What Actually Makes a Good Published Adventure?

A reflection of my most asked question via email.

Good Evening Dungeon Masters!

One of the most common questions I get asked, via email, is “Can you take a look at my adventure/module/campaign/rule set/etc. and let me know what you think?” After speaking with some of my game designer and dungeon-tuber friends, I’m definitely not alone in this line of questioning. Unfortunately, due to time constraints, I just don’t have the ability to respond to all these inquiries, let alone earnestly read the material I’ve been sent well enough to give it an honest critique.

That all being said, when I do have a moment to go over a random selection of material sent my way, more often than not, there are a number of things which are consistently missing from these adventures that I’d expect to see included.

Even if you don't intend to publish adventures on itch.io or drivethrurpg.com, I'm sure you'll find these points of advice useful in developing your own home game adventures.

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Introduction

I find few designers use an introduction in a time-efficient way for the reader. Remember that the reading dungeon master has no context for what the adventure is about, and the goal should be to convey that context as quickly and succinctly as possible. Remember that the goal of the dungeon master is to play the game, not read the adventure. Reading the adventure is just a stepping stone on the way to playing the adventure. Here is a process to ensure your intros support this.

Three Ms of Adventure Context

In the introduction of your adventure, make it exceptionally clear the context that sets the stage for the scenario, and what terrible thing will happen if the players do nothing. Spend no more than five hundred words on this section. As a checklist, I like to use the “Three Ms of Adventure Context” (note to self: create a video about this). These three “M”s answer the following questions:

• What happened a Millennia ago?

• What happened Months ago?

• What happened Moments ago?

While the time scales might not be appropriate for your game world, and are obviously geared toward epic fantasy, they work with adjustment for any genre or setting. “Millennia” might mean six months ago in a Noir Detective adventure, as an example.

In a fantasy setting, an evil wizard could have built a tower a “Millennia” ago to create a connection to another plane of existence. “Months” ago, a dragon took up residence in the decaying tower, and discovered the old portal, and “Moments” ago, strange creatures from the other dimension have been seen around the outskirts of some village.

Eons ago, a wizard mad with creating portals created a powerful portal in a remote tower, but his experiments killed him. Recently however, a dragon has discovered the crumbling remote structure, moved it’s horde inside, found and activated a portal, and worked deals with the creatures through the other side. Now that a deal has been struck, and now creatures are migrating through the portal.

In three or so sentences, we have all the context we need for the lead up to this adventure.

Time Limits

Immediately following these three Ms, the Dungeon Master should be aware of what terrible thing happens if the players do nothing, and how long the players have to stop that terrible thing from happening. Illustrating these points should likely take less than a statement or two. Spoil the adventure to the reader in the most egregious and clear way possible:

Failure to shut down the portal will allow the dragon and its new demon friends to raze the countryside. The village will be destroyed, and its inhabitants murdered or worse. Scouts come through the portal every 3 days while an army assembles on the other side. They will attack in two weeks.

Boom. In 5-6 sentences, the dungeon master now understands the stakes, and what makes the stakes interesting. No further backstory is required.

Usability & Presentation

"The Adventure" exists in many different formats at once while being played. The dungeon master has their own interpretation of the game being played, as well as each of the players, each in their own individual imaginations. Further, “The Adventure”, in a way, also exists on the table in front of the players by way of battle mats, terrain, and miniatures. But I find the most overlooked form of the adventure's representation is the printed product itself.

The goal of the adventure designer should be not just to convey the information about the adventure, but convey it in such a way that it is presented to the reader in the most usable form possible while playing the game at the table. I cannot stress this point enough.

Once your initial draft is set down on paper, print it out, and try to think about playing it from the perspective of a new dungeon master encountering the work for the first time. How many times do you have to flip pages to refer to notes? Are references to other pages in the documents both dictated with hyperlinks for PDF users and page numbers for printed users? Are sections of relevant dungeon maps on every page or two-page spread where the rooms in those maps are discussed? Are shorthand monster and magic item stat blocks available in the margins or at the end of a scenario's description before the page is turned to the next encounter in the adventure? Every time your adventure doesn't offer required information on the pages the encounter is being run from, your adventure implicitly asks the dungeon master to slow down game play by looking something up.

Reflections

People may wonder why the Old School Renaissance sub-niche of our hobby had such a strong presence dominating the GenCon ENnie Awards (equivalent to the Oscars for the gaming industry) for such a long time (more on that later). I'd posit it's because the produced material was not just beautiful, but it was usable.

I recognize that taking notes to a polished adventure like this might require some desktop publishing skills that are beyond what Google Docs can offer. If you aren't ready to take the plunge with purchasing desktop publishing software like Affinity or InDesign, I recommend trying Scribus. It's a free, open-source desktop publishing suite that has enough features to drop maps and images into a document, and surround it with text frames pointing to various rooms on a map, each containing terse descriptions. There are a number of tutorials on YouTube to get you moving, but with any of the three programs I mentioned though, these are quite a step up in complexity from a Google Docs or Microsoft Word document. Expect a bit of a learning curve when you are getting started.

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Come See Me At GenCon!

I'll be at Gen Con in Indianapolis next week, working at The Arcane Library booth in the vendor hall. You'll be able to get a photo with myself, Kelsey, and a number of other Dungeon Tubers who will likely be making pit stops by there to chat with us. I know I'll also be hanging out with the Professor from DungeonCraft as well, all over the convention.

Seminars!

I'll be in a number of seminars as well! Firstly, my talk on Geopolitical Worldbuilding is sold out, but you should come catch the standing room in the back if you are interested. Also, friend of the channel, Justin Alexander of The Alexandrian will be crashing this talk to do a fantastic game mastering advice panel.

I'll also be joining Professor Dungeon Master, Ben Milton from Questing Beast, Bob World Builder, and Kelsey Dionne from The Arcane Library for a panel discussion about Hacking With Impunity.

The ENnies!

Lastly, I'd like to congratulate my good friends Kelsey Dionne and Justin Alexander for being nominated for a massive swath of categories.

The Shadowdark RPG has been nominated for:

• Best Game

• Best Layout and Design

• Best Rules

• Fan Favorite Publisher

• Product of the Year (This is the big kahuna!)

Additionally, The Alexandrian has been nominated for:

• Best Online Content

• Best RPG Related Product

I’ll be joining Kelsey’s table at the Ennies, so swing by and grab a photo with us there if you’d like to!

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Video Content

Phew, this has been a big update! Lastly, I’d like to thank everyone for their patience as I get back into the swing of making content following Green Dragon Fest. If you missed my last video, just in time for Kraken Week, check it out here! It’s some more geopop goodness! See you soon!