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View Full Version : TTRPG Module Design - an Exercise in Practical Exploration of the Medium



Segev
2016-03-10, 03:17 PM
In a combination of a desire to make a "lab practical" for the concept of module design that avoids or minimizes the dreaded railroad by specifically focusing on design ideal for the medium of TTRPGs, and a selfish desire to see an idea of mine that I've had rattling around my head for years but only partially succeeded at implementing, I am presenting a somewhat simplified shell/concept behind a campaign arc I have run a couple of times, but never to completion.

The purpose of the exercise here is to try to implement some of the ideas discussed in this thread (http://www.giantitp.com/forums/showthread.php?480855-The-railroading-problem-source-amp-solution), or to come up with solutions to the problems posed in it and implement those. In the process, I hope we can, as a group, develop one or a series of modules (or at least skeletal designs and design paradigms for the same) that are cool, fun, and well-crafted for the medium of TTRPGs.

I originally designed these for 3.5/PF mechanics, but a lot could be done with a 5e mindset. I am not sure how well it could work for non-D&D systems, but I invite people to be as system agnostic as they like, or to make suggestions with other systems in mind if they think it would help.

I both thank everybody who participates for their aid in bringing a concept of mine to life, and hope that it can serve as a fun and useful exercise for us to see if we can't provide some ideas for how to design modules specifically for the TTRPG medium while avoiding the pitfalls of assuming it's the same as cRPGs or novels or movies in ways that it is not.

Below is a repost from the linked thread:
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Well, let's take an example of an unfinished campaign arc that has two core "module" ideas, and will have a number of the railroading issues in its first inception. I can take this to a separate thread if Lorsa or others feel it too much distracts from the topic of the OP.

This is one I've run the first part of with moderate success in the past. It started with a desire to have a variant on the classic "rescue a princess from a dragon" scenario. That's effectively the last adventure/module in the planned arc. We'll get to details on that later.

First, the source of a lot of potential railroading problems: I have a general plot path in mind for some of my NPCs, but it can depend heavily on PCs helping it along in certain ways. Exploring ways to fix this can be a useful exercise, I think, but for now, bear with me as I describe the plot I start with in mind.

This adventure arc takes place in a relatively isolated duchy that recently - within the last six months - was ravaged by a viscious red dragon. The Duke's army either killed it or drove it off (depending on the rumor), but suffered tremendous losses in the process.

In the vacuum of the able-bodied men-at-arms, kobold bandits have been growing more and more bold, to the point of practically choking travel and trade within and into and out of the duchy. The Duke simply doesn't have the resources to police this much activity, let alone hunt down all the kobolds' lairs. Even with his only daughter, the little princess Elizabeth, vanished in one such bandit attack while she was travelling with guards to visit her cousin the crown prince, he can't do anything about it. So the party is recruited (whether by hook of being paid a bounty, or some other means) to solve the problem.

Extermination of all the kobolds would take a while, if it's even doable; they have lairs all over the place. In point of fact, most of them disbursed from the dragon's service after it was defeated, and went to ground.

In the first town the party gets to, they find things in dire straits, as if the town were under siege. The only thing keeping it on its feat is an elven merchant with some levels of bard who routinely braves the roads to sneak goods in and out past the kobold bandits. He's doing rather well for himself, obviously, but tries to keep people from starving with whatever he can. He even feeds orphan kids regularly from his own stores.

The orphans include some thieves who think they mgiht get more from stealing from the visiting party. If the PCs catch and detain the kid, they'll meet Tag, the oldest of the group of orphans who rely on the merchant's largesse, as he first attempts to rescue the thief and then berates him for his behavior. As I had a paladin in the party when I ran this, he was able to tell that both kids were Evil aligned, which, for this party, was a tip off that something was up. Kids radiating an active evil alignment is, after all, weird. Only the newest orphan to join the gang, Bert, doesn't radiate this evil.

Long story short, the kids were all infected were-rats (thus LE). Even Bert; Bert just hadn't voluntarily shifted and hadn't failed a saving throw under the full moon. The others had either failed the will save or voluntarily shifted, or both. Specifically, infected by the merchant-bard, who had also infected kobolds that he installed as chiefs over the individual lairs around the duchy. The kobold tribes are engaged in such excessive banditry out of fear of what he'll do to them if they don't keep paying him tribute. He has a lot of wealth under his house.

