TEXT: Adventure Writing, Part 2
  Notes from the Bunker
  Adventure Writing, Part 2
  by Rich Redman
  Welcome to your bunker. I'm Rich Redman, one of the designers of the d20 Modern Roleplaying Game. I may 
  not be an expert, but I'm experienced and opinionated. Here in the bunker, we can explore some corners of the 
  d20 Modernrules and create rules variants, and I can offer suggestions for your campaign based on my 
  experience writing and running games.
  This month, we'll finish talking about how to write adventures. We'll focus primarily on non-FX adventures for 
  modern-era d20 games, but hopefully the concepts presented here will be applicable to writing any kind of 
  adventure.
  This column has two main sections: Process and Ideas. Process is for people who like to do their adventure 
  preparation in advance, either for the next installment of a campaign or for publication. The Ideas section is 
  useful both to GMs who prepare their games in advance and to those who do no preparation at all because they 
  prefer to work off the tops of their heads.
  Process
  Last month we talked a little about general processes for writing. This month we'll talk about some of the 
  specifics.
  Get an Opponent
  Your first step in writing an adventure is to define the opposition. The "opponent" could be a natural event, or a 
  horde of mindless creatures, or even a criminal mastermind and her secret organization. We've spent months 
  talking about crime, criminals, and motivation, and I encourage you to use the concepts presented in the last 
  several columns [url=http://www.wizards.com/default.asp?x=d20modern/fba/full]columns[/url] to select and flesh 
  out your opponent.
  Yes, I said "opponent," not "villain." An opponent is not necessarily evil and is not always out to destroy the 
  heroes. An opponent might be a well-meaning but foolish person who makes a mistake that causes a 
  catastrophe. Or it could be someone who desperately needs money because the insurance system in America 
  won't pay for the life-saving surgery that his lover requires. Or it could even be a terrible storm or an earthquake. 
  So don't limit yourself by thinking "villain."
  Have a Plot
  For our purposes, the "plot" of an adventure is what happens if the heroes do nothing. When I worked on the 
  Marvel Super Heroes Adventure Game, my boss (Mike Selinker) established a guideline that stuck with me: 
  Write everything from the opponent's point of view. Super heroes are primarily reactive -- in general, they take no 
  actions unless someone commits a crime. So when you're writing your plot, think as the opponent would.
  
  Adventure Writing, Part 2
  Hook the Heroes
  Once you've decided on your opponent and your plot, make sure you have a way to get the heroes involved. 
  This section of your scenario is one of the most critical because it separates the background from the adventure. 
  The portion of the story that takes place before the heroes get involved is background. I've written some very 
  elaborate scenarios, only to discover that the heroes aren't likely to know anything is happening until the very last 
  minute. Once in a while that kind of situation is exciting because the time pressure creates dramatic tension. But 
  players don't appreciate that kind of stress all the time, so usually your best bet is to go back and make the plot 
  obvious to the heroes earlier.
  Breadcrumbs
  Make sure you figure out at least two paths that could lead the heroes from the adventure hook to the climax. 
  Your players may find many other, more obscure paths as well, but you need to prepare at least two trails of 
  breadcrumbs so they have a good chance of finding and following one. And be sure to outline these two paths in 
  your synopsis section if you're writing for publication.
  Locations
  We've talked about this topic in past columns, but I wanted to reiterate one key point: Your encounter 
  descriptions should fire your players' imaginations with only a few words. You don't want to spend a lot of time 
  describing every location the heroes see, and you don't have the luxury of a novel's space or the visual depth of 
  a film. So make those few words count.
  Little Pieces
  I once found some advice that stuck with me in an old Dragon magazine column: Never write more than you 
  actually need to. In fact, you should purposely avoid writing everything out in order to leave some mystery in the 
  situation and some opportunities for expansion in other directions.
  This advice is especially valuable in writing adventures. When you're working on a scenario, write only what you 
  need for your next session, and let the rest wait. That way, when your players choose an unusual course of 
  action, the adventure can't get too far off course.
  Writing only what's necessary at the time has another benefit as well. It allows you to break a large, intimidating 
  project down into more manageable chunks. When you finish one step, you can focus on the next, and then the 
  one after that, and so on, until you're finished. Don't feel that you have to answer every question raised in the 
  adventure right away.
  Ideas
  Stuck for ideas? Here are some sources from which you can easily pull adventure seeds.
  Ask Questions
  When a campaign event that could spark an adventure occurs, write down all the information you already know 
  
