I Want to Crush Your Dreams.

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AuthorTopic: I Want to Crush Your Dreams.
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And revive BoA while I'm at it.

From the BoA Chat yesterday...

See, I've made some observations while looking at the boards, and I've concluded that:

1. People want to design.
It's true- people seem to have no shortage of inspiration, always discussing unmade scenarios and how complete they are. This is a good thing.

2. Scenarios are not getting done.
People are not finishing scenarios anymore. Okay, sure- the 3 or 4 remaining designers are churning out *something*, but there hasn't been an actual release (nevermind a good one) in a long time.

3. Blades of Avernum is basically going to pot.
Scenarios are not getting done, thus people are not playing scenarios, thus there is nothing for the community to do. Nuts. Which is confusing- plenty of people talk about making scenarios, and yet no results.

4. People need to have smaller focuses. Much smaller.
This is where I crush your dreams. If this is the first scenario you're making and you plan for it to be more than 20 towns, it will not get done. If you are a new designer and have to give "status reports" about a scenario, it will not get done.

The solution is to aim for more reasonable goals. In the manual, Jeff says:
"People are often surprised at how much work and concentration it takes to make adventures. It takes time to make good stuff. I strongly suggest, for your first adventure, aiming small. A few outdoor sections. Ten or twenty towns and dungeon levels. Don't try to make the world-changing epic until you really understand what you're getting into. It is better to release and share one small adventure than to make half of a huge one that nobody ever sees."
He is right.

Which is why I have a plan for all new designers:

A. Write a paragraph that, in 2-5 sentences, describes your entire scenario. Like a good thesis, it should describe what you will be doing and nothing more. For example, an intro paragraph would be:

"Party enters Green Valley to assist settlement in fending off goblins. Party goes to goblin lair and meets king. Party finds GV's mayor's seal on a note to goblin king. Mayor intends to bring military presence into GV to bolster its economy. Party kills mayor."

You can play through this scenario- it is missing some details, such as the option for the party to merely kill the goblin king, not notice the note, get 100 gold from the mayor and leave the valley. It doesn't say how the goblin king fights, nor which script it uses. However, this paragraph says what the scenario will do. It outlines the scenario and gives the designer a scope that is as small as it is reasonable.

I could have written introductory paragraphs for Bandits or RoR-BoA, but that would have been too complex for what I am intending.

B. Make your scenario.

This is the difficult part. Preferably, your scenario will be small enough to do in 1-2 outdoor sections and no more than 4 towns. One dungeon, maybe 2 floors of it. One town. I want the scope to be miniscule.

A bunch of designers will be ready to help you out if you do not know what to do. Do not hesitate to ask questions.

Finish your scenario.

C. Revise it.

The same designers who will help you will also not hesitate to help you revise your scenario. For instance, if all the mayor does is surrender peacefully, rather than summon the town guard, designers could help you make a dramatic final sequence the party has to escape the town. Maybe toss in some very high-level soldiers who the party will have to work to escape from. Perhaps have the party get less of a reward at the end from offended beureaucrats for killing the mayor. Who knows.

D. Release it.

The final step. Everyone benefits.

My goals in organizing this effort are three-fold:

I. New scenaros will be released.

The most obvious result. Depending on how many people agree to follow this setup, we will have a good number of new scenarios.

II. People will regain enthusiasm about the medium.

If there are new scenarios, people will play these scenarios. There are enough people minimally present who would do this given the chance that, given a batch of new scenarios, a revival could be possible. (And heck, maybe they might themselves start designing! One can only hope.)

III. A batch of new people will know what it means to release something.

This is the most elusive but also the most important result- the number of people who do this will know exactly what it means to make a scenario to its end. When Pat Doe makes Scenario A, s/he is that much more likely to be able to finish Scenario B. If BoA has 4-8 more new designers, that is a designing base upon which things can be built.

So if you're interested, let me know. Post here saying that you're interested. 4-8 people would be a nice total, but if more people are interested, that's great. Post here. (You can even post your intro paragraphs in this topic if you want, but I'd suggest thinking it over for a while.)

I plan on having a chat some time soon on AOL Instant Messenger, so knowing your time zones can help with planning out a time.

So far, Stareye, Ephesos, Imban and Yours Truly have enlisted their aid. (Not sure if Kel is in either- don't remember if I got his response or if he had already left.) If you're a designer and don't mind giving extensive feedback to newer designers (I'm looking at you, Ash), feel free to post here also.