Defeating him at least stops the kobolds from engaging in quite so ruinous a level of banditry, allowing trade to resume at a more normal rate. Negotiation is also possible, once the bard is dealt with; anybody who can take out their boss's boss can intimidate them into going into hiding and backing off.

Tag actively supports finding a cure for the lycanthropy; he feels protective of and responsible for the younger kids, and some may even have families to which they could be returned in other villages if they weren't a danger to them. He, himself, likes the power that the curse gives him, and doesn't want to be cured, however. He is particularly supportive of curing Bert before the curse sets in completely.

This served as an impetus for the next quest: seeking a cure for lycanthropy to be used on dozens of people.

Bert is actually Elizabeth, who survived the attack but was bitten by the kobold chief before running off and hiding successfully. She's hiding her identity and is afraid she is infected, having recognized a lycanthrope when she saw one, and is little enough to pass for a boy. She hopes to be cured before going home. Tag discovered her secret sometime after she joined the gang of orphans working for the elf wererat. He's genuinely concerned for the kid, but also has the ulterior motive of hoping to improve his station in life by being taken on as a page or something at her father's castle if he helps rescue her. Lawful Evil, after all.

Something that shouldn't come out for a long while is that Tag, himself, is actually Tagarthun Driaxis, the juvenile red dragon the Duke's armies drove off. He escaped by donning a powerful magic item he had in his possession. The Ring of Humanity transforms ANYTHING that puts it on into a human, and makes it count as human for all purposes while the ring is worn. This is why he was vulnerable to the lycanthropic curse. This ring is mentioned a few times in his description, as he has a tendency to play with it, but won't take it off.

The concept behind this one is that Princess Elizabeth, now old enough to be betrothed, gets kidnapped by the dragon, who has returned! The Duke, in desperation, has offered her hand to anybody who can rescue her. With that would come being his heir, by virtue of being married to his only child. The party, obviously, is meant to join or perpetrate this rescue operation. Tag, who has become a servant or page in the castle staff and is good friends with (and probably crushing on) the Princess, volunteers to go along. He clearly wants that hand-in-marriage reward, as well as being genuinely concerned for her.

Sometime over the course of this, it should become clear that this dragon is not the same one as before. In fact, one possibility is that the party discovers upon slaying it that it transforms back into a kobold.

The truth of what's going on is that Tag, lusting for power and the Princess (as well as liking her as a friend; hey, LE people can have friends and loved ones!), has concocted this plot as a Batman gambit. He coerced one of the kobolds that used to work for him into impersonating the dragon via polymorph, specifically so he could quest to rescue Elizabeth and claim her hand.

Obviously, getting to the last adventure requires a number of things to have happened in the interim. Ideally, the party has made friends with the Duke, his daughter, and Tag over the course of intervening adventures. But that's hand-wavable if they left and came back. The other things that have to happen include the party getting Bert back to her father, allowing Tag to become an accepted part of Elizabeth's entourage or at least the Duke's household, and not discovering Tag's secret before the plot can thicken.

This means Bert can't die or be abandoned, it means the party can't kill or ditch Tag (though that can be solved if he's determined enough to follow whether they want him to or not, and they aren't willing to kill him), and probably a number of other things.

Run as a stand-alone, the last module can work with all the pre-established relationships existing by fiat, but run as intended, with potential for greater emotional investment by the players in these NPCs, it can presume a lot of railroading. Not the least being the effort to earn that emotional investment in the first place!

I have 2 other modules that I put together for this, centering around the pursuit of a cure for lycanthropy (which I determined involved tomatoes grown on a grave, wheat harvested under the light of a full moon, and cheese curdled by the gaze of a basilisk...and would be used to make grilled cheese sandwiches to dip in tomato soup) and a few other things. I can elaborate on them if people would like, but they honestly can be wholly replaced without changing the two main ones listed here.

So, I open it up to discussion. While I've spoiler-tagged stuff, it's mostly for brevity and organization. Please feel free to ruin any "plot twists" you like in developing this further. Let's see how we can reframe these with as little railroading as possible. How do we account for the possibilities that the players may take a DISlike for key NPCs, or not want to help them/have them along? How do we best set these up in the format we've been discussing, as modules for a TTRPG rather than frameworks for a novel (as they better serve right now)? My original intent was for it to run from level 1 in the first module's beginning point through at least the CR of a Juvenile red dragon by the end of the final module.

