It's not too big of a stretch to say that adventures are the centerpiece of any role-playing game. As has been stated before, players can create characters, vehicles, items and whole star systems until they're blue in the face, but without a story to go with them, there's no life to them; they stay nothing more than words and numbers on a page. Adventures
are the game. As such, it's important for any aspiring GM to know what elements go into making a good adventure, and what's required for creating an adventure from scratch.
SFRPG is set in a vast universe, filled with exotic locales and strange, alien beings. The number of stories that could be told about the Starflight Universe are infinite, as are the ways in which those stories can be told. Rather than try to create a catch-all system, this Chapter will simply offer general guidelines and recommendations on how to build adventures. A catch-all system would not do the game justice; it would ultimately serve to put a limit on the imagination of an adventure's designer, which is a Very Bad Thing.
Since an adventure is a story told in a game format, a good adventure has many of the same elements that a good story has. There are three main things that make up an adventure: the idea behind the adventure (sometimes known as the
premise or
adventure hook), action (the story itself), and resolution. All three of these things are necessary for even the most simple stories in order for the story to feel complete.
The general process for creating an adventure goes something like this:
- Develop an adventure idea.
- Develop the idea into a plot.
- Select the adventure's structure.
- Fill in the details of the plot.
Though a GM should ultimately try to tell as much of a story as possible, an adventure shouldn't strive to tell a total story (the basic plot and structure are all that's really needed). There have to be parts of the adventure wherein the players can steer their characters on their own. What this does is create uncertainty; no one will know how the adventure will end until it finally reaches its conclusion. This uncertainty is part of what makes the game fun for all involved (including the GM). This does mean that parts of a story may not be told in the way the GM intended (if they're told at all), while other parts might become more important than originally intended (and vice versa). GMs should save the parts that don't get used; those situations could very easily be incorporated into a new adventure.
Ideas
To get started on a fresh adventure, an adventure designer (which can also be referred to as a
creator or
writer) must first come up with a good idea. Ideas are everywhere: The news, events going on in local communities, television, etc. If there is an event that has happened (or even one that will happen soon), an adventure can be based upon it. All that is required for SFRPG is that the event be placed somewhere in the Starflight Universe, using all of the terms and conventions found in this guidebook. If the writer can't come up with an initial idea on their own, they may refer to
Chapter 11.1.2 to either select a very basic idea on their own or roll for one at random. Once the writer has their initial idea, they need to flesh out that idea into an adventure hook, a general statement of what is supposed to happen during the adventure (think of it as the abstract plot for the adventure, like the teaser text printed on the back of a DVD or dime-store novel). An excellent method for doing this (one that creates a lot of detail in the process) is outlined in
the next Chapter, though a writer may use whatever method of plot development they are most familiar with.
Structure
Once a writer has their hook, they'll know what they want to have happen during the course of their adventure. That's a good time to determine the adventure's overall structure, if an appropriate overall structure for the adventure hasn't become obvious from the development of the hook. Structure consists of the adventure's style (
as disussed in Chapter 10.3), and
event pacing (whether the adventure is location-based, event-based, or a combination of both).
Location-based adventures are ones where the sequence of events are centered around a particular place. For these adventures, a map of the location will need to be drawn up and a key created that describes the contents of each area at the location. It is implied that events in a location-based adventure occur when the characters arrive at a particular area within the location (either the first time they arrive or subsequent times they arrive). Location-based adventures can either utilize static sites or dynamic sites. Static sites (such as an abandoned ruin) are fairly easy to design, as it is unlikely things will change in locations with multiple visits. Dynamic sites (such as a G'Nunk military barracks), on the other hand, can be more complicated to create, as it is possible that the events that happen on initial visits will affect subsequent visits to a location. If the adventure is based on a dynamic site, issues such as formulating defense plans for inhabitants, development of conditional requirements for areas, and long-term plans of the inhabitants must also be considered.
Event-based adventures are ones where the sequence of events are influenced by the PCs' actions. Such adventures take the form of “Something happens, and if the characters do this, that happens”. Event-based adventures are also known as story-book adventures, because they are often more like a movie than an exploration of a static site. They can be harder to write and are less well suited for Fast Action adventures, with more in-depth goals. By definition, the goals in an event-based adventure will change based on how the characters perform and what choices they make. These adventures usually don’t use keys, but consist more of notes of when things occur. Flowcharts (also known as "Game Trees") and Timelines are the best way to keep track of events in an event-based adventure. These two methods can even be combined, making events that occur dependent upon when the characters attempt to resolve the event.