If you want to be a scenario designer, that's great- just have enough faith to let proven designers share some wisdom about it.

(And as a sidenote, while doing this doesn't mean permanently abandoning any epic[s] you might have planned, it does mean that your skills will advance to the point where said epic[s] will look shoddy by comparison! Be forewarned.)

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Posts: 6936 | Registered: Tuesday, September 18 2001 07:00
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I'd like to point out that Ash has been gone for a really long time. I sure hope he comes back, though.

Also, am I the only one who cares about reviving BoE? Yes, I know this is the BoA forum, but it seems like that the rest of the community only cares about BoA these days. I wonder why this is so. Well, I'd better get back to my BoE scenario.

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Posts: 626 | Registered: Monday, October 25 2004 07:00
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I just started a very small scenario which has one outdoor section and will have one town and one or two dungeons. It was mainly started to learn about the editor and I'm about a quarter of the way through the town. I'm nopt sure how quickly it will go with school, but I can probably get at least ten minutes a day in. The paragraph really is

Party lives in small isolated village and no one in the village knows anything of the outside world. The party is getting bored and wants to leave. The party's god, through prophet, offers to let them leave if they do 3 tasks. Party does tasks and in doing so finds that the god does not exist and the prophet is a liar taking advantage of the village. The party kills prophet(or something-that's the most obvious solution, but not neccessarily the best).

I'm on EST.

[ Thursday, January 05, 2006 13:03: Message edited by: Nicothodes ]

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Posts: 834 | Registered: Thursday, July 8 2004 07:00
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I'm not sure that I like the idea of three "quests" proving that the prophet's god doesn't exist. The quests, in order to do that, would have to be fairly complicated- I mean, would it just be books lying around? And if so, why?

There's no simple solution to that one. Why not have ONE task from the prophet?

And your ending... The vagueness isn't good. Why not have the Prophet exile the party for offending his god if they discover the "truth"?

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Posts: 6936 | Registered: Tuesday, September 18 2001 07:00
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I was thinking they do these three quests and then Zag will say "one more task..." Then this merchant guy stumbles into this valley. There's this guy in the village who's rebuilding his house and has a saw. When you ask him about it(there's no metal) he says he found it one day and assumed it was gift from Zag(the god). Then the merchant will say "Hey! That's my saw! I lost it a year ago(or something) while traveling". The the merchant will go on to tell you about the outside world and will mention magic(pretty much "for show") that sounds a lot like what Zama(the prophet) does when he communicates with Zag in front of others.

--------------------
Do not underestimate the power of the mechanical pencil.

Join the Dark side. We have cookies.

Played in:
Fiddler on the Roof
Bye Bye Birdie

"Hey, Patrick, feel this random pipe. It's squishy"-Nils
Posts: 834 | Registered: Thursday, July 8 2004 07:00
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Then what do the three quests have to do with the plot at all?

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The Empire Always Loses: This Time For Sure!
Posts: 9973 | Registered: Saturday, March 30 2002 08:00
The Establishment
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quote:
Originally written by Thuryl:

Then what do the three quests have to do with the plot at all?
Then it would be too short to be an interesting scenario, duh! :P

I agree with Thuryl, if the point of the scenario is to reveal the prophet a fake, one primary quest would be better. Of course, you could do three as long as each one revealed more and more of the truth.

Also, the prophet is obviously the main character of the game. Answer these questions about him:

1) Where is he from? What is his family history?
2) Why does he do what he does now and how did he get there?
3) What is his personality like? Does he have any quirks?
4) How does he connect with other characters in the story?
5) What are his interests, tastes, likes, dislikes, etc?

If you can answer these questions about all of the major characters in your scenarios, you will most likely make good characters as opposed to 2D cutouts with 1D personalities. You don't have to reveal everything about his character, but enough should bleed through to make him real.

If you want some irony, you could make the "real world" a horrible and war torn place with your isolated village an oasis. Upon uncovering the truth, you get banished away from your oasis forever, doomed to live in a decimated world.

A few things for you to ponder.

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Your flower power is no match for my glower power!
Posts: 3726 | Registered: Tuesday, September 18 2001 07:00
Law Bringer
Member # 4153
Profile Homepage #7
Nicothodes, having a merchant wander in doesn't seem very... sensical. It's too random. Instead, you could just have the party discover a spellbook belonging to the prophet. This could be accomplished through the party having to return a quest item to the prophet, and the prophet's convenient and temporary absence.

