I believe in you.
You have a vision in your head. It’s exciting and colorful and full of wonder. I’m going to try and help you get it out of your head. That seems simple. It is not. Oh, it’s easy enough to put something down on paper and get it printed. But that’s not the goal. You want to communicate the vision you have. The excitement that lives in your head needs to be transferred to some random Dungeonmaster who has picked up the adventure to run it. Communicating your vision, getting it out of your head and in to someone else’s without loosing anything in the process, is quite hard.
Chimera Hobby Shop is a vendor at some of the major gaming conventions. They sell broken dreams. Buy one and get three free. Shelf after shelf of RPG books, supplements, and adventures. They are all someone’s dream. Thousands of con-goers paw through the rows of broken dreams looking for treasure. They skip over book after book looking for those rare gems that have somehow been mixed and are hiding among the broken dreams. I want your adventure to be that Indian arrowhead. “Look! A copy of Caverns of Thracia” or “Oh Man! The Inn of Lost Heroes!”
I’ve read and critically commented on over two thousand adventures. I’ve seen some of the very best adventures ever published for the hobby. Those adventures tower over the nostalgic memories of quality we have of the older and earlier products. I’ve seen some of the very worst. Confusing, wordy, and boring dreck that doesn’t communicate the excitement the designer must have had in mind when they sat down to write it. I think I’ve come to some good conclusions on the difference between an excellent adventure and a poor one. You don’t have to listen to my advice. You may have a very good reason to ignore it. But if you do, ensure you do it for the right reasons. Make a choice for the impact it will have on communicating your vision. And if you don’t think you’re an expert writer then maybe follow the advice herein; it should work fine 95% of the time.
The blog-s-sphere has a lot of very smart people in it; more smarterer than I, to be sure. I’ve attempted to place references to articles you can follow-up with if you’d like more information on a topic. I’m sure I’ve been greatly influenced by some of the authors; attributing to all of them would be impossible. If I’ve left someone out I apologize. It’s not my intent to minimize the impact they’ve had on the topic.
Write On!
EDIT: Some kind of he/she disclaimer, but rooms, encounters, etc, instead of spaceships, wilderness, etc. IE: genre used is fantasy, but applies to all.
EDIT: Five years later this seems sappy.
You have a vision in your head. It’s exciting and colorful and full of wonder. I’m going to try and help you get it out of your head. That seems simple. It is not. Oh, it’s easy enough to put something down on paper and get it printed. But that’s not the goal. You want to communicate the vision you have. The excitement that lives in your head needs to be transferred to some random Dungeonmaster who has picked up the adventure to run it. Communicating your vision, getting it out of your head and in to someone else’s without loosing anything in the process, is quite hard.
Chimera Hobby Shop is a vendor at some of the major gaming conventions. They sell broken dreams. Buy one and get three free. Shelf after shelf of RPG books, supplements, and adventures. They are all someone’s dream. Thousands of con-goers paw through the rows of broken dreams looking for treasure. They skip over book after book looking for those rare gems that have somehow been mixed and are hiding among the broken dreams. I want your adventure to be that Indian arrowhead. “Look! A copy of Caverns of Thracia” or “Oh Man! The Inn of Lost Heroes!”
I’ve read and critically commented on over two thousand adventures. I’ve seen some of the very best adventures ever published for the hobby. Those adventures tower over the nostalgic memories of quality we have of the older and earlier products. I’ve seen some of the very worst. Confusing, wordy, and boring dreck that doesn’t communicate the excitement the designer must have had in mind when they sat down to write it. I think I’ve come to some good conclusions on the difference between an excellent adventure and a poor one. You don’t have to listen to my advice. You may have a very good reason to ignore it. But if you do, ensure you do it for the right reasons. Make a choice for the impact it will have on communicating your vision. And if you don’t think you’re an expert writer then maybe follow the advice herein; it should work fine 95% of the time.
The blog-s-sphere has a lot of very smart people in it; more smarterer than I, to be sure. I’ve attempted to place references to articles you can follow-up with if you’d like more information on a topic. I’m sure I’ve been greatly influenced by some of the authors; attributing to all of them would be impossible. If I’ve left someone out I apologize. It’s not my intent to minimize the impact they’ve had on the topic.
Write On!
EDIT: Some kind of he/she disclaimer, but rooms, encounters, etc, instead of spaceships, wilderness, etc. IE: genre used is fantasy, but applies to all.
EDIT: Five years later this seems sappy.
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