Darrin Drader

I emailed Darrin and asked him if I could pick his brain about how he creates his adventures, worlds and stories. Here’s what he had to say.

Johnn: You have some game settings under your belt. What’s your best tip for GMs creating their own settings? And, how do you go about making each setting different?

I think when it comes to gaming settings, sometimes the goal is not to make them different, but rather, make them not the same. Some people refer to this as filing the serial numbers off, in which case what you’re really trying to do is tell stories in an established implied setting without copying copyrighted material.

I don’t think that’s a bad thing. Take the conceits behind D&D: you have humans, elves, dwarves, and halflings as your core races. You also have a technology level around the medieval level, as well as magic, dragons, undead, orcs, goblins. For a lot of people, they need look no further.

Put that onto different geography with different names, and different people fighting over different things and you’re there.

Now, say you want to push things a little further, you need to customize it. D&D is good about including everything that can be considered fantasy and working it into the world in one way or another. It includes everything from Greek myth to H.P. Lovecraft, and takes from virtually every intellectual property and mythology along the way.

So the thing isn’t to figure out what to include, but what not to include. If you’re publishing the world, there are things you can’t include because they’re owned, but there are so many things pulled from myth that they’re totally fair game.

Also consider there are the works that inspired D&D so old now they’re public domain. So, you can have elder gods, orcs, goblins, trolls, and many other mythological elements.

So, I’m kind of answering your question with a building blocks approach. It’s been said there’s no such thing as an original idea, and I tend to agree with that, so creation is a matter of finding the ideas you want to play with and then finding a way of presenting them that seems new.

Keep in mind Shakespeare didn’t come up with any of his stories, but he’s been famous for hundreds of years because he was able to put his own spin on them. I think that’s what every author or world builder should realistically aspire to.

Once you’ve decided, in a broad sense, what’s in the world, then figure out if there are any major environmental differences. Maybe the world is mostly desert or glaciated.

Once you have that, you need to answer what are the major conflicts? This is one area where you can get creative. Is it humans vs. humans? Elves vs. dwarves? Humans vs. dragons? Gods vs. the elder gods? Cowboys vs. aliens?

More importantly, how do the characters take part in this conflict?

Once you’ve figured out the answers to those questions, you’re well on your way to creating a new and original fantasy world.

Johnn: Tell us about your new book.

Which one? *laughs* I have a novel coming out soon called Echoes of Olympus, and it’s being released by Dark Quest Books, but I suspect that this isn’t the one you’re curious about.

First, let me make this clear – what I just released isn’t a novel. The Vacant Forge can be considered either a long short story or a short novella.

It comes in at 33 novel-length pages. It’s a self-contained story, but it’s also the first of a new series of stories I’m writing and releasing at a pace of one per week, at least for the short term.

It’s also set in a shared world created by Scott Fitzgerald Gray, who has written a great deal of fiction in this world.

The story starts with a blacksmith’s apprentice, Antilos, awakening one night to find his master murdered under bizarre circumstances. Although he’s an apprentice, he also helped fight off a tribe of orcs when they invaded a couple seasons ago, so he knows his way around a blade.

He is joined by two of his friends, an animys caster (similar to a cleric in the Endlands setting), Tanryn, and another friend, a half-elf rogue who has just landed in a great deal of trouble during a bungled robbery, named Nalgaar. Through their investigation, they learn about a major threat to the city that could have much wider consequences.

As I said earlier, this is the first part of a series, so even though the story is a self-contained tale of adventure, it also poses questions that will be answered in later parts of the series. Like a television show, or the dime novels of old, the stories will be episodic. It will help if you read them all, but you can also get away with skipping one or two without missing so much you won’t be able to catch back up.

Johnn: The book uses the setting of The Endlands, created by Scott Fitzgerald Gray and shared by the Monumental Works Group. Can you explain what this is about?

The Endlands is a setting that was created by Scott Fitzgerald Gray, who is a screenwriter and occasional Dungeons and Dragons contributor.

The Endlands is a large and complex setting of his design he has graciously opened up to other authors he’d like to work with. He has several novels and stories set in this world available for sale at Amazon.com.

