Topic: Everybody, please answer these questions.
Started by: Tywin Lannister
Started on: 8/25/2003
Board: The Riddle of Steel
On 8/25/2003 at 4:37pm, Tywin Lannister wrote:
Everybody, please answer these questions.
I am in the process of creating a "The Riddle of Steel" adventure for new characters. Once finished, I will submit the work to mr. JK.
In order to make it a first-class presentation, please answer these questions, good people of the Forge.
1) Is there a particular setting you would like to see the adventure take place in - for example, one of the countries of Weyrth, or would you rather like the background/locations be as unspecific as possible.
2) How "supernatural" would you like the adventure to be? Should it include a lot of magic, Siehe, sorcery etc.?
3) How would you like to have the information structured? Maps first, location descriptions first, adventure synopsis first etc.? No maps? Introduction of NPCs first/in the middle/last? A summary? Etc. etc.
4) What kind of adventure do you personally like to run? Political, murder mystery, all-out-action, frontier/wilderness/city adventures etc.
5) What Spiritual Attributes are most often used in your games, and how? Which do you like/dislike?
6) Which philosophies do you feel work in the context of your game?
7) How many players do you prefer in a game of "TROS"?
8) How comfortable are you with the "TROS" rules on a scale of 1-10 (1: I don't know the rules at all, 10: I know the rules by heart, even those I never use).
9) What is your favorite fantasy literature (one book) and movie (one film)?
10) What kind of art do you prefer in an adventure book? NPCs? Locations? Non-specific?
11) How important are maps for you? Do you like to make your own maps?
That's about it for now. I have no hopes that my adventure will get published or anything, but whatever happens with it I can distribute it,
once finished, as a PDF file for those of you who want to take a look.
Cheers, Tywin Lannister
On 8/25/2003 at 5:01pm, Mike Holmes wrote:
Re: Everybody, please answer these questions.
Tywin Lannister wrote: 1) Is there a particular setting you would like to see the adventure take place in - for example, one of the countries of Weyrth, or would you rather like the background/locations be as unspecific as possible.Well, for the most availablility of use, I'd think you'd want to keep it unspecific. That said, I think that it could work otherwise as well. It's just that I don't see TROS adventures as having to do too much with the cultures that are presented per se.
2) How "supernatural" would you like the adventure to be? Should it include a lot of magic, Siehe, sorcery etc.?Low. Because more will tend to take the focus off the characters. Any magic ought to be character driven.
3) How would you like to have the information structured? Maps first, location descriptions first, adventure synopsis first etc.? No maps? Introduction of NPCs first/in the middle/last? A summary? Etc. etc.No maps. NPCs. No "adventure synopsis". The adventure will go it's own way once it starts, how can I synopsize it? All I need is the characters motives, and any important details about where it's happening. That means, I need to know that it's in an two-storey inn, or a manor house, and that there's a secret room in the basement; not how many rooms there are in total, how thick the walls are, or whether there's any silver hidden in the inkeeper's mattress.
4) What kind of adventure do you personally like to run? Political, murder mystery, all-out-action, frontier/wilderness/city adventures etc.I'm a fan of political intrigue and mystery.
5) What Spiritual Attributes are most often used in your games, and how? Which do you like/dislike?This is the toughest part. I don't think that you can predict what the characters will be like. I see a TROS "adventure" as having hooks for as wide a variety of SAs as possible. In fact, the adventure could be nothing but SA hooks.
6) Which philosophies do you feel work in the context of your game?Again, I'm pretty open, and would always leave that to the players.
7) How many players do you prefer in a game of "TROS"?Three.
8) How comfortable are you with the "TROS" rules on a scale of 1-10 (1: I don't know the rules at all, 10: I know the rules by heart, even those I never use).Depends. My knowledge is like a 3, but I feel comfortable with them like a 9.
9) What is your favorite fantasy literature (one book) and movie (one film)?LotR for both.
10) What kind of art do you prefer in an adventure book? NPCs? Locations? Non-specific?It should be evocative of what the adventure is about, most importantly. But I'm not way into art in any case; could do without it at all most times.
11) How important are maps for you? Do you like to make your own maps?I love making maps. But I feel that they're mostly un-neccessary to good play. That is, I like mapmaking for it's own sake, not as a key part of play.
