Hello. I'm new to the forum and I'm not sure which sub forum is the right one for me to post in. I'm looking for advice on the writing I am doing for my d&d campaign. It's a fantasy adventure about a party who has just joined an adventuring guild. It will be a series of most one off single session adventure quests, with a slight over arching plot. I want to make this campaign as good as possible for my players since I don't DM too often, so I could use all the advice I can get! Thanks in advance for any help.
Hi Maunakea - I'm one of the forum moderators, and I'm working on the answer to your question. Thanks for asking it, by the way. I'll need to confer with my fellow moderators (who are scattered all over the planet ...I'm in the UK.) As this is a specialist question involving the development of Role Playing Games, I'll need some other input. Can you give us a bit of time?
Treat your campaign as if you were writing a novel. And ask questions in the individual / separate subforums. EG, if you want to ask about your world and content, then that's for setting. For NPCs, ask in the character development section. For plot development, there's a plot section. If you have specific questions pertaining roleplaying itself, then I reckon you could ask in roleplay discussion, though I'm not so sure about that. I'd definitely chime in.
**I'm only a casual player, I mostly use these games as inspiration for where I would like a story to go, for monsters I would like to write, etc. Have you looked at the D & D specific websites like Roll20? I find "The Monsters Know What They're Doing" to be a good resource on the web, Keith A runs it. My understanding is that he also has YouTube videos on games specific designs and characters. Personally, I mine his data for ideas for creatures to use in stories and ideas for how some creatures might function in our world. Also please clarify - are you developing a role playing campaign for your players from scratch or are you doing a pre-made adventure....damn, I know these "adventure books" have a name but I can't remember it!! I don't think it is "adventure book" though. You know how in D & D you have "The Player's Handbook"; "The DungeonMaster's Handbook"; the various characters such as "The Thief's Handbook"; "The Warrior's Handbook" etc. These are not what I am thinking of - I'm thinking of the books that outline adventures your party can go on when guided by a dungeon master or game master. I would suggest you play through a few stand alone adventures with your group, get a sense for how things flow and then work on designing your own adventure once you have a sense of where the strengths and weaknesses of your knowledge, your playing style, your abilities etc are. Once you have a sense of what you want and what you don't want, that's when you start designing your own adventures. That said.....it can be liberating to just jump in and make stuff up, because let's face it, sometimes you get better results when you don't know what you're not supposed to do! But if you're going to play in the D & D universe, they do have a really comprehensive role playing system. Do you really want to re-invent the wheel? Pathfinder has tried to develop a role playing game with a different system but the two systems - D & D and Pathfinder are so similar...I actually can't even think of the major differences. I guess D & D has Cleric characters while Pathfinder has Monk character, that's about it off the top of my head. I can't think of anything I would call a significant difference. EDIT: BTW, welcome to the forums! I almost forgot that.....ha. I hope you explore and find some areas that help you with your game(s)
I'm back again - and I want to echo what both Lazaares and Cdn Writer said (as well as the feedback I received from my fellow Mods.) We're certainly set up here at Writers' Forum to help you develop aspects of your plot, character development, setting development, etc. And we also have Fantasy listed under By The Genre, and By Writing Form. We also have a Role Playing Game section (see below) ...although that's for writing and playing actual Role Playing Games here on the forum for fun, not for general development of commercial gaming. (Although you might want to check that section out.) What we're not set up for is helping you develop your storyline into a commercially viable game. There are forums for that sort of thing, a few of which Cdn Writer suggested. We are happy to help you develop a storyline, but after that, I'm afraid you'll need other help from other sources to turn it into a real game. Within those perimeters, you're more than welcome to ask for ideas in the section that seems most pertinent to your queries. Setting Development, Character Development, Plot Development, etc. Read through those sections and see if any of the questions already asked can help you out. If not, feel free to ask your own. In order to help you get oriented and get settled on the forum, here are a couple of links I strongly recommend that you read at the start, if you haven’t already. They will give you a good idea of how we operate : New Member Quick Start Forum Rules You will notice in the New Member Quick Start that in order to post your