Well I'm going to try out a little project on here. I'm running Deadlands for the first time as a "Marshal" or "GM". Anyway I wanted to give you a look at my method of writing an adventure. Not that you probaly care about "my" specific way of writing an adventure, but its kinda cool to see how different DMs do things in general I think.
Anyway, I'm gonna write every aspect of the adventure I'm planning here online just like I would with my trusty paper, pencil, and notebook. The thing is though, I've no experience with Savage Worlds and Deadlands, though I am an experienced GM/DM having ran HackMaster, D&D 2e/3e/4e, Lejendary Adventure, and etc...
A few things you should know:
- I'm not the type of GM that plays a complete session "from the hip". It is something I just don't do. If I have nothing, I don't sit down and try to wing an entire session. We'll just play Talisman, Axis and Allies, or go to the movies. I do like to have something to go by, even if its just an outline with certain checkpoints. I don't mind to wing individual situations within the greater context of the adventure. For example while writing the adventure assuming the character will blow up a tavern, and instead decide to keep it and turn it into their own establishment or befriending the main BBEG instead of killing him.
- Players are free to make their own choices and for the most part their choices affect the game and environment.
- I'm almost completely neutra.l I probaly lean 55/45 in favor of the players. If a player dies, he dies, no suddenly deus ex machina will save them at the last moment because I'm afraid of my game going to pits.
- The players at this point have not created their characters.
- This blog will be broken into multiple points.
With that I have thought of a rough outline of an adventure in my head. These notes aren't copied and pasted in here from a spread sheet, or coming from a sheet. They are being written out live as I think them here on the rpgbomb blog software. Remember below is me typing out what I'm thinking in real time. Without further adieu here is me designing an adventure:
I'm beginning by already using some ideas and a basic plot I've been tossing around in my mind:
The name of the main bbeg going to be Jake but I want it to sound westerny and cool. Big Jake. Jake the Snake. Black Snake Jake. Lighting Jake Grimshaw? Mean Jake Houston? Hmmm. I think I've settled on Mean Jake... but what about a last name. *Going to google to look for western name generators to get inspiration* I use this site: http://www.seventhsanctum.com/generate.php?Genname=westernnamer and come up with a last name of Hudson. I like that, "Mean" Jake Hudson. So we've got a bad guy name. This is going to take place in Kansas, about two hundred miles away from Dodge City. I want it to be in a fairly remote area but close enough to a big city that we can migrate to it if the pcs need something a small place can't provide. Also its close enough to where I can begin to write adventures around Dodge City if I want to nudge them toward it in the future. Now to think of a name for my town. I go to google again and look up towns of kansas. I find the name of Colby, I like that name and will make a ficitionalized 1800s version based in Deadlands.
So now I'm going to do a rough synopsis to put some of my ideas in print so that I won't forget them and to help me guide my adventure writing:
The players arrive in Colby Kansas. There, once they go into the saloon a man who looks haggard and sweaty with black messy hair accosts them as they enter. Go back, get out of here, he's back!! He's back!! At this point the sheriff who happens to be in the bar, tells *gotta think of a name* to get out of here and he literally kicks the guy on the butt out the saloon doors and the man tumbles face first to the dirt outside. "Quit drinkin and spreadin that stuff *name* or I'll lock you up for a month!" Turns around welcomes and apologizies to the PCs.
End 9:31am November 3rd
Begin 3:37pm November 4th, 09
I've looked over my blog from last night to refresh my memory.
So now I'm resuming thinking about a name for my cooky/drunk wrote about above. Kenny Callahan, better known to the locals as Crazy Kenny. The name just comes to me as I write this in real time, no going to google this time, no brainstorming. Maybe later I'll change it during the "look over" phase, but for now I like it and it serves its purpose of identifying a specific NPC.
The sheriff's name and personality. I want this sheriff to be an honest law man, genuienly concerned about the town. I imagine him being middleage around late 40s or early 50s, but known to be a pretty quick draw still. To add to his personality, although he's honest and does care about the people and town, he's also not superstitious and doesn't have patience for the rumors that have been surfacing about the return of "Mean" Jake Hudson.
Now at this point I'm gonna write out some of the idea of Jake that I've been tossing around. Mean Jake Hudson was known to be a violent man who had been wanted in Dodge, and almost every surrounding town. Eventually he rode out here to Colby and raised a lot of hell. Looting, fighting, killing, and getting into all sorts of trouble. Eventually sheriff (no name yet) was brought in to tame this town and tame it he did. It climaxed with a classic duel at noon between the two in front of the saloon. At draw time, the sheriff killed Jake, but was wounded himself. (Thinking about that last sentence gives me an idea here in real time, I'm gonna give the sheriff a limp for getting shot, and since it a limp we'll see he was shot in the hip.
So now we have brief sketches of both the Sheriff and also of Jake and some of the history. Furthermore in real time I found out the sheriff had also been shot and wounded with a permanent reminder of his old pal Jake.
As I continue to think about the Return of Jake. I wonder abotu HOW is he coming back. I realize maybe Jake had a posse. Sure he did, no outlaw ride by themself. Perhaps they were into some evil voodoo, or had someone else do it. Or perhaps some evil was in the ground, or a crazy old preacher. I like the idea of the posse as it gives the players more action to deal with.
End 3:57pm November 4th
Tags: Deadlands Dm Design Online
