Matthew Colville doesn't say don't make your own adventure. He even creates a quick one in his Running the Game series. He just says for some making up everything can be daunting and hard so don't let that put you off from being a DM. Good video though :) Making the adventure fun for the DM is so true, I have read a few adventures that were so poorly put together I threw them away. Two things I wish adventures would do is: 1- Leave a few blank lines on every page for DM notes 2- Put the monster stat block on the page where you encounter that monster

@ZipperonDisney

3 жыл бұрын

Fair enough! Putting intentional black spaces for the DM is 🔥

I literally sat down today to write up an adventure in the hopes of publishing it one day to DM's Guild. Looking forward to the new video, I have a reminder set and everything!

@twilightgardenspresentatio6384

3 жыл бұрын

Yes!

I am at the baby mode of this: Encounter writing. Someday will graduate to full adventures. !Adventure

@4saken404

3 жыл бұрын

That's a pretty neat concept and something I think is sorely underdeveloped in the community. Would be great to have a book of encounters! With one or more per page depending on complexity. I've done something similar by having my random encounters be not just a dice roll and monster but something that takes up about an index card (and with several options to modify it). So instead of "rolling" for a random encounter there is a stack of cards that is shuffled and someone draws one at random (or perhaps two and the DM chooses which they like best, etc). This allows for a random element that the players feel like their luck matters with as well as makes it so the DM doesn't have to make up a bunch of stuff on the spot because most of the work is done ahead of time.

@ZipperonDisney

3 жыл бұрын

WINNER! 🥳 Please use this link to sign up for a 15th level one shot adventure to be played on stream! startplaying.games/join-game/1610485417274x738808240857415700

@bigbass4006

3 жыл бұрын

Same

@einCAA

2 жыл бұрын

That sounds like a neat concept. Can you send me a link to your page?

I have no plan to write an adventure to be published, yet i watched the whole video and enjoye every second of it. Great work!

@ZipperonDisney

3 жыл бұрын

😎 Thank you!

Seriously, your channel has some of the best DM advice on KZread! You deserve way more subscribers

@ZipperonDisney

3 жыл бұрын

Glad you think so! ❤️ You can help out by doing the thing! 😎

I made an adventure on the homebrewery and it was daunting at first but it ended up being some of the best self-training that I've done to be a better GM.

@ZipperonDisney

3 жыл бұрын

Right? I'd love to read it if you want to share the link

! Adventure I'm glad I've randomly found this channel. Some of the best concepts for DMing that I found online are from here. Great work and thank you!

!Adventure sounds like a brilliant time! Fun video, great outline for budding creators to latch onto. Will definitely put some of these tips to use!

Thank you so much for the video! This has been a very valuable lecture.

!Adventure You bring up some good points, one thing that always bothers me running published adventures is that they are "just" that. I am always more interested in setting and hooks and I think it also helps the DM "improvise". When I know the environment (NPCs/factions motivations and assets) I can react to what my players do much more easily and with much more confidence but those are the things I often miss the most. Perhaps that the reason I focus on it so much is because of the way I run games myself but it's often a thorny nuisance in the sides of juicy story beats.

@ZipperonDisney

3 жыл бұрын

This is an interesting point too - is a good adventure one that let's the DM run their own adventure with it? Like I love Out of the Abyss, even though I'm never gonna run the campaign as written...

!Adventure Your comments on broad vs specific motivations for PCs really helped clarify that issue for me. I have a homebrew adventure I ran for my group, which considered publishing... the only problem being that it centered around a specific PC in my group trying to save their loved one who has been indoctrinated into a cult. Now I’m realizing that premise could easily be used for any PC with a suitable family member. The PCs may also be motivated by the gold the cult is hoarding. Or perhaps the local authorities have hired the PCs to investigate. Basically, you helped me realize that creating believable motivations for the PCs to go on an adventure is less complicated than I thought. Nice video all around, Zip!

!Adventure Another awesome video! I’ve been watching your DMing videos on repeat to prepare for my next session

@ZipperonDisney

3 жыл бұрын

That makes me really happy :) I'm so glad you enjoy them and find them useful!!

Thank you for this one, Zip. Writing for each other IS this community. We create and tell stories together.

This has some great nuggets of wisdom for any DMs honestly, not just those adventure writing. I loved the point about there being a big difference between the players not knowing what's best to do next vs what they "should" do next. Definitely gonna keep that pinned on my wall while I do adventure prep. Also would love to be in on the one-shot. !Adventure

@ZipperonDisney

3 жыл бұрын

Glad you enjoyed it! I think there might be a whole vid on that idea and Red Herrings.

@GapCatalogue

3 жыл бұрын

@@ZipperonDisney Yes please! Would definitely watch that. I often want to add an element of mystery to my games, including some misdirection, but that's very hard to pull off well.

Just love your videos man keep up the great work!

