Scenario Writing: Non-Linear Plots and Node-Based Design

A fine post from Justin (The Alexandrian) about Advanced Node-Based Design with respect to scenarios made me realise that I'd been been doing this for years without realising that there was a formal theory surrounding it.  In an earlier article I described some of the techniques I've used to write linear plots, which can also be described in this node-based design approach like this:

Although the example is deliberately simple it demonstrates how taking this approach can and does prepare you for almost any eventuality and may even reap rewards in the design stage by focusing your writing (in a similar way to a mind map) and offer other plot possibilities that you hadn't thought of initially.  Why does the patron want the artifact? Can it be used to control the Evil?  Was the patron behind the event which threatened the PCs life?

However, this node-based design approach works best with non-linear adventures, particularly those where investigation is required and the DM has left clues which send the PCs off in one direction or the other as in this example:

Again the deliberately simple diagram above only details Two Clues per node and I cannot reccomend enough the importance of following The Three Clue Rule lest your scenario grind to a halt in a choke point.  However, as you can see, the PCs may take any route through the scenario they choose and you will have already done the hard work of designing each node in advance and be prepared for most eventualities.

As Justin quite rightly points out these do not have to necessarily be clues, they can be events, objects or rumours which PUSH players into moving to the the next node or equally their desires can PULL them in a particular direction.  It's quite fun to watch your players sweat over equally enticing possibilities or for them to choose what they think is the easy option only for it to turn nasty.

Hard at work in The Lands of Dual, Super Random Saturday

Unfortunately work on my campaign world has kept me very busy in the limited free time I have, but I thought I could share what I've been upto.

Castles and Crusades Class Based NPC Generator

As some of you may know I'm using Castles and Crusades for the rules sytem in The Lands of Dual, and I've been winging it with class based NPCs for a while and thought it high time that I created a generator which could knock out stat blocks in HTML.  My programming skills are pretty limited so I usually turn to Excel for this sort of thing.

So far my Stat block looks like this:

NPC #1 (Level 7 HALFLING Paladin) STR (12), DEX (9), CON (12), INT (8), WIS (11), CHA (15) with Hit Points (44), wearing NONE Armour (AC:10). INIT (0) MELEE (6) MISSILE (6)WEAPONS: Hvy Crossbow (1d10), Sickle (1d4)

and the HTML output (which Blogger appears not to like! )

The generator can create upto 10 class based NPCs and I've configured it to give a choice of:

• LEVEL - User can input individual levels for each NPC, Have all the NPCs one specific level, or randomly generate either LOW (Lvls 1-5), MED (Lvls 6-10), HIGH (Lvls 11-15) or HEROIC (Lvls 16-20)
  
  
• RACE - User can either select one race (from the standard PC races) for all 10 NPCs or randomly generate each NPCs race.  This enables the generation of mixed race NPC parties or gangs.
  
  
• CLASS - User can either select one class (from the standard PC classes) for all 10 NPCs or randomly generate each NPCs class.  This enables the generation of mixed class NPC parties.
  
  
• ATTRIBUTES - User can choose to generate the 6 standard stats (STR, DEX, CON, INT, WIS, CHA) either totally randomly or LOW (values between 1-12), HIGH (values between 9-18) or along class lines where NPCs get one PRIMARY (values between 13-18), two SECONDARY (values between 9-15) and three NORMAL (values between 6-12) attributes.
  
  
• ARMOUR - User can choose to randomly generate armour (or not) either Randomly, Random + Shield or give all the NPCs the same armour.
  
  
• WEAPON - User can randomly generate each NPCs weapons from a subset of Melee and Missile weapons. 

Now I can generate my bands of brigands or companies of knights pretty quickly and also automatically create their stat blocks in either plain text or HTML ready for printing or for inclusion into the the campaign website.  Please remember that this is v1.0 so is probably buggy :)

Download Link

• Random NPC Generator (172K) XSLX Format

Dice or Cards? Choose your weapon!!

My regular gaming group (Hello Dualers!) have had the opportunity to sample my products in the early stages of development and this Friday was no different as I used them for playtesting my Decision Deck.

What's a Decision Deck? you say, well it's a pack of cards which I use instead of rolling dice.  Each card has a dice roll value corresponding to the size of dice be it a coin toss or D3 to D30.  In the production version I've added a number of other random metrics including Critical Hit, Fumble, Poker Hands and Dice Hands.  It means I don't have to look for the appropriate dice anymore or have to consult a random result chart.

I know some players object to using cards instead of dice themselves but I gotta say as a GM I really felt they worked for me.  I had my numbers ready at the turn of a card and the combat ran smoother and quicker than with dice.

