A plea for content

[pells]

This thread is related to my own project, Avalanche, but, I think, goes way beyond that. It comes from my own reflexion about gaming, especially RPG. I hope it fits into game design. And, first of all, I don't say I have the answer, I'm just suggesting an axe of reflexion.

Prelude
I believe the 'forge' attitude toward rpg is to design mechanics, and the common thougth is that designing stories is easy and designing rules hard. So, I guess, I'll be bullied around for what I'm saying. Don't hesitate.
I've been wandering around many forums for the last year and something strikes me. They are so many systems, so many mechanics available in the indie field. And I'm talking about original, creative ones. Great ideas, great setting, great rules defined for a given purpose. That said, they almost come in the same format. Some rules, characters sheet, a little bit of background and some scenarios, maybe (one or two). What I see, always, in any forum, including this one, is the needs for content (well, maybe not the majority of partcipants, especially at the forge, but always some).
When it comes to campaign, somehow, in the last (what, ten ?) years, the same names seems to come by : the masks and the ennemy inside (I surely forgot some).
Last thing about what I'm talking. I find it wonderful that some games, like Capes, found a new way to create stories. Alas (at least for me), it's about GM less games. So, what I'll talking about is a game with a DM.

Influence
Our hobby had many influences. We should be proud of it. Althougth it might not be as popular as we wish, it influenced video games, CCG, tabletop games, wargames, LARP (which, I agree, may not seem as a 'so different product.') But what did we brougth them ? Mechanics. Diablo, sacred, Dungeon siege, world of wracraft (and many others) uses mechanics based on our hobby. Seems great to me. But their story sucks. Is that our hobby, only about progression ? Take Magic, for example, some mechanics, a fantasy world... But don't tell me the story behind is great !! I always thougth that our main trade as rpgs players was telling stories. Well, maybe I'm wrong (surely for the dungeon crawler out there). How come we do not influence this game by our way to tell a story ? I'd like to see a great rpg video game who sells a great, non linear story. That would be fun, no ?
If I consider my main hobby as telling stories (even building it with my players, no problems with that), I think this activity is very different from reading a book or playing a video game, for that reason.

Designing stories and background
We've come to design mechanics very different from the 'birth' of role playing. Easier, meant to manage some kind of specific play, not based only on progression and I think it's great. But how come is it that stories and background looks alike ? The same 1000 (or 10 for that matters) pages of names, races, towns... The content is quite different, worlds are more creative, but still, they're developped the same way. All scenarios (almost) are chapters based. The same old, linear format. But if my main trade is designing stories, do I need a tool for that, just as I need some specific mechanics if I want to play ? How come it has not evolved ? One thing that makes me laugh : a game of throne. Great books from a great author. Now, they're trying to sell us the rpg game for it. Two formats : 45 euros for d20 system, 90 for dedicated system. What is more difficult to produce : the novels or the game ? What do I need more if I want to play : the novel or this one thousand pages hard cover book (which might be useful to kill bugs) ?
How come we haven't designed something for our own purpose, telling stories ? Aren't we the best at doing that ?

Bringing up new players
Go over the internet, find a free scenario in pdf format (quite easy) and show it to someone who doesn't know rpgs. Will they go further than page page 3 ? The way scenarios are written is mostly arsh, boring. Sure, it serves a need, but couldn't it serve it and still be fun to read. What if someone comes to a scenario, enjoys his reading and says 'wow, this is meant to be played'. Wouldn't that bring new players ? If a great fantasy writter was to write a novel designed for the rpg, designed to be told, wouldn't that helps us bring new players ? That said, it won't be me, I know it by now, I don't have that skill. But, to bring authors to write for our hobby, I think we have to find a new way to design our scenarios/background.

Last note
I know I'll be send to hell for that post, I'm ready for it. That said, I only wish to see my hobby to get more popular. Because it needs to socialize, it needs to be creative... it needs some work. Which is quite rare in our society today.
As you can guess, my own personal project is about designing a tool to manage story (thougth the prupose of this thread).
You can find my theory here : http://www.indie-rpgs.com/forum/index.php?topic=17553.0
And the practice there : http://www.indie-rpgs.com/forum/index.php?topic=18006.0

[dindenver]