Mike
On 8/25/2003 at 5:16pm, Tywin Lannister wrote:
RE: Everybody, please answer these questions.
Thanks for the quick reply, Mike Holmes.
No maps. NPCs.
Just to make sure I understood you: You wouldn't need maps, but would like to have NPC descriptions?
This is the toughest part. I don't think that you can predict what the characters will be like. I see a TROS "adventure" as having hooks for as wide a variety of SAs as possible. In fact, the adventure could be nothing but SA hooks.
Agreed, but do you have any examples of which SAs are being used most often in your group? Do player share similar concepts/philosophies/SAs?
On 8/25/2003 at 5:37pm, Mike Holmes wrote:
RE: Everybody, please answer these questions.
Tywin Lannister wrote:Correct.
Just to make sure I understood you: You wouldn't need maps, but would like to have NPC descriptions?
Agreed, but do you have any examples of which SAs are being used most often in your group? Do player share similar concepts/philosophies/SAs?Truth be told, I've played very little TROS (I play a lot of RPGs, and few get a whole lot of play). I am planning on starting a game, but I've seen nothing to call a trend in what I've seen so far.
I guess what I'm saying is that, I don't think that you are going to see any trends at all. Players make up all sorts of stuff, and the devil's in the details. I'd focus on the categories instead of trying to find specific SAs.
So, instead of worrying that some characters might have girlfriends (this is probably the most common Passion), instead think about Passions in general. Is there a villain? Then he kidnaps one character's Passion-associated person. Is there somebody with Faith? The player with the highest rating finds out that his religion is threatened by a new cult. Does a player have a destiny? One NPC has exactly that same destiny. Is another character lucky? He comes across the "secret plot". Several have consciences? They are presented with the problem of the orphanage that's about to be shut down because it's producing a problem with thieving urchins.
If you come up with a cool set of NPCs with intermingling motives, and then describe how they grab the PCs by their SAs, you have an adventure.
Mike
On 8/25/2003 at 5:39pm, Tywin Lannister wrote:
RE: Everybody, please answer these questions.
The adventure is partially written, I just need to get some things confirmed, and I am curious as to how people think. Thanks for your time!! I really appreciate that.
On 8/25/2003 at 8:44pm, Brian Leybourne wrote:
RE: Everybody, please answer these questions.
Who is Mr. JK? Do you mean JN? :-)
Brian.
On 8/25/2003 at 9:10pm, Dan Sellars wrote:
RE: Everybody, please answer these questions.
1) I prefer the more northern (european style) settings for my games.
2) Not so much magic, but siehe are somthing I would like to make more of in my TROS games.
3) Don't really mind
4) I quite like city adventures and would also like to introduce more intrige and mystery
5) Apart from luck, destiny and drive mostly gets used. We don't seen to use passion much, as it seems to be aimed at having an in-game relationship.
6) difficult. I need to use philosophies more
7) 3
8) about 5 I think..
9) book: Tad Williams the Dragonbone Chair
film: The Princess Bride
10) As much as possible to give atmosphere to the story.
11) Maps are pretty important to get teh area fixed in my mind but I don't feel a need to create them myself.
I hope this is helpful,
Dan.
On 8/25/2003 at 9:21pm, Mitchy wrote:
Setting
I would love to see an adventure set on the Isle of Westeros. In fact, I am intending to run a couple of adventures set in the countryside of King's Landing shortly after the battle of the Blackwater Rush. I suspect the total lack of law out there could lead to quite some fun. And the potential clashes with the Lightning Lord or the Mountain that Rides could be spectacular. I am also considering Adventuring in the North just before Tehon Greyjoy's taking of Winterfell, with the idea of going beyond The Wall.
On 8/25/2003 at 11:35pm, Jason Kottler wrote:
RE: Everybody, please answer these questions.
I'm doing my current campaign in Weyrth, but my next one is going to be a Night's Watch setting. The PCs will all be Black Brothers. It'll tide me over until "A Feast For Crows" comes out.
On 8/25/2003 at 11:46pm, Brian Leybourne wrote:
RE: Everybody, please answer these questions.
It's amazing how often A Song of Ice and Fire comes up as a good setting for TROS. Actually, I guess it's not that amazing, since it IS a great setting for TROS :-)
However, any adventure anyone wrote in that setting could not be endorsed by Driftwood, available for download on our webpage, etc. Copyright issues, you understand. ESPECIALLY since there's an official ASOIAF RPG publisher now (D20 and Tri-stat).