What are your thoughts on the legitimacy of GMs using anything other than dice?

UPDATE 2: RPG Google Mapping with MAPLib

I recently blogged my experiences with MAPLib 6 months on, wherein I postulated that if the map had placenames next to it's markers it might reach KILLER APP status.  Well, it looks like the guys at MAPLib were listening as lo and behold placenames now feature on my map and I didn't have to lift a finger to add them, awesome work guys.

UPDATE: RPG Google mapping with MAPLib

In an earlier article I wrote about How to make your own Fantasy Googlemap with MapLib without needing to be a code monkey, which has consistently proved to be the most popular article on my blog despite the lack of comments.  I always intended to replace the rather uninspiring "test images" I used to centre the maps with a demo map of my own creation.  Well, life has a nasty habit of getting in he way and I've been too busy with my current C&C campaign and other projects like Citymorphs.

So here at last is my demo map which I am actively using in my campaign.



Observations after 6 Months Use

1. ZOOM - As you can see the map zoom isn't perfect, the placemarker images don't scale with the zoom which means when you're zoomed out fully (as above) they don't "geolocate" anymore.  This is annoying but not a total disaster.

2. PLACE MARKERS - I've used the bog standard icons for everything but the Capital Cities (which is a shared marker) for fear that if an owner left the shared marker would disappear from the library.

3. PLACE NAMES - When you hover over a marker it displays the name associated with it, which is nice.  However it would be really useful to be able to set a display variable for each marker which would display the name alongside the marker.

4. REGIONS - Although you can draw regions, turning them into hotspots in a client side image map fashion, there are no options for just adding text to the map.

5. LINKING - I've managed to link some of the pop-up descriptions back to my campaign blog for "Read more" links (Try clicking on the Capital icon for Sankahar City), but this requires a bit of HTML knowledge to ensur that your link target is set correctly.  The editing interface is a little clunky for my tastes, for example if you don't submit an edit whilst still in HTML view it interprets and displays your HTML.

6. UPDATING YOUR IMAGE - The most annoying feature is that once you've done all the work and added your place markers, if you ever need to update your map image, you can't.  This does seem like a massive oversight on the part of the developers and could ultimately limit its usability as a tool, not just for RPG mapping but any mapping.  Maps have a tendency to be revised, in the real world political boundaries are redrawn on a regular basis and with regime change comes country name changing.

7. COLLABORATIVE MAPPING - I've not really explored the collaborative mapping functions but from some of the other collaborative mapping projects which feature in the MapLib gallery it seems that other users are getting on fine with them. 

8. SHARING YOUR MAP - The sharing options are standard fare but irritatingly if you choose to grab the link to a static image it doesn't show any of the place markers at all!!.  Again this seems like an oversight on the developers side (unless there's some overarching Intellectual Property Rights issue I'm not aware of) and this is where in RPG terms the text display of names next to markers feature would make this a KILLER APP.

Aside from the two big issues I've listed above it's still worth checking it out and I hope that any of you who've read this will drop me a comment and a link to your own maps.

Happy MAPLibing y'all

Scenario Writing - The art of the one session scenario

I've run one session scenarios in the past, mostly on special occasions like holidays, birthdays and halloween.  Here are a few of the techniques I've used:

Holiday Theme - If you're running a game on a holiday then use it for your plot inspiration.  There are plenty of plot hooks buried in the characters, myths, folk lore and cultural references of the various holidays.  Such as:

• Good Santa / Bad Santa - Saint Nick has a split personality (how else could he make informed choices about whose Naughty or Nice?) this year his bad side has gotten the better of him with all the personality defects that go along with it.  The PCs are elves (or charity / department store santas) whose job is to keep him on the straight and narrow so he can deliver all those presents in time or maybe the world needs to do without this year.
   
• The Easter Bunny's been kidnapped - A bunch of do-gooding dentists and dieticians have teamed up to rid the world of the Easter Bunny.  Kids all over the world have suddenly lost their appetite for chocolate.  Willy Wonka is in despair and has hired your paranormal detective agency to find the culprits and set the world straight again.
   
• Halloween Jack - A notorious psychopath has escaped from a secure facility and the PCs are on the tube, returning from different fancy dress parties, when the power fails.  No-one knows each other but one of them is Halloween Jack, the cops are on his trail but all they know is he's disguised in a fancy dress costume.  Oh, did I forget to mention that you're all dressed in the same outfit with a Jack 'o' Lantern for a head.

