Roleplaying Tips Weekly E-Zine Issue #337
10 Tips For Crafting Adventure-Based Holidays, Part 2
Contents:
This Week's Tips Summarized
10 Tips For Crafting Adventure-Based Holidays, Part 2
- Game World Calendar Method: Spreadsheet
- Game World Calendar Method: TiddlyWiki
- Create A Holiday Stat Block
- Types Of Holiday Encounters
- Crafting Holiday Encounters
Readers' Tips Summarized
- Holiday Contest Entry: The Bride's Fair
From: Lea Hall
- Holiday Contest Entry: Harbor Day
From: bhunter117
- What's In A Name? How About An Anagram?
From: Scot Newbury
- Tips For GMs From A GM's Perspective
From: Paul Robertson
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Return to Contents
A Brief Word From Johnn
The Combat Pad - Thumb's Up
When I read Gen Con reports about the magnetic Combat Pad
from Open Mind Games, I was keen to check it out. I
contacted the company and they kindly sent me a review copy.
You use the Combat Pad for initiative tracking, combat
management, and note-taking. It supports dry/wet erase, and
uses magnetic pointers and blank, magnetic name tags, on
which you write the combatants' names, for tracking. I found
wet erase is best to use on the tags for the PCs, as the
instructions suggested (dry erase rubbed off too easily for
the frequently handled tags), and dry erase works well for
making temporary notes, scribbles, and NPC tag names.
In the campaign I play, the GM doesn't have a set initiative
tracking system, so I brought the Combat Pad and managed it
for him, quickly and easily, with the Combat Pad - one less
thing for my busy GM to do.
Thanks to Open Mind Games for sending me the review copy -
the Combat Pad has found a place at my gaming table and I
recommend it to GMs needing a simple initiative tracking
tool:
If you have a question about the Combat Pad, feel free to e-
mail me. I've got my pad right here and would be happy to
answer.
* * *
Was this short review useful to you? Would you like to see
more like it? If so, what products would you like a report
on?
Holiday Contest Continues
Thanks to everyone who sent in their holiday contest entries
last week. The contest closes Dec 17, so there's still time
to send in your entries, or additional ones if inspiration
strikes. I've put a couple of the entries in the Readers
Tips section so you can see good examples of entries.
How To Enter The Contest
------------------------------------
Create a holiday and describe it in roughly 1-3 paragraphs.
Please use this format:
- Holiday Name:
- Holiday Description:
- Holiday Encounter Ideas: (bullet list of ideas or paragraphs)
E-mail your entries in one e-mail message or several to
johnn@roleplayingtips.com
You can submit as many entries as you like.
Entries will be edited and posted in this e-zine so all GMs
will benefit from your creativity.
Contest entry deadline is December 17, 2006. Winners will be
selected randomly from the pool of entries, so don't worry
if writing isn't your strong suit.
Prizes Up For Grabs
---------------------------
From Ronin Arts:
From Johnn Four:
From Expeditious Retreat Press:
- 1 on 1 Adventures #1: Gambler's Quest (print)
- 1 on 1 Adventures #2: Star of Olindor (print)
- 1 on 1 Adventures #3: Forbidden Hills (PDF)
- 1 on 1 Adventures #5: Vale of the Sepulcher (PDF)
- Advanced Adventures #1: The Pod Caverns of the Sinister
Shroom (PDF)
You can check out the products at Expeditious Retreat
Press's website:
www.xrpshop.citymax.com
That makes for quite a few prizes, and great odds for
winning! (If you have a prize preference, feel free let me
know in your e-mail entries.)
Cheers,
Johnn Four,
johnn@roleplayingtips.com
Return to Contents
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Return to Contents
10 Tips For Crafting Adventure-Based Holidays, Part 2
By Johnn Four
From the new e-book, GM Mastery: Adventure Essentials: Holidays
Read part 1 of this article online at:
Roleplaying Tips Issue #336
Return to Contents
1. Game World Calendar Method: Spreadsheet
Spreadsheet software, such as Microsoft Excel or OpenOffice,
is another great way to make a calendar. Each cell
represents a day. Resize and merge cells as desired. Use
comments to make notes or type into the cells directly.
Separate months or years with new worksheets. Alternatively,
you can put a whole year or several in a single worksheet.