The Monumental Works Group is a group of up-and-coming fiction writers, of which I’m proud to be associated. Many of its members have profiles posted to the main site, though some are choosing to lay low, at least for the time being.

Many of us have ties to the gaming industry, though there are a few members, such as Daniel Rider and Cara Maddy, whose work has more of a literary bent.

Johnn: What’s your writing regimen like? Do you write a bit each day or in bursts or….?

I was on staff as a writer for 38 Studios for the past two years. Sadly, the company ran out of money and is now in bankruptcy, so I’m between jobs at the moment.

That said, I was in the habit of producing a decent amount of output every single day. That does conflict with the writing I did in my spare time, where I would mainly try to produce a lot of material during the weekends, or at night after the kids were in bed.

Right now, given the demands of doing a story a week, I’m forced to either be outlining, writing, editing or producing material every single day, except for the weekends. So long as I’m keeping to that schedule, it’s a regular thing.

Johnn: How do you go about your writing? Do you create outlines, draw maps, make things up as you go?

I outline as much as possible and I try to look for logical holes and bad characterization as I go.

Good storytelling doesn’t have characters doing strange things or acting against their own best interest for reasons that are never explained (LOST). A good story should have a pre-planned arc, where eventually, something of world shattering proportions will happen, even if you get there one episode at a time (Babylon 5). The series shouldn’t just reset after every episode, but you should be able to catch up.

I plan as far ahead as much as possible. I outline the major plot elements and scenes.

Occasionally an idea will hit while I’m writing. Maybe a character will want to do something I hadn’t planned for, or a scene goes off in a different direction than I had originally intended. It’s cool when that happens, and I like to follow what the character wants when they’re trying to suggest things to me.

But at the same time, I follow the rule that whatever happens has to make sense based on things we know now or will know in the future. I will also draw maps if I feel the area where a scene takes place is complex enough that it needs it.

Keep in mind that a story isn’t the same as an RPG dungeon. You don’t have to explain that a character takes a left, goes down a corridor, into a room, through a secret door, down another hallway, into another room, and finally meets up with the orc king that’s trying to kill him.

Instead, you can summarize a lot of that because the reader doesn’t care to mentally map the dungeon. The reader is in it for the scenes and for the stories. And no matter how convoluted it looks on paper, it’s always a straight line from one event to the next.

Johnn: What was it like working for Wizards of the Coast? And what was a typical day like?

When I worked at Wizards of the Coast, I was at the beginning of my professional writing career. I was doing customer service by day, and then by night I’d put on the Bat Suit and become an RPG freelancer. I doubt you’re all that interested in answering customer emails, particularly those where some player was trying to get us to help them overrule their DMs (happened all the time).

As a freelancer, the key is to write, hit deadlines, get things turned in on time, and not suck.

It turns out when writing is your day job you pretty much do the same thing, and the emphasis on not sucking grows immensely. When you work freelance for a company like Wizards, you try to polish up your stuff as much as possible, and then that gets handed off to editors, and they make take it and make you look like a rock star. When you’re on staff, sometimes you are the editor, so the polishing phase needs to lead to a much more professional and polished piece than it does when you aren’t.

Aside from interacting with the creative people who were on staff whenever I could get a minute of their time, I couldn’t really tell you what it was like to be there at that time.

I can tell you I’d be nowhere if it weren’t for Chris Perkins, who assigned several of the projects I worked on to me, and who took me under his wing and taught me a lot of the fundamentals I now know – things like avoiding the passive voice, avoiding the “to be” verb as much as possible (it’s not always possible), and various other tips that you don’t get outside of a classroom (and sometimes within).

Johnn: What advice do you have for GMs who want to tell awesome stories?

When it comes to roleplaying, a lot of the time awesome stories happen not because of what you’ve prepared, but because of how the players react to the scenarios you put in front of them.

The key to telling good stories through roleplaying is the same as telling good stories through fiction: learn how episodic storytelling is accomplished.

If you want the textbook model of how to tell a huge story in an episodic format, watch all of Babylon 5, from beginning to end. People sometimes ask me who my influences are, and Joe Michael Straczynski is probably my greatest one.

