An introduction is generally a very brief description of what the adventure contains, and what parameters the adventure was designed under. The introduction lets the reader know information about the length and scope, where the adventure is set, what the tone of the adventure might be, what character levels the adventure supports, and any other relevant information a DM might want to know in a cursory read of the adventure. Items currently discounted by other promotions are also not eligible for additional discounts via discount codes. Years later, I’m now older (and still foolish)—but I’m less foolish about the power and utility of outlines and planning. The lesson I’ve learned over the years, slowly and often painfully, is that although I wasn’t actively creating outlines before I started writing, I was passively outlining as I wrote, usually at the expense of many drafts of a project—and far too many wasted words. I thought I was saving time by not planning ahead, by not creating an outline, but I actually was wasting so much time haphazardly and inefficiently doing the work of outlining without even realizing I was doing an outline. Isle of Man, Isle of Wight, Northern Ireland and the Scottish Highlands) may take longer to reach you.

To put this even more succinctly: where are the characters at the start of the adventure, where should they be at the end of the adventure, and what are some of the steps they might take on their journey from beginning to end. In our case, where we need to fill 4 hours. We can assume about 5-8 encounters within the understanding that some encounters might be skipped, or some encounters might be fairly short roleplaying or exploration encounters. Handouts, Maps, and AppendicesFirst, it would be useful to see the end product of these principles and ideas, like a couple of examples. In the case of the adventure we’re going to create together, let’s set some guidelines. We need it to be playable in 4 hours, because we’re going to design it for a standard convention slot. (Designing adventures for organized play campaigns also brings this limitation to your design.) This means I need to be very deliberate in the number of encounters, where they take place, and how much time each should take to resolve at the table. (If you are writing an adventure for a home group with no time limit, you might not need to do this, but it is good practice to set some limits anyway to focus your design. You can always remove the limits if necessary.) Architect Louis Sullivan famously created the axiom: “form follows function.” Taken at its most basic level, this principle states that the form something takes is inherently informed by that thing’s purpose. Sullivan’s protégé, Frank Lloyd Wright, broadened that philosophy to explain the idea more clearly: “form and function are one.”

As you envision DMs running your adventure, consider what might be helpful or fun if it was represented visually in a handout for the players. Puzzles that have moving pieces or that are highly detailed can benefit from a handout. More importantly, providing handouts of letters or journals or other things the characters find can deepen the player’s experience, and also take some of the workload off the DM. WizKids is releasing some new miniatures this March called Dungeons & Dragons Frameworks. These are a departure from what WizKids has produced in the past, and D&D is diving into the world of customizable sprue kits. D&D Frameworks offers a different miniature experience for those who like to paint minis but want more customization. Whilst we will do everything we can to meet the delivery times above, there may be factors outside of our control and we cannot guarantee delivery within this time frame. Do any of your encounters contain elements better represented in a map rather than strictly described in the text? Most DMs and players appreciate maps, especially in areas with dungeons or other complex encounter areas.

When is an Outline Complete?

Have you ever outlined an adventure, or even run an adventure entirely from an outline? Let us know in the comments. For writing longer modules, there comes a point when you need to switch from Outline to something more like a Basean flow-chart (see https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bayesian_probability). Writing such a module still comes with the difficulty of requiring more possible solutions or work-arounds, the longer the story goes. Even following the new AL guidelines of a level gained for every 2 hours of table play, we're talking 11 sessions (22 hours) for a party to achieve level 11 and be near the end of the module. The number of decisions a party can make, which can throw the story completely off the written rails, increases with every session.