Birthday Boy/Girl - Make the player whose birthday it is the center of the action.  If they're up for it you could turn them into the villain of the piece, depending on the player, you might want to let them know where you're taking the story and maybe even set up some cues for them to trigger some events.  It's nice if you can factor in a few "in jokes" or references for each of the other players, they'll really get a kick out of it.

One location - when the PCs are trapped in one location the focus turns to escape. Your job as DM is made easier as you just have to think of all the ways they're going to try to break out.  Having some of the more mundane "what-if's" pre-thunk means that you can concentrate on the more bizarre suggestions that players inevitably come up with.

• Internet / TV / Telephone / Mobiles - Do they exist in the genre and if so are they working, If not why not.  If you've let the PCs have access to a phone and diall 999 (that's the UK version of 911) will the cops come and if they do how do you get rid of them.  I really like using this as a tension mechanism, you can have them come out look around and leave as though nothing is wrong.  Or you can kill them in some bizarre or predictable way. Watch the looks on the players faces as they realise that they're responsible for luring them to their deaths.
   
• Outside - Can there an outside?, can they see it?, Can it see them?  If your players are trapped it won't be long before they start to think about what's happening in the outside world, you can play with their minds by making their prison a wrap around universe.  A player manages to escape a room through a door only to re-enter from the opposite side of the room or down the chimney.
   
• You are not alone - Don't leave it too long before you start hinting that they might be sharing their reality with someone or something else.  Maybe they put an object down moments ago and now it's moved or vanished entirely.  Perhaps it's a spirit hopping from one body to another, give each of your players a secret message containing instructions when they start playing the spirit.
  
• Horrible history or location - Take an event or location that your players know very well and twist it into an evil or sinister version.  You can be as wild as you want as long as you don't warp it beyond recognition otherwise the players may miss the gag.
  
• Player Secrets and Paranoia - If you want to ramp up the tension you can give each PC a piece of knowledge about one (or more) of the PCs at the beginning of the game. Later on that piece of info might be pertinent and the player must decide to act on the information.

Body Swap - Your players have passed into a parallel universe and inhabit each others bodies.  They now have to find the secret to swapping back otherwise they'll be stuck forever.  This works best if the players are randomly swapped multiple times, everyone should get a chance to play each other.  Pick 3 good and 3 bad traits (don't be too cruel though!!) about each player and sit back and let the fun begin.

Survival Game - If in doubt run a survival themed game.  My players always react well to a bit of zombie slayin'.

How do you do it, share your thoughts, tricks and ideas.

Scenario Writing: Linear Plots

First off, what's the difference between a linear and a non-linear plot?  

Characteristically, linear plots will feature a single timeline of events or scenes which the PCs need to resolve one after another in a specific order (e.g scene 1, scene 2, scene 3, etc...).  This is the formula used by most theatrical productions which use the Three-Act Structure. 

Linear Plot - The Three-Act Structure

Non-linear plots can have multiple timelines, flash-backs and the scenes do not need to be completed in a specified order, or at all (even though some scenes may be missed out entirely any events in those scenes may still occur).   If you've never experienced non-linear story telling then try playing a game of FIASCO.  This indie RPG introduces flash backs and flash forwards as an integral part of the collaborative story telling mechanism.  Games take about 3 hours and there are a hundred genre playsets to choose from.

There's nothing wrong with a linear plot, they're undoubtably easier to write and run, especially if you are a time poor DM, and they can be just as entertaining for players.  Here's a few techniques that I've used to make them seem less linear.

Scenario Timeline - One of the biggest drawbacks of a linear plot is that it's easy for players to start thinking that the world revolves around their characters. Using a scenario timeline allows the DM to trigger events independently of the the PCs actions, they might only hear about the event as a rumour or hearsay or over the radio, tv or net, they will still encounter the scenes you have arrange in a predetermined order but they will feel like there's more to the story that they can't influence.  

If you split your party the timeline can become a useful aid to keeping track of WHEN each group of PCs are rather than WHERE.  It's possible to have multiple timelines in operation but make sure that there are key events which tie them together otherwise it's easy for a subgroup of PCs to get too far ahead of the other party members.

Fast Pace - In my experience it's not a good idea to give players too much thinking time in any adventure.  When this happens they start reverting to their player archetypes and end up thinking about where their next power-up or wander off trying to find an interesting NPC to chat to.  A fast pace to a game often focuses players minds to the immediate task at hand.

Elastic Time - Remember that time is elastic, if you need characters to trigger events and they're in danger of missing it, Don't worry you're the DM, stretch time, but keep up the tension as they race to the next scene otherwise they'll get into the habit of dawdling.  If they're on the ball and ripping through scenes like a chainsaw you might need to slow them down a bit by throwing a  wandering monsters or random encounter at them.  

