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How to create a Story
Making a story (or scenario) is a time
consuming, but fun thing to do. Anything is allowed to make the Adventure and
write the story. It has to be fun for the players to play a Gaming session, but
it has to be rewarding for the Games master as well. The more time you spend on
writing a good storyline, the better the Game will be.
These pointers on the left side of this page are important to keep in mind.
Click them and they will be explained below.
The
level of the players.
The level of the PC's (or playing characters) is self explanatory. You shouldn't
put level 6 monsters in a Game for level 1 players. It's just too heavy. You
will have to find a balance between the skill of the players and the strength of
the monsters. It's no fun for a level 1 player to fight a level 2 Minotaur. A
Minotaur can do up to 6 hit points of damage in one blow (most level 1 players
have 5 to 8 hit points, depending on their character), so where is the
competition in that ?? No, it's better to start with some rats, spiders or
goblins to sharpen their swords. Later on you can introduce some monsters with a
bit more muscle, like skeletons, Ogres, Orcs and the like. While I'm writing
this, I realize, I also have also explained the second pointer. KEEP
A GOOD BALANCE !!!
There
has to be a logical assignment in the story.
Of course, there has to be a logical assignment in the story. What's the point
in walking around on a board, throwing dice and fighting monsters, if there's no
reason behind it ?? You don't have to use difficult assignments at first. Simple
ones work better. Normally I take 1 or 2 simple things to do, and use them in
the introduction of the Game. For instance: find a certain object or person. Or:
take this object and take it to a certain person. You know what I mean? Keep it
simple at the start. Later on in the story, you can use the more difficult
stuff, as long as it has something to do with the story line. The assignment,
you give at the start of the game (in the Introduction) will only be used to get
the Players started in the Adventure. You first have to write a story line,
including a background story and a BAD GUY. You can reveal a bit of the story
line in the introduction, so the players have a bit of an idea what they are
going to do (most of the time killing a villain, or solving a mystery). Normally
the players have to be persuaded to take the assignment, so you can promise them
a reward (Money, weapons, Magical items, etc.). You have to use a location for
the setting of the story and a location where you can start the game (Usually an
Inn, tavern or a bar). To start an adventure, you could use the City map on our download
page. It includes a tavern, shops and a temple). To get some ideas for
locations, you can also check the World
section on our website for the world and history in which the game is
located, but of course you are free to make up your own setting.
[if you want some examples of stories, check our Scenario
section. Here you will find complete stories, including maps and special
instructions]
A
good introduction.
A good introduction is important to get the game going. On the previous page (How
to get a game started), I've explained the way to launch the story and get
the game started, so I won't waste your time on that.
Using
None playing Characters (NPC's).
Now this is a very important part of the game!!! None playing Characters (which
I will call NPC for the rest of my explanation) are a way for a Games Master to
tell the story. I have to explain who or what a NPC is. Well, a NPC is a
character who is living his own life in the gaming world. They do their own
thing. They eat, drink, work and sleep. And they even go to the toilet, just
like normal people. But they are also a part of the story. They are the ones who
tell the players where to go. They can give the assignment at the introduction.
It can be an innkeeper who pours the beers in the tavern and tells the latest
gossip. A weapon smith who can tell stories about marvelous and lost ancient
weapons. A priest, who tells the heroes about a dark and evil cult in the
surrounding forest, etc. I.E. They are persons who are used by the Games Master
to give the story some color and to make the game seem more alive. You can use
NPC's to help the players if they get stuck somewhere, but you can also use them
to give false information to the players (especially if they are going to fast
in the Game). NPC's have their own little background story. A Games master has
to have few NPC's up his sleeve. He plays all these NPC's with different voices,
habits and the works.
For instance a friend of mine has his own NPC who pops up in nearly every game we play. It's a monk, who is drunk most of the time, and his name is Trapistin (named after a great Belgian beer). When it's useful to the story, my friend introduces him to give the players some hints, or give them false information. But he does this so well, that you're never sure if he is helping you, or not.
Using
dialogs in the story.
If you are writing an Adventure, it is very useful to write some dialogs as
well. For example, you use several NPC's in the game, and they all have to say
something (or they wouldn't be non PLAYING characters). Most of the time, you
use about 3 or 4 NPC's. You don't have to write all dialogs for them,
because the players will ask the NPC all kinds of questions (and they will
ask things, you did not think about (mark my words!). But you can write the
dialogs, to introduce your NPC in the Game (like I did in the part of Introducing
a Game).
Write down some pointers, in which you note what your NPC is like and what he is
doing in the Game. (Who is he?, what does he do for a living?, Where is he from?
etc.) These pointers will help you to improvise your dialog for this character. You
see: Being a Games master, is improvising a lot. You have to adapt at any
situation the players offer you. So this is why I have stated before: Whatever
happens, use the story as a guideline to play the Game, don't use it as a way to
defend you vision on the Story.
Using
riddles.
