When you're writing up new things fora game, what sort of information do you keep track of? Specifically for the follow stuff:

People

• name
• personality
• interesting traits
• secrets
• plot hooks
• stats
• role in the game

Locations

• What's in it
• What's around it
• Where it's at
• map
• key to map
• interesting people there

Plots

• entry points
• exit points
• complications
• what happens if its ignored
• what happens if the PCs fail
• what happens if the PCs succeed
• locations needed
• people needed
• pictures

Items

• description
• stats / powers
• crafting requirements
• value
• pic

Is there anything else you find yourself creating frequently? If so, what sorts of things do you track for it?

Basically, I just create a few NPCs and key locations. The NPCs have a Plan - though not all the NPCs have the same Plan. The PCs have a reason to care about how this will play out, and if they do nothing, certain things will happen at certain times. So I guess really it's like there's a script for a movie, but if the PCs interfere then the script is put off course, and the NPCs try to bring it back on.

The NPCs are pretty roughly-sketched. It's just,

• what they look like
• how they see the world
• who they know
• what they want
• what they're planning to do to get what they want
• their best and worst abilities or traits

The players do the rest.

I design these NPCs and places after the players have said what sort of game they want, and then when I see the characters they've created I alter it a bit to make sure that how The Plans will turn out is something they're going to care about.

ALLL of that ...and sometimes only 15% of it anbd the rest I adlib/improv at the table.  Just all depends on what mood I'm in that week and if I've had a stressful work week or not.

I'm always a little worried that I'm not prepared enough - but my players tell me that I do just fine.


- Ed C.

Quote from: James McMurrayWhen you're writing up new things fora game, what sort of information do you keep track of? Specifically for the follow stuff:

People

• name
• personality
• interesting traits
• secrets
• plot hooks
• stats
• role in the game

Locations

• What's in it
• What's around it
• Where it's at
• map
• key to map
• interesting people there

Plots

• entry points
• exit points
• complications
• what happens if its ignored
• what happens if the PCs fail
• what happens if the PCs succeed
• locations needed
• people needed
• pictures

Items

• description
• stats / powers
• crafting requirements
• value
• pic

Is there anything else you find yourself creating frequently? If so, what sorts of things do you track for it?

A lot of that stuff.

I also tend to create power groups and organizations (wizard guilds, political parties, nations, noble alliances, crime syndicates, etc.), chiefly concentrating on:

• Who they are
• What they want
• What capabilities and resources they have
• Who they like
• Who they hate
• What people think or know about them
• Where they operate

I find once you have 3 or 4 moderately complex power groups in play, adventures almost write themselves. :cool:

I like to focus on the location, the history of the region (in broad strokes) and the people therein.    Looking at the geography and history will give me an idea of where ruins, wilderness, outlaws, that is palces of adventure will be found.  I will make notes ont eh people how they politically and culturally interact with their neighbors to spin out trade rooutes, regions of conflict and support.  Trade routes mean wealth, where there is wealth there are power and people.  This will add another layer of internal politics and aid in placement of cities.   This will all give me an idea of the resource base for the region and the potential power scale of NPCs.  I'll leave crunch details until later/ get idea of the direction the PCs are going or want to go.  I keep the politics and motives always handy because that is how I decide how the world (in it's own world-oreinted view) reacts to the PCs.

In this whole process I also like to think on and note areas where the PCs might make a name for themselves or garner what they are after.  Some of this will be true others false of only partly true.  I'll convey all this stuff to the players as there PCs would know it.   I try to get into detailed explanations only on the things the players are interested in, the rest I'll throw in for color and who knows what they may find interesting.

Very much a sand-box approach, but I've been building and saving pieces of the sand-box for almost 30 years now, so I've a lot of detail at hand or that I can recycle.

Quote from: Caesar SlaadA lot of that stuff.

I also tend to create power groups and organizations (wizard guilds, political parties, nations, noble alliances, crime syndicates, etc.), chiefly concentrating on:

• Who they are
• What they want
• What capabilities and resources they have
• Who they like
• Who they hate
• What people think or know about them
• Where they operate

I find once you have 3 or 4 moderately complex power groups in play, adventures almost write themselves. :cool:

Better said than my rambling post.  The above is what I tend to focus on.

Quote from: Kyle AaronBasically, I just create a few NPCs and key locations. The NPCs have a Plan - though not all the NPCs have the same Plan. The PCs have a reason to care about how this will play out, and if they do nothing, certain things will happen at certain times. So I guess really it's like there's a script for a movie, but if the PCs interfere then the script is put off course, and the NPCs try to bring it back on.

The NPCs are pretty roughly-sketched. It's just,

• what they look like
• how they see the world
• who they know
• what they want
• what they're planning to do to get what they want
• their best and worst abilities or traits

The players do the rest.

I design these NPCs and places after the players have said what sort of game they want, and then when I see the characters they've created I alter it a bit to make sure that how The Plans will turn out is something they're going to care about.

What he said, though I tend not to work out traits unless necessary.

Essentially though I create people with goals, and then the game tends to take care of itself.

I do this (my comments in bold):
 

Quote from: James McMurrayWhen you're writing up new things fora game, what sort of information do you keep track of? Specifically for the follow stuff:
 
People

• name
• personality
• interesting traits (always)
  
• secrets
• plot hooks
• stats (sometimes)

Locations (sketchy at best)

• What's in it
• What's around it
• Where it's at
• map (almost never, and then just a rough sketch)
  
• interesting people there

Plots

• entry points
• complications
• what happens if its ignored (sometimes)
  
• pictures (I try to do it as much as I can)

I usually write some background in a sandbox style, about what's going on, but it's usually part of the NPC description.