Combination adventures involve both events and locations. Not unsurprisingly, they have elements of both location-based and event-based adventures, though one type tends to dominate a little over the other. The adventure is largely event-based, but upon arrival at a site, the game becomes more of a location-based adventure. Alternatively, the adventure can be location-based but heavily influenced by events, whether the characters influence them directly or not (an adventure where the characters must find a bomb within a building before it explodes would be a good example). Combination adventures are an excellent format to use for long adventures and campaigns.
Some combinations of style and pacing tend to work better for certain kinds of adventures. The classic "bash-down-the-door" style adventure will probably utilize a Fast Action style with a Location-based pacing. An adventure wherein a traveler must deliver a load of cargo to a city on the far side of the planet within a certain time frame will probably be event-based, and may either have an Action/Adventure or Deep Immersion style. An adventure that involves a lot of political intrigue will likely have a Deep Immersion style, and either an event-based pacing or a combination adventure pacing. As long as the style and pacing are appropriate and work well with the plot, a designer may use any overall structure that they want for their adventure.
Plot
Everything in life is a story, and all stories mimic life. Stories have a beginning, middle and an end. They all have at least one protagonist, one or more antagonists, and several supporting characters (some or all of which may not be living things). They all have one or more settings, events that take place within their own context, and some kind of resolution or consequence of those events. It doesn't matter how long or short a story is, these four things - characters, settings, conflicts and resolution - are present in all good stories. These elements when presented together in a clear, logical format to an audience comprise the story's
plot.
Anything can be created and described using the terms commonly ascribed to a story's plot, be it life, a story, music, games, a workday, time, star systems, you name it. Everything follows the pattern of beginning, middle and end. It should come as no surprise then that since an adventure tells a story, it's usually a good idea to consider the four elements of a plot when attempting to create an adventure from scratch.
Once the writer has their hook and has settled upon what structure to use for their adventure, it only remains for the writer to fill in the details of the adventure's plot. This can be done by filling in the details of the four major plot elements: characters, setting, conflict and resolution.
Characters
The first major plot element is
characters, best defined as a person or object marked by notable or conspicuous traits. All stories have a
protagonist and one or more
antagonists. A protagonist is the central or main character in the story. A story may have a single protagonist or a group of protagonists. For most adventures in SFRPG, the protagonists will be the characters created by the player group. The story will ultimately need to be told from their point of view. There may be other protagonists within a story (which may or may not be "allies" of the player group). These GM-portrayed allies may have, at best, a supporting role within a story. Finally, antagonists are a single character, a group of characters, or an "institution of a happening" that represent the opposition against which the protagonist(s) must contend. They serve as a conflicting interest within the story, and (for whatever reason) must ultimately attempt to prevent the protagonists from achieving their goal. Antagonists are also portrayed by the GM. One of the keys to making a good adventure is to make these characters seem real. The interactions with other characters should be intriguing. The adversaries the characters face should be worthy foes.
Allies can be friends, relatives, co-workers, or people characters have met on their adventures. They tend to be friendly towards the characters and can provide help in the form of information or resources. Some allies can even be NPCs that join the characters on an adventure, especially if the group is lacking in a skill that will be needed to complete the adventure. Allies of this nature should not be included too often, as it may make the players too dependent upon them. Allies can even be hidden or disguised as allies, such as the cop who attempts to bust the characters early on in an adventure but later comes back to lend a gun when things start getting thick.
Antagonists are the foes the characters will face during the course of an adventure. Playing the role of an opponent can be one of the more entertaining aspects of being a GM. When creating antagonists, the GM should put some thought into what it is they want and why they do what they do. Why they are where they are and how they interact with their environment can also be important. Their opponents may be lacking in intelligence, or they may be very clever, coming up with all kinds of contingencies, strategies, and escape plans. Major villains tend to be this way especially, and tend to use lackeys to do their dirty work. They tend to fight the characters only when they have to, and then only when they are prepared (and preferably when the characters are weak or unprepared). A GM should not be afraid to make opponents intelligent, or evil if necessary (including use of deception and atrocities). Not all opponents may be evil, though. Some may be good-meaning people who simply disagree with the characters’ methods and motives (thus presenting the characters with the dilemma of having to confront someone they can’t or don’t want to have to fight). Moral dilemmas in adventures can be particularly challenging, including what happens if opponents surrender, or what could be done if the villain takes hostages.