This is the best thing about writing you own adventures. Here you can release
your dark side to give the players a hard time. Riddles are used to give the
players something more to do then just killing monsters. They can vary from
simple "switch" riddles (what happens if the players pull a switch in
a room, or a series of switches) to difficult mind braking riddles (like
cryptograms). It all depends on what you think the players can handle. For level
1 players, you don't have to use very difficult riddles because they are mostly
occupied with the rules, how to handle combat and so on. Easy "switch
riddles" and simple mysteries are just the thing for level 1 players. Later
on, you can introduce the more difficult puzzles. In a normal game, there are
about 5 or 6 puzzles and riddles who all vary in difficulty. You can hand out
notes (with riddles and puzzles) during the Game in all kind of fancy
"Secret" Runes, or writings. They can be found all over the internet
in various Font types. We have also a few Font types in our download
section. Cracking the "Runes" is a puzzle by itself and can occupy
the players for quite a while.
Time
limit.
This is also important when you are writing your own adventures. Most sessions
will take about 2 or 3 hours, but can take a lot longer. It all depends on the
circumstances. Sometimes it takes a lot of time rolling the dice. Or you may
have made the riddles in the adventure too difficult, and it takes the players
too much time to solve them. That is why you mainly write short stories, with a
few little assignments and a few riddles. Don't be afraid to cut a bit into the
story if everything takes too long. Try to keep your time limit. When you have
set your limit to 3 hours and see you're not going to make it (or the players
loose attention because things take too long), start to speed things up by
losing the riddles you have left for the rest of the story, and skip a level or
2, so the players can end the adventure by killing the villain or solving the
mystery. You can use everything you skip from the story in a future adventure.
It saves a lot of time on the preparation of your next adventure, when you don't
have to make several levels and riddles. You can mold the
"Leftovers" into your next adventure after making them suitable for
your story (rewrite them a bit to fit into the new story, and you have saved
yourself a lot of time). When you see the players are still hungry for more,
play the game as you intended it and leave your set time limit for what it
is.
The
Ultimate Villain.
This is also a very important part of the story. Most of the time you link the
story to a Bad guy, who is a threat to certain people or places. Conjuring up a
few standard monsters will not be enough to make a mystery and entertain your
players. There has to be a Villain involved. Orcs, skeletons and the like don't
act on their own, and have someone who commands them or uses them for his/her
evil purposes. It might be a good idea to create 1 or 2 ultimate villains who
pop up occasionally. You shouldn't use them on every adventure, but you can use
them for certain adventures which are linked by these kind of Evil
personalities. (check the Scenario page;
the adventure "The Sword of Yarnack" gives a good example on this).
When you are creating a Villain, you have to write a motivation and a background
for him. If you work out his background, you will see that a great storyline
will come by itself. Using a returning Villain means you have to think of a way
for him to disappear at the end of the adventure. You can do this by giving him
a vanishing Spell or a secret passage that closes after his disappearance.
Whatever you do, let the players do battle with him before he leaves the scene
or the players will be disappointed and will have an unsatisfied feeling at the
end of their quest.
Monster
list
In the Download section you can find
the monster list. On this list you can find the standard monsters used in the
Game, with all their statistics up to level 10. These monsters can be fitted
into the story to give the players a bit of a challenge. As said in the previous
chapter (Level of players) you have to adapt
the level of the monsters to the level of the players. This does not mean that
you can't put some stronger monsters in the Game, but you have to take care not
to disrupt the balance. At the beginning of the adventure you introduce some
lame monsters like Goblins, Rats and some level 1 Orcs and gradually introduce
some stronger (or higher level) monsters to keep things interesting. It's no fun
for the Players to start a Game fighting monsters which are too strong, making
them lose to many life points at the beginning of their quest. When you are
writing your first adventure you don't have the experience to make a good
balance. Don't worry about this and just put your monsters where you want them
to appear. While playing you can adapt to the Players strength and remove or
introduce monsters where you think they are needed.
While playing you should always keep the monster list at hand, to see how many experience points the players will get for killing monsters. The best thing you can do, when you're using special- or higher level monsters, is to write them in the scenario you are using, including special bonuses (or treasure) and statistics for these monsters.
Using
Maps
When you're creating your own Adventures, you will need an environment
where all things take place. You can check out our background
of Calania to use as a setting for your campaigns. The best way to keep
track of things is to use maps on which you draw your levels, place your
monsters and treasures. In our Download section you can soon find a map
generator which makes this a lot easier (Sorry, but we are still working on
this). The monsters can be noted on each level, where you want them to appear.
This also goes for treasures, chests and special events.
This was an introduction, on how to become a Games master. Of course we didn't cover everything. There will always be questions or things that aren't quite clear. But don't forget that being a Games master (and certainly a good one), means giving a personal touch to a game of Infinite Quest. Everyone will have a different way to solve problems in a game, but remember to be fair at all times. The players expect to be "entertained" during the Game, so there is no point in quarrelling over minor details. Just keep in mind, that you are the referee and your decisions count.
You might have any questions or remarks about this section: E-mail us and we'll give you an answer.
"Just play it fair !!!" and have fun.
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