@ZipperonDisney

3 жыл бұрын

Glad you like them!!! ❤️❤️

Just today got the spark that will hopefully become my first designed adventure so excellent timing on this video! !Adventure

!Adventure Very good advice! Nothing worse than running an adventure where the writer seems to be trying to hide stuff from ME. ...Also for the love of god if your adventure includes a "baby" anything idc how ugly gross or dangerous it is please put in what happens when players inevitably try to keep it...because that is the one time I will accept "when the characters attempt to.." in the adventure lmao

@ZipperonDisney

3 жыл бұрын

😜

!Adventure This was very helpful- I've been at an impasse as a DM trying to create a transition into the next arc, and was a bit lost! I'll be watching this a few more times! :-)

@ZipperonDisney

3 жыл бұрын

Excellent! You could start off with a bang a al Critical Role season 1 with the chroma conclave?

@jamesaolsen1196

3 жыл бұрын

@@ZipperonDisney Oh I've seen every episode of CR and just ran a successful arc, but am struggling with the transition into the new arc, new players that seem to need spoon feeding, and ADHD. The challenge is boiling down the hours of input I've absorbed making sure I have the necessary elements for each session. It's been successful so far... up until last night. Will continue to covet your vids, comments, and suggestions. :-)

!Adventure Thanks for the tips! I love homebrewing and I have been interested in publishing some of my adventures/settings. I'm going to take this advice to heart.

!Adventure This was inspiring. The advice is great but what really hit me was that intro. I've had that same thought that with some many published adventures why would the world need me to add another one to the pile. I am indeed part of the creative ecosystem and maybe my mad ideas could keep it healthy. Thank you!

@ZipperonDisney

3 жыл бұрын

I'm so glad that struck a chord with you! Creation is good for the soul :)

!Adventure SUPER useful tips. I agree about reading other published adventures. I've learned so much about adventure structure just by reading Lost Mine.

@ZipperonDisney

3 жыл бұрын

Glad it was helpful! I saw you were about to release a new adventure - I wanted to see if this could help you out :) Do you have a link to it?

@BeyondTheScreenRPG

3 жыл бұрын

@@ZipperonDisney Yep! The new adventure (along with the free one shot adventure from last month) can both be found in here: www.patreon.com/posts/45633538

Thanks for the reminder on info-text. I forget when I take notes that I have a whole mental reference keyed to those notes that nobody else has access to. Doing the work means writing it out clearly.

@ZipperonDisney

3 жыл бұрын

This sooooo much! Especially after doing a lot of revisions - make sure everything you think is in the text actually is in the text!

!Adventure All really good things to keep in mind. They all seem pretty intuitive, but I've seen a lot of DMs, myself included, neglect them in their game design process. One thing that I've been trying to work on more is keeping my over arching idea simple and easy to follow, while still dynamic with multiple meaningful options. Which is a novel goal but so easily muddied. Thank you so much for the tips and your insight on the subject.

@ZipperonDisney

3 жыл бұрын

Glad you got something out of it :) I think the One Big Thing with lots of little tie ins works super, super well. Let me know how it goes for you if you try to work it in

@ZipperonDisney

3 жыл бұрын

WINNER! 🥳 Please use this link to sign up for a 15th level one shot adventure to be played on stream! startplaying.games/join-game/1610485417274x738808240857415700

!Adventure This has been amazing advice. i have been toying around with writing my own adventure and it has felt so disjointed. I see where I need to tighten it up. Thank you

"A certain DnD youtuber with much better hair than I" So funny that we all immediately know who you're referring to.

Great video! But can you explain the relevance of the Foundations of Parasitology textbook? Or, can you make a video about how to incorporate personal expertise into adventure design?

@ZipperonDisney

3 жыл бұрын

Inspiration ☠️

Really excellent! Not just saying this but you’re thoughts on this subject are a level above most D&D content creators on this platform.

@ZipperonDisney

3 жыл бұрын

Thank you! That's why it takes so long to put out a video - gotta think of new, different ideas!!

@irishthump73

3 жыл бұрын

@@ZipperonDisney well just keep doing what you do!

! Adventure Good adventure writing sounds like good writing as well. Supplying the DM with organization graphics and timelines helps to keep the big picture in mind.

@ZipperonDisney

3 жыл бұрын

Totally agree! Is it Storm King and Avernus that do that?

!Adventure great video, as always!

Although I've been playing/DMing D&D since Basic/AD&D I'm relatively new to 5E (I only started around 2018). I've homebrewed adventures in the past but this time I want to publish one in DMs Guild so I'm writing it with GM Binder. I'm realizing it's quite the feat to write a big adventure (starting at 5th level and goes to 10th level) -- luckily I'm an artist with background in publishing layout. My adventure is set in Waterdeep so I used my library of past edition source books because I've found 5E Forgotten Realms source is very lacking compared to 2E and 3.5E books. Some of the issues that I had you had mentioned: - How to hook the players to do the adventure? Not every PC is good-aligned and selfless. - Player agency -- I have the general plot but as we all know players NEVER do what DMs plan for them, especially in a non-linear non-dungeon setting.

!Adventure Great video once again. For the conciseness and freshness it offers, this channel is critically undersubscribed.

@ZipperonDisney

3 жыл бұрын

Welcome back! (I think so too hehe)

!Adventure great video, thanks!

Awesome vid!!!!