As for the reduced scenario plan, here's mine, since I need to take a break from DoK2 for a while: Party sent to small valley on a courier mission to the local empire fort, and once the delivery is made, a large bomb tears apart the biggest town in the area. Party is left to figure out who is responsible, either the Empire or a local group of rebels. (Inspiration is from the heavy-duty explosives being developed by the rebels and Empire in ASR)

And I'm running on CST.

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Gamble with Gaea, and she eats your dice.

I hate undead. I really, really, really, really hate undead. With a passion.
Posts: 4130 | Registered: Friday, March 26 2004 08:00
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quote:
Originally written by Ephesos:

Instead, you could just have the party discover a spellbook belonging to the prophet. This could be accomplished through the party having to return a quest item to the prophet, and the prophet's convenient and temporary absence.
Now there's an idea. It even suggests a moral dilemma; either kill the prophet and use your knowledge of his magic to replace him as leader of the village, or expose him as a fraud, earn the gratitude of the villagers, and move on.

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The Empire Always Loses: This Time For Sure!
Posts: 9973 | Registered: Saturday, March 30 2002 08:00
Master
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Profile Homepage #9
quote:
Originally written by Akai Hoshi:


4. People need to have smaller focuses. Much smaller.
This is where I crush your dreams. If this is the first scenario you're making and you plan for it to be more than 20 towns, it will not get done. If you are a new designer and have to give "status reports" about a scenario, it will not get done.

The solution is to aim for more reasonable goals. In the manual, Jeff says:
"People are often surprised at how much work and concentration it takes to make adventures. It takes time to make good stuff. I strongly suggest, for your first adventure, aiming small. A few outdoor sections. Ten or twenty towns and dungeon levels. Don't try to make the world-changing epic until you really understand what you're getting into. It is better to release and share one small adventure than to make half of a huge one that nobody ever sees."

My scenario contains 42 towns, of which two maybe not very necessary, and 9 outdoor sections. Okay, I confess, I had a period in which I really didn't want to even touch the scenario, but now its getting nearer and nearer the point were its finished. I only need to complete 1 towns and to code 6 or 7 towns. Now that I know what to do, that won't be so hard.

Mind you, when I started I had a rather small plan for a scenario with about 12 towns. then I got hooked on designing towns, and I had all these nice ideas and I liked drawing more and more custom graphics, so there you are. 42 towns.

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Posts: 3029 | Registered: Saturday, June 18 2005 07:00
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I'm up for that. One of the big factors putting me off design was the threat of getting totally stuck without anyone to talk to...

My paragraph then...

The party are sent by the Empire to a remote island where some portal experiments are taking place. The portal gets hijacked on the trial run and is taken over by demons/slithzerikai/bad guy. Party kills big bad guy, closes portal, saves day.

It's not much, sure, but it's small and do-able. Which is the whole point. I have setting, context and a fair amount of experience with the editor and scripting language.

I need to find a decent bad guy - demons are too... cliche. And they have no real reason for taking the portal. Apart from that though...

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And when you want to Live
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Posts: 2864 | Registered: Monday, September 8 2003 07:00
The Establishment
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Here are some questions that might help you?

1) What is the climate of the island? Rocky, arctic, tropical, etc.
2) Does anyone/anything live on this island before the Empire came? If so, who are they?
3) Are there any settlements previous to the Empire? Are they still inhabited or are the inhabitants extinct? If the latter, what is the backstory on that?
4) Why did the Empire select this island? Being remote is probably good enough but if you have anything to add such as a high density of magical crystals it would add.
5) Why is this teleporter there? Seems teleportation is pretty standard these days. Although having an experimental teleporter would be good. If you choose this, you might want to detail some of the experiments done.
6) Why does the bad guy take over the teleporter? Motivation may depend on who you select as the bad guy.
7) How does the take over ensue. Is it violent, or is it very subtle?
8) Why does the party arrive? To deal with the problems directly or for some other purpose and must deal with them after the fact?
9) How does it end? Do you end up killing the "bad guy" or is the "bad guy" not so bad after all and you let him/her/it achieve its goals. Do you have a choice in the matter?

A possible storyline:

1) The island is rocky, desolate, with areas of swamps and gnarled trees.

2) The island is home to several twisted wild creatures that inhabit the swamps. Also, it is home to a powerful shape shifter skilled in trickery and mind magic. There is also the ruins of a mysterious temple.