Hi!
  Well, I think you have the right idea, but you are not aplying it well. The idea that an RPG is a way to telll a story is exactly accurate in my estimation. But that does not mean that the RPG Designer tells a story and the players play their parts.
  It's a thin line. Tell too much story, make the game too much about a story YOU are trying to tell and the players are not allowed creativity and there is no replay value. Tell too little story and you have a plain jane generic background.
  The reality is that the narrative story told within the rulebook is a design choice. The more you impose your own story on potential players, the shorter run the campaigns will be. The less that is detailed and enumerated, the more the GM has to make up and explore with the players.
  I don't want to be rude, but I think your analysis has been superficial. Even in one of the most vanilla games in history, GURPS, there has been an emphasis on story, look at Transhuman and Banestrom. these are very precise and detailed settings with a story behind the way the game world is now.
  Quite honestly, it is my opinion that if you push the story too far, you cross over into another medium, novels.

[Callan S.]

Hi Pells (did you already say your real name?),

I'm not sure what you mean? For example:

I'd like to see a great rpg video game who sells a great, non linear story.

If you as a player are choosing where the story goes, then it'd depend on you whether the story turns out to be great or not, wouldn't it?

Surely you either have a fixed story which is great, or a non linear story, but it's quality depends on your input?

[John Bromberger]

pells, I have a very similar concern but I'm not really sure how to address it!

Like everyone else here, I'm developing a game (it's called Affinity) and as it has been progressing I made a choice to remove as much of the setting from it as possible. Over the last day or two, I've begun wondering if that is the right idea.

You're talking about more than setting though - I get that. It's more about the writing of "modules". That was even further removed from what I had intended, but for a great game it's probably necessary!

The problem is, as a storyteller I prefer to design my own stories - thus the split of system and setting.

So how do I help storytellers design great stories? And how do I write great stories? I think I used too, but more recently I have focussed so much on mechanics that the stories have suffered (though only slightly).

I think the split of character / system / setting / situation / colour has to be a key here. I'll be working from that ... it'll just require as much creative thinking as the system has. Which is a ton of it.

You definitely have a really good point. Any ideas for a solution? ^_^

[daMoose_Neo]

I personally think the split between setting and system can be essential in several areas, but there has to be some connection. Mechanics aren't great by themselves, it does take something to bring out the best in even them.
Fastlane is a perfect example of mechanics being influanced by the setting. A game about living fast, dying young to leave a good lookin corpse, makes most of its randomized decisions based on a spin of the roulette wheel.
My Imp Game is all about failure, not success, which is emphasized by the fact the players are worthless imps, not ubercool warriors of somekind; the mechanics, which lean heavily against the players, were designed around the setting in mind.
The difference is neither game takes the time to lay out the specific geography  and history. Thats a lot of work and hems players into a corner: play my game using this, this or this, or don't play at all! IE Star Wars, Lucas never sat down and defined the complete universe: it didn't exist until after he had filmed and written it. That let him drop people and places conviently enough close together without trying to seem all too contrived (Wait a second...that planet is supposed to be right near the core! How'd they jump from there to the outer rim in only X hours?!)
I wouldn't say there is a NEED for content, rather there is a concious lack of forcing content on players. For the most part, I won't force players of my game to learn a shite load of nonsensical background histories just to bean each other over the head with a frying pan. Vincent Baker, on the other hand, needs to inform a number of people about the Morman ways and traditions for Dogs in the Vineyard. It all depends on what you want, providing what players need, and letting them do the rest of the work. An alternative to whats been done is to develop seperate books of content for those who want it; I've seen that done indie as well. The basic system gives the players everything they need, but if you pick up Book X you can play in the authors world instead of your own.

[Frank T]

You are talking about two things: Setting/background and story/scenario. On setting/background: I have been thinking about how important that is to an RPG. We've got tons of theory here on the Forge about how mechanics work, but there is almost nothing on how setting works. Why is that?

I would greatly appreciate new approaches to designing and presenting setting. Personally, I'm not interested in another heavily detailed setting which makes me wonder: Is this thing supposed to be played, or just read? I'd rather see settings that, with every ounce, facilitate play. It's always good if it's fun to read, too, but as my time is precious these days, I'm glad for every page I don't have to read.

Regarding story/scenario: Clearly the linear plot adventure so common with many RPGs is unsuitable to forge-style games featuring distributed authoring or at least heavily player-driven play.