writing in the Workshop area—the only area of the forum where you are allowed to post your writing and ask for feedback—you will need to do at least two critiques for other people, in exchange for receiving feedback on one of your own pieces of work. This site is designed around the concept of members helping each other out by ‘paying it forward’—through our two-for-one critique system. So do two critiques, THEN you can post something of your own. This advance 2:1 ratio lasts as long as your membership here—although it is your own responsibility to keep track of your own ratio. The software doesn't keep track of it for you, beyond your first two critiques. In order to help you get started doing critiques, here is a link to a good article written by one of our former moderators: https://www.writingforums.org/threads/constructive-critiques.20627/ One of the popular areas of our forum is our contest section. There is a monthly contest running for Short Stories, Flash Fiction and Poetry. You can enter these ongoing contests, even as a new member. And we really encourage you to visit the site, read the current entries, and vote for your favourite when the voting period starts. This means a lot to the people who have written these entries. And it will also give you a good idea of what our members are capable of writing. https://www.writingforums.org/writing-contests/ While the Role Playing Game section is not new, it’s being given a revamp. So if you are interested in playing and writing Role Playing Games, you might want to visit this section and get in on the fun. https://www.writingforums.org/threads/resurrecting-the-dead-rpg-section-rebuild.165055/ I hope you have fun getting to know us and let us get to know you, via the posts you make. Please feel free to explore the forum. There is a lot under the hood. This site map might help you find your way around more quickly than the menu bars do, so feel free to use it. https://www.writingforums.org/faq/ If you encounter any difficulties, don’t hesitate to contact me or one of the other moderators, whose names appear in yellow at the bottom of the Community page. We will be glad to help. Again, welcome! Cheers for now, Jan
Hi Jannert, thanks for the reply and for the help. Please take all the time that you need. I should clarify, I'm not necessarily needing help with the rules or mechanics of the role play, but my story telling abilities within it. I want to make sure that I am creating an immersive and descriptive world with an interesting plot and fascinating characters. I love role play and did a lot in online forums, and my favourite thing about them is crafting an interactive story with my players that really captivates them. I want them to feel as engaged as they would when reading a book, watching a movie, or playing video games. So I am looking for help in my scene descriptions, story telling, and character building.
Hi, thanks for the reply. I'm not looking for game design and monster ideas as much as advice on developing my own game design and ideas to be the most creative and engaging for my party that they can be. To clarify, I'm looking to make sure that I am building a story, world, and characters that are interesting and immersive for my players so that they get the same feeling of being transported into the story that one gets from reading a good book. I want help with my descriptions and language, plot development, etc. I am making my own role play campaign from scratch, not using a pre-made. I have DMd and played in many pre-made campaigns, and written my own campaigns to some degree in the past. I've also written and played multiple online role plays and other formats, and have played many different role playing systems. The role playing and ideas aspect isn't where I need the help, it is my execution of the descriptive writing that I'm mostly seeking advice on. Thank you very much on the welcome, I believe that I will. ^-^
Hi again, I am not looking to develop the story into a commercial game, though I may post it on D&D forums for free use as a campaign base if it gets good reception from my players. I'm mostly just looking for advice on setting, plot, and character development. I really just want to share the story I have written and get advice on making it a better and more immersive story. So if I was to post the story I'm currently working on into say the Short Story Fantasy writers workshop section, is it okay that it is in a format geared towards being a role play campaign guide instead of a short story? Or would I have to edit and reformat it so that it fits more into the short story format? Or perhaps is it most like a script? For instance, certain parts include prompts for character rolls or interaction. (If pc does this, this happens) or (dc 15 stealth check to avoid being noticed by guard). These things may make the story a bit annoying to read for people used to reading more traditionally novel structured stories. I'm just not sure if stuff like that is okay, or where it belongs. Thanks for the links and information, I'll look into it. I'll also start looking into the different forums and writing critiques. I'm excited to start getting into the forum to see what is out there.
