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I have become very interested in telling/creating the story for role playing (although the group has fallen apart). I have done a lot of reading as of late (library for the win) and have many ideas I would like to write as adventures/modules.
However, after looking I do not see any guide. How does one create a module and adventure path (I have a feeling one does not do it without the help of others) along the lines that Pathfinder releases? Is there a guide, a source, or something to help me along?
I am not creating these for sale but I am interested in the process of how they are formatted. Do they use certain a certain program?
TLDR: I guess what I am saying is how does one go about creating modules and adventure paths from start to finish.
Still in search of a "how to write modules/adventures".
| 1 person marked this as a favorite. |
I have become very interested in telling/creating the story for role playing (although the group has fallen apart). I have done a lot of reading as of late (library for the win) and have many ideas I would like to write as adventures/modules.
However, after looking I do not see any guide. How does one create a module and adventure path (I have a feeling one does not do it without the help of others) along the lines that Pathfinder releases? Is there a guide, a source, or something to help me along?
I am not creating these for sale but I am interested in the process of how they are formatted. Do they use certain a certain program?
TLDR: I guess what I am saying is how does one go about creating modules and adventure paths from start to finish.
The below link has some good advice for first time writers/publishers. Some very nice people from the third party publishing community were kind enough to answer some questions.
The Complete KOBOLD Guide to Game Design is what you want agentJay. Highly recommended.
So I found this page Kobold Press KOBOLD Guides and was wondering if the complete book is the combination of KOBOLD Guide to Game Design vol 1, vol 2, & vol 3. Or are they Different?
And thank you Covent for the link, it was helpful as well.
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Yes, that's all three of them together. An excellent resource.
A free download that you should give a look. They have a free map tutorial as well.
For story development, I'd read either Joseph Campbell's The Hero With a Thousand Faces or Chris Vogler's The Writer's journey. The latter is easier to digest and geared towards writers.
The hero's journey will be a valid literary device long after we are all dust.
Seconded on Cambell's work.
One bit of advice I can give you is to lay out as little detail as necessary and keep everything else in flux. Have your villains and major encounters statted out, but don't bother coming up with a detailed map of an entire town that the player's will barely interact with beyond "I look for the tavern/potion shop/blacksmith". Things that need to be written down and designed should be, but you need to have room to make things up on the fly.
What Big Lemon said.
I just read the first essay in the Kobold Guide to World Building today. Now, I like to build organization backgrounds and backhistory of places, etc. So, I think that stuff is fun. But Wolfgang Bauer made a good point:
If everything is defined (somewhere), the GM has no latitude to invent his own material. If everything is documented, the GM needs to know and master those huge reams of material just in case the party goes there. There are no mysteries, and there is no room to maneuver.
'No room to maneuver.' Excellent!
Thread resurrection for dotination.