It's a good idea to have a few of this sort of thing in your DMs toolkit anyway, they don't have to be related to the plot, just the setting, a bit like the little old lady who asks the policeman to help her across the road whilst the perp is running away.

NPCs (aka Plot Monkeys) - When a party does get bogged down in a decision it's useful to have a recurring NPC in the plot you can use to prod them in the right direction.  I often have an NPC as a member of the party for this exact reason and they also come in very handy when you have a drop-in player that needs a character.  Be careful how often you use them though, PCs sometimes take exception to NPCs giving suggestions all the time especially when you have an insecure de-facto leader.

Clues - When you leave clues in a scene to further the plot, make them really obvious.  I can't tell you the number of times that a party has walked past a too subtle clue or picked up on it to only miss it's significance.  It's an easy trap to fall into when writing scenarios as you become immersed in the plot during the creative process, what seems obvious to you at the time of writing may be a leap of cognitive faith several weeks later when a player encounters it.  

I often leave multiple clues in a scene which reinforce each other and the correct path to take to the next scene, if the players miss one, they may pick up on the others and players often get a big buzz out of finding clues.

Use What Works for your Players

These are just a few of the techniques I use when writing, the important thing is too see what works in your sessions and what doesn't and see if you can improve the player (and DMing) experience.  If your players begin to get too comfortable with your writing style mix it up a bit.

Monster Mistakes of Yesteryear - The Killer Penguin

In 1985, when I was an impressionable 13 year old, someone gave me a copy of Dragonroar RPG by Standard Games.  

I remember it not for it's qualities as an RPG but for one hideously bad monster idea.  

The Killer Penguin...

The Killer Penguin Miniature???

Now I'm not one for dismissing people's creations off hand, but come on guys, what were you smoking that day?  Needless to say no-one's arguing over the rule changes between Dragonroar 3.5 and Dragonroar 4e so the RPG itself was neither a commercial or a critical success and it has long sinced disappeared into RPG obscurity.  

However, I do think that we need to preserve the memory of the Killer Penguin as a warning to all the misguided monster makers out there who may be toying with nature.

If you can think of any other more catastrophic monster mistakes or you think that the KP is much maligned feel free to write to the usual address...

Fantasy Alternatives for Modern Gadgets

Inspired by Fantasy Billboards over at Gothridge Manor and after recently watching the excellent Reign of Assassins I thought to myself, what medieval equivalents exist for our everyday technology?

Mobile Phone : Courier - Couriers or runners can be found on every bustling metropolis street corner.  For a few coppers they will carry a written (or spoken) message to any inhabitant of the city.  If that person is at home you may even get a quick return message.  If you want a message or maybe even a package sent to a nearby town it will cost you quite a bit more depending on the distance and weight.

The couriers can be anything you like, street urchins, mundane or magical creatures like pigeons or fairies.  Longer distances can be covered by horse riders or if speed is the essence and you have a highly magical world, by means of teleportation, magic carpet or even by air elemental.


Clock : Muezzin - Time is money and people have always been willing to pay handsomely to know what the time is.  This could be handled either by the state, church or by an enterprising candle maker as a municipal function.  Water clocks existed in many different cultures around the world from as early as 4000BC, all you need is a regular sized vessel with a regular sized hole in it and are easy to manufacture by potters or smiths using templates.  In my Arabian setting this function was performed by the muezzin who called the faithful to prayer but I added a rudimentary clock to each minaret in the form of 12 metal fish which would tip down to strike the hours (the time was referred to as 3 fishes or 4 and a half fish).  Sundials (shadow clocks) can be erected as municipal features, like Egyptian obelisks, or complex architectural as is the case with a stone circle like Stonehenge.

News Media : Town Crier - This function can be performed by a Town Crier or similar who at various times of the day (he also performs the function of municipal clock) cries out the latest public announcements and for will cry private announcements such as market day announcements, weddings, birthdays etc.  It is also the function of the Town Crier to "post" written versions of these notices on a notice board.

Fridge : Windcatcher - There's nothing like having a cold beer after a strenuous days adventuring,  In temperate regions that function might be performed simply by using a cellar but in hotter climes they use a windcatcher or "Malqaf".  For hundreds of years these towers have been designed into Persian buildings as a form of air-conditioner which uses the Coandă effect to cool the air.  If coupled with an underground canal or resevoir they can chill water down to near freezing temperatures.  The Persians built this feature in to their ice houses (Yakchal) for this express purpose.  Or you could use a captive immature frost giant...

How to make your own Fantasy Googlemap with MapLib without needing to be a code monkey

NB: I've since written an update to this article which details my thoughts about MapLib 6 Months into a mapping project of my own.