I've been wondering a lot about designing scenarios for BARBAREN!. You could do it with  player characters ready made, including relationships, goals and all, but personally, I don't like that. Someone telling me which role to play—this is not an assessment center, or is it? So no pre-generated player characters. I'm thinking about NPCs, interesting situations and perspectives, about suggested conflicts and relationships, about possible future events. That kind of stuff.

Hey Pells, why don't you tell us some more about your project? How are you approaching the design and presentation of background and scenarios with Avalanche?

- Frank

[Justin Marx]

How much of the Setting/Background material that we get is useless for play in most content books? I played a lot of Mechwarrior, which has reams and reams and reams of setting/background material, the history of this, that and the other. Yet, it took the writers of that game a long time to write something that sold the essence of that setting to me, I think it was one of their later supplements, with the simple line: "Imagine a universe where everyone, in some way, either directly or indirectly, has had their lives strongly altered by endemic warfare" (crude paraphrase, can't remember which book). The rest is just window-dressing. The important setting info was tied into the GMing section advice part of the game, not in the game-fiction part. Not what this setting was, but how it should a particular setting should be evoked during gameplay.

I know the RPG theory forum is now inactive, but I want to echo Frank's question - where is the theory of practical and useful setting design? From the point of view of a GM coming up with specific scenarios (usually moulded around the players), it's fairly well-trodden ground, but from the point of view of game design? Pells, I have read your theory links on this, but the main thing I am deciphering is that the module of the game is the setting. I am pretty sure I have misunderstood something there. But nonetheless, how does it apply in Avalance?

[Lance D. Allen]

I've tried to respond to this once, and realized I wasn't sure I knew what I wanted to say. Let me try again.

On Setting:
I used to be heavily focused on the setting for my FRPG. I'm still really fond of it, even moreso since I've made a few changes. But it took Mike Holmes telling me in the most brutal form of kindness he could to make me realize; My setting isn't all that great. It's not going to take the Fantasy world by storm. I'm this guy with this game and this setting, doing it all in my spare time, and my competitors are Eberron, Talislanta, Harn and Glorantha. These settings have years and years of professional effort behind them, crap-loads of actual play and player criticism to focus them into something good. I'm never, ever going to compete with that.

And even more importantly, neither I nor these big dogs are going to compete with Gaming Group X's homebrew setting that they've invested so much time into. Maybe that little homebrew setting is a hodgepodge piece of crap, or maybe it's an undiscovered masterpiece.The point is, People are going to take what elements of your setting they want, or scrap the whole deal, so it's best not to break your back on something most people will take or leave. If you've got some really good, really gripping setting ideas, then by all means, share them. But don't be heartbroken (like I was every time people weren't interested) when people just nod, smile, and maybe take a few of your better ideas for their personal use.

On Scenario:
One of the primary themes in game design here at the Forge is increased player control, sometimes to the point where the GM has less control, or there isn't a GM at all. As a part of that, you really can't pre-script out scenarios, or modules for the players to slog through. It is a valid form of gaming, but it's not one that's particularly emphasized in the game designs here at the Forge. The best you can do is have a few situations where anything can happen to drop your characters into, but having any sort of preconceived notion on the outcome may end up ruining your fun when the players do something totally different, or ruining their fun when you keep forcing them back on track. Every module or pre-published adventure I've ever read or been run-through has either had copious advice on reining your players in and keeping them on the story track, or has totally disallowed any option that wasn't presented in the module. If you've ever played any Living D&D games, you've probably seen the latter.

The fact of the matter is, we* could write modules for our games, but with the influence on player control of the story direction, the only thing these modules could really have is a situation with enough information to allow the GM to react to the players decisions; Things like prices, statted NPCs, locations and maps, and maybe a few Bang-style events that the GM could drop in to keep things moving. This still puts a lot of the work of deciding what happens when the PCs do different things into the GMs hands. Problem here is, most GMs who are cool with that don't buy modules. GMs who frequently buy modules are generally looking to do as little work as possible, just run them through the module, and hope it's good and fun. At least, that's been my experience, both as a GM and as a player.

All of that said, I agree that we could use a little more in the way of settings tailored to specific games. One of the great things about this community though is that many, though probably not all, of the designers are willing to authorize fan-published "mini-supplements". See Sorcerer with Charnel Gods being a prime example. Other games have lots of setting that's implied strongly by the rules themselves, like Burning Wheel, Dogs in the Vineyard, and The Riddle of Steel. Each one of them could be played in alternate settings that what is published, but would still lend that setting their own unique flavor, just due to the nature of the mechanics.



