the "recreate modules" mentality and adopting something closer to the approach you advocate in adventure design was an epiphany for me. I'm not sure if its just my experience, or if this is true of many or most of those that came of age with the game, but ditching the module design mentality was actually a return to how I originally played when it happened. <br /><br />When we were young we were broke and simply couldn't purchase enough modules to keep up with our voracious playing pace. We also couldn't wait for the DM to carefully construct one. We wanted to PLAY. We were doing agile, collaborative development because there was no other option. It wasn't until I got older, had more money and less opportunity for actual play that I fooled myself into believing I needed to either purchase or carefully develop a setting or adventures. It took me years to get over that and finding your blog back in '07 or '08 was a big help in jarring myself out of those bad habits. Jameshttps://www.blogger.com/profile/04701068052580688441noreply@blogger.com