Scenario Writing

[Ged]

Hi guys

Does anyone have some good tips/resources/techniques for plot structuring and secanrio writing. I'm looking to get some tips as I am tring to write my own material but it doesn't feel as good or complex as the published scenarios but on the same token the more of these I read I'm concious of (uninetntionally) ripping these off or rewriting them. It seem to be a bigger problem for me with CoC as the plots are less combat and traditional exploaration orientated.


I hope you can help.

Thanks,

Ged

[Justin F]

For me, inspiration tends to begin with 'what if' moments when reading stories, or playing scenarios. I then go off and do loads of research on the topic and the story writes and rewrites and rewrites itself. Don't be afraid to "Murder your Darlings".

And I strongly recommend Graham Walmsley's "Stealing Cthulhu".

[Gol-Goroth]

My best advice is to read at least about sixteen published adventures from as many different authors as you can. At that point you'll have been exposed to several different formats and styles. From there you can begin to understand how these things are set up and get an idea how you might want to set up your own work.

[Emrys]

I am tring to write my own material but it doesn't feel as good or complex as the published scenarios

Never underestimate players' ability to complicate the most straightforward of scenarios. I'd suggest that it's actually a good thing if the "main plot" is easy for the Keeper to follow while the scenario has a couple of red herrings (e.g. the anti-social neighbour who is, in fact, just an anti-social neighbour) for the players to get excited over without complicating the plot.

[Ged]

Thanks for the heads up guys, I'll bear those points in mind when I'm putting something together.

[Mr. Bill]

My experience in this area is pretty limited, but I generally find it works to start with a basic plot or situation from a movie, tv show, or book you like, and then add Mythos trappings and embellish as needed. You'll find that first in the writing process, and later when you actually play through the thing, things often change organically until you reach a point where even players familiar with the inspiring work aren't going to just go, "OH, BULLSHIT! THIS IS DIE HARD!"

Though of course if you do a scenario about terrorists taking over an office building during a Christmas party and only the about-to-retire cop visiting his estranged wife standing between the people inside and death and also the "terrorists" are really just robbing the place, someone's bound to catch on.

[mjmedwick]

There is, of course, a wealth of advice scattered throughout the forum on writing for CoC. As a new CoC scenario writer myself, I started a conversation on the forums a few months ago on design technique and strategy, which evolved into a larger, somewhat more philosophical discussion on tightly-written/scripted scenarios versus more a more freeform, player-directed approach. I took away some great insights from the comments posted there, and even changed my perspective on quite a few things. You might find it interesting reading as well.

Broadly speaking, I agree that reading a variety of published scenarios/campaigns is essential. I will add, however, that the intended audience for your scenario might well inform your particular writing process. Writing for publication, or with an abstract keeper and group of players in mind, usually requires a structured, formal, deliberate methodology. Not having serious aspirations for publication myself, I've usually found that it frees me up to play fast-and-loose with my notes, rearrange plot elements and events as needed, and generally tailor the scenario to the personalities of the people I know I'm going to play with. The upshot is that I don't have to spend quite so much time writing out notes for a wide range of theoretical contingencies. That assumes one is lucky enough to play with a regular group of gamers, of course. I suppose there's a happy medium there somewhere. After all, even the most familiar players will surprise you with the decisions they make in game (c.f. Emrys's comment) - and that's what makes CoC fun for everybody sitting on either side of the keeper's screen.

[Skyman]

My suggestion on the backs of these wonderful folks. Do an outline of the scenario with logical linking of clues and NPCs. If you're visual you can short hand by drawing lines to the item/NPC/effect to each other with location. This might help solidify the order in which you write. Keep it simple because Emry's right and players can make calling the doctor an all night event. Something that goes linear like A to B to C might seem logical to you but players have a way of finding X on a tangent like a math genius does with a flippin algebra problem.
Another idea is to flesh out a Ctholic/Yog-sothery story. You then chop it up in short forms for the players to find...aka clues. Sprinkle that in a setting. You may not need a beastie or item to make it compelling because NPC's sometimes make the worst antagonist.

[wombat1]

I found the GURPS Mysteries volume by Lisa J. Steele, (Steve Jackson Games, publisher, ISBN-13: 978-1556347610) to have a lot of good ideas. In addition to everything else said so far, which is all quite good advice, I would add only the thought that to my way of thinking, a good scenario needs not only a good horror angle, (the 'Mythos twist,' I tend to call it), but a good mystery plot; a problem to be solved that sooner or later leads to the Mythos element, but which on first glance could also be explained without recourse to the supernatural. Many of Raymond Chandler's rules in "Notes on the Detective Story" are useful for our purposes as well, or can be easily and obviously modified to meet the difference in format:

http://gadetection.pbworks.com/w/pag...ond%20Chandler

Simplicity is also a virtue. As one commentator above put it, 'players can make calling the doctor an all night event.' The corollary is that a lot of subtle nuance may get overlooked by the players as well as fixated on. The author/keeper has all of the puzzle pieces in front of him, and knows how they all fit together to make up the picture. The players get the puzzle pieces one at a time, and initially they all appear to be blank. So if there is too much at once, then the matter can quickly get frustrating for all concerned.

Finally, borrowing an idea from the GURPS Mysteries book, the author of a mystery occupies a different relation to his readers from the author of a scenario and his players. The author of a mystery has an essentially adversarial role--the readers are to be stumped, bamboozled and confused until nearly the end. To find the solution before the detective makes the revelation the reader has to work. The players in a scenario, on the other hand, have a cooperative relationship to the author--the author wants them to find the solution (eventually), no matter how much they get whacked along the way. It would be very unsatisfying, for example, to have an NPC to come in and give the solution, explaining that everything they figured out was wrong. The players are more like the detective in the novel than a reader, and they ultimately do get to solve the problem (if they survive.)

[Blackmyron]

Kenneth Hite also has great tips on coming up with adventure ideas, especially using historical information - and his collected "Suppressed Transmissions" articles (two volumes) are well worth picking up if you can find copies.

[Shrike]

Kenneth Hite also has great tips on coming up with adventure ideas, especially using historical information - and his collected "Suppressed Transmissions" articles (two volumes) are well worth picking up if you can find copies.

I believe SJG has them available in digital form for sale on their website.

[zombieneighbours]

I would suggest the alexandrian essays

Three clue rule:http://thealexandrian.net/wordpress/...hree-clue-rule

Node based scenario design:
http://thealexandrian.net/wordpress/...otted-approach

and
Don’t Prep Plots
http://thealexandrian.net/wordpress/...ont-prep-plots

These essays hold a whole bunch of useful adventure design philosophy that is useful for Call of Cthulhu.

John wick's Play dirty is also useful, and a lot of fun to read.http://www.indiepressrevolution.com/...7&cat=0&page=1

If your looking to actually put work out there for publication, the Complete KOBOLD Guide to Game Design is pretty useful http://http://paizo.com/products/btp...to-Game-Design

[Ged]

Thanks for the ideas and inspiration guys I really appreciate it. I'll post again when I've written and run some games, to let you know how it all goes.

[ratspiral]

the unspeakable tome (call of Cthulhu D20) Has a great, in depth section on creating scenarios, with ideas for hooks and such. If you do a search they have PDFs that you can view and read.

[Tristan]

(oops, double post, sorry)