Coidzor
2016-03-20, 01:23 PM
Those of you to whom Riptide isn't just a badly out of date part of my signature, well, probably ought to stop reading.
So I've finally gotten around to a first adventure rather than just tweaking other people's work, after reading up on the Three Clue Rule and node-based scenario design over on The Alexandrian.
I'm interested in getting some extra eyes on this without just spoiling the whole thing by running it by my player base, because there's a few areas where I'm a little stumped or think that a fresh set of eyes might see a problem where I don't notice one.
Follows roughly a start point, then two layers each of 3 nodes that point down to a probable climax and have one or two side nodes or epilogue/wrap-up nodes.
A to C all point at one another to some extent and D to F, then they funnel towards G, with H being a side node that I may cut or alter to have more prominence and I being a sort of "what if they screw up somehow" node that also covers the possibility of a bit of dungeoncrawl.
(Edit:. Right, the start, the PCs are brought in by an archmage who is one of the chief ministers of the realm as additions to an expedition. Their first task is to find a navigator who has gone AWOL from a secret location where they were building a small group of unregistered ships to mount an expedition to find out what happened to a lost fleet while political wrangling is delaying the official investigation.
This navigator knows something in addition to the existence of the secret ships and the mission and they don't want him getting word out for coin or capture by spies which have started being more active lately(there's a new generation of overeager understudies that have just gotten into fieldwork, mostly), so someone already in the know is preferable to investigate.
Scrying is currently a bit off-kilter, so the archmage doesn't yet want to spend a lot of time finding the AWOL guy when he has adventurers to test with this quest.)
Starts with the Archmage questgiver then 3 leads, 2 from the dossier on the sailor(A. Home address and C. His last posting to a ship in Port) and 1 from apprentice scrying(B. His favorite dive bar). Might make B require asking around in the district to find or be pointed at more directly by the other two introductory nodes.
A. His Mama's house would have clues about D. A wedding chapel, E. a locket w/ a picture of Rosa and a love letter, and F. an encounter with loan collectors which might turn violent.
B. The Anchor and Pike bar could yield a bar brawl or clues about D. Having been seen with a priestess, E. It being known he's involved with Rosa, and F. That he took out a shady loan and was trying to pay it back in a hurry.
C. The AMS Flagon's Fortune, a wine merchantman he last served on, could yield a half-finished love letter to Rosa about eloping soon(clues to D & E) as well as point the PCs back at A&B due to his mama's boy dedication and mostly hanging at the bar. Possibly the captain might indicate he'd pressed about an advance due to money trouble before their last voyage pointing towards F.
D. Mother Aurelia of the Chapel of Everlasting Nuptials knows the elopement time [G] and has some paper trail indicating it if she can't be convinced to talk. If shadowed will go to A. & inform mama of elopement time. Has his home address [A] and the address of Rosa[E]as well.
E. Rosa Magorny is on edge from having spotted a man following her, his distinctive looks make it possible to track the novice spy back to H. Rosa naturally knows B, A, D, and G, and is willing to share that info in that order of level of trust.
F. Schuyler and Sons Loans. A crime syndicate front. Could be the site of a trap laid for the PCs or they could start a fight. They know about A through E and know there's an elopement planned. Were offered a handsome sum if they acquire the sailor's info instead of the last of the money he owed, in some communiqués pointing towards H.
G. The Elopement itself, likely a battle, possibly involving Rosa and/or the sailor being kidnapped. Clues to H or I. Could end adventure there for the most part.
H. The spyhouse, compromised due to the rush they're in and the over-eagerness of the newbies. Possible boss battle, possible social encounter. Head spy might actually be working for one of the other backers of the top secret project and able to be convinced to let it go or contact his superior about it.
I. Crimeboss manor: heavy security sneaking mission, but easy to find out that the legitimate servants and groundskeepers are handled by members of the family too inept to run the crime empire.
Node H seems a bit weak in terms of ways I have covered of ending the harassment.
Node I seems a bit tenuous since I'm not certain who I'd have attacking the wedding chapel.
I don't have their quarry's hiding place or them successfully tracking him down accounted for. I think I might have two opportunities to stake out the church or fiancée to track him down to account for that.
I want to give a little bit of fleshing out their quarry before they've even met him, but I'm not quite certain where to slip in those bits of flavor.
I'm still hazy on the nature of the debt and why he had to try to pay it off before getting married, as well as how exactly to tie the spies to the crime organization.