* all uses of 'we' refers to game designers who tend to put a lot of story power into the players' hands; This is common, but by no means universal, so if you feel that my statements don't apply to you, then they probably don't.

[Ron Edwards]

Focus this discussion on Avalanche, please.

It's a great discussion, but we really need to have a shared anchor in order to help one another understand our points.

Best,
Ron

[pells]

Well, thanks for the input... many things out there. I'll try to stick to the essential. By the way, my name is Sébastien.

Content vs container

It's a thin line. Tell too much story, make the game too much about a story YOU are trying to tell and the players are not allowed creativity and there is no replay value. Tell too little story and you have a plain jane generic background.
  The reality is that the narrative story told within the rulebook is a design choice. The more you impose your own story on potential players, the shorter run the campaigns will be. The less that is detailed and enumerated, the more the GM has to make up and explore with the players.

I think you are right. Truly. That is also one of my concern. How much is too much ? How much is too little ? But, I think it is independant of the container. Let me explain myself.
The way most scenario/setting are written today would be defined as the container. Inside this form of writing, you could put too much or too less. Even we come up with a new way to write, a new way to design scenario/setting, there still might be too much or too little. I think the two are separated.
But, still, what I hear from your concern is this : as a DM, when telling stories (or I would prefer the use of building, meaning with the players) you have some specific needs. I don't say there's no stories or background out there. I don't say there no emphasis on story. I just say the way we present them had not changed over the years. And I think, as it used to be, it doesn't respond to my needs as a DM.

Designing stories

Quite honestly, it is my opinion that if you push the story too far, you cross over into another medium, novels

You're right there too. I don't plan on pushing the story too far. When a novel is written, the author has to give a lot of details, he has to push the story all the way. There's no place for contengency. Because there's no use to it. But, if it is written for the rpg, it needs that. What I'm designing (or writing, for that matter) has many, many holes in it. It has to, because I don't want to railroad the story, I want to a place for the DM and his players.
I'll retake the example of a game of throne. The novel doesn't respond to my needs as a DM. But neither the big book full of setting and rules. I'm looking for something in between.

If you as a player are choosing where the story goes, then it'd depend on you whether the story turns out to be great or not, wouldn't it?
Surely you either have a fixed story which is great, or a non linear story, but it's quality depends on your input?

What I meant is that, as a DM, I want something to offer my players. I want to be able to offer them choices. I think that's where freedom comes. When it comes to rpg video game, do you have choices ? When you have finished it once, you can play it again, but for another type of progression, not another story.There's not much on the menu out there. Multi plot video game, where you could play other lines of story pleases me. But, the more I think about it, the more I believe it's difficult. Why ? Because, as I see it, it would take something like 30 subplots. Many writers. It takes time to do something like that. Today, graphically, we can acheive anything. We can also implement any system (mechanics). What's the next step, apart from virtual reality ? My guess is story.

The difference is neither game takes the time to lay out the specific geography  and history. Thats a lot of work and hems players into a corner: play my game using this, this or this, or don't play at all!

That's why I'm aiming at something that would look more like 'use the backbone I offer you, add your own visions to the game, but mostly, let your players do what they want.' But, as scenarios/setting are build today, it's very hard to acheive that. Or so, I think.

I wouldn't say there is a NEED for content, rather there is a concious lack of forcing content on players

My last desire is to force content on players. That's why I want to design something that allows the DM to manage his story, allowing him to have his own inputs, but also, contribute to help the DM provides choices to his players.

Personally, I'm not interested in another heavily detailed setting which makes me wonder: Is this thing supposed to be played, or just read? I'd rather see settings that, with every ounce, facilitate play. It's always good if it's fun to read, too, but as my time is precious these days, I'm glad for every page I don't have to read.

That's another of my main concern : the overflow of information. So, I try to give the minimun the DM needs, allowing him to complete the rest while he's playing with his players. I also believe that if the reading of a scenario/background was written in a way it's fun to read, instead than as a formal task, the game has better chances of be good.

I'm thinking about NPCs, interesting situations and perspectives, about suggested conflicts and relationships, about possible future events. That kind of stuff.

That's exactly what I'm doing.

Pells, I have read your theory links on this, but the main thing I am deciphering is that the module of the game is the setting. I am pretty sure I have misunderstood something there.