  Adventure Writing, Part 2
  about it, then fill in additional details. For example, you probably already know what happened, and where, and 
  when. So ask yourself the following questions.
  G     How did it happen?
  G     Who did it?
  G     Did it really happen the way it appeared?
  G     Did anything else happen in conjunction with the main event?
  G     What events led up to this one?
  G     What happens next?
  The News
  The best places to find inspiration for modern adventures with no FX are the various news media. Current events 
  around the globe should provide you with plenty of inspiration. When you hear about a promising event, ask 
  yourself the following questions.
  G     Why did it happen?
  G     Who was responsible?
  G     If it happened in a game, what would or could be different?
  G     How would FX change things?
  Fiction
  Read fiction in the genre for which you'll be writing. If you want to write techno thriller adventures, read techno 
  thrillers. If you want to write mysteries, read mysteries. Television and movies set in your chosen genre are also 
  good sources of ideas. Combine this tip with some of those presented in last month's Notes from the Bunker, and 
  you'll quickly have notebooks full of original ideas inspired by what you've read and watched.
  The Big Secret
  Every event that happens in your day can be a source of inspiration. The secret is to ask the right questions. For 
  example, imagine that you're out running errands, and you bump into an old friend, flame, or co-worker. You 
  thought this person had moved away, but now he's standing right in front of you. The average person thinks, 
  "Wow, it was great seeing so-and-so again." The writer thinks, "Why was that person in that place at that time?" 
  Then she tries to apply the answer to her next project.
  But how do you do that? Well, suppose your heroes work for a top-secret paramilitary organization such as the 
  CIA's Special Operations Group. In the town just outside their base of operations, one of them bumps into an old 
  ally from another country -- just as you bumped into that old friend/flame/co-worker. Perhaps the old ally is 
  secretly on the run from a corrupt government that has recently seized power in a coup d'etat. When enemy 
  agents come hunting for him, he turns to his old friends -- your heroes -- for help. Has their government 
  diplomatically recognized the new, corrupt government? If so, helping the ally goes against the national interests 
  of the country your heroes have sworn to defend. How far will their government go to prevent them from helping 
  their old ally? Can the heroes figure a way to defend their ally and still make their government happy?
  Write What You Know
  I purposely saved this little rule of writing for this column because it has specific applications to our work.
  
  Adventure Writing, Part 2
  In the d20 Modern game, the setting is the world outside your window. You don't have to describe how every 
  little thing works because your players are familiar with the world. Thus, you're already writing what you know. To 
  capitalize on the wisdom of this rule, try to focus on places and events that you know from personal experience. 
  Some people feel constrained or restricted by the rules of reality, and to those people I say: Break the rules. Why 
  not? James Bond does it all the time.
  My second point relates to an old saying: "I don't have to run faster than the bear, I just have to run faster than 
  you." When you're writing adventures, you may venture into genres that are unlike your personal experiences. 
  For example, a modern world in which dragons and spells exist is outside my personal experience. But lack of 
  complete personal knowledge doesn't have to be a problem. Just write about subjects that you know better than 
  your players do. Knowledge based on personal experience is best, but in a pinch, you can do enough research 
  to cover yourself.
  Let me give you two examples of what I mean. I ran an adventure in which tracing the corpse of a homeless 
  person was a key part of the heroes' task. I spent hours on the Internet trying to find an article in which an official 
  of some city -- any city -- explained how the remains of indigent people were handled. I found nothing, and I 
  didn't remember at the time that the father of a friend of mine owned a funeral parlor and would probably know. 
  Finally, realizing that none of my players were likely to know the real answer either, I just made up a reasonable-
  sounding process based on the ideas my research had given me. In another adventure, some strange events 
  were occurring at an abandoned Navy base. I know almost nothing about how the Navy operates, since all my 
  military service was with the Army. However, I knew more than my players did, and they were satisfied with the 
  results.
  Parting Shots
  I suspect that some people consider non-FX modern adventures difficult to create because they're afraid to write 
  about things they know nothing about -- afraid, perhaps, that the result will be somehow "unrealistic." Realism is 
  both a boon and a curse, I agree. However, if you use last month's tip about killing the ferocious editor in your 
  head, you can move beyond that fear. Focus on realistic emotions and motivations for your characters, and then 
  take the action up a notch. You're not playing Chores and Errands, you're playing an adventure game.
  If you can't write what you know, then write what your players don't know. You'll have to do some research to 
  give your writing an air of verisimilitude, but the Internet makes research much easier than it used to be. Spend 
  some time with the works of Dale Brown, Stephen Coonts, and Tom Clancy, or anyone else who writes in your 
  chosen genre. Again, focus on realistic emotions and motivations. After all, if your heroes believe in your 
  opponent, the rest becomes much easier.
  About the Author
  Before Rich Redman came to the RPG R&D department at Wizards of the Coast, Inc., he had been an Army 
  officer, a door-to-door salesman, the manager of a computer store, a fundraiser for a veterans' assistance group, 
  and the manager of Wizards of the Coast, Inc.'s Customer Service department. Rich is a prolific game designer 
  who has worked on the Dungeons & Dragons game, the d20 Modern Roleplaying Game, the Marvel Super 
  Heroes Adventure Game, and Dark*Matter. When he's not working as vice president of The Game Mechanics, 
  a d20 design studio, Rich works fulltime, does freelance game design, cooks, and practices yoga, tai chi, and 
  
  Adventure Writing, Part 2
  silat.
  ©1995-2005 Wizards of the Coast, Inc., a subsidiary of Hasbro, Inc. All Rights Reserved. Wizards is 
  headquartered in Renton, Washington, PO Box 707, Renton, WA 98057.
  
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