I've seen a couple of campaign world maps which use the googlemaps api and wondered how easy is it to make your own.  The answer very hard if you're not a bonafide javascript code monkey.  I then came across www.MapLib.net, a free service which allows you to build your own maps with custom overlays.  This is far too useful to keep to myself so here goes:

You'll Need:

• A JPG, PNG or GIF of your campaign world.
• A MapLib account (they're free)
• Plenty of patience

Add your map to MapLib.net

Once you're logged in, go to the "My Pictures" section and upload an image. If you want a 4:3 ratio map use the settings below.  Place a map pin to define a location and type in it's name in the pop-up box.  You can add descriptions (see the example below) to the pins and include hyperlinks.  If you have them upload your own custom icons (or use the ones that other users have uploaded) and attach them instead of the bog standard pin.  If you've got lots of pins to manage you can create categories for Capitals, Cities, Towns or what ever takes your fancy. If you need to mark out an area or a line use the polygon or line tool.

Embedding Tips

Make your iframe at least 500px wide so your users can close any map pin pop-ups you create.

After much trial and error I came up with these settings for my 4:3 ratio (2046 x 1536 pixels) map:

Zoom Level 7

IFRAME SETTINGS:

WIDTH: 512px, HEIGHT: 409px, LAT: -53.750, LNG: 36.558, Z: 7

Zoom Level 8

IFRAME SETTINGS:

WIDTH: 512px, HEIGHT: 409px, LAT: -53.750, LNG: 36.558, Z: 8

Zoom Level 8

IFRAME SETTINGS:

WIDTH: 512px, HEIGHT: 409px, LAT: -53.750, LNG: 36.558, Z: 9

Castles and Crusades: What do I NEED to buy?

I'm at a nexus.  My mac had an update crisis at the weekend and ate my campaign world.  After a little bit of a cry, I came to the thinking that within this dark cloud lies the silver lining of opportunity.  I've been dissapointed with my experiences of DM'ing my campaign world with D&D 3.5 for a while so I'm off to Dragonmeet 2010 to buy Castles and Crusades.  I know I'll need the Players Handbook and probably Monsters and Treasure but is there anything else out there for C&C that I should definitely buy?  

There's a rat in me kitchen what am I gonna do?

Well, over here in Blighty the nights are drawing in and the temperature has dropped, consequently I am now sharing my home with at least one field mouse.

I have to admit that, when we came face to nose, I did go a bit girly and shriek like Mammy Two Shoes when she sees Jerry the mouse.

It got me thinking about the classic movie scene when the heroes are going through a tunnel or sewer and a horde of rats comes writhing towards them and how whenever I've set the same scene in my game my players never react like I did when I saw the mouse?  The D20 SRD says that a rat swarm will cause

"Distraction (Ex): Any living creature that begins its turn with a swarm in its square must succeed on a DC 12 Fortitude save or be nauseated for 1 round. The save DC is Constitution-based."

The problem with this is that I want the players to suffer the effects before they are in the swarm and I want a fear condition not nausea.  Fear also escalates with exposure so a character who fails a fear check (Will save) is Shaken, fail twice and they're Frightened, fail three times and they're Panicked.  I just want 1 roll so I'm going to try:

• Fail by 1-3: Shaken
• Fail by 4-6: Frightened
• Fail by 7 or more: Panicked

This should prove entertaining...

Hello Whirled! ...grr... Hello World!

Just had my case for membership of the rpgbloggers.com network approved, so woot! is me.  Sadly the first of my posts which was visible was an abortive mobile blogging attempt via BlogWritter app on my 3GS.  Damn unintuitive GUI!! I've just worked out that if you're in the "New Post" screen you can save a post in draft format just by tapping "Back".  Lesson learned...

"What was your first post then!" you ask

It was an instructable on how to make a scroll case from a Pringles can.

Let me explain, I'm looking through my old copies of Dungeon to get a few scenarios to link together to form a new plotline for my campaign world The Lands of Dual and I came across the scenario "A Race Against Time" (Issue 81 Jul/Aug 2000).  The scenario features a nice 3 hour timed plotline which calls for the delivery of a message in a scroll case delivered via juvenile winged snake courier.  The message is the cornerstone of the scenario and will be poured over ad-infitum by the players, so I thought it would be nice to give them a nice handout to look at.  The theatrics are very important for the message's punchline so I need to make a scroll case to hold the message.  The campaign starts in Jan 2011 so watch-out for more posts about the make and a session report.

What's in your DM's bag?