Well, the scenario presents the setting, they're not created apart. There is nothing, in my work, that would look like a setting without a story. Where do you find that outside of rpgs ?

The market and the forge (sorry Ron, but I'll be brief on that one)

It is a valid form of gaming, but it's not one that's particularly emphasized in the game designs here at the Forge.

I know that. But what I try to acheive is to design a way to write scenarios that allow the players to have a lot of input in the game, to be able to be part of the world, the story itself. I want to create a way to write that would be an alternative to railroading. If you want to do that as a DM, you obviously have some needs. So, you need a product that is design to respond to that needs. That, of course, excludes those chapter based, linear, living campaign.

These settings have years and years of professional effort behind them, crap-loads of actual play and player criticism to focus them into something good. I'm never, ever going to compete with that.

Of course, we can beat that. Do you see newcomers to the rpg world going thru Glorantha ? I think no. I'm an old gamer, just taking a look at it, I got scared !! I can digest that much information. Also, my product would be very different. And I hope attractive to newcomers.

And even more importantly, neither I nor these big dogs are going to compete with Gaming Group X's homebrew setting that they've invested so much time into.

Yes and no. We can bring them to our game by proposing them something crazy, something no one would dare to write alone, like a multi plot. Who will write a 5 stories, to offer choices to his players, and end up using only 20% of what he had written ? I'm also thinking about old players who left the table because they don't have time to write down scenarios or read monstrous, infinte background.

Every module or pre-published adventure I've ever read or been run-through has either had copious advice on reining your players in and keeping them on the story track, or has totally disallowed any option that wasn't presented in the module

That's part of the problem on how the scenarios are designed today.

More information

You definitely have a really good point. Any ideas for a solution?

Hey Pells, why don't you tell us some more about your project? How are you approaching the design and presentation of background and scenarios with Avalanche?

But nonetheless, how does it apply in Avalance?

I'm a native french speaker and althougth my english is not bad, well, it takes a lot of time to write down those posts. I would recommand, strongly, if you are interested, to read the link on my first post. I think you'll get a good feeling of what I'm proposing. Feel at ease to respond here or in actual play, it'll be pleasure to respond.

About my product/game
After all, this is game design thread, so, what does my game do ? For one thing, it presents stories inside a setting, but most importantly, it provides a tool to the DM to manage the specifities of his own game, to manage the impact of his players on the story. And it can acheives the lattest because of the way it is written.

[Callan S.]

Hi Sebastien,

Still not quite getting you, bear with me.

If you as a player are choosing where the story goes, then it'd depend on you whether the story turns out to be great or not, wouldn't it?
Surely you either have a fixed story which is great, or a non linear story, but it's quality depends on your input?

What I meant is that, as a DM, I want something to offer my players. I want to be able to offer them choices. I think that's where freedom comes.

Do you mean the something you want to offer is that really interesting story? It's offering them something precious to them, from you? Kind of like gift giving? And their choices are their way of recieving it?

[pells]

Well, maybe my choices are words weren't the best. Let me rephrase it.

Do you mean the something you want to offer is that really interesting story? It's offering them something precious to them, from you? Kind of like gift giving? And their choices are their way of recieving it?

Of course an interesting story would be best, but that's not my point. What I want is to have more than one option for my players. I'll take an awful example. Suppose you write down a story beginning by a wizard hiring some adventurers in an inn. What if your players say 'no, we're not interested'. That would mean the end of the adventure as there is no other options for the players. That said, even with many options, the story could be poor...
I like the analogy with the concept of menu. When it comes to your session of play, what do you have on your menu, what do you have to offer ? One dungeon ? One linear story ? One of my main concern is to offer a rich, varied menu, from which the players can choose from. As you can see, it's not really a gift.

That said, returning to Avalanche, my way of writing, my design of the story comes, first and foremost, from my needs as a DM, if I wish to offer an interesting, varied menu. Here are some of my needs, reflecting what I want to acheive.
- the possibility to manage a multiplot storyline. I think it's almost impossible given the regular format.
- the creation of a non directive story, which means the creation of a skeleton. I feel I bring more ideas than 'hard coded' story.
- quick access to the information
- the management of a story based on a calendar. That said, my design could be applied without the use a calendar
- the possibility to easily determine what is the influence of the players on the world, on the story
- avoiding the overflow of information
- allowing the writing to be informative, but also 'fun to read'.