Lifeforms (particularly fauna) compose a special class of low-intelligence NPC. Driven by instinct, lifeforms want to gather energy for their own survival, be safe, care for their offspring, and reproduce. Some tend to be curious, but most others are simply driven by these basic needs. Animals can make good antagonists in a wilderness setting; few characters would have a problem defending themselves from ferocious predators. When portraying an
animal, the GM should not be afraid to use noises and gestures that the animal might use, or should attempt to emulate it as much as possible. This will make the characters feel that the creature they are fighting is indeed dangerous. As a caveat, emulating a creature may have undesired meta-game consequences, such as the players taking the situation too lightly (or making fun of the GM well after the adventure is over).
An adventure designer will probably realize the need to create an ally or an antagonist during the development of the adventure hook (
for example, if the adventure will involve going to a certain location to meet an Interstel representative, it will probably be necessary to create the representative the PCs are supposed to meet.) Allies and antagonists may be as detailed or as generic as a GM wants to make them. At a bare minimum, a GM should have notes on their names as well as their basic personality (provided, of course, that these characters are living, sentient creatures; non-sentient or non-living characters such as animals or vehicles may be okay with just basic stats). Depending upon their role in a story, it may be necessary to go ahead and perform the full creation process for the character. GMs may also be able to use an
archetype character for their adventure. Character archetypes are discussed in
Chapter 12.3.1.
A final type of character that can be placed in an adventure is the
neutral character, one that neither supports nor opposes the characters. This type of character is often overlooked in role-playing, yet represents the largest group of NPCs anywhere. Most folks have never heard of the characters nor do they particularly care, as long as they're left alone. Designers can add neutral characters to their stories if they wish. As with allies and antagonists, all that's really needed is a name and their personality. Stats can be drawn up for these characters, though if they truly have minimal interaction with the characters a full set of stats will very rarely be necessary.
Setting
Setting determines the time and place of the action. Setting is incredibly important to a story's plot, because it provides a stable frame of reference for the entire story. A setting will set limits on what can and cannot occur logically within the frame of the story. For example, if an adventure is going to involve starships, it'd be inappropriate to set the story in a medieval setting, at least not without providing some damned good reason as to why feudal serfs may need to travel into space. GMs will have to be exceptionally careful with situations such as this, as the reasons they give may strain the players'
suspension of belief past the breaking point. Settings are discussed in detail in
Chapter 11.2.
Conflict
Conflict is a state of discord caused by the actual or perceived opposition of needs, values and interests. Conflicts may be internal (within oneself) or external (between two or more individuals). Conflict is central to any game, as it provides both its challenge and its meaning.
There are six different basic conflict types in literature which can be applied to adventures. These conflict types are outlined below.
Note that even though these types are human-centric, they can be applied to any character of any species.
- Man-v-Self: This is an internal conflict, wherein a character must fight something about their own personality or character. In SFRPG, most of these conflicts occur in the form of a self-control Check, a die roll made by a player in order to overcome the negative effect of a Complication. This kind of conflict can be used as the centerpiece of an adventure, though it will result in one character getting more attention than the others.
- Man-v-Man: This is an external conflict wherein one being comes into direct conflict with another being. This is probably the most common form of conflict used in literature, not to mention most games. Starflight II used this kind of conflict both for its premise (Arth's dilemma with the Spemin) as well as its final climax (the confrontation with the Uhl).
- Man-v-Society: This is an external conflict, wherin a character's main source of conflict is social traditions or concepts. Society itself (or at least some specific aspect of it) becomes the antagonist in the story. These adventures can be very difficult on a character, as their actions will almost certainly put them directly in conflict with their community or society, possibly even their close friends or family. Characters may be forced to conduct acts that are morally reprehensible, or at least illegal within the society.
- Man-v-Nature: This is an external conflict, wherin a character is pitted against forces of nature. Many disaster and survival stories focus on this theme, as well as stories about struggling for survival in remote locales. Characters in SFRPG may have to focus on this kind of conflict when travelling through the wilderness, particularly in areas of extreme temperature or significant severe weather.