Whilst writing the article Trouble with Torchlight I thought it would be neat to share pictures or descriptions of the contents of your DM'S bag.  Bags can be SPECIFIC (the one you use for your favourite game or the one you're currently using, GENERIC (containing all the things a DM just can't be without) or FANTASY (a bag you wish you owned or could even exist in this dimension)

In my GENERIC DM's Bag I have:

• Dice - I've forgotten these and then borrowed a players dice and blamed them for lucky monster successes.
• Munchies - gotta keep the DM awake somehow.
• Grid Paper - for drawing off the cuff maps when you're too lazy to
• Note Paper - for writing secret notes when you're too lazy to take the player out of the room.
• Adventure - yes once or twice I've forgotten to pack this, with hilarious consequences.
• Character Sheets - Some players don't like giving back their characters at the end of the night, but I find it makes it easier to cope I have to NPC a player's character in their stead when they can't make it to a session.
• Pens, Pencils and Markers - At my regular Friday night game we have a box of club resources such as dice and stationery.  We also use club battle mats (kitchen lino) so OHP pens come in handy for drawing walls and doors etc.
• Beverage - My beverage of choice is mineral water.  It doesn't exacerabate the sugar rush of the munchies and keeps me alert and hydrated.

Trouble with Torchlight - Part 1: Ideas

A session of a recent Diamond Throne game I played involved a short dungeon crawl.  The age old problem of lighting for the non infravision equipped players reared it's ugly head.  This got me thinking about ways to show the limit of torchlight in different ways, without turning this into a massive maker project.  I thought I'd brainstorm the options and jot them down here and then produce a few prototypes and document how each one works in a game.

2D Templates

The simplest (and perhaps most obvious) of options to make is a flat template:

Pros & Cons:

• flat and therefore easy to transport in a flap or a pocket in a ringbinder.
• easy to make, print on OHP (Over-Head Projector) film and cut out.
• cheap.
• can't simulate the height of anything

Idea 1: Single Zone - this template is the simplest to make, just use a compass to scribe a circle of the appropriate diameter on a sheet of stiff transparent plastic.  A good source for the plastic is packaging windows, you know the ones, the boxes from those toys you bought for Christmas with the big plastic windows so you can see what you're buying yourself.  There's no need to print anything on, but if you make lots of different ones for different effects you might need to write effect names on them with Permanent Marker. 

Idea 2: Multiple Zones - Slightly harder to make, and you might need to design something on the computer and then print it out onto OHP film.  Another way is to stack them on top of one another, pin or fix together with glue to show different effect zones.  If you can't get hold of coloured transparency film then colour with careful use of permanent marker.  The zones don't even have to be for the same game, the possibilities are up to you.

A 2D Multi Zone template

3D Templates

Same as 2D but with the added dimension of ... height. 

Pros & Cons:

• They're 3D so probably won't fold and therefore difficult to transport
• Harder to make or find suitable component
• More expensive
• Bulkier in play, do they interfere with other miniatures, move them

Idea 1: The Dome or Tub - Finding suitable components for this will be tricky but I should have at least 1 by the time I write Part 3.  Some options are plastic soft drink bottles, CD drums, caps from Frappucchino or smoothie cups.

Idea 2: The Ring - a simple ring of stiff transparent plastic which stands on it's rim.   This I will definitely try to make.  A more advanced design would be adjustable like a belt so you can expand the ring for different sized zones.  The width of the ring can be made to simulate the height of an effect.  I'll make the belt style and try it out.

A Ring

Idea 3: The Cone - A cone of transparent plastic which can be placed over a miniature.  Cones stack inside each other for transport.  They can also be made out of a flat sheet of stiff transparent plastic like OHP film.

A Cone

Idea 4: The Cube - a transparent box which can be be created from flat sheets of stiff transparent plastic.  Sounds like papercraft to me, let me at it.

The Weird & Bizarre

A combination of 2D templates with a stand or something totally different.

Pros & Cons:

• clumsy to use in play
• expensive
• hard to make
• hard to store

Idea1: Tripod & Torch - Use a length of stiff wire or a wire coathanger and a pare of wire cutters to make a rudimetary tripod and a ring over which you can hang a small torch.  If the torch has a beam focus you could use it to give different size effect areas.

Idea 2: Tack and String - Less of a template and more of a measuring device.  Push a pin into the base of a plastic miniature then knot lengths of string to the pin.  Trim the string to the appropriate length or if making a multipurpose string add coloured tabs to the string.  Each miniature then has a handy radius measure

Idea 3: Radius rod.  Using a thin brass rod, dowel or heavy gauge wire.  Thread a 2D template onto the rod through a hole in it's centre.  A step or a blob of glue can be used to stop the template falling off the rod during use.  Templates can be removed for storage.  I'll have a go at this one.