That is why I believe I need to segment everything, from the essence to the story itself. As I am concerned my design responds to that need. But maybe you have others. I don't pretend this is the only solution, the only possible design for a story written for rpg.

For information, I built the 'design of the container', the story itself and also the website (which is in construction), altogether. So, I made sure they responded to my needs, not creating one after the other. Personnaly, I think this is the way to go. Or I'd say I'm glad I did it that way...

[dindenver]

Hi!
  For a flexible system, I think the trick is to not assume the traditional "Dungeon Master" role. But to essentially run NPCs like they are full characters with goals, motivations, resources, etc. Creating a dungeon or some sort of linear story is counter-productive. creating a character is fun and interesting.
  That won't work for every game, but as a framework to build off of, it should be a good start.

[Frank T]

Hey Sébastien,

What exactly are you looking for from us in this thread? I have a feeling you are looking for some sort of confirmation to ideas that you already have, but do not really want to present these ideas.

- Frank

[pells]

Frank, well, sorry it looks that way... I'll try to present over some ideas in the design and an answer to your question.

Difficulties in presenting story design
I guess presenting rules are easier. There are factual. I would present them and then get some responses on what can work or not. But for stories/setting it's quite different. But, I guess, I'll give it a try. What I'll attempt is presenting how I do apply my theory outside of actual play (which, I think, is a different matter). So, I'll try to give some excerpts as example, presenting the way I write, how it should be read, and finally, a general ideas of the final design. I hope I get it right and that can fit it into game design. I'll also try to avoid repeating myself from the presentation of my theory.

What I try to acheive
As I said earlier, I wish to offer a vast menu of adventures from which my players can choose from. So, it would like a multi plot scenario. Players can jump from plot to another from time to time. Also, I wish it to take the form of a campaign, a long running adventure. At first, the project didn't look like that, as I was more thinking of something like four to seven sessions adventures. But, as it grows and grows, I came to the point where I thougth that number of sessions was not a good idea. What's the point of designing a multi plot adventure if the players have only the time to take part in one. So, Avalanche would like a continuous scenario covering a year calendar. There are four main parts, one for each season. Each of them are divided in twelve weeks (i.e. three months). I try to present something like 20 to 40 events for any given week. Each of them occurs in a given location, involving given protagonists (characters, races or organisations). The lattest constitues what I call the essence, or, if you prefer the background. For Avalanche, I have 38 main characters, more than 30 races/organisations, 30 locations (city, stronghold or region), 10 main objects and 5 monsters (I'm not found of monsters). They are written outside of the timeline, describing their motivations, ressources and personal history, for the worst case scenario. So there's a background, or setting, but not without adventure. It took me a lots of time to design them. They represent 200 pages of a 'normal book' (not A4, usually used in rpg). Each part (season) should be about that size. I find reasonable.
Here is a teaser of the five stories for the first part spring (sorry for the poor translation):

