Tag Archives: creativity

And *Then* What Happened?: Using Adventure Seeds/Hooks/Starts/Ideas

Posted on 11 November 2010 | 1 comment

Okay, now what? Has this happened to you: you’ve seen something that looks intriguing in a list of adventure ideas (often called “adventure seeds”), you’d love to use in your game, but you have no idea how to actually build an adventure from it? If so, you’re not alone.

The biggest trouble many GMs have is “What comes next?” Okay, you’ve got the start of an adventure, but what happens from there? How much information do you need to create before you present your idea to your players? That depends on your players.

You could take the seed and present it to your group as is. If you’ve got a really imaginative group, they’ll take it from there, coming up with a plot that you could never have thought of in your wildest dreams and having the time of their lives doing it. I’ve been lucky enough two have had not one, but two groups that were like this. All I had to do was drop an idea and they’d pick it up and run with it.

The upside of doing this is that you don’t have to do a lot of preparation and the players will take care of the “what comes next” problem all by themselves. The big down side is that you have to think fast on your feet, because you’re going to have make up NPCs, locations, and rewards (just to name a few things) on the spot. And you have to keep track of what you’ve told your PCs so the adventure stays internally consistent(Though I must admit, my groups know I run by the “seat of my pants” a lot of times and are willing to forgive my inconsistencies. If you have a group like this, treasure them, for they’re golden.)

So what do you do if you’re not the kind of GM who can create an eight-hour adventure out of (metaphorically speaking) chewing gum, a pocketknife, and a few leftover pizza crusts? There’s actually a process you can use to create an adventure from the simplest idea. Over the next several posts, I’ll detail each step along the way and illustrate it with several examples.

[Photo courtesy of Selma90 via Flikr Creative Commons 2.0 license]

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Barren Air: Preparing for Creative Downtimes

Posted on 4 November 2010 | 2 comments
Sample catalog card in the card catalog for Ra...
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One of the main questions I (and just about every other writer/artist/creative type) has been asked is “Where do you get your ideas?” I’ve always liked the answer given by Wendy and Richard Pini of Elfquest fame–that they had a six-pack delivered to their doorstep every morning from Ploughkeepsie.

Most of the advice you’ll hear tends to be along the lines of “Ideas are all around you; just keep your eyes open.” While this is true, it’s about as helpful as the advice that to be a success you need to “get more creative.” Get more creative. Great! Why didn’t I think of that?

If you’re like me, your creativity comes in waves. Some days, idea after idea just seems to tumble into my brain, so fast that I can barely keep up with the pace. Other times, I sit down to write or even plan my next game session and … pft. Nothing. Dry as a bone. At those times, I turn to a tool I’ve been using for almost 20 years now … my idea file.

For me, the idea file is an index card box with one idea per card. When an idea hits me, especially if I can’t act on it right now, I write it down on a card and stick it in the box. I usually carry a few cards with me to catch ideas when I’m away from my desk. At the very least, I keep small notebooks and a few pens with me (one set in my purse, one in my game bag–which also subs as a portable office–one in my car) so I can capture an idea before I lose it. Then, when I get home, I transfer those ideas to cards (one idea per card) and stick them in my box.

My box has no order. I’ll often label the idea card with a loose category, such as “adventure idea”, “magazine article”, “blog post”. Not too specific, since that can kill creativity, but enough so that when I look back on it later, can job my memory as what I thinking. I’ve also found it helpful to write a sentence or two about the idea, if that comes to me. The exact nature of the file really doesn’t matter. As long as it works for you and you can find your ideas, it could be anything from a notebook to a computer file. I use index cards because I’m a very tactile person and I like having something I can physically handle.

Then, when the inevitable creative dry spell comes, I can pull an idea out of the box. I like my box because I can pull an idea out at random, or I can look through the cards and find something that inspires me.

When the ideas just don’t come, it’s important to remember that creative dry spells are a part of the natural process. Just because you don’t have any ideas today, doesn’t mean you won’t tomorrow. But when deadlines are coming (whether that’s a article deadline or your next game session) and ideas aren’t, it helps to have something you can pull out of the box to get you along.

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