Build an Original Adventure Part 1

For our first adventure together, we’re going to tackle how to write a homebrew adventure! Maybe you’re looking for where to start writing your first adventure, or maybe you’ve written and run hundreds - sometimes it’s good to get back to the basics. We’re going to go through the process of writing an adventure for a classic fantasy RPG such as D&D or Pathfinder, and I’m going to walk you through my process. My process is by no means the only process, and maybe it’s the right process for you or maybe not, but if you don’t have one it’s a good place to start, and if you do, maybe there’s still something here that you can use.

We’ll start with a step-by-step outline of my process, and then we’ll work our way through the outline and go into more detail on each step. By the time we’re done, we’ll have built a system-agnostic adventure that you can use for D&D, Pathfinder, or any other fantasy RPG where the players portray wandering adventurers.

Here’s our outline:

• Write your premise. Sketch out an idea of the elements and action that will drive the adventure. Your premise should involve the core conflict of your adventure, and is the first thing you should write down - this is the framework we’re going to build in.

• Identify key elements. Carve the idea up into the big important chunks - the setting, the situation, the adversaries. Establish the central narrative thread.

• Explore each of your key elements. Establish the details and relationship of each to the central narrative.

• Build your hooks. Don’t rely on just one, and make them personal to the PCs - use their own goals and backgrounds to create hooks that they will own rather than having to sell them.

• Build your timeline. Work backwards from the beginning to establish how the current situation began and has progressed. Next, work forward to project where the situation is going and what will happen along the way. Assume the involvement of your PCs, but don’t base the adventure on them taking specific actions. Players will do things you don’t expect. It’s your job to know what would happen if they didn’t interfere, to provide them opportunities to interfere, and to keep the action going when they do.

• Build your information pipeline. As part of your timeline build, have an idea of who knows what relevant information and how you’re going to get that information to the PCs. If there’s something nefarious going on, it’s unlikely that everybody knows everything - and if they do, it’s probably because they’re involved! If you’re feeding the PCs a breadcrumb trail of clues, only have them make rolls when there’s an interesting consequence to failure (i.e., the townsfolk don’t trust you and they call the guards, and now you have to try to get the information out of the captain while convincing her of your innocence) - and have a failsafe in case they miss all of your clues (but maybe they’re in a more precarious position - for instance, all of the cultists are at the abbey and they’re starting the ritual when the PCs arrive).

• Work out the mechanical stuff. Make sure to vary your encounters so the game doesn’t turn into a grind of going from one combat encounter to the next. If treasure is an important part of the game, decide what loot the PCs get out of the adventure and where and when they will get it. Draw out any maps you need.

• Add details to flesh out your adventure elements and anchor them to the setting.

Next: Writing your premise, and identifying and exploring your key elements.