3) The shape shifter has a few lairs throughout the island. The temple was built by some race long extinct, although they were sufficiently skilled in magic.

4) The island was selected for its remote nature and for the high magical potential of the island. This is part due to the ancient inhabitants and also the shape shifter (although the Empire should not know of the shape shifter).

5) The teleporter is an experimental one. It is not used for transportation, but to study the magical theory behind teleportation. It is often used to probe the void and search for the possibilities of parallel dimensions. Arrival to the island is by ship.

6) The shape shifter (who originally lived on the mainland, was marooned here), although powerful, cannot escape the island. It feeds off of the magical potential here and the journey to anywhere through the ocean is too far to go by itself. It takes over the teleporter in hopes of using it to escape. However, it is not geared for traditional transport, so it must be modifed.

7) The shape shifter, skilled at mind magic, is slowly working on the mages turning them against each other. The process is slow, but mages are mysteriously murdering each other.

8) The party was sent here as a garrison to protect the mages from the wild creatures. The Empire does not know of the shape shifter. Not long after you arrive, the mages get very edgy. At the start of the scenario is the murder of the head mage by one of his apprentices.

9) The player discovers the identity of the shape shifter, but not before the mages get violent toward you and each other. The shape shifter wants to return to the mainland so it can find its family. You have the choice of helping it, or fighting it, pushing it into the teleporter and into the void.

Feel free to use as much or as little as you like. It only needs to be 1 outdoor section and maybe 6-8 towns and would make for a decent scenario if executed well. Anyway, let's hear your answers to those questions.

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Your flower power is no match for my glower power!
Posts: 3726 | Registered: Tuesday, September 18 2001 07:00
Shaper
Member # 3442
Profile Homepage #12
Stareye, thanks for the ideas... I had originally planned on setting it before portal technology became widespread... i.e before Avernum was discovered etc... but this sounds better!

quote:

1) What is the climate of the island? Rocky, arctic, tropical, etc.

I had planned on it being tropical - rain storms for atmosphere etc. The story wasn't great, so I was gonna flesh it out with cool things I picked up from films etc. Tropical I imagine.

quote:

2) Does anyone/anything live on this island before the Empire came? If so, who are they?

3) Are there any settlements previous to the Empire? Are they still inhabited or are the inhabitants extinct? If the latter, what is the backstory on that?

4) Why did the Empire select this island? Being remote is probably good enough but if you have anything to add such as a high density of magical crystals it would add.

Well it was a remote, uninhabited island, with rare crystal formations. It was magically scryed to check for life, and selected because of the unknown nature of the technology they were testing... This WAS the first magical teleportation ever. Although, with your advice/suggestions...

quote:

5) Why is this teleporter there? Seems teleportation is pretty standard these days. Although having an experimental teleporter would be good. If you choose this, you might want to detail some of the experiments done.

Already answered.

quote:

6) Why does the bad guy take over the teleporter? Motivation may depend on who you select as the bad guy.

7) How does the take over ensue. Is it violent, or is it very subtle?

My first thought was that this demon just saw a huge portal appear (Grah-Hoth??) and went through it, and killed people. This sucked. Does suck.

quote:

8) Why does the party arrive? To deal with the problems directly or for some other purpose and must deal with them after the fact?

They were sent to oversee it all. Poor story-wise, but they are level 1... Perhaps it's part of an apprentice, maybe a training op?

quote:

9) How does it end? Do you end up killing the "bad guy" or is the "bad guy" not so bad after all and you let him/her/it achieve its goals. Do you have a choice in the matter?

Kill him, close portal. That's all I've got.

quote:

A possible storyline:

1) The island is rocky, desolate, with areas of swamps and gnarled trees.

2) The island is home to several twisted wild creatures that inhabit the swamps. Also, it is home to a powerful shape shifter skilled in trickery and mind magic. There is also the ruins of a mysterious temple.

3) The shape shifter has a few lairs throughout the island. The temple was built by some race long extinct, although they were sufficiently skilled in magic.

4) The island was selected for its remote nature and for the high magical potential of the island. This is part due to the ancient inhabitants and also the shape shifter (although the Empire should not know of the shape shifter).

5) The teleporter is an experimental one. It is not used for transportation, but to study the magical theory behind teleportation. It is often used to probe the void and search for the possibilities of parallel dimensions. Arrival to the island is by ship.