Return to Contents
2. Game World Calendar Method: TiddlyWiki
Another option is to use a web browser and a wiki, such as
Tiddly-Wiki. TiddlyWiki is free and doesn't require a
server. You can use it offline and you only need to worry
about a single HTML file when transferring between
computers.
In your wiki, create a new link or entry for each day for
one year. Label the month and day, but not the year. As with
the index card system, as each year passes you return to the
beginning of the calendar and append new notes, labeled by
year. You'll see previous years' notes this way for easy
reference, and you'll see holidays as they come up.
Recurring holidays synched to specific dates only need
scheduling once, and then they'll cycle through naturally as
years pass. Holidays with unique dates need to be manually
entered each year - do this in advance so you're prepared as
campaign time passes during sessions.
Here are some example campaign TiddlyWikis:
And some TiddlyWiki versions:
Return to Contents
3. Create A Holiday Stat Block
Here is a checklist of holiday design elements. Holiday
design is free-form and iterative, so feel free to design
the following in any order.
- Holiday Role
- Incidental Interaction, Background Flavor, Encounter
Foundation, or Adventure Foundation.
- Holiday name
- Also add alternate names the holiday might have for
various cultures and sub-cultures.
- Add any historical names it might have had in the past.
- Brief summary
- From one sentence to three paragraphs.
- Describe what the holiday is about and note any key
points, dependencies, and requirements so you won't be
caught off-guard while GMing in the future.
- Mood
- Does the holiday have a positive or negative mood? If
the Holiday Role requires it, describe the specific
mood.
- Hook
- Note what makes the holiday unique and interesting to
the players and their PCs.
- Who the Holiday is For
- Who celebrates the holiday?
- Note which groups, sub-groups, cultures, and sub-cultures
honor the holiday.
- Significance
- How important is the holiday to society and why?
- Major, Minor, or Trivial?
- Why does the holiday exist? Why does it continue to exist?
What purpose does it serve?
- Timeline
- When does the holiday occur?
- Frequency?
- How long does the holiday last?
- Can you still easily change this date? Do the players
already know it, or are there established dependencies
on the holiday date in other parts of your campaign/
adventure design?
- Working Or Non-Working
- Do some people get away from their labors? Is it everyone
in the region, or just certain folk? Does this cause any
tension?
- Design Events
- What events are associated or scheduled for the holiday?
- Stat out each event by noting:
- Name
- Participants
- Location
- Activities
- Quirks
- Costume and Dress
- Do people wear anything special?
- If so, who, when, and what?
- Food and Drink
- Are special dishes prepared? Are there feasts or food-
based events?
- Are there any special drinks associated with the holiday,
its events, and its rituals?
- Decoration
- Does anything get decorated, such as rooms, homes, or
streets?
- If so, what are the decorations?
- Travel
- Does the holiday involve or require travel?
- Who must do the traveling?
- Where do they go?
- Backstory
- How did the holiday come into being?
- Are there any noteworthy past instances of the holiday?
- What effect has the holiday had on the game world?
- Encounters
- What encounters and encounter ideas are possible because
of the holiday?
Return to Contents
4. Types Of Holiday Encounters
There are different types of holiday encounters based on the
level of holiday interaction and holiday importance for the
situation. Knowing the type can guide you to craft better
encounters.
Showcase Encounters
This type of encounter exists specifically to highlight a
certain aspect of your holiday. There's nothing wrong with
wanting to show off your designs. Holidays set a wonderful
stage on which to game. This type also imparts details about
your holiday in the oft advised, "show, don't tell" fashion.
For example, you could narrate how the village holds a short
but colorful parade through the paths from Village Hall to
the lake. It wouldn't take long to narrate, and it would be
interesting to learn about.
Alternatively, you could have the village elders ask the PCs
to lead the parade as reward for taking care of those pesky
bandits two days ago. If the PCs agree, they must dress in
colorful outfits Ñ arms and armor is permissible. After the
players decide how to decorate their PCs and start the
parade rolling, you stage a retribution ambush by a few
bandits who escaped the PC slaughter. In this Showcase
Encounter, the players strongly picture the scene because of
the thought they had to put into their PCs' costumes and
from leading the parade - a better result than simply
describing a parade.
Event Encounters
If you have holiday events crafted, they could become
encounters either by purposeful design or from emergent
gameplay. An Event Encounter is linked to a scheduled
holiday event, such as a holy firewalk going awry due to
sabotage. It could also be the event itself, such as a
three-legged race or support rally with speeches.
