Mano a Mano:Adventures

Adventures

The action of a role-playing game plays out in a setting called an adventure. An adventure could be a single battle or a series of battles, a haunted castle full of secrets, a story which the players can influence through their characters' actions, or an open-ended scenario where players choose which goals their characters work toward. A campaign is a complex adventure which requires players to meet together for several sessions of playing, or a series of simple adventures using the same characters.

Creating Adventures

To create an adventure, you'll need a system for recording ideas and organizing information such as a notebook and pencil or a word processor. You may need hex mats or graph paper to create maps. Templates, occupations, ability and equipment lists can be designed on paper or using office software. Template worksheets and compact templates can be printed or copied for creating templates. Equipment lists can be created using detailed descriptions of each item or a single equipment list. Character sheets should be prepared for important non-player characters, especially characters the player-characters can fight. (See Character Creation.)

Some adventures are a sequence of challenges like an obstacle course which forces the characters to follow a story line, but letting the story develop naturally in an environment that encourages the players to play their characters creatively is usually more engaging.

Sourcebooks

A sourcebook is a document with information for creating and playing adventures. A sourcebook can contain a complete adventure or compaign. A more general sourcebook might describe a setting used in several adventures, such as a sourcebook for generic fantasy adventures. A more specific sourcebook might focus on one detail of a setting, like a book with extra monsters for a scenario. Some sourcebooks provide material for adventures in multiple settings. For example, a sourcebook for characters with thieving and burgling skills might apply to modern adventures and fantasy campaigns.

A sourcebook containing a complete adventure will include a detailed description of the setting, what kind of characters the the players should control, descriptions and character sheets for non-player characters, maps and diagrams, and rules for how the action of the adventure should play out. The sourcebook may contain a detailed inventory of the items in every room and the goods for sale in every store. A good adventure sourcebook should not leave the GM in a situation where he has to invent new material during the game.