I just read Wolfgang's editorial "Keep it Short" in the latest issue of Kobold Quarterly. In it he extols the virtues of short books with lots of impact. I don't disagree with him - short and clear is good - but his article rails against long works as though they are bad in and of themselves. Maybe he's used to seeing writers pad their word count excessively because they're payed by the word.
In any case, his editorial got me to thinking about the subject of word count, brevity, and bloat and about how I approach writing RPG supplements, specifically in regards to what I see as one of the biggest pitfalls in RPG writing - skimming over material the DM needs to run the adventure.
When I write an adventure I have several goals in mind. Of course, I want it to be fun, fantastic, compelling, believable and exciting. That almost goes without saying. Beyond that one of my number one goal is to make my adventures easy for DMs to run. I want my adventures to leave a casual or first-time DM and their players saying "that was great!" instead of wondering how to start.
In my many years as a player I've read lots of adventures. Some do a great job of laying out the adventure for the DM, other less so. The bad ones are the adventures that have weak introductions or transitions, and require the DM to ad-lib or completely make up sections of the adventure to keep the story moving along. Many DMs are up for this task, but for many DMs, especially new DMs with less experience, being left hanging by the adventure you're trying to run can really demoralize you. I feel like this just adds to the steep learning curve that new DMs face, and I want Unicorn Rampant to produce adventures that ease this learning curve, increase the fun everyone is having, and help the hobby grow.
To that effect, when I write an adventure, my goal is to provide the DM with everything he needs to present the story from start to finish. Many DMs may not use all of this material, especially the hook or introduction material. But for a first time DM, I want to make sure they have something that they can use to get the action started without having to rely on telling the players that they're all gathered at the inn and see a wanted poster. Remember, not all of us are in the midst of playing epic campaigns. Many players, especially those new to the hobby, can really use a way to get the story rolling easily.
Now, including summaries of the course of the adventure and read-aloud text for every transition and important location in the adventure can add to the word count, but all of it is included for a purpose. Organizing it cleanly and keeping the summaries brief and clear is all part of making the adventure easy to run. If that adds to the word count, so be it. I would rather provide DMs and players with more than they need then not enough.
-Adam A. Thompson
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Yeah, I didn't quite agree with Wolfgang on that point either. I think that in general the more material you provide DMs, the more they can introduce elements and even adlib when they need to (all dnd sessions require this, unless the players are completely railroaded with the narrative). Obviously, there's a point where too much is too much, but that's what indexes are for... a properly indexed supplement can provide enough verbosity with enough shortcuts to make the adventure roll.
And yes, fairly lengthy, descriptive read-aloud sections are a big help, especially for inexperienced DMs.
When it comes to narratives in novel form, I don't have much of an opinion, since it's really up to the author to decide how long to draw out their combat scenes, and up to readers to find authors they like. With books you can always skim and skip ahead...
The point he makes early in his essay is an important one -- that longer combats don't necessarily lead to more memorable battles. We've had some very memorable battles that ended quickly. I can recall a harm spell and a monk's fist killing a dragon in a few rounds in a combat that we still talk about. And there's something about an evil creature of deep water that we sliced and diced at 5,000 leagues as if was in a blender. Ah, the visuals...
On the other end of the spectrum, it's true that combats that take 4 hours of real time to resolve can sometimes feel like they're dragging on, especially when it's just so that one character can display some overpowering combat prowess. So, there's some balance to be had, and every session calls for its own sense of timing. Even those 4 hour battles can seem to go quickly if there's enough of the right kind of action for everyone.
Finally, in my opinion, like so many things in life, the ambiance and sense of anticipation of a battle can have more of a lasting effect on the experience than a drawn-out encounter.
But that's just one perspective... :)
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