Scenarios and Campaigns
A RAVENLOFT game is usually made up of three interlocking classifications of role-playing sessions: a scenario, a scene, and a campaign. A scenario is a single adventure. It might take only a few hours to resolve, like exploring a haunted house, or it might be extremely complex, requiring several game sessions to play through. Most importantly, the scenario must have a beginning, a middle, and an end. Whether it seems more like a short story or a full novel, it must be a self-contained adventure. Scenes are the single, short encounters that make up each scenario.
A campaign, on the other hand, is nothing more than a series of adventures featuring the same characters (and containing a series of scenarios). A trilogy of movies or books could be thought of as a campaign, as can just about any television series. In some cases, the adventures that make up a campaign will have few continuous elements (other than the characters). The many adventures of Sherlock Holmes fall into this category