To do this well, you have to have some idea of how long your series is going to be, then you have to plant hooks. Sometimes you build an entire episode around a plot point, and it doesn’t seem that important right now, but later it comes back and turns out to be an essential piece to whatever is going on.

Thanks for the great advice, Darrin! Best of luck on your new series.

Roleplaying Tips readers, if you have any questions for Darrin, just ask in the comments below.

[Update April 14: Thanks very much to the great editors who helped out! The files have all been taken care of now. Stay tuned for more news about the Combat Swipes.]

Howdy Roleplaying Tips fan!

I’ve just compiled all the raw entries from the Combat Swipe File contest.

They have been broken up into short sections and I could use your help editing them.

If you like editing and have a few minutes to spare, please visit the shared Google Documents below and get your red pen out.

Thanks so much for your help!

Once the editing is done, I’ll start publishing the entries in the GM tips newsletter, and I’ll also be compiling them into a free PDF for Roleplaying Tips readers.

This book gives you 260 pages of design advice, how-to information and GMing tips to craft unforgettable gaming locations.

Download a preview of my book, GM Mastery: Inns & Taverns Essentials.

95% system neutral!

Inns, taverns, and restaurants – these are the places of role-playing legend. Well, maybe not so much restaurants, but places to eat are important too!

Such businesses are often the first place characters go when they enter a city, and the last place they leave before waving goodbye. In the history of RPGs, taverns have spawned more adventures than any other location.

Inns are important too, because they serve as urban home bases and refuges for recuperation.

Restaurants are less common game elements, though I hope this book will change that. They are a fresh break from typical locations, and are places for PCs and NPCs to meet, intrigue, and plan.

In many campaigns and groups, inns and taverns are gamed so much they’ve stopped being special. They’ve become clichés.

GMs run the same ideas and concepts over and over, stuck in a rut they might not even know they are in. If it isn’t broken, don’t fix it, right?

However, breathing new life into these classic pillars of your game sessions is important.

Nothing should be taken for granted. Don’t let things become mundane, stale, and uninspired. This is a sure route to burnout and player apathy.

Next time the characters enter an inn, tavern, or restaurant, surprise your players.

Get the free preview:

In this excerpt from Assassin’s Amulet – my upcoming essential GM Toolbook – I reveal the gaming potential of contacting and hiring assassins in your campaigns.

Begin Excerpt:

This is a game world decision you need to make to suit your desired campaign atmosphere and gameplay style. You have two contact options and two hiring options.

Contact Options

A) Assassins do open business. They are easy to contact.

B) Assassins are secretive and difficult to contact.

A) Assassins have easy contractual terms and are easy to hire. Often it is just a matter of money.

B) Assassins are choosy about what clients or targets they accept, and are difficult to hire.

Hiring Options

The A options put assassin employ at the easy end of the spectrum, and the B options put assassins in your game at the rare or difficult end of the spectrum. You are free to make the requirements fall somewhere in between or lie at the extreme end.

For example, assassins might have a guild and front themselves with a pasta restaurant. This makes them easy to contact once the PCs gather a bit of information and learn about this place and its nature. However, during a meeting the PCs learn only evil targets are accepted, and their chosen victim is neutral. You might allow some negotiation to take place and let the assassins break their rules, but overall the hiring process is difficult.

Open and accessible assassination makes it common and frequent. Decide if you want this theme in your world. It also means assassination encounters will be more common in your campaign, especially if the PCs earn enemies willing to take a contract out on them.

If you want a one-encounter, or to have assassins play a minor role in your game, make them difficult to contact and hire. Put a number of barriers and requirements in place so it is logical that assassination happens rarely, occurs in the background in your world and is unlikely to trigger against the PCs.

Organization or Freelancers?

Also, consider whether assassins operate as a group or individuals. Perhaps you have both modes in your game because each creates fun gameplay and world development opportunities.

In the freelance environment, there will be famous assassins who charge a lot more than the amateurs. This environment of notable NPCs oozes with flavor. However, it is a dangerous game because no guild or organization with great resources will protect freelancers from assassin-hunters and other threats.

An organization of assassins gives you great campaign options as well. Run like any other faction, with a leader, goals, enemies and resources, you have a wonderful source of plot hooks and NPC inspiration.