If you've got some ideas that you want me to explore in prototype, feel free to comment below and if they pique my creativity I might just make them.  If you've got any prototype pics you've made yourself feel free to add links.

Scenario Timelines serious plot tool or DMs curse?

As a DM I've tried a number of different approaches to both writing and running adventures, but they've always fallen into one of two camps, the LINEAR or the TIMELINE based adventure.

Linear Plots

In a linear plot the PCs go from location to location (or scene to scene), the events happen solely within their timeline.  This is how most dungeon crawls are written, the party blunder into room 5 and trigger the goblin attack which they either deal with or don't, then it's off to the next room or location and so on until they end up defeating the evil archmage and rescuing the princess / orb of jozitzky (delete as applicable).  

From a DMs perspective these are easy to write and to run as the PCs don't do much choosing which path through the adventure they take.  However, depending on how immersed they are in the adventure, the PCs can sometimes detect the guiding hand of the DM which often led to player apathy and sometimes even rebellion.  They can also feel a little formulaic (not that there's anything wrong with dungeon bashing) if that's all the DM has in their arsenal.

 

Timeline Plots

In a timeline adventure the PCs wander from location to location but the events have a life of their own and can be triggered by the PCs, NPCs, the villain or even other events.  Often these are decided by an overarching game timeline, for example; at noon a fight breaks out in the marketplace, by 1pm the marketplace is cordoned off by the local sheriff, by 1:30 the aggrieved parties have been carted off to the local gaol, by dawn they are all executed.  

As DM you need to be aware of where the PCs are in relation to the EVENTS and any travelling time it might take them to get there, the time it takes for players to deal with an EVENT and argue about what to do next etc.  These are, on the whole, much more of a challenge to write and to DM but often more rewarding for players and DM alike for a number of reasons.

I find that some settings naturally lend themselves to timelines.  Of particular note are Judge Dredd and Cyberpunk, both of which are set in an urban sprawl:

Judge Dredd: The adventure timeline is usually crafted around a single perp's attempts at either committing a number of minor crimes escalating in scale and severity which (if the PCs follow the clues) will end up in a final showdown or one big crime and then the perp tries to cover their tracks.  

When I write my own adventures I pepper the timeline with lots of other events so the players have to decide which crimes are linked together in order to decide what to react to and which ones are set fressing or red herrings.  

The fact that the PCs are often street judges on patrol (but in constant communication with Justice Central) helps with the planning the events in a more linear way and allows you to communicate alerts and demand responses from the PCs to things that they hear on their radios.

Cyberpunk: The adventure timeline is usually crafted around the nefarious actions of a corporation or some other organisation.  The PCs interact with these events through various intermediaries or connections and may end up either working for or against the organisation at the heart of the plot. 

PCs are usually updated throughout the game with regular screamsheets and media broadcasts giving the players a sense of their insignificance in the world and (as I like to do) coverage of the effects of their actions from the opposite perspective.  The job for the PCs is to work out where they fit into all this and if they can or even should put a stop to it.

Communication is Key

One of the keys to running a timeline scenario is that the players need to be regularly made aware of events outside their immediate sphere.  In modern or sci-fi games this is usually not a problem as PCs usually have access to mobile phones or similar which you can use to appraise them of things happening in other locations.

In fantasy games this can be tricky as long distance communication is usually impossible unless the PCs have access to a magical artifact, spell or reliant on messenger birds.  In a city setting this is much easier due to the shorter distances involved.  You might get word of something happening on the other side of the city passed by word of mouth but this could suffer from Chinese Whispers and the actual details of the message get corrupted.  Alternatively you could have a fixer or a patron act as the party messenger using runners to get information to the PCs as swiftly and reliably as possible. 

Paper Miniatures

I read with interest the detailed instructions in NewbieDM's Tutorial – Counters, Tokens, or Pogs and thought about sharing some of the techniques I've used for creating paper minis over the years.

Standee Styles

There are a couple different styles of standee that I've made over the years most are either:

• A-Frame where the assembled miniature when viewed from the side resembles a letter A. The base ends either lock into each other or are glued together to form a square base.
  
  
• T-Shape where the assembled miniature resembles an inverted letter T.  I find this type most useful as they fold flat, take up less storage space and stand vertical.

Source your Images

I use a variety of sources for images Googleing works well, but my favourite (particularly) for PC and NPCs is the HeroMachine.

