Hello again!

[Nightwulf]

Hello! Nightwulf here.. I know I haven't been on this site in a while. Truth is.. I forgot it existed..
However, I'm back.. Not that I really did anything of note here anyway. As to the point of this post? Well, I want to write an adventure but, while I'm great with stories and coming up with ideas.. I have a hard time trying to get it on paper. I still have the Second Edition Rulebook around here somewhere.. (Probably buried under all this paper.. Hmm.. Or on my Nerd-Shelf..)
Anyway.. I just want some information on how to best design an adventure, I know everyone has their own style and method.. But, I honestly don't know how to even get started. Which is annoying because.. I want to have a game to play and I do have good ideas. Mostly of the Lovecraft/dark fantasy variety.. I'm honestly just rambling at this point.. So.. Uh, I guess I had better stop before this keeps on going..
~Nightwulf

[chiisu81]

Welcome back

When I started I just took an existing adventure ODT and slowly started editing it and mutating it to make my own. It started out barely a page long and took forever to get to 2, but eventually it made it. Just start writing down your ideas, and post to Workshop for feedback (though I personally don't like how adventures get far less feedback than rules/classes/etc. but nothing I can do about that) and encouragement. There's also the template in my sig you can start with as well.

[PendragonTX]

Write a very *rough* story outline. Look it over for points where the PCs can derail. Note "if-thens" for those points. Fill in major details. Leave *lots* of slack.

[Solomoriah]

No, don't do that. In the Old School, we don't write story. Story is what happens when our players pick up their dice and walk into our world.

Seriously, don't write story. Don't lay tracks for them to follow. Railroads are the path to the Dark Side.

Yes, write the stories of your NPCs. Who are they, and how did they get here? But write only what you must, because if you write too much material you'll forget some of it. Paint with stereotypes, knowing that there is detail hidden underneath that the players may never see; if they did deeper, make it up as you go. Write what your NPCs want, and if they have plans that matter to the players write those down too. But do not plan events that "must" happen, because the players will sabotage you every time. Instead, let events happen as they will and you too can be surprised.

Don't write story. Do write backstory, but sparingly if you can.

Look at House of Coldarius in BF3 Strongholds of Sorcery. The bad guy has a plan, and a timetable, but the players can win or lose depending on how well they stay on task and how cleverly they play. The kidnapped magic-user may die, or she may live, and either way it's up to them.

[Seven]

In House of Coldarius, do you let the players know somehow that there is a time limit or maybe they just know your kidnappings generally work this way? (Cave of the Unknown).

[Solomoriah]

The victim, a serving girl from a pub the adventurers frequented, was in fact a magic-user working her way through the Academy of Sorcery in Callidaro, Glantra; she disappeared under suspicious circumstances. The adventure says:

When she fails to appear for class the next day, one of her friends will come by the inn looking for her. Another NPC will tell of seeing her with an old man on the streets near the tower of Coldarius.

Now given the very suspicious nature of her disappearance, players who don't assume they need to hurry are fools who deserve to lose. I'm sorry, but that's kind of how I feel about it.

[Solomoriah]

Put another way, a kidnapping for ransom includes some indication that the victim will be unharmed, at least for a while, to ensure the payment is forthcoming. If someone is taken and no ransom is demanded, you have to assume a bad end awaits them.

[Seven]

It's all very campaign dependent, I guess. I've been kidnapping folks from day 1 and my players are just starting to figure out what is going on. Even cultists who intent to perform a sacrifice on a given night don't wait until the last minute to collect their victims in case something go wrong or they know someone will be attacking them or they are overconfident. Just like cops can't enter a house without a warrant, I expect my players to do a lot of research before breaking into a house. Unless there is clear and present danger. 99% of women who go missing either die within hours or stay alive for months. The night of the new moon is very helpful here, but it's a clue that's easy to miss. A young good looking female can be captured for other reasons.

Also, people don't generally wear armor and weapons in my towns. That complicates things a bit.

At any rate, like I said, once you get the players inside the house, everything looks good and failing the rescue doesn't ruin the adventure.

[Solomoriah]

In House of Coldarius, the villain has had Rafaela since the previous evening, and depending on how the GM runs the hook, the player characters have between 6 and 12 hours to save her.

Statistically you may be right regarding how long captives survive, but this is not a situation where I expect the players to be realistic, it's one where I expect them to be genre savvy. In fiction of this type, captives are in imminent danger and rescue must be accomplished quickly. The main difference is that in fiction, whatever the characters do they arrive "just in the nick of time" and you can't count on that in an RPG unless you engineer it that way, which is a bit too convenient honestly.

[Seven]

I never do nick of time things, but I like to drop hints left and right, without being obvious about it. It's kinda of a different adventure if the players feel they are in a race or not.