@ZipperonDisney

3 жыл бұрын

Thanks!! :)

!adventure Such a good video! Definitely some fine lines to toe when writing adventures, but I think I might try my hand at it soon.

@ZipperonDisney

3 жыл бұрын

Go for it!

!Adventure And here’s what I do to design adventures, I look at what the bad guy wants to accomplish, this lets me see what they will be doing as well as their minions, so I have a family tree looking chart that ends with the basic quest available to the party, but I describe them with how they would be noticed by the people, examples Lights on the shore- for bad guys looking for artifact where they leave no witnesses Quakes in the city- a cult is excavating under the city to build a city wide magic circle to sacrifice the town for a large nexromantic ritual speaking to vecna

Curious, are you on the start playing page?

@ZipperonDisney

3 жыл бұрын

Not yet - I'm only doing the one game for now

Do all adventures have to railroad?

!Adventure that sponsor looks pretty interesting

I make sure my players not only affect the world with their actions but they change them with their decisions. They see their decisions make positive (or occasionally negative) change

What you describe is so much less of an issue when you don't make adventure plots, but adventure sites. Have interesting stuff happen and tell your players to choose their own goals (or in case tell the DM to relate this to their players). I have tried to run 'plots' like the Lost Mines of Phandelver and it just doesn't work because it is written as if the players are supposed to experience the all scenes. Nothing happens until the players interact with it, OR everything has already happened and there is nothing the PCs can do about it. Honestly, I believe you simply cannot respect player agency and have a plotbased adventure.

!Adventure Oh boy, crossing my fingers :)

No Secets! ;-) you do great videos. Such small errors don't matter. Keep Cool And Carry On.

@ZipperonDisney

3 жыл бұрын

D'oh! The text effect editor doesn't have a spell chack ;)

I misunderstood the title of this video 😂 I thought it meant writing an adventure for a party of people who have all DMed 😅 Good stuff though, and relevant regardless 👍

@ZipperonDisney

3 жыл бұрын

Interesting idea though...

!ADVENTURE Solid video but what about "boxed text" such a classic part of Adventures, also use many "rumors" but they actually all lead to the same one or two options write them to appeal to different "classes instead of character whimsy"

@ZipperonDisney

3 жыл бұрын

Boxed text is a whole topic of its own. I'm a fan, but I totally get why folks hate it!

@ZipperonDisney

3 жыл бұрын

WINNER! 🥳 Please use this link to sign up for a 15th level one shot adventure to be played on stream! startplaying.games/join-game/1610485417274x738808240857415700

"doesn't survive encountering the players". I swear, it wasn't supposed to be difficult. It sure looked straight forward to me. And yet. Tpk. What? How? The only elements that weren't planned originally, was the pile of dead giant snakes at the entrance that the players staked open. Which in turn attracted large predators into the citadel. So, can anyone help me? I had the gate staked closed, because the scouting party intended to return and didn't want a bunch of large predators inside when they returned. Why did the party stake it open? I asked. The only answer I got was to allow any large monsters to leave. But, if they expected there to be large monsters inside, why were they surprised to find one? They did know there were large monsters outside. 😵‍💫 So, why wouldn't one come in?

@ZipperonDisney

Жыл бұрын

That's how players do

@beverleybee1309

Жыл бұрын

@@ZipperonDisney how on earth do you plan for such things?

!Adventure It was a good vid!

!Adventure

thx I didn't want to know that about hoard of the dragon queen before playing it. (I'm listening to this while doing other stuff, I couldn't react in time)

You named dropped him, but have you ever read any of Mike Shea's adventures? (Fantastic Adventures & Ruins of the Grendleroot). He does a really neat and DM-friendly thing: he puts the secrets & clues up front as bullet points. They're the connective tissues of the adventures, the things the PCs can learn which are meaningful and help advance the story. Very clear and gives the DM the pertinent information about the adventure before it starts getting into the weeds. Plus it's great for when you only have limited time to prep or need to refresh your memory. I guess the downside is the adventure is putting more of the burden on the DM to make these secrets dramatically satisfying, but I'd rather that than not understanding the intended motivations for the players or NPCs! Had a real uphill battle with some of the later sections of Storm King's Thunder, for example.

@ZipperonDisney

3 жыл бұрын

I've read Vault of the Draco Lich by him, and heck yes, the bullet info makes things super easy when refreshing yourself!

!Adventure :-)

!Adventure ♥️

!ADVENTURE

@ZipperonDisney

3 жыл бұрын

WINNER! 🥳 Please use this link to sign up for a 15th level one shot adventure to be played on stream! startplaying.games/join-game/1610485417274x738808240857415700

Was this video called "Writing D&D Adventures for Other DMs"?

@ZipperonDisney

3 жыл бұрын

Yes! I changed the title; KZreadr gotta KZread

Why would you bother running adventures written by someone else? In my 25 years of playing and running rpg's I've never run an adventure published by someone else. And now I sound like an old moonshine saying "It is real if you make it yourself."

!Adventure

!ADVENTURE

!Adventure

!Adventure

!Adventure

!Adventure

!Adventure