Build your Standee Template

In your favourite image editing package (Photoshop, GIMP) build a template for each standee using guides.  I usually use a scale of 1" = 5' so each humanoid standee base is either 1" square or round.  Mounted or monster miniatures will of couse be much larger.  Make sure everything is merged into 1 layer and then duplicate that layer to make a whole bunch of standees.

Add your images

Once you've chosen your images paste them into your template on a new layer and scale them to fit your template.  Make sure to proportionally scale the images otherwise your elf may look more like a dwarf and vice versa.

Once the frontside image is in place, duplicate that layer and flip it upside down, this becomes the back of the figure, move this backside layer so it is vertically above the frontside.  I then turn this into a sillhouette by changing the hue/saturation until the figure is all black.

Repeat this for each backside image and add a little text to number each miniature and you should get something resembling this:

Cut, Fold and Glue

All you need to do now is cut fold and glue the miniatures together and hey presto... your own zombie army!!

Plastic Bases

There are a few manufacturers out there who make an assortment of bases for use in boardgames and can be picked up very cheaply (£1 for 20).  These minis tend to be a little more economical as you don't need to waste as much paper and ink printing out the bases.  Just leave yourself a little rectangle of paper at the bottom of each mini to slot into each base.

Character Archetypes?

I was asked to create a filler game at short notice this week and wanted to try out a new character creation concept (well new to me anyway), character archetypes.  It's a halfway house between letting your players roll up their own characters or presenting them with fully written characters.

The archetypes are printed onto small pieces of card in the form of a TITLE, PRIMARY STAT & SKILL (or in the case of SBA a Primary Skill (at Superb +5) and a Stunt) and a BACKGROUND SENTENCE to provoke the players into writing their own background.  For example:

THE DASHING ARMY CAPTAIN

RAPPORT / Intergalactic Ladies Man

"Last one to rescue a young lady is a rotten egg"

or

THE YOUNG PLANETARY SCIENTIST

SCIENCE / Scientific Genius

"Those fools at the Royal Society don't appreciate the possibilities of my discovery"

I used this method because:

• I didn't have the time to pre-gen a bunch of characters for the game and write the scenario.
  
• The players were relatively unfamiliar with the system (Starblazer Adventures) and the genre (Victorian Sci-Fi).
  
• I find that players are less reckless with characters they've had a hand in creating rather than ones they're just given and this results in better roleplay.

So how did it work out?

I was quite pleased with the results.  I gave the players a few minutes to digest their choice and then did a small piece of 1 to 1 roleplay with each player to introduce their character into the game and to discuss some options which they might consider.  Each player then spent about 10 minutes or so fleshing out their character before we began with the opening scene.  I'll certainly be using it again and might consider it for other systems.

Cliche avoidance... or 4 ways I've put a party together through enforced captivity.

I know I've been guilty of using the "Bar Brawl" or the "Adventurer's Noticeboard" cliche's every once in a while but here are a few of the other ways I've brought a party of PCs together:

"It's a lovely summers day and the grass is even tastier than it was yesterday."

This was the opening line in a Justifiers RPG scenario where the PCs were all beta-humanoid sheep. They had been on a mission, to investigate the dissappearance of a fellow Justifier team, which had gone horribly wrong and they began the adventure in a pasture having been subjected to a neural wipe without any memory of themselves, their past or their species. Over a couple of sessions they gradually discovered their identities and skills as the neural wipe wore off.

"The guy in the unseasonal outfit seems to have wires running from his sleeve to something in his hand..."

In this Squadron UK scenario (see Project Daedalus postings) the PCs are the only survivors of a terrorist dirty bomb in Trafalgar Square.  The bomb awakens their latent superpowers (the genetic legacy of their grandparents) and during their recuperation in a secret government facility they get to know one another and explore their new found powers.

"You notice that the ship's motley crew are carrying short lengths of chain with manacles at each end.  Something tells you that you should start running..."

I started one of my The Lands of Dual fantasy campaigns by collecting together each of the players from their respective homelands with a slave pirate ship.  It's amazing how quickly a party bond with each other when they're chained together rowing for 18 hours a day!!

"You best be getting up to the Castle before the Siege starts..."

In this campaign opener the PCs were press ganged into becoming siege defenders by the Baron of a coastal town.  The PCs were unaware that the Baron was being controlled by the forces of darkness and that the King's forces, massing on the hills outside of town, were being led by a particularly devout Warrior Priest with strict instructions to erase the castle and it's inhabitants from history.

Hex Mapping Made Easy

Hexographer is a fantastic free application which helps those of us who are cartographically challenged create our own hex maps.  It's cross platform and runs in the browser, there's also an installable Pro version which adds more map styles and symbols.  Good enough for two Honourable Mentions at the 2010 Ennie Awards.