6) The shape shifter (who originally lived on the mainland, was marooned here), although powerful, cannot escape the island. It feeds off of the magical potential here and the journey to anywhere through the ocean is too far to go by itself. It takes over the teleporter in hopes of using it to escape. However, it is not geared for traditional transport, so it must be modifed.

7) The shape shifter, skilled at mind magic, is slowly working on the mages turning them against each other. The process is slow, but mages are mysteriously murdering each other.

8) The party was sent here as a garrison to protect the mages from the wild creatures. The Empire does not know of the shape shifter. Not long after you arrive, the mages get very edgy. At the start of the scenario is the murder of the head mage by one of his apprentices.

9) The player discovers the identity of the shape shifter, but not before the mages get violent toward you and each other. The shape shifter wants to return to the mainland so it can find its family. You have the choice of helping it, or fighting it, pushing it into the teleporter and into the void.

I like it. Lots. I may steal some (supposing that's okay). I especially liked the idea of the shapeshifter - a "nice" bad guy... and the murders. Obviously I won't steal all of it - that would be bad. But I'm gonna think about it.

The scenario was only ever gonna be one outdoor section, and at the very most 10 towns.

--------------------
And when you want to Live
How do you start?
Where do you go?
Who do you need to know?

Posts: 2864 | Registered: Monday, September 8 2003 07:00
The Establishment
Member # 6
Profile #13
By all means, take as much or as little as you like. The point of this topic is to provide help with creating scenarios people will enjoy playing. If you need any further help, do not be afraid to ask.

Make sure you do a decent job of setting the mood for the island with appropriate terrain and what have you whatever type of climate you choose. A good atmosphere goes a long way.

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Your flower power is no match for my glower power!
Posts: 3726 | Registered: Tuesday, September 18 2001 07:00
Shaper
Member # 3442
Profile Homepage #14
quote:
Originally written by *i:

Make sure you do a decent job of setting the mood for the island with appropriate terrain and what have you whatever type of climate you choose. A good atmosphere goes a long way.
Cool. But you're preaching to the converted! I've directed films, written short stories (published twice!!) and absorb every film I can get hold of. I know how atmosphere can make or break a story.

As far as an enemy goes... Does anybody have ideas. I like the idea of an indiginous (sp?) creature, but is that too close too *i's thing... I do want to tell my own story, even if it is augmented by others...

--------------------
And when you want to Live
How do you start?
Where do you go?
Who do you need to know?

Posts: 2864 | Registered: Monday, September 8 2003 07:00
Warrior
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Profile Homepage #15
BoE is still a 2D game, it´s easy to design, can be hard to play and got a much greater community! :D

Anyway I started once a scenario, but then my computer crashed.
Storyline: Party shall clean a big Avernum cave to secure the burial of Motrax´ remains. Party fights many lizards. Party finds old still used Empire Fortress. Party kills big fortress residents. Party gets back and shows the "empty" caves, fights angered Pyrog´s Spirit and wins.

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You know, why the Sliths are green - because of their scales.

Maybe you know why some slith eyes were once red - ´cause the demons, which led them were red.

But why are the eyes of the Slith Lord Followers red? Because they see the remains of their enemies always before the battle begins!
Posts: 179 | Registered: Friday, November 25 2005 08:00
Law Bringer
Member # 4153
Profile Homepage #16
quote:
I need to find a decent bad guy - demons are too... cliche. And they have no real reason for taking the portal. Apart from that though...
I don't think a demon is automatically too cliche. I mean, a well-characterized demon beats a poorly-characterized but creative enemy. But don't use Grah-Hoth unless you're prepared to really commit to that, because then you'll be bound hand and foot to game canon. It's much easier to invent your own enemy.

And as for motivation, demons have that simple tendency to want to show off (I mean, look at all the demons of A4). Or, this one might want to escape from the netherworld/imprisonment somewhere, and see that this portal is their best shot.

EDIT:

quote:
Originally written by Slith Lord:

Anyway I started once a scenario, but then my computer crashed.
Storyline: Party shall clean a big Avernum cave to secure the burial of Motrax´ remains. Party fights many lizards. Party finds old still used Empire Fortress. Party kills big fortress residents. Party gets back and shows the "empty" caves, fights angered Pyrog´s Spirit and wins.

