[D&D] Reactive Plot preparation

[zakarntson]

I'm preparing a D&D adventure using some stuff from the DMG and other stuff from Sorcerer and Sorcerer & Sword. I'm not sure what to call it, so I'm calling it Reactive DMing.

Comments

[wahcrysob]

First off, the adventure itself sounds pretty interesting, and I'm intrigued to see how the campaign goes, so I'll be adding you to my friends if you don't mind. Subsequently, I may just steal the basic idea (though I may well use lizardfolk or undead instead of ratlings) for my own campaign I'll get to eventually.

Secondly, you have some very interesting points, especially concerning bangs! and encounter locations. I'm actually planning to try and to run my next campaign a little more "cinematically," and borrow various elements from both film and prose, namely flashbacks to get things started in media res and cut aways to help move the plot along.

I really like the way you structured the adventure, as far as organizing information is concerning. As a DM, one of the issues I have with my own ability is how to organize my information to be as useful as possible, not to mention how much is enough and how much is too much. I think I'll be rereading this post in the future.

What really impressed me however is the concept of the NPC map. As I plan to have few adventuers that involve truly site based encounters (I mean dingeons and the like), this NPC map idea is very cool to me, as it seems to provide a chance to coordinate NPCs and will likley even present ways to connect them that will allow the PCs to better follow the plot, and myself to better tell it.

Quality entry!

[zakarntson]

Thanks! I was introduced to Relationship Maps through Ron Edwards' Sorcerer (specifically, the Sorcerer & Soul supplement), so it's nothing I can take credit for.

As for site-based adventuring, this first adventure will take place almost entirely within a dungeon (the undercity), but I'm making no distinction between the dungeon and anywhere else when it comes to scenes. I'm really hoping that there'll be no need to differentiate from Dungeon and Elsewhere as far as moving along goes. A dungeon crawl changes from:

"You continue down the corridor [consult map], there are two doors to your right, and three to your left. What do you do?

To a scene-based description:

"Scene: You're on one side of a door, wondering what's on the other side. Make Listen checks. [I've already set the stakes to: Do the players avoid/kill the monsters beyond the door]."

So my "dungeon" then consists of modular Encounter Locations and Encounter Monsters and Bangs that I can string together into scenes. I'm trying to come up with a good way to track the percentages of Easy, Challenging, Very Difficult, etc., so I can modify the encounters on the fly and still meet the DMG recommendations.

Moving along, in media res is a great way to throw players into the action. One of my best fantasy gaming experiences (with Sorcerer & Sword) was to create the "kickers" (player-authored situations that have immediate impact, no matter how the player acts) and just start everyone up in the middle of these kickers. (see this actual play post for the details)