RPG adventure
A role play adventure is a form of publication that is used exclusively in the role play area .
In it, a rough incident about the size of a short story is presented and specially prepared for the pen & paper role-playing game by presenting non-player characters , locations and events in more detail and more openly.
The purpose of this is to provide the game master with a comfortable framework in which he can move freely and also incorporate improvisation . In contrast to a novel , a role-playing game is an interactive process that does not do justice to a purely chronological sequence of events.
The number of players required and their level of experience is always given .
presentation
The way of presentation represents a particular challenge and the decisive difference to conventional literature . Since it is not possible to present the content only chronologically and to add any play values, other ways of presentation had to be found. However, only common and officially published adventure formats are addressed here. Historically, the publications of the Black Eye have been closest to the purely chronological representation . The planned course of action was actually put together chronologically and supplemented with attachments and handouts .
However, the chronological order was broken up by branches and presented in a special way that is more suitable for role-playing . The publications could be divided into three areas.
- First came general information that could be read out by the game master or freely told.
- The following special information should only be found out after the players have acted independently.
- The so-called master information was primarily intended for the game master , who should mostly incorporate their content indirectly. Furthermore, the schedule served the game master for a better understanding of the overall situation. Since the introduction of the fourth rule edition, special and master information have been combined into one unit.
This way of presentation makes it possible to play the adventure with comparatively little preparation and is aimed primarily at roleplay newbies, as it is a simple way of presentation, but restricts the players and the game master in their freedom of action.
Most of the other systems, as well as Das Schwarze Auge, use a more free presentation of the adventure. In addition to a chronological arrangement of the events, the non-player characters, locations and special events are described separately. The game master can therefore let the non-player characters act more freely, the players have the option of visiting most places at any time, and the chronological events can virtually happen at the same time . This enables a much freer type of role play, but also means a considerable additional effort for the game master, since he has to be more confident in the content and can often be faced with unexpected situations in the game.
Of course there is also a combination of plot-oriented and free presentations. So the adventure can be divided into several days or action segments and within these a representation of the places, people and events important for the segment take place. Likewise, a plan-oriented adventure can be designed more freely by separately listed non-player characters.
There are special terms depending on the provider. At Dungeons and Dragons the adventure modules are called.
Solo adventure
There are also isolated solo adventures that do not require any other players (including a game master). A common possibility is the design as a playbook , also multiple-choice adventure, whereby depending on the decision, reference is made to other paragraphs / book pages. A common international name and book series of the same name is " Choose Your Own Adventure " (CYOA), the principle of which has also been adopted by well-known RPG publishers such as TSR (e.g. the Endless Quest series or individual works from normal D&D adventures) .
One-on-one adventure
In one-on-one adventures, also one-on-one or 1 on 1, there is a game master and a player. Alternatively, adventures can also be rewritten so that one player takes on multiple characters.
Expenditure of time
Courage for the gap
The amount of time an adventure will take is hard to predict. It depends on the way in which the playgroup acts and interacts. The capable game master should explain episodes that are particularly enjoyable to the role-playing round and deal quickly with or even skip unloved ones.
Consideration of the player type
Furthermore, it is not foreseeable how direct the path of the players will be and how quickly they can solve the adventure. There are also different types of players. Some try to solve a puzzle as quickly as possible, while others prefer the character-oriented role-playing game and spend a lot of time interacting with other players and the environment without directly advancing the adventure plot. Since role play is all about having fun, both types of play are perfectly legitimate, but of course they take a completely different amount of time.
Campaign or short adventure
It also depends on the length of the adventure itself. Some contain a relatively short and concise plot, which is best played on one game evening (around 4-7 hours). Others offer a plot that is split over several episodes and so can and should extend over several evenings. The campaigns are the most extensive . These consist of numerous individual episodes and are designed in such a way that they can fill many game evenings. This makes for a special attraction, as the characters have such a logically linked overall experience. Many game masters try to achieve a similar experience by stringing individual adventures together more or less logically. The difference to a campaign, however, is that the adventures are placed in a metacontext, while the campaigns first have the metaplot and are then divided into adventure episodes.
See also
- Replay (Japanese literary form of an adventure transcript)