Questions:

-Still used Empire fortress? Why are they still there? Did they never hear of the truce? Wouldn't they be dead by now? (remember, well-written undead are an acceptable plot device, but random plagues are not)
-Couldn't you just stick with the lizards, and have some particularly-powerful drake or something leading the pack?
-Why Pyrog's spirit?

[ Friday, January 06, 2006 11:16: Message edited by: Ephesos ]

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Gamble with Gaea, and she eats your dice.

I hate undead. I really, really, really, really hate undead. With a passion.
Posts: 4130 | Registered: Friday, March 26 2004 08:00
Warrior
Member # 5302
Profile #17
Alright. I've been wanting to fiddle around with BoA for some time, and I have a basic plotline, so...

The party is hired to go to a mine, which was recently closed, and explore. The mine was closed due to strange creatures (not sure what- DEFINITELY not undead. I hate undead.) attacking miners. The party has to go down, find out what happened, possibly clear out the creatures, and look for survivors.

Thoughts?
Posts: 70 | Registered: Sunday, December 19 2004 08:00
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Sounds like a good start, I think that the key will be in coming up with a good set of monsters or whatever to be in the mine, and a good explanation for their presence.

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Posts: 627 | Registered: Monday, March 7 2005 08:00
? Man, ? Amazing
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Profile #19
Here's a wild idea for the portal scenario.

Have the "monster" be some entity that is unknowingly transported from that parallel dimension (or wherever), it is confused and angry and just wants to get back home. It would not be visible or tangible to the party, but the effect it has on its surroundings would be visible.

Then, as stareye said, the party needs to
1. identify the cause of the murders
2a. eliminate the intruder
2b. help the intruder get home
2c. give up the lost cause and run home to mommy
3. assuming mages are still alive, let them know what you discovered so that they don't decide to keep probing that dimension and possibly invite another creature.

*this message sponsored the acme dimensional probe insurance company*

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quote:
Originally written by Kelandon:

Well, I'm at least pretty sure that Salmon is losing.


Posts: 4114 | Registered: Monday, April 25 2005 07:00
Lifecrafter
Member # 4682
Profile #20
Well...what if you can find a spellbook, but you can't understand what it says. There's also a crone in the village who is generally regarded as crazy and she translates it. It shows what Zama was doing. If you don't find the spellbook, you complete the tasks and leave the valley forever and are stuck in a horrible place. If you confront Zama, he kills all or most of the other villagers(maybe?) so at the end you are left either to abandon the valley or try to rebuild the village. Well? Thoughts?

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Do not underestimate the power of the mechanical pencil.

Join the Dark side. We have cookies.

Played in:
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Posts: 834 | Registered: Thursday, July 8 2004 07:00
Law Bringer
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Profile Homepage #21
Nicothodes, the old crone route doesn't quite make sense. If there's been someone who can translate magic living in the village all this time, then the isolation angle kind of collapses.

Arachnid, here's an idea. Remember those swamp creature things from ASR? Flood the mine a bit, and you've got your monster problem solved. Well, not in a literal sense, but you know what I mean.

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Gamble with Gaea, and she eats your dice.

I hate undead. I really, really, really, really hate undead. With a passion.
Posts: 4130 | Registered: Friday, March 26 2004 08:00
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Four people- this is a good starting point. So far, I count:

Nicothodes, Ephesos (who I hope will not give up DoK2 either!), SupaNik, Slith Lord, Arachnid

...

quote:
Mind you, when I started I had a rather small plan for a scenario with about 12 towns. then I got hooked on designing towns, and I had all these nice ideas and I liked drawing more and more custom graphics, so there you are. 42 towns.
I don't want to say that it's impossible- Shyguy did it.

On the other hand, Shyguys are the exception to the rule by far. (Plus, Shyguy had a lot of klunkers that come with new design, albeit very competent design in his instance.)

SupaNik- The idea sounds sorta simple, and I like it. On the other hand...

"The story wasn't great, so I was gonna flesh it out with cool things I picked up from films etc."

Man. "Short and simple" is not equal to "inadequate". An Apology, for instance, isn't that long. Five of the top ten scenarios of all time are what you might describe as "short". Among the remaining five, only three are "epics".

"They were sent to oversee it all. Poor story-wise, but they are level 1... Perhaps it's part of an apprentice, maybe a training op?"

Back to the drawing board for you. Although I do like the idea of the party's being apprentices!