For example, in the cold, pre-dawn hours, clan elders join
their shaman atop Red Ogre Hill and sacrifice a pregnant
cow. The health of the rescued calf in the coming weeks will
inform the shaman of the gods' will. During the ceremony,
the PCs traveling through the area stumble upon a stream of
blood crossing their trail. No doubt they'll draw weapons
and investigate. They soon track the stream to the source
and learn about the gruesome ceremony. If the clan is to be
allies or neutral to the party, you've just shown a vivid,
primitive aspect of their culture. If they're enemies,
you've set up a great combat scene.
Consequence Encounters
Holidays involve events, politics, and people. Many things
happen during a holiday, and some will have interesting
consequences that could spill into an encounter involving
the PCs.
For example, during an eclipse at a time when people crowd
the streets and watch the celestial battle between the moon
god and the sun god, the PCs suddenly decide to use the
temporary darkness to their advantage and break into an
enemy's house to gather information. Taking advantage of
this turn of events, you decide the PCs' rivals had the same
plan and they bump into each other for an interesting
encounter.
Use the following categories of consequences to help inspire
or organize your holiday encounter thoughts:
- Conflict. A direct competition, struggle, or challenge.
- Complication. A puzzle that needs solving emerges as
something goes awry, or two elements brought together don't
mix well.
- Opportunity. Potential reward exists if the PCs take a
certain action, react quickly, or make the correct choice.
- Hindrance. An aspect of the holiday element creates
penalties, negative modifiers, restrictions, or an undesired
situation.
- Incidental. The encounter does not depend on the holiday
for any reason, and the holiday makes an incidental
appearance in the encounter.
Return to Contents
5. Crafting Holiday Encounters
Here are a few general tips to help you craft an
entertaining holiday encounter:
- Make it interactive. Avoid encounters that are based
solely on dice rolls. Contests and skill events succumb to
this trap often. Look for creative ways to allow for player
tactics and choices.
- Use an interesting location - think 3D. The classic
dungeon encounter error uses the 10'x10' empty room.
Similarly, the typical holiday encounter error places the
PCs in a flat, empty area, such as an open field, an empty
alley, or a wide street.
Holidays can involve a number of different, unusual, and
special decorations, locations, and furnishings. Holidays
let you break the rules as far as believable situations
occur due to the inherent unusualness and temporary timeline
of the event.
For example, it's tricky placing the PCs' backs against a
cliff to add delicious drama to a tough battle. Unless the
PCs go there by themselves, most other solutions feel
contrived. However, it would be simple to declare the PC-
attended holiday offering to the sea god takes place at a
special location on a cliff edge. On that spot, fifty years
ago, the high priest of the god dove into the water, never
to be seen again, in an effort to commune with his deity to
save the region from evil sahuagin.
- Add NPCs. NPCs are an awesome exposition tool to help
reveal information about your holiday. They help heed the
traditional writer's advice to "show, not tell." Add NPCs to
encounters and have them:
- Preparing for the upcoming holiday
- Traveling for the holiday
- Wearing the costumes you've picked for the holiday
- Eating the special food and drink you've selected
- Engaging in the events, ceremonies, and traditions you've
designed
- Pick any holiday design element and have NPCs somehow
displaying, demonstrating, or roleplaying it.
- Add conflict. Be sure your encounter involves a challenge
of some sort, or yawns might travel 'round the table. It
could be combat, but doesn't have to be. A great method is
to pick the two best and worst skills for each character and
then think of how you might combine one of each into an
interesting holiday-based challenge.
For example, Glimnor the bard has a high Perform skill, but
a poor Balance skill. You decide to create a ritual where
celebrants' hands and feet are shackled together. They must
boldly recite the holy passages as they make their way
through a gauntlet of pushing priests to the high priest,
who will ceremoniously cut away the bonds to symbolize the
religion's founder escaping slavery. Glimnor is asked to
participate, and if he doesn't fall then the high priest
will answer the bard's questions later about the nearby
ruins.
Return to Contents
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Readers' Tips Of The Week:
1. Holiday Contest Entry: The Bride's Fair
From: Lea Hall
Open to all commoners, females of marriageable age but not
currently married from the local lord's lands are being
given a Bride's Fair. All unmarried male Journeymen and
Masters of their craft may attend. During the week long
fair, there will be tournaments and trials so the girls can
see the guys as they are competing. There are picnics and
dances, and of course, a market where the journeymen and
masters can display their wares. Similar to a county fair,
there are also displays of food, animals and handicrafts.