There is no reason you cannot do both in your game, as well.

For example, in a recent campaign of Johnn’s, assassins operated as freelancers. Being individuals, there was a range of access, hiring and quality options. The freelancers had reputations ranging from thug who rendered fast and brutal service to a mysterious and elite individual known only as The Rain Dancer who only existed in rumours and legend. In addition, a group of mages formed a shadow guild leveraging a demonic ally who gave them access to shadow demons to do their dirty work. He used a draft of Assassin’s Amulet for their base and way of operations.

Create Layers of Contact

Put up various contact barriers to weed out law enforcement, enemies and non-serious enquiries. Do this via layers of contact. The pasta restaurant, for example, might be an intermediary in all transactions. The owner meets with clients and ferries messages and payment between the assassins’ guild and clients. What the restaurateur does not know is his contact is just another layer, and not a member of the actual guild. The contact watches the restaurant ongoing to ensure the owner is not betraying the guild, shaving payments or causing problems. The guild is protected because it can eliminate either contact to stop anyone from tracking the guild down.

Individuals might also employ agents and screens to keep distance for self-protection. Perhaps a private investigator has a way to make contact with one or two assassins when his clients want that type of service. A great hook might be an Urban Ranger insinuates himself as an agent so he can work out details of the guild and possibly strike its top members when the time is right.

The Tone of Contact

While the preceding paragraphs detail the mechanics of contacting assassins, you should try to maintain the proper tone of the contact. Smoke and mirrors, shadows and shadowy figures—these should be maintained at all times. The assassins will not negotiate, either; they will either operate on a fixed price high enough to fund the occasional mission with extraordinary requirements, or they will separate the process of commissioning an assassination with the process of setting a fee appropriate to the difficulty of the mission.

The second approach is unusual because it more than doubles the exposure of the assassins, but sufficient creativity on your part should make it plausible. It also runs the risk of the assassins alerting the target in the course of the investigations used to set a price on the assignment.

Obtaining knowledge of the target and his defenses before setting a cost compensates for these hazards, as does the opportunity to refuse a contract fully informed.

Arranging the payment poses the third risk. Again, this step can either be separate and carried out only after the mission is complete—which exposes the assassins to customers unable or unwilling to pay, and all manner of other such troubles—or it can be incorporated into another step. Perhaps an estimated price is nominated when the target is first named and the final price when the contract is accepted.

GMs should be careful to put themselves into the assassin’s shoes when contemplating these arrangements. Think about what they need, what they can afford to have publicly known about the way they work and how much they would charge.

Application to Assassin’s Amulet

If you use the background material built into Assassin’s Amulet, much of the decision-making discussed in previous sections has been done for you. The assassins are somewhat secretive, they have a formal organizational structure and they usually operate in small teams from one or more central locations. At the same time, they are not especially discriminating when it comes to targets, provided their price is met, but the organization as outlined in these pages has substantial overheads, so those fees would be relatively pricy.

Remember that the contracts accepted by the Hands of Cyrene serve multiple purposes for the organization. The fees not only fund it, they also provide training and experience to the assassins, and they camouflage the contracts the Hands undertake in pursuit of their primary mission.

Two competing considerations come into play due to guild pricing of its services.

If they charge higher fees:

• Fewer outside contracts will be acceptable to both guild and customer
• The guild will attract less trouble from established authorities
• The assassins will be less skilled
• The Hands of Cyrene will have fewer resources for the pursuit of their primary mission
• Assassins will be relatively few in number

If they charge lower fees:

• Assassination services will be more available
• More customers can afford their services
• The organization can grow larger
• The organization will attract more trouble
• Assassins will be more skilled
• The Hands of Cyrene can devote more resources to their primary mission

Ultimately, the price assassins charge should be a reflection of how large a role you want the Hands of Cyrene to play in your campaign. The smaller that role, the smaller the organization, and the more they should charge. The larger the role, the larger the organization, and the more affordable their services should be.