One idea I have, then, is to perhaps give the party an "advance reward"- for all characters in the party, you could give those who aren't already magi +2 to mage spells and +2 intelligence for effect. (If you want to be perfectly fair, you can have each of these "bonuses" take away from the party's final reward- if it's 5k gold, for instance, have each character "enhanced" take away 1k from the reward.) But that's a detail that can be discussed later.

My point is that you should have the party's role selected well in advance. Even if it's not very GOOD, it shouldn't be assigned randomly.

"If you confront Zama, he kills all or most of the other villagers(maybe?) so at the end you are left either to abandon the valley or try to rebuild the village."

I'm not liking this. I mean, I can sorta dig the crone, though I'd make it less "everyone thinks she's crazy" and more "Zama/Zag (you seem to alternate with names) had her imprisoned, and you have to sneak inside to reach her." Heck, you could have her be the author of the spellbook- perhaps even have Zama/Zag be her former apprentice. That would make for a far more interesting adventurer without adding anything in length.

And Zama/Zag's "killing the villagers" doesn't make sense- why do what he's doing in general, if not for control over these people? What good does killing do? If I were Z, I'd incriminate the party and try to have my ex-teacher killed at all costs.

If I were the party+crone team, I'd try to wow the townspeople with newfound "magic", challenging Zama/Zag in a duel.

Now, this would make for a REALLY interesting final fight-

You'd have the party, the crone, Z and the town guard. The party has to protect the crone, but ALSO not attack Z, lest they risk people accusing the crone of cheating. The party also has to protect the crone from the town guard, who are trying to kill her. To that end, I'd suggest adding the crone to the party as a PC, so the party can use Heal, War Blessing, etc. on her. You'd just have to keep her paralyzed every turn. Also, Z would have to be a monster with 1 HP, so any attack the party does instantly kills him. (You can also add calls to check for added statuses in his script in case the party decides to hit him up with slowing, paralysis, etc. And don't forget to include a check for who_last_attacked is!) After a while, the crone wins, and she explains to the people that the prophet is nothing but a lying scumbag and the people are "freed".

Now that would be a good scenario. Think about it.

In fact, the whole prophet scenario indeed has a nice little paragraph to it:
"Prophet controls town with paltry magics. Party does task for prophet. Party finds spellbook belonging to crone. Party finds crone and learns truth. Party confronts prophet and liberates people."
I'd say that it's the most complicated I want any of these scenarios to get.

And I mean it- to all of you. Think about it. Think about two things:
1. What's interesting
2. What's not too complicated

Now, as for chat times. We have two "american" time zones, one "british" time zone, and two people who forgot to list theirs. (Nice.) The designing "aids" all happen to be americans (who are in school, no less). So hm- how about some time around 4-6 PM EST? That translates into 9-11 (always remember) PM GST, I think. At the chat, I want all who come to have a solid idea of what they're doing with the scenarios before they leave. So okay, what's say we have it some time in the middle of next week?

And really- if anyone else wants to join in, have at it. The more, the merrier.

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Posts: 6936 | Registered: Tuesday, September 18 2001 07:00
Infiltrator
Member # 3220
Profile #23
This sounds like it could be very interesting. I've finished all but one of the BoA scenarios I downloaded, and as it looks like I'm going to have some time (alas), I could get started on the scenario I've been half-heartedly planning. But I have no idea where to start. Most everyone's scenarios astound me, and I wonder if I can produce something even playable, never mind good.
Posts: 437 | Registered: Sunday, July 13 2003 07:00
Law Bringer
Member # 4153
Profile Homepage #24
Dareva, as long as you understand the scripting, you can make a scenario. And anyone here can help you with that, as well as any story-related issues (as we've demonstrated in this thread).

As for the chat, next week is good with me. My classes don't start up again until the 17th, so I have nothing to do until then.

(So in all honesty, given the rush with which I completed DoK, I could conceivably have a finished product by then. I probably won't, though.)

And for clarification, DoK2 is not abandoned, just temporarily on the shelf. The new project (tentatively named Embers of Rebellion) is just a way for me to give myself a break from the world I've created and actually get something else released.

And about the crone in Nicothodes' scenario, couldn't you just use a set_mobility call, or does that wear off in combat?

EDIT: Alright! My post beat TM's!

[ Friday, January 06, 2006 21:07: Message edited by: Ephesos ]

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Gamble with Gaea, and she eats your dice.

I hate undead. I really, really, really, really hate undead. With a passion.
Posts: 4130 | Registered: Friday, March 26 2004 08:00

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