Ready Your Swimmers or Conception
By Cape Rust
A wise man suggested that I should use my limited ability to run a passable RPG to write a series of articles that takes you from deciding to run an adventure to finishing with something epic. I realize I have touched on many of these topics in my articles but this is a concerted effort to condense those game making ideas into a step by step process. I refuse to call this series “RPGs for Dummies”, because that has already been written and to be honest, you gamers are in no way, shape, or fashion dummies. Learning game systems and developing adventures in those systems isn’t easy and is not for the faint of heart. I always stress fun when it comes to RPGs and conceiving your next game should be no exception. However, there will be work involved. You have to go into this process the same way you go into a knife fight.
If someone ever pulls a knife and it comes down to having to fight for your life (that is the WORST case scenario. Remember, your cell phone, wallet, jewelry, or favorite set of dice are never more important than your life), the first thought in your mind always has to be “I’m going to get cut, but I’m not going to die.” Running a game is no different. There will be work involved and things will go wrong, but the game does not have to die. Murphy’s laws of combat state that no plan survives the initial contact. This is another tried and true rule you have to keep in mind during game development and while you are running a game. With those warnings, let’s get started.
I know there are quite a few of you who have forgotten more about RPGs than I’ll ever know, but there might still be value in following this series. I don’t say this to get more readers, I say it because as gamers we tend to get into routines. We play the same game system, we play the same types of characters, and tend to run the same type of games. We will often go to the same sources for inspiration. Some people use video games for ideas, others turn to popular literature, and some even look at (gods forbid!) history. By following how I do things, you might get some new ideas or be able to validate your methods. Because commenting on articles seems to not be passé, getting your ideas will be hard for me but I would still like to hear them.
It is important to remember that my method is just a method. Take what you want from me and trash the rest… in the end the goal has to be a game that is as fun for the players as it is for you. This might sound easy but in the end, my experience has shown me that this is the single fail point for most games. I have run games that have broken the “fun first” rule too many times to mention. I can remember sitting there thinking that would be a great idea for a game. After being given the good idea beat down, I would spend hours, if not days, preparing this epic adventure, to include player handouts and maps. I let my players know I have a game to run once our current game is done, then spend the next month or so talking up my game and fleshing out my world more and more.
Finally, our current game ends and it is time for me to unleash my epic adventure or campaign on my players who will be absolutely blown away by how awesome this game is going to be. I can almost hear the cheers of the players as they worship my gaming brilliance. The first session comes around and I sit down to let my players know what races and what classes of characters they are going to need to play. Then I let them know what feats or advantages that will be useful during the game and exactly what source material they can use. I can tell them all of this because I know exactly how the story is going to go. Because I have this so well planned out, I have already figured out how we will roll the stats and what each character’s history will be. I have already figured out what gear the players will start with and because of my awesomeness, I will give each player a magic item that I have chosen. These players are lucky to have me running this game!
If you saw nothing wrong with the last few paragraphs, then you HAVE to read this series. If you saw a few problems, you still HAVE to read this series. If you got disgusted after the first paragraph and stopped reading then I suggest you read through this series and try to pick off some techniques or tips that might enhance your adventure development. Stay tuned for next week’s installment where we will break down some of my big mistakes and try to figure out how to save a game that is doomed to fail.