- Man-v-Supernatural: This is an external conflict wherein a being comes into conflict with a force or entity that cannot be described within normal reason. Supernatural forces aren't generally encountered within the Starflight Universe, though there's nothing that says a GM can't set up an adventure with a supernatural theme. It will require the GM to adapt the existing rules to serve the situation (for example, a being that can shoot fireballs might be given the same effect as a pulse laser as a natural ability).
- Man-v-Technology: This is an external conflict wherein a being comes into conflict with some manner of technology, whether deliberately or as a result of a malfunction. While any office worker might say that this is a type of conflict that they experience any time they try to use a photocopier, this type of conflict is usually more world-shattering than that. Starflight I is a good example of this type of conflict (as in order to win, the player ultimately had to destroy a device that would've ultimately wiped out all life on Arth).
In SFRPG, a story's overall conflict is listed out as a series of
goals which are set in a given sequence and which the characters must do their utmost to fulfill. Each goal constitutes a
tailored encounter. In these encounters, characters will either have to fight (a
combat encounter), make a crucial skill check or solve some manner of puzzle (a
challenge encounter), or succeed in conquering the encounter through role-playing (a
role-playing encounter) in order to continue with the adventure. Tailored encounters should be designed carefully; these are the main events that will take place within the story, and should be used to move the story further along. As a general rule, tailored encounters that occur earlier in an adventure should be less difficult than ones that occur later in the adventure. These will be the more difficult encounters the characters will face.
One of these tailored encounters will be the adventure's
climax, the final, most important conflict and crucial point that occurs within the story. This is when the action within the story should reach its peak and where every event that has happened up to then should point. Success or failure is in the balance, important questions may be answered, and all that follows serves to resolve the plot. This encounter is the most important encounter in the adventure, and so planning it carefully is vital for the success of the adventure as a story. A designer would do well to focus on the key elements and circumstances of the climax, and to pick a good, dramatic setting for it. Climaxes should be flexible enough that prior events don't render them impossible or meaningless. Above all, the climax must be more important than all that's gone on before. A GM should not be afraid to kill off the entire character group during an adventure's climax; things should be that important. A climax that falls short of this (known as an
anti-climax) leaves an adventure flat and meaningless, and (perhaps more importantly) tends to vastly disappoint players.
Interspersed throughout an adventure may be one or more
random encounters. There are two types of random encounters. The first is the
pseudorandom encounter, an encounter that is planned but does not constitute the completion of an adventure goal. "Side-quests" are a good example of this type of encounter. The other is the
true random encounter, where the encounter is not planned before hand. These encounters are usually those indicated by a die roll, such as what may occur during a planetary transit when a vehicle encounters foul weather. Both types of random encounters do not count towards the completion of an adventure goal, but can give the characters additional opportunities to improve themselves. For example, a resident of a town may offer to hire the characters to transport their dying offspring to a hospital on the far side of a planet, even if the characters are already on another job. The end result might be a good financial bonus, which the characters can use to buy better equipment for the adventure's final showdown. Conversely, these encounters can also be used to waste their time or to drain off their resources. In any event, random encounters should for the most part be less difficult than tailored encounters.
Resolution
The final piece of an adventure is the
resolution, also known in liteature as the
dénouement. It consists of a series of events that follow the climax of a drama or narrative, and thus serves as the conclusion of the story. Conflicts are resolved, creating normality for the characters and a sense of
catharsis, or release of tension and anxiety. In an adventure, the resolution addresses the question of "what happens next". Usually something in the universe has changed in regards to the characters, whether for good or for ill. The adventure's outcome may have even had an effect on the universe as a whole, depending on what took place. The resolution is when characters tie up the loose ends of the adventure. They may make decisions that were deferred from earlier, and discuss what they will need to next.
The resolution is a good time to reward players and their characters for their part in the story. There are several ways in which a character can be rewarded. Probably the most obvious reward in SFRPG is
money. Money gives the characters the ability to purchase the things they need to stay housed, clothed, fed, and equipped. For a starship crew, money means the ability to purchase newer, better equipment, which in turn means faster travel, better combat survivability, etc. Without money, characters can quickly find themselves out of a critical resource at the wrong time, with disastrous results. The amount of money given to characters should be appropriate to the size of the group. A single character operating on their own may only get 100-200 MU for completing a job. A starship crew could easily receive upwards of 50,000 for succeeding at a task.