Hi again - Well, from what you're saying here it sounds like we can certainly give you some interaction here on the forum. I confess, that whenever I see Role Playing Games mentioned, I tend to run a mile. I've never played one. (I'm old.) And I know absolutely nothing about how to write one. However, fortunately, my Mod colleagues and our Administrator DO know about RPG. Our Administrator gave me this general advice yesterday, so I'll pass it on here: .................... Regarding the "help develop an RPG" issue: There are three basic types of questions that can be asked in regards to making an RPG: How do I write/create X for an RPG? This should be answered in the relevant forum: Question about writing a Character will go in the Character Development section, etc. I'm writing an RPG in genre X, can you help me with Y? This question should be asked in the relevant By-The-Genre forum area, or in a forum area dedicated to Y How do I write an RPG? This would probably fit best in the By-Writing-Form area of the forum. If the questions are this type, we might want to consider adding a thread prefix for RPG in this part of the forum (let us know if this is the case? - Jan) .................... As far as posting your work for feedback ...I CAN help you with that one. Of course you have to fulfill Workshop requirements, as laid out in our New Member Quick Start and Forum Rules sections. So that means you'll need to be here 2 full weeks, make at least 20 posts around the forum AND do two critiques for other members before you can post your own work in the Workshop. This will give you plenty of time to get settled in, and once you've looked at what other people have posted in the Workshop, you'll have a much better idea of how/where your own piece might fit in. If you're still not sure, when the time comes, you can write your piece and send it to me via 'Start a Conversation.' I'll have a look at it, and pull my colleagues into the conversation as well, if need be. And I'm sure we can come up with a good place for you to post it, and get feedback. Anyway, thank you again for asking about this beforehand. It's always awkward when new members just plunge in, post their stuff any old how, and we end up having to delete it or remove it and explain. It's discouraging for a new member to know they've started off on the wrong foot. They are eager to dive in, but it's best to take a bit of time to get settled first. (This is why we have set the requirements the way we have.) Cheers, Jan
Me again. AHA! I think we've solved your problem of where to post your questions. This may look complicated, but it's easy, once you do it. There is now a specific place to post questions specifically about writing Games. It's in the By Writing Form section, and you can choose the Games Prefix. Don't be surprised if you're the first one there, because the category has just been created. But we have other members interested in writing for Games as well, so I'll try to direct them to the same place. I know it's clunky-looking, but at least it's there. ******************** We have limited ability on Writers' Forum to change our formatting to accomodate all genres and all writing forms. It would be ideal to have separate subforums in both our By The Genre category and By Writing Form specifically for memoirs/autobiographies, games-writing and the like. Some day we might. But in the meantime, our Technical Administrator has set up a workaround so you can label (and read) other offerings from other writers in a particular genre or writing form. The workaround is called "Prefix." NOTE: These categories are NOT for posting any of your work for review. That can only be done in the Workshop, after you've fulfilled Workshop requirements. By the Genre and By Writing Form are for asking specific questions related to writing autobiographies and memoirs, writing games, etc, and tagging the questions by subject matter. Go to the Community (main) page, browse the list in the top section (Creative Writing.) Near the bottom of the list you will find two categories: By The Genre and By Writing Form Here is how to start a thread question and get it tagged with your Prefix. Go to By the Genre and click on it Click on Post New Thread Choose the little arrow next to No Prefix Choose Autobiography (or one of 32 other genre options) Write your title and proceed or Go to By Writing Form Click on Post New Thread Choose the little arrow next to No Prefix Choose from: Flash Fiction Screenwriting Graphic Novels Autobiographical/Memoir Children’s books Essays Songwriting Games Write your title and proceed ……… To read all offerings with a particular prefix, go to: Thread Display Options at the bottom of the page choose the Prefix you want to look at choose Set Options the list should appear for you to browse …....... When you’re finished, you will probably want to re-do the Thread Display Options, and re-set to “Any”