Thrudd
2016-03-11, 12:59 AM
What is the players' motivation in this adventure? If railroading is to be avoided, thought must be given to how and why they would want to be involved. The meta reason for players to do anything in D&D is that the circumstances will result in awarding points that will advance their characters in power. It must be clear to the players, and their characters, that a situation for character advancement/power gain exists within the scenario.

It is ok for the module to presume the characters have already formed an adventuring party and that they have already arrived at the location. However, some reason should be given as explanation/motivation. They have come here because it is a lawless place and they have heard bounties are being offered for kobolds and other monsters. They have come on the rumor that there might be a dragon hoard undefended by a dragon. A call has gone out that there is a reward for retrieving a missing princess.

The town's key locations, general layout and its important NPCs and the information they might impart should be described. A list of rumors and information which may be randomly provided by any NPC in town is helpful, too.

There should be a map of the surrounding territory, of course. Specify the location of some kobold camps, maybe lairs of a couple other random monsters, and the main adventure site/dungeon/dragon lair. A random encounter table for travel in the region, that probably includes several cases of kobold bandits of different configurations. You might have an encounter table for the town, as well, which will mostly be social things but could also include the thieves attempting to pick their pockets (if you don't want this to be an automatic encounter that happens the first day they are in town).

The next level of maps will be the interior of the lairs and the big dungeon. Keyed with monsters and encounters and treasure locations, wandering monster tables and describe the general behavior and motives of the inhabitants.

Finally, you may include the possibility that conditions in the town change depending on the players' actions. If enough kobolds are killed or driven away, people notice and things start to get better. The were rat actually may not be happy and will make a move against the players, like sending some of his rats to attack them.

If the players succeed at cowing the kobolds sufficiently, by clearing out the whole dungeon maybe, the truth about the head rat may be revealed to them. Then they will need to decide what to do about this.
If the goal of the module was retrieving the princess for reward, clues to her wherabouts will need to be planted out in the adventure sites somewhere. Maybe the last people to see her are being held captive somewhere and could reveal that she escaped capture and was seen heading back toward town.

As this is D&D, there should be occasion for the players to hunt for something in a dungeon-like place that happens to have treasure stored/hidden there for them to claim, even if that treasure is not the primary reason they are there. Kobolds stolen loot and leftover dragon hoard scattered and hidden by different monsters that have moved in are perfect. Forming relationships with NPCs in town should have an impact in the form of possibly getting temporary help, information that helps in the dungeon or with some other challenge. If they make enemies of someone, likewise it should make things a little harder.

The conclusion of the module should basically describe the consequences of various possible outcomes on the town and region and possibilities for further adventures.

ImNotTrevor
2016-03-11, 04:02 AM
I wonder what bits of Apocalypse World might lend a hand here... let me see if I can cobble together some things.

According to Apocalypse World Threat Types,

I would list the Kobold dens as a Landscape (Breeding Pit).
The purpose of a Breeding Pit is to Generate Badness. The moves a Landscape would make are...

• Reveal something to someone. (Ie, Secret Kobold raid plans found while searching)
• Display something for all to see. (Dead bodies strung up at the entrances, Symbols of kobold territory claim)
• Hide something. (Kidnap people, steal things)
• Bar the way. (Traps)
• Open the way. (Even more insidious traps, Kobolds with rivalries give you access to other tribe weakpoints)
• Provide another way. (The tunnels are shortcuts)
• Shift, move, rearrange. (Use literally)
• Offer a guide. (Kobold turncoat offers to guide you...probably not legit.)
• Present a guardian. (Duh)
• Disgorge something. (Raids, mutations, disease)
• Take something away: lost, used up, destroyed. (Use up resources, murder, break, extort)

Threat types are fun. Wish I had more time. I'll drop a few when I wake up tomorrow afternoon. :P

khadgar567
2016-03-11, 09:12 AM
Well one of the main problems is tag who is the previous big bad so
One he knows his layer like back of his hand which makes party put one and one together and somehow learn he is the dragon so he needs some good way to bribe the pcs to start a sub module where pcs secretly help him to become heir to the throne where duke becomes big bad for that part of module
And elf can be use to create a wild goose chase where party get stuck on a plane where no one nows even existed( need ideas for this) also use elf as secondry big bad who works for evil empire which wants princess as sacriface to evil god( now that creates aa good distraction so tag can become hero by helping pcs to save his lover