A less noticeable but nonetheless welcome reward is an increase in one or more of the character's skill or sub-discipline scores. GMs should keep track of what skills/sub-disciplines a character used during the course of an adventure. Whether or not any additional points will be rewarded should be dependent upon the skill/sub-discipline's current score and the degree of success of the Check in which it was used. A good rule of thumb is to reward a score increase for every ten to twenty points over the current score in the degree of success. Extra points should always be rewarded for critical successes, regardless of the margin of error. Points should not be rewarded for Checks wherein the player took 50 or 99. Rewarding points for skills/sub-disciplines in this manner may require more bookkeeping than a GM is willing to do. In that case, the GM could simply make a quick 1d10 roll and reward a point on a result of zero. GMs are, of course, always welcome to reward points arbitrarily for good role-playing. When awarding points for sub-disciplines, the GM may ignore the training limit of the character. This is considered
"real-world" training, and is the only way a character may gain additional points in a Discipline once they've reached their training limit.
Depending upon how a character was played, the GM may reward a character with a new Talent. For the most part, rewarded Talents should be limited to any non-intrinsic traits of the character (variable trait talents such as
Wealth,
Reputation,
Social Status, and
Education are considered intrinsics). Awarding the
Contacts Talent should be handled with care, as it's likely the characters have met a number of people during the course of an adventure. For the most part, this should be reserved for very pleased patrons, for whom the character has more than adequately performed a task. Intrinsic talents should only be rewarded after careful thought, if a GM is planning on rewarding them at all. Any adjustments to the character's intrinsics should be done as a result of events that happened during the course of the game (a character that helps out the mother of a sick child might gain a couple of points in
Reputation as a philanthropist, one who blows his wad gambling might lost points in
Wealth, etc.). It may also be necessary during the adventure's resolution to inflict a character with a Complication. A character that shoots up is probably going to become
Addicted. A poorly role-played character that was supposed to be level-tempered but takes a swing at an NPC for some minor infraction should take a couple of negative points in
Temper. GMs should be careful when inflicting a Complication on a character; since it will negatively affect a PC, the player may be (understandably) upset about it. In those cases, the GM should explain their rationale and listen to the group's input, and be willing to be gracious enough to change their mind if the situation warrants. Other times, the player may agree with the GM wholeheartedly. Complications inflicted on a character after an adventure do not give that character any additional "building points" as was the case during the character creation process.
There are other types of rewards that can come under unusual circumstances. Receiving items that a character doesn’t have to pay for can be a very nice (and in some cases life-saving) reward. Characters can receive items as gifts, as free offers, in exchange for a service, or by discovery during an adventure. When items are used as rewards, however, a GM should be careful not to give permanent access to any item that is powerful enough to unbalance the game (
see Chapter 10.4). In a monarchy or other type of oligarchic government, the characters may be presented with a spot of land as a reward for aiding the government. Land is an invaluable resource, one that characters can do anything with. They could use the land to set up a stronghold or bast of some kind. They could use it for personal living space to retire upon. They could develop the land, using it as a source of income (to establish a business, or to build residences on). Of course, they can always turn it over to their parent government, for a good price. Or, they can sell it outright, though this may insult the sovereign who gave the characters the land in the first place. Titles are another possible type of reward handed out by a monarchy or oligarchy. A title always carries with it a degree of prestige as well as the continuing scrutiny of the sovereign who bestowed the title. Even if the characters don’t give a rat about the title, the sovereign may look upon the characters as a source of national pride, or as political adversaries, no matter if the characters are gunning for power or not. Outside the government, a title is a decoration, just like anything else. Perhaps the greatest use of a title is as a way to access the sovereign, to ask for favors, or as a means to establish
diplomatic relations. Finally, both military and non-military characters can have honors bestowed upon them by others. Honors can be as trivial as the Keys to a City, or as prestigious as earning the Medal of Sublime Achievement. Honors are generally reserved for prime accomplishments.
One final part of an adventure's resolution involves the meta-game. A good GM will always ask the players what they thought of the adventure once it has reached a final conclusion. In particular, they should ask what parts of the adventure they liked or disliked, and why. A GM should pay particular attention to what the players are saying in regards to what they'd like to see happen next. They might say that they'd like to see their characters doing something a little different, or perhaps they'd like to see a particular NPC crop up in another adventure. Players are an awesome source of adventure ideas, oftentimes without even realizing it; GMs would do well to consider everything said, no matter how minor.
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