How To Create Your Own Plot Factory, Part IV - Roleplaying Tips
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How To Create Your Own Plot Factory, Part IV

Roleplaying Tips Newsletter #0837

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In this final part of the Plot Factory series, we confront a major problem some GMs have.

So far we have solved two of our Plot Factory requirements:

  • A fast way to create short adventures
  • A way to keep all your plots and details well-sorted
  • Robust hooks for those plots so characters get involved

Let’s look at the last item. Just how exactly do we create hooks (and enough of them) to get characters drawn to our multiple short adventures?

Because if the goal is to always have new adventures spawning so we’re always about to offer climactic gameplay, then we’re going to need a lot of plot hooks.

Here’s one idea from Roleplaying Tips reader Ed Marley in response to a recent Musing about low-level magic items:

I like the thought of the PCs becoming a patron of sorts to a fledgling artificer. It would be a nice way to organically introduce the occasional needed item or even a plot point. The artificer could grow in skill as the PCs support his/her research and maybe develop a Q/Bond type of relationship.

As PCs grow in power and reputation, have NPCs from near and far come to them to support their research, crafts, businesses.

These requests will entail all kinds of plot hooks, for special materials and components needed, for relationship conflicts, and for villains to tangle with.

Here are additional ways to create hooks covered in previous Roleplaying Tips:

It doesn’t matter so much what approaches you use. The main thing is to change your thinking so you are always keeping an eye out for hook possibilities.

Make it rain hooks in your world. Which is saying, make everything interesting and let the players get themselves into trouble.

Create Your Own Plot Factory

Switching to short adventures helps you GM better.

You learn faster by running through more adventures from start to finish. You gain more control while giving players more choice. You create a deeper, layered milieu for gameplay.

And perhaps of greatest benefit, you exit the foggy dead zone of long adventures with every session potentially offering a short adventure climax or major milestone for exciting storytelling.

To create your own plot factory to spawn many ongoing short adventures, you need just three ingredients:

  • A way to create short adventures, such as 5 Room Dungeons
  • Ways to spawn a bunch of plot hooks so all characters get involved, such as Combat Missions and being patrons of NPCs
  • A way to track all your short adventures’ details and session details, such as Campaign Logger

Create a plot factory for your campaign and let me know how it goes.