So that's about it, any thoughts or clarifying questions would be appreciated.
So I've finally gotten around to a first adventure rather than just tweaking other people's work, after reading up on the Three Clue Rule and node-based scenario design over on The Alexandrian.
I'm interested in getting some extra eyes on this without just spoiling the whole thing by running it by my player base, because there's a few areas where I'm a little stumped or think that a fresh set of eyes might see a problem where I don't notice one.
Follows roughly a start point, then two layers each of 3 nodes that point down to a probable climax and have one or two side nodes or epilogue/wrap-up nodes.
A to C all point at one another to some extent and D to F, then they funnel towards G, with H being a side node that I may cut or alter to have more prominence and I being a sort of "what if they screw up somehow" node that also covers the possibility of a bit of dungeoncrawl.
(Edit:. Right, the start, the PCs are brought in by an archmage who is one of the chief ministers of the realm as additions to an expedition. Their first task is to find a navigator who has gone AWOL from a secret location where they were building a small group of unregistered ships to mount an expedition to find out what happened to a lost fleet while political wrangling is delaying the official investigation.
This navigator knows something in addition to the existence of the secret ships and the mission and they don't want him getting word out for coin or capture by spies which have started being more active lately(there's a new generation of overeager understudies that have just gotten into fieldwork, mostly), so someone already in the know is preferable to investigate.
Scrying is currently a bit off-kilter, so the archmage doesn't yet want to spend a lot of time finding the AWOL guy when he has adventurers to test with this quest.)
Starts with the Archmage questgiver then 3 leads, 2 from the dossier on the sailor(A. Home address and C. His last posting to a ship in Port) and 1 from apprentice scrying(B. His favorite dive bar). Might make B require asking around in the district to find or be pointed at more directly by the other two introductory nodes.
A. His Mama's house would have clues about D. A wedding chapel, E. a locket w/ a picture of Rosa and a love letter, and F. an encounter with loan collectors which might turn violent.
B. The Anchor and Pike bar could yield a bar brawl or clues about D. Having been seen with a priestess, E. It being known he's involved with Rosa, and F. That he took out a shady loan and was trying to pay it back in a hurry.
C. The AMS Flagon's Fortune, a wine merchantman he last served on, could yield a half-finished love letter to Rosa about eloping soon(clues to D & E) as well as point the PCs back at A&B due to his mama's boy dedication and mostly hanging at the bar. Possibly the captain might indicate he'd pressed about an advance due to money trouble before their last voyage pointing towards F.
D. Mother Aurelia of the Chapel of Everlasting Nuptials knows the elopement time [G] and has some paper trail indicating it if she can't be convinced to talk. If shadowed will go to A. & inform mama of elopement time. Has his home address [A] and the address of Rosa[E]as well.
E. Rosa Magorny is on edge from having spotted a man following her, his distinctive looks make it possible to track the novice spy back to H. Rosa naturally knows B, A, D, and G, and is willing to share that info in that order of level of trust.
F. Schuyler and Sons Loans. A crime syndicate front. Could be the site of a trap laid for the PCs or they could start a fight. They know about A through E and know there's an elopement planned. Were offered a handsome sum if they acquire the sailor's info instead of the last of the money he owed, in some communiqués pointing towards H.
G. The Elopement itself, likely a battle, possibly involving Rosa and/or the sailor being kidnapped. Clues to H or I. Could end adventure there for the most part.
H. The spyhouse, compromised due to the rush they're in and the over-eagerness of the newbies. Possible boss battle, possible social encounter. Head spy might actually be working for one of the other backers of the top secret project and able to be convinced to let it go or contact his superior about it.
I. Crimeboss manor: heavy security sneaking mission, but easy to find out that the legitimate servants and groundskeepers are handled by members of the family too inept to run the crime empire.
Node H seems a bit weak in terms of ways I have covered of ending the harassment.
Node I seems a bit tenuous since I'm not certain who I'd have attacking the wedding chapel.
I don't have their quarry's hiding place or them successfully tracking him down accounted for. I think I might have two opportunities to stake out the church or fiancée to track him down to account for that.
I want to give a little bit of fleshing out their quarry before they've even met him, but I'm not quite certain where to slip in those bits of flavor.
I'm still hazy on the nature of the debt and why he had to try to pay it off before getting married, as well as how exactly to tie the spies to the crime organization.
So that's about it, any thoughts or clarifying questions would be appreciated.