The black orcs emerge from the depths
Where the river throws itself into the ocean, from where they come, they are legions. But here, so close to the surface, so close to the source, they can only count on themselves. Following different paths, groups of black orcs, eater of flesh, emerge on the surface of the land of exile. In either dwarf's strongholds or at the edge of the kingdom of Dragun, lord of silence, their presence won't go unnoticed. And among those who can find a way out, will they be able to reach the lake and free the mirror from the ice ? Will they be forced to form unnatural alliances if failure seems the only future ? Will they go as far as stealing the stone of madness ?
A secret expedition
As the king's anniversary feast is announced, protagonists are working in the shadows. An expedition is being prepared, mandated by the crown. Many different partners are leagued together in this adventure, each one with his very own agenda. Will the guild find the ancient artifact ? Will Gromthess be able to free le lake from his frozen sleep ? Is the black goddess's will going to be appeased, releasing the lord of death on the land of exile ? Who will dare to oppose those who rules the kingdom and their followers ? Will the secret of this expedition come to the ears of many ? Care to all those who might cross the path of these assassins, priests, pyromancers and fighters, as maybe death is the only thing they will be rewarded with.
The stone of madness
They have been given to the Luciomes, as with life, by the twelve ancients who ruled the world. Those two stones, the one of life and the one of death, balanced the existence of these old populate, bringing birth and mortality to the Luciomes who, in exchange, had to protect the nature, keeping her dark side at bay. But now, the two stones are gone. The one of death, also called the stone of madness, is in the hands of Gaknhrucq, the half orc shaman who takes his strength from it, as he defends Raijuvak from the assault of the white orcs. The balance has been broken for too long. The Luciomes, who swore to never wage war, will try to recover the stone of death from the humans. But the powerful artifact might attract others.
Kül-Khan-Tarm is freed from his icy prison
Many groups are moving toward the lake and the broken tower, willing to break the spell and free them from their icy prison. But what most doesn't know is that in the depth of the ice is imprisoned, for over a thousand years, Kül-Khan-Tarm, the powerful lord of the kingdom of death, waiting patiently to have his revenge. Carried away by the broken ice or freed by the demon's dagger, Tarm finds himself on the bank of the river. There, he is rescued by villagers who offer him a bed, and most importantly, time to recover. Gaining back his strength, he devours the soul of those who rescued him, transforming some into lost souls, doomed creatures living to serve and protect him. But as Tarm's strength is growing, life seems to quit the hamlet and his surroundings. And so does his presence become more evident. And the demon knows he won't able to hide there anymore longer.
Villagers try to overthrow their oppressors
Fear, desolation, despair. Living under brigand's rule had never been an enviable faith. It is for those villagers who are exploited, broken, whose wife and daughters are kidnapped with impunity, but also for his miserable life, that Guan leaves his native hamlet in search of heroes in the big cities. With his friends, he has nothing to offer to those knights from Theobald's order that join the adventure, asking nothing in return. It is light hearted that those young knights take in charge the defense of the village, training the populace, waiting for the battle to come. And when it came at last, they can't believe their victory and the lack of strength of the brigands. But, as they try to chase out the petty thieves from their stronghold, the knights don't realize the many eyes peering at them. As the brigands have other foes and friends.

Obviously, as you can see, they overlap each other. Also note that each part has his own five stories and that each stroy may contain subplot. For the purpose of this thread, the content of the stories are not that important. What is important, I think, is showing that managing the five all together, would be very hard given the traditional way of presenting a scenario. Thus, the need, for me, of a new design. I think that if I would present those five stories in five different scenarios, I could do it the 'normal way'. But then, players would have no choices...

Writing
At first, I tried to write down week after week, but soon realised it was a bad idea. So, I've chosen to write down along story lines. A good choice I think, as each story as a different style. One would be high fantasy adventure, another about a secret, another very dark. So, each different story suggests a different kind of play. Note that each event is about 200 words, so quite shorts. Also, it constitues a backbone, as I only give the essential, not more. I come to like very much to write this way as I play with the events. I've been writing this week a part of summer, along the story of the demon unleashed in a city, feeding on the soul of the inhabitants. I've written for a given week some events directly related to him and the hunt of those tracking him, offering different points of view. But, also, I've finished presenting a general event describing the terror of the city, for those not directly involved in the story.

Reading
I don't think this should be read from one cover to another, but instead from a chosen point of view, a character, a location or a story, coming back and forth from the story itself (events) to the elements of essence involved in them. I hope its reading to be enjoyable.

Playing
I won't be long on that one, avoiding repeating myself over my actual play post. But there are three things very important.
- the preparation is based on extracting what concerns your next session. What will be the events involved, given your group is somewhere for a given point in the timeline. using modular writing facilitates this management.
- As I only describe a backbone, the reality of a day-to-day adventure mostly depends on the DM who plays the game. As it is not directive, the DM will have to add his own flavors, characters, locations. Also some weeks may go very fast if the players choose to travel long distant.
- Using modular writing helps determines the excat impact of your players on the world.

The system
As it is for now, I don't write for a given system. I also guess the one chosen by each group would depend on the kind of game they wish to play. I do realise thougth I need one as to start. Sadly, I'll go with d20 as a first pick as it is the most common. Doesn't fit well thougth, but their licence fits my need.

This thread
I hope I succeeded in presenting more of my ideas. So what kind of feedback would I like ? Just bear my mind that one of my main concern about all this project is how to manage players' influence on the game as they will have one.
How would be it manageable to present five stories without being a mess ? Is even the five stories presentation a good idea ? Would it produce richer game ?
Does this look like a new design to write down scenario ? Would it be more enjoyable ? Does it seem like a possible solution ?
Any questions about this design ?

So, what's next ?
I guess I could be presenting a character or an organisation as a more complete example and some events related to it, if that would help. I guess, I'd have to comment them too.