This same logic dictates the solutions to other questions posed here. If the organization is widespread and takes on many contracts, the less they need to allow for the expense of completing any specific contract, and the more likely they are to simplify their problems by charging a fixed rate. Their security increases as a result, which is fortunate because of the increased trouble they will face from authorities. The more contracts they take on, the less secretive their existence is—if no one knows your organization exists, how can they use your services?

This one decision drives just about every other choice you have to make concerning the integration of the Hands of Cyrene into your campaign. Make it carefully and you are assured the best possible opportunity to integrate the Hands of Cyrene into your campaign.

Hero Lab for Pathfinder

An Experiment

As part of my goal to offer optional HTML and mobile friendly versions of the newsletter this year, I’m experimenting with the first stage, which is posting the newsletter in chunks on this blog before mailout.

This offers a number of advantages:

• Your feedback on tips before they go into the newsletter
• You can finally comment on tips that go into the newsletter! (Gee, that only took me 11 years….)
• Your tips and comments might wind up in the newsletter, which would be of great value to your fellow GMs
• Smoother editing process – I can edit as I post instead of editing the whole newsletter in one massive chunk
• Tips can be Categorized and Tagged thanks to those WordPress features – this will help you find past tips much easier
• HTML – WordPress will markup the content for me, ready for insertion into a future HTML version of the newsletter

This means RPT blog readers will see the content before it hits the newsletter. That might mean people will unsubscribe from the newsletter, which would make me sad. However, the newsletter offers all the tips edited and assembled in one neat package, and it gets sent to your inbox for easy reading and archiving. It gets sent to you, so you don’t have to bookmark and remember to come back every two weeks. So, maybe the pros and cons wash out. You tell me. Feedback is always appreciated.

I’ll try this experiment until it dies in a fire or for a few newsletter issues, whichever happens first. I hope you like the newsletter content featured this way on the blog, though; I’m excited by the tagging and commenting possibilities!

Anyone Use Hero Lab For Pathfinder?

I am using this great software to make NPCs for my Pathfinder game. And I am wondering if anyone else is using it for Pathfinder and if you wanted to trade NPCs? I’m not sure yet how to export and import characters, but there must be a way.

If interested, drop me an email. I only have a few NPCs crafted so far, but they are yours if we can figure out how to trade.

Seven Nations Session #2

Last Thursday, my Riddleport campaign was delayed due to player availability, so we got in a session of the 4E Seven Nations campaign my friend is running instead.

Players present: Dave, Jason, Johnn. GM: Colin.

We had just returned victorious from defeating chaos creatures at a comet crash site while questing for the lost arms merchant father of an elven lady. We cash in and decide to go back for more. We purchase a cart to haul back some big crystals and other potentially valuable items. Jason dubs this the Loot Sled. Soon after, it was renamed the Toro 5000 and it works by running it over treasure that then gets sucked up through the loot shoot into a catcher at the back. I guess we were giddy about playing, but we settled down after that.

A big battle ensues after going deeper into the comet site. It is a close battle. I receive pocket points for good tactics. Jason receives none. I suggest we hold back and weaken the enemy with ranged attacks, but Jason’s character Tryn charges in and manages to get teleported before the Stage Boss’s feet. We have to compromise our tactical advantage to save his hide. We get to Tryn, who is drowning in a pool of water, just in time. Pity. We Toro 5000 some crystals and leave.

On the way back to town we encounter an NPC we have been wanting to talk with: Ivian the Unpredictable. We tried to find him before but he was strangely not where he was supposed to be.

Ivian helps us with clues about the nature of the crystals and pays us a small amount of gold for selling him some.

Last session we hired a guide, Adnin. She costs 1 gold per day and does not fight, but it’s worth not getting lost and having a native help us work over the locals. (We’re a Good party, but we serve a higher purpose.) We convince Adnin to return with us to our headquarters for ongoing guiding services.

In case you missed the background on this campaign in RPT#511, we are members of The Red Sashes, a group part MI5, part FBI. We were sent to the city of Rask to help out a Red Sash leader – Bishan Sing – with some local problems. The first thing he said to us was he wanted us to leave. He hates our guts or our presence or both. Sounds to me like he’s got something to hide. I’m keeping my ears open. And that’s where Adnin comes in. She’s not a Red Sash, so she’ll have more freedoms and access to information sources than we will, as we have a pesky code to follow and all.