Brian.
On 8/26/2003 at 4:53am, Swordmagnet wrote:
RE: Everybody, please answer these questions.
OK, here goes:
1: I love Weyrth as a setting but being an adventure for newbie PC's it should be generic so a Seneshal can drop it into whatever part of Weyrth or other setting he's using.
2: Very little supernatural. A surprise or scare here and there. It's easier to add more magic than to write it out of an adventure.
3: NPC motivations and desires, behind the scenes schemes, descriptions of important places or any place that combat is likely to occur. Don't really need maps. Stay away from a "scripted " adventure, they don't work too well in TROS.
4: I like mystery, back stabbing, intrigue, chases, desparate fights and gritty realism.
5: All but passion. My campaign's kinda unique in that the PC's are mercenaries betrayed by their employer and are trying to make their way back to the companie's ancesteral( and fabled ) homeland. If you've read the Annuls of the Black Company you know what I'm shooting for.
6: Life's a bitch but hope endures.
7: I have 5-7 but would prefer a steady 4.
8: Know=6, Comfort=9
9:Book: The Annuls of the Black Company by Glen Cook, Movie: The 13th Warrior.
10: Don't need it. Just give me a really great read. The best thing about OBAM is the "Flavor" text. I don't even need stat lines after reading most of those.( Thanks Brian. )
11:As above. If I ned them I'll draw them, usually to reproduce at 25mm scale on a battle mat.
On 8/26/2003 at 5:30am, Tywin Lannister wrote:
RE: Everybody, please answer these questions.
Who is Mr. JK? Do you mean JN? :-)
*digs himself a nice big hole in the ground*
On 8/26/2003 at 5:36am, Brian Leybourne wrote:
RE: Everybody, please answer these questions.
Tywin Lannister wrote: *digs himself a nice big hole in the ground*
Soldier, you've dug my hole in the wrong place. I wanted it over here. Fill it in and start again.
Seriously though, as long as it's good, and it doesn't infringe anyone's copyright, we will be well more than happy to put it up on the webpage when you're done.
Brian.
On 8/26/2003 at 4:38pm, Tywin Lannister wrote:
RE: Everybody, please answer these questions.
Soldier, you've dug my hole in the wrong place. I wanted it over here. Fill it in and start again.
Just to make sure there is no misunderstanding: What I meant with my comment on hole-digging was that I was embarassed to have written Jake's initials wrong.
Seriously though, as long as it's good, and it doesn't infringe anyone's copyright, we will be well more than happy to put it up on the webpage when you're done.
I'll send you copies when it's done. Unfortunately I have a real life interfering, but I do try to write a little everyday. I hope you are going to like it, or at least put some thought into your criticism :-)
On 8/26/2003 at 6:42pm, MonkeyWrench wrote:
RE: Everybody, please answer these questions.
1) Keep it unspecific, although fantasy post apocolypse is a personal favorite.
2) Keep magic and the supernatural low-key
3) I LOVE Maps, the more the better, the detailed the better, etc....NPC descriptions are good to, but maybe let actual stats be left to whoever runs it
4) i like epic adventures where the PCs overcome impossible odds, but intrigue and mystery are always winners
5) My players are still trying to figure this out. I think that they might be uncomfortable with the level of freedom involved.
6) I'm not a fan of selfish philosophies, but anything can be incorporated or worked around
7) 3-4
8) mid level....5 or 6
9) book - (other than the default LotR) i like the Dark Tower novels by Stephen King, even though they aren't technically fantasy. movie - Willow
10) NPCs, Locations, and pics of important stuff (like the old old DnD modules)
11) I like maps...alot, but I also like to make them myself...hmmmm
On 8/26/2003 at 6:54pm, Mike Holmes wrote:
RE: Everybody, please answer these questions.
NPC descriptions are good to, but maybe let actual stats be left to whoever runs itThat's an important idea. What I'd do is to make them relative. That is, stat things relative to the players abilities. So, instead of saying that the big villain has a CP of 17, say he has X+3, where X is the highest CP of characters expected to encouter him. That sort of thing.
The real art would be ensuring that the conflicts that occured would take into account the SAs that led the characters to the conflict.
Mike