This is as much about the quality of the lord's holding as
it is for the brides-to-be to chose husbands.
On the last day of the fair, the females are all given
lottery numbers to decide who shall choose their groom
first. A priest presides over the lottery and the girls are
lined up in lot order to choose their men. Since only those
men who wanted to be considered will be available to be
chosen, it is supposed that the choosing is fair. Before the
girls choose, they are blessed and a prayer is said to the
Goddess of Motherhood to aid them in choosing rightly.
The fair concludes with the marriage vows said en-mass over
the entire group, then there is a feast and a dance.
The lord of the land will have set aside an area for the new
couples to farm and settle, each bride receiving a plot of
land for her dower cottage and garden, and the men get a
plot of land to farm or a building to work their trade. This
settles a new area as a village.
Holiday Encounter Ideas:
- If there is someone who should not be there, such as
someone who has no vocation, (and many of the PCs may not be
Journeymen, and how do you consider a rogue?) in an
acceptable trade, they will cause disruption in the Bride's
Fair, possibly gaining a posse to follow the miscreants to
beat them senseless. This is a special holy time for these
women and they expect to be examining eligible men. PCs may
think it only a fair not a Bride's Fair, and compete for
prizes in the tourneys. They may decide they are not the
marrying kind (cold feet) when they find out. Weddings at
sword point might be possible too.
- This is also a way to destroy a lord's surplus population
by an assassin poisoning the water or food. So this could
become a political destruction of a noble house's tenants.
- Monsters could become aware of the delectable food
assembled at the Bride's Fair, especially intelligent
monsters. Demons could easily fit this profile and might be
able to slip into the grounds to hunt those luscious brides.
Orcs or gnolls could attack, especially if the area the lord
will be opening up for the new couples happens to be the
monsters' hunting grounds.
Return to Contents
2. Holiday Contest Entry: Harbor Day
From: bhunter117
A very remote island is visited only once a year by a
merchant, bringing with it various foreign fruits,
vegetables, spices, and meats that cannot be produced on the
island due to its climate and population/resource
limitations. This visitation is called Harbor Day by the
local inhabitants. The inhabitants spend most of the day
purchasing or trading goods with the merchant ship.
Afterwards, they enjoy a grand feast with some of what they
purchased.
Holiday Encounter Ideas:
- Many people get sick after the great feast. It appears as
though the food purchased by the island inhabitants was
poisoned.
- Harbor Day should have happened by now.... Is the ship
lost? Was it attacked by pirates (or something worse)? The
island leader asks the PCs to seek word of the merchant.
- Unseasonably inclement weather strikes the island, leading
many to fear that some evil force is at work. Can the PCs
find out what's happening before storm forces the merchant
away?
- The PCs are the merchants and must brave the dangers of
the sea to bring the inhabitants their goods.
- A falling-out occurs between the island inhabitants and
their regular merchant. The PCs are given the task to secure
another merchant who is willing to travel to the island once
every year (ensuring a Harbor Day for future generations).
Return to Contents
3. What's In A Name? How About An Anagram?
From: Scot Newbury via of Dice and Dragons
of Dice and Dragons: What’s in a name? How about an anagram?
No matter what role-playing system you end up playing
there's always a need to come up with names for people and
places. Instead of using the old standbys (like baby books
or the name of a character from your favorite book) why not
try something different - an anagram.
For those not familiar with the term, an anagram is a word
or phrase that's created by rearranging the letters of
another word or phrase such as:
* Leaping Lory - a thief who makes their escape by jumping
from rooftop to rooftop
* Gale Olin Pry - that kindly admin behind the desk at the library who's been helpful with the group's research
* Pale Gin Rory - the drunk at the local bar, pale because
he never sees the sun, and gin because that's his drink of
choice
As you can see not only can you get a name from an anagram
but also something of the personality and background as
well.
Now I'll admit it's fun to come up with various anagrams,
but it can be a bit time consuming. There is a shortcut you
can take, however. The Internet Anagram Server is a free
online anagram engine and it works great. I used it to
create the three examples above. For those interested, the
root word was roleplaying.
Internet Anagram Server
Return to Contents
4. Tips For GMs From A GM's Perspective
From: Paul Robertson via the Arcadian Guild Quarterly
Arcadian Guild
These tips are for GMs of all games and genres. They come
from personal experience and all have been successful to
some degree.