Our business in this smelly town done, we hightail it back to Rask and report to our handler, Bishan Sing. We’re instead greeted by his guard who starts pumping us for information. We say we only report to Bishan. He says he speaks for Bishan. I let him know he can speak to the back of my hand if he does not stop lying. He keeps trying, so we leave.

I’m curious where Bishan is. Before I can sniff around we get a new assignment. We’re to head to the elven forest of Sarabask. Raiders are attacking settlements but not stealing anything. Strange. I figure it’s a territorial or resource dispute. Looks like Bishan is safe from my prying….for now.

We equip ourselves, shedding desert gear and donning forest apparel. We swap camels for horses and leave, Adnin guiding.

Within a few days we reach a large settlement near the forest. We report to the local Red Sashes and ask for news about the raids. No useful information there, so we head into the thick forest.

As we enter one particular clearing we’re attacked by snipers using the forest edge for cover. Before I can say let’s target one sniper nest at a time, the group splits up. Trynn goes left, Bront the dragonborn warrior goes right. Adnin hits reverse. That leaves me in the middle holding my staff.

The battle is another close one. Divide and conquer works both ways, and once we’re able to close with our respective opponents and make them get into hand-to-hand it becomes a contest of stamina. Fortunately, my spells help delay my foes long enough from slitting my throat and my comrades arrive to finish them off.

We ended the session with one prisoner and a good idea of what we’re facing: some power or effect is giving elves in the forest brain blenders, making them crazy and aggressive.

It seems simple to me: next session we interrogate the prisoner, find the source, confront and destroy it. Then we can return to Rask so I can find out what Bishan’s been up to.

Quote of the session: “The best armor class is someone else’s armor class.” – Dave.

What’s in RPT#513

This issue you can look forward to an encounter design tip by yours truly, an article about player body language, 5 Non-Epic Prophecies and more. Stay tuned.

TR8MMPCQN2TU

by Silveressa

Every Friday starting today, we’ll be providing you with a blast from the past, old articles brought back to the forefront for your reading pleasure! Each Article will help new readers with classic advice, and remind our long time fans of great tips they may have overlooked or forgotten about.

Plus advice on how to run a campaign with 8th level NPCs when your PCs are just 1st level.

Read on!

by Silveressa

Hi yas, I’m Jenette, but many of you online probably know me as Silveressa. I’m the new co-blogger here. I’ve been playing and GMing RPGs for close to 17 years now and happy to have this opportunity to contribute to my favorite hobby.

I’m currently running a Serenity campaign for my weekly group, plus a couple other one on-one games (Shadowrun 4th edition, and Supernatural) for my significant other.

A lot of my free time is spent doing fiction writing (lesbian themed scifi and horror novels) and modding various video games (Mass Effect 2, DAO, C&C Tiberian Wars, Sins of a Solar Empire.)

For more about me, from how I got into RPG to some of my more memorable RPG experiences check out my GM interview.

I’m here to help with your GMing questions so feel free to leave a question or comment below.

Best Game Master Tips of 2010, Part 1.

Also included this issue is a Reader Tip Request: What is the most important thing you learned about GMing this year?

Happy new year. Please get some game mastering done in 2011!

Enter minis tips for a chance to win a pack of D&D Heroes minis

I just finished contacting all the randomly selected winners of the minis giveaway. I had to word the emails carefully to avoid them getting flagged as spam. Words like contest, winner, free and others are killers on deliverability.

Here is a list of winners to check just in case you were selected and my email got trashed or filtered. Contact me if this has happened.

• g.tait
• daniel.c….mn@g….com (2x winner!)
• guedo7…@g….com
• Donovan.Mc….@draftf….za
• mike.mona….@yahoo.com
• alex…@bou…rval.com
• klydesdale…@tel….net
• acedrum…@com….net
• renemare…@coop….ca
• mpolley…@gma….
• jermw…@gma….

Congrats to the winners. Everyone who entered should get a pat on the back – I am assembling your tips now for republication in the newsletter so that every GM wins. Subscribe to the bi-weekly game master tips newsletter to get notified when the tips are available.