|
2 years ago ::
Feb 26, 2011 - 2:32PM
#1
|
Date Joined:
Nov 15, 2008
|
Does anyone have any hints, tips, or insight into making a Pre-printed Adventure, SoW specifically at the moment, a 5x5 adventure format?
Is it possible to give your players choices in a railroad adventure?
Thanks.
Viva La "what ever version of D&D you are playing right now!"
|
|
|
|
2 years ago ::
Feb 26, 2011 - 9:06PM
#2
|
- Biohazard Barbie, on sale now!
Date Joined:
Sep 15, 2005
|
So you want to make your own adventures as a printable product? I'm working on B5 sized Page with Double Columns. Maps go on pages with single columns. Do your own artwork cover with Gazetteer as the Title Font. Paragraph Titles 14pt Times as Text 12pt.
Aim for a PDF arount 32 pages at most with Cardstock Covers (front and back). Get it printed and bound at a copyshop using Comb Binding. Any Big Maps on an A3 and fold the sucker up.
Probably best to look at an existing Adventure For its Best Layout.
The Citadel Megadungeon: http://yellowdingosappendix.blogspot.com.au/2012/08/the-citadel-mega-dungeon-now-with-room.html
|
|
|
|
2 years ago ::
Feb 26, 2011 - 9:59PM
#3
|
Date Joined:
Jun 21, 2010
|
I am constantly amazed at how many of the people answering questions on this forum manage to talk for a while and throw out lots of technical detail without in any way answering the actual question asked. Uninvited criticism on technical matters that do not pertain to the sought-after information are also prevalent, although not in this case.
Pink Rose: First, awesome sig. Second, not that this is particularly helpful but no, there might not be a way to turn a railroad "pre-printed" adventure into something with real meaningful choice for your players. All the effort it would take to make a franken-Quest, you might as well just try to build one from scratch. I suck at maps, though, so personally I'd prolly cannabilize the maps. I could be wrong, it's always seemed so tough I just never tried. I either build my own adventures from scratch, or buy myself some time with a pre-printed and warn my PCs that this one's got rails.
Yellowdingo: No. Just no. That's not even partially the question Pink asked. I will grant, he (or she) could have phrased the question a little more clearly, but honestly, the intent was still clear. You're trying to show off this one thing that you actually do know and you're bored so you post it on the internet, but really, all you've accomplished is to make me lose just a little bit more faith in humanity. Ironically, you did manage to answer a question I've wondered for a while. I thank you for that.
|
|
|
|
2 years ago ::
Feb 26, 2011 - 10:48PM
#4
|
Date Joined:
Aug 30, 2010
|
You will probaly get better responses on the proper forum, i known there are tips there for improvements on the original.
|
|
|
|
2 years ago ::
Feb 27, 2011 - 10:12AM
#5
|
Date Joined:
Nov 15, 2008
|
Thanks for the answer, JecksValou. That's what I thought, but I figured I would ask.
Yellowdingo, you misunderstood my question. critical-hits.com/2009/06/02/the-5x5-met...I was wondering if there was a way to make a pre-printed, on-the-rails adventure more free-form and sandboxy. Pruano, I frequent that forum. I wanted more input from the community as a whole, and I also felt that this question pertained to more then just SoW. It could be Night Below, or ToEE, or Chaos Scar. I was just wondering if there was a way.
Viva La "what ever version of D&D you are playing right now!"
|
|
|
|
2 years ago ::
Feb 27, 2011 - 12:30PM
#6
|
Date Joined:
Sep 20, 2010
|
I have next to no experience with pre-printed adventures. I've read many of them, but never actually ran one. So, take that as you will.
But, what jumps out at me when you talk about the 5x5 method is that it assumes there is more than one storyline unfolding in the world at a time. It's a zoomed-out approach. I think, more importantly than giving up the 'railroad tracks' (if you will), what you need to do is take the premise of the adventure and extrapolate out. Take the social/political climate as presented by the adventure and figure out everything that isn't actually being said by the author. Make up as much extra story as you have to to open up the world.
Preserving the 'railroad tracks' is really just a matter of making sure that what ever else the PCs want to do, sooner or later they'll have to address the original adventure, or parts of it, if they want to accomplish the other stuff. You essentially manipulate the 5x5 structure so that every path the players choose passes through the original adventure sooner or later.
Sleeping with interns on Colonial 1
|
|
|
|
2 years ago ::
Feb 27, 2011 - 1:57PM
#7
|
Date Joined:
Dec 13, 2010
|
My tip for drawing maps PinkRose and JecksValour, is to draw one line for hallways and a basic square or rectangle for rooms. Using the lines as a guide draw around them to mark out the walls and remove the guidelines. Finish by adding map markers and a little colour. Easy as pie! EXAMPLE: 
Just in case I failed to mention; I am playing D&D 3.5e.
|
|
|
|
2 years ago ::
Feb 27, 2011 - 2:17PM
#8
|
|
|
I was wondering if there was a way to make a pre-printed, on-the-rails adventure more free-form and sandboxy.
The only way that I can foresee you making a sandbox-style adventure is by simply producing an overland map, populated with an abundance of points of light. Think Dungeon Delve with an accompanying overland map.
I could see this evolve via a community website where you have an overland map, and people start claiming territory on that map and populating it with encounters. That would actually be a damn interesting and unique venture.
Undertaking this as a solo project would be a valiant effort, so I wish you luck.
Reflavoring: the change of flavor without changing any mechanical part of the game, no matter how small, in order to fit the mechanics to an otherwise unsupported concept.
Retexturing: the change of flavor (with at most minor mechanical adaptations) in order to effortlessly create support for a concept without inventing anything new.
Houseruling: the change, either minor or major, of the mechanics in order to better reflect a certain aspect of the game, including adapting the rules to fit an otherwise unsupported concept.
Homebrewing: the complete invention of something new that fits within the system in order to reflect an unsupported concept.
Default module =/= Core mechanic.
|
|
|
|
2 years ago ::
Feb 27, 2011 - 2:56PM
#9
|
Date Joined:
Aug 30, 2010
|
Asside from the opinions already given, i see only two ways, which may or may not work, depending on the adventure:
- join a couple of adventures, by creating joint points or using existing ones (the referenced geographical one, for example).
- expand on the adventure to add side-treks with consequences.
|
|
|
|
2 years ago ::
Feb 28, 2011 - 2:00PM
#10
|
Date Joined:
Aug 30, 2010
|
Yellowdingo and langrishe, the problem you're having with your dough is that you aren't letting it rise overnight. Also, make sure to activate your yeast by soaking it in warm (but not hot) water for ten minutes.
Pink, depending on how tight the adventure is, it might not be possible without some major surgery. But, if the campaign involves a lot of traveling, throwing in sidequests to hide the tracks of the railroad should be somewhat trivial. In addition to finding information about the main quest, they discover information regarding a local curse. Or, upon hearing that the characters are going to X, a local merchant tries to hire them to track down his daughter, who went missing while traveling in that direction a week ago.
The other, work-intensive approach is basically to disect three or four adventures so that the plot of one naturally hooks into the others, giving players the choice of which ones to go after in whatever order they want. Then you divorce some of the major plot elements from their set locations, so for example, that battle with the BBEG will occur on the fourth adventure, no matter which one it is. The feasability of this really depends on the adventure.
|
|
|