- Always Be Fair
Play by the same rules you expect your players to play by.
Don't fudge rolls or go out of the way to make things too
easy, or too difficult. If you make things too easy
intentionally, the players will think one of two things:
- You are treating them like children who can't figure
things out for themselves.
- They don't realize you are being easy, and when they game
somewhere else, or you try to make things normal, they won't
like it because of the seemingly unfairness of how things
go.
Same thing for making it too difficult. If the game is too
difficult then players get frustrated and stop enjoying
themselves, and if they ever play with someone else, you
have a good chance of losing your players.
- Be Flexible
You have spent the last week planning an adventure,
including detailed NPC histories, monster clan structure and
societies, treasure hoards with things specifically for the
group, traps, maps, and a climactic ending with a mysterious
cliffhanger.
You start the adventure with your players and the first
things they do is kill the messenger, ignore the rumors, and
decide not to do take your hook. Crap. All your planning
down the drain. But wait, you can still do the adventure.
You have a God/Messenger from a god/Dragon show up and
coerce/force the players to do the adventure; and if they
don't....
Yeah we've all been here at some point, but no matter what,
plans can always go awry. Just like what the great Scottish
Poet, Robbie Burns, said: "The best laid plans o' mice and
men gang aft aglee." The only answer to this is go with it.
If the players kill the messenger/ignore/etc., then let
them. Their loss, not yours.
If you don't have another adventure planned, throw in
something, like an old enemy shows up to take over. If you
have introduced an enemy before to your players, then they
will most likely want to deal with him for revenge or
honour. If you don't have an enemy yet, introduce one.
A good practice is to always have a light, back-up adventure
ready, just in case.
- Maintain The Game's Overall Feel
If you are playing a hack and slash campaign, then don't
start throwing in political intrigue all over the place. If
your game is political in nature, don't start having combat
every session.
Keep with the overall feel, but also remember it is
important to mix it up once and awhile. Take a breather and
do the opposite for a session or two; it will keep your
adventure from getting stagnant.
If you don't have a feel to your game yet, find one. The
feel will breed adventures and ideas for your game, and keep
things moving when you encounter low spots.
- Have A Group Enemy
A group enemy will always be a source of anguish for the
players. An enemy will also serve up new adventure ideas and
add unexpected twists.
There are a couple types of enemies that work best. The
first is the powerful enemy, who is much more powerful than
the group. This can be a single enemy, or another group of
people, and they will actively work to hamper the group
(openly, most of the time), attack the group, or turn others
against the group - and usually in a way the players will
know that their enemy was responsible.
Another type of enemy is the one who works behind the
scenes, also known as the weak enemy. This enemy is usually
weaker than the group, but still capable of being a nuisance
none the less. They will often be manipulative and cowardly,
working in such a way the group might not realize they have
an enemy. The weak enemy bribes, tricks others into doing
their dirty work, lays traps, and tries to frame the PCs.
Remember, though, that this enemy can eventually become the
powerful enemy over time.
- NPCs Played By Other Players
Get your players involved in taking on the roles of NPCs.
This works best by having one or two players not part of the
regular gaming group to take on the role of NPCs. By doing
this you can get some unexpected results. Background NPCs,
who were just there for filler, will take on a whole new
feel to the game when played by another player. Suddenly
that dwarf, sitting at the table taking taxes, becomes a
dwarf by the name of Grumpy who hassles the players and
pokes fun at them, gives them odds of survival in the local
ruins, and warns them of an upcoming monster they might have
to face.
If you have players take on the roles of NPCs, you need to
make sure you give them enough info to play the temporary
role, otherwise don't get mad if they accidentally reveal
something you are planning, or if they fail to do something
you wanted the NPC to do.
- Mix It Up
Mix up what you do. Spend a week or two playing board games,
or have an alternate game running with another player as the
GM. What this does is enable players and GMs the opportunity
to plan a bit more or take a break. If you end up having the
same GM and players always playing the same game or
campaign, you will find everyone will start to face
GM/Player burnout. Believe me when I say this: groups have
hung up their dice, sometimes for years, after a group
burnout. Just think about all those missed sessions and
character building. Think of the missed opportunities to
confuse the other players or GM.
Avoid burnout by staying fresh, trying different things, and
experimenting with new things.
Return to Contents
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