There are a lot of parts which go into designing a good game; it needs plot to tell its story, it needs engaging set pieces which move the story, it needs description and visuals to immerse the players into the gameworld—ultimately all to tell the story of the party, of the individual characters and players in their quest to expand and progress the gameworld. What I love about encounter design is that it encompasses all these many and disparate elements, distilling them into one brief but evocative scene which highlights the story of this perpetual struggle.
An encounter must be its own self contained story, it’s a lot like writing a flash article in that way; you need a full cast of characters, a developed setting, and you have to bring that through one or more escalating conflict(s) and a climax to a reasonable yet emotional conclusion. That’s just the baseline. A good encounter is even harder to write than that; a good encounter is non-linear;it takes the impulse and interests of its cast and allows them to play the encounter through to a conclusion which feels tailor-made for them.
It’s the party’s time to shine, for the players to show off their strategems, for their characters to outshine the common man and create tales worthy of legend; to be passed around the campfire and the gaming table for years to come.
So what should a superstar encounter consist of? Well certainly we need a wide enough setting to showcase different characters and abilities; the woodsman’s tracking and survival skills, the barbarian’s raw strength of arm, the spell caster’s cultivated power, and the rogue’s cunning. We need a plot which incites the players to play, and which captivates the characters uniquely driving them to find resolution. A conflict simple enough it can be cold-read and solved with a half hour to an hour of play, yet complex in that it allows the players leeway enough to solve the plot in their own way, showcasing their unique abilities.
Some Tools at your Disposal:
Island Design Theory – This is a prep-style advocated by freelancer John Arcadian, summarized in his article Getting Off the Railroad and onto the Island (Unframed: The Art of Improvisation for GameMasters, 21-24). It focuses on breaking your plot into a number of finite elements; if you were to place your campaign in a bar for example, your elements (“islands”) might be the bartender complete with his motivations and actions, the group of skuzzy rascals in the corner (the same), and a some general notes about the setting itself. After doing this, you provide the party with a general reason to be at the bar, and a number of hooks to bring them into the scene (for example the party might see the barkeep watering down their drinks, the barmaid might be handled inappropriately by a fellow customer, or the skuzzy fellows in the corner might say something interesting just a little too loud). Essentially you block out the different elements to your scene, and then leave the story development to the players and GM.
I personally find this a useful tool since it saves a lot of prep time, aids organizational understanding, and keeps the party at the center of the plot. As a GM running someone else’s game I don’t have to worry about figuring out which page the barkeep’s information is on for example, it’s all organized under a list of characters in a centralized fashion and I can find anything I need about him very quickly if it comes up; I just look at the map to figure out where people are at, and tell the players what they see. Dangling hooks for the players, inventing the setting improvisationally, like this within your previously established framework makes the setting feel more open to the players and adds a lot of replayability; with different parties of characters and groups of players. The Description, Encounter submission format required by Paizo plays nicely to the strengths of island design.
Previous Years' Successful Encounters – While it is probably a good idea to sketch out your encounter before looking at any in detail, looking for popular trends in successful submissions is always helpful.
I have not looked all of these submissions over in detail, but I have skimmed the entries from the contest winners. Here are the themes I pick out: They all give well-detailed general descriptions of the encounter area with a little backstory that gives the party a premise to be at the location—this draws in the players and gives the GM necessary information about the scene. The map is usually a not entirely linear dungeon with a few important points of interest. I imagine one of the biggest challenges this year will be creating a unique way to do this on Paizo's provided flip-mats. Hopefully managing the map constraint will not eat up much of the time saved from not designing another map. Back to the written portion, the description section sets up a narrative context for the GM; helping the GM to run the party along their chosen track(s) without railroading them. The setting description provides some pre-built hooks to suggest the pacing and structure of the encounter. As such these submissions are very well organized with strict correlations between the individual components of their adventures (NPCs, PCs, traps, moving elements), and their overall fixture (markers on maps, tactics, and hooks for bringing the PCs or the NPCs into the encounter). Usually they contain a ‘conclusion’ section where they wrap up the effects, or intended effects of interacting with points on the map and what lasting effects these might have on a larger story.
Writing and Workshopping Groups I’m sure everyone who has made it this far already has them, but on the outside chance you don’t now might be a good time to browse the forums and find some of the many people who have offered their free time to help you perfect your work (and might perhaps post in this thread, again availing you of their use).
Blogs, Online Advice, and Professionally made Encounters While quality varies considerably there’s a lot of material out there on encounter design and ideas. If you’re feeling stuck browsing a site like Gnome Stew, or re-read an old AP (preferably a few reviews for those encounters too). Get some fresh ideas, or a new perspective on your writing and organizational style.
All that said; here are the things I plan to look for in Encounter submissions:
Is the general premise interesting and believable?
Does the setting description bring me into the gameworld, so that I see the encounter through my character’s eyes (or the NPC’s eyes if I’m the GM)?
Do I have adequate descriptions of all the different setting pieces to run the game without a hitch (objects, setting, NPCs, enemies, traps)?
Does the encounter draw the party into a conflict on their own terms, give them agency up to the climax, and allow a conflict resolution ideally setting up or concluding a larger plot-arc?
- Are the conflicts leading to the climax varied in nature?
- Are they thematic?
- Are they difficult enough to entice players without overshadowing the climax?
- Is the climax appropriate?
- Does it encompass (and/or respond to) different avenues pursued by the players?
- Is it challenging?
- Does it set the tone for a memorable resolution?
- Is the resolution thematic and appropriate to the challenge (both difficulty and nature)?
- Does it encompass (and/or respond to) different avenues taken by the players?
- Is it fulfilling (to the plot, to the characters, to the players, to the NPCs and setting)?
Are the NPCs, Monsters, Traps, Enemies and Allies introduced in a way which supports the overall encounter and leaves me interested regardless of being player or GM?
Are the maps well labeled (clarity/concision)?
Does the description support/is it appropriate to the map?
Is everything organized well, so that I can find anything I need in a moment and figure out its placement in game?
Does the encounter teach me something new about Golarion, and the encounter’s specific setting?
Can I play through and enjoy it without extensive background knowledge; if not is this knowledge included for me?
Does the encounter inspire me to do better in my own games and if so is it easily adaptable to them (as Player, GM, and Designer)?
Did the encounter surprise me (good or bad)?
I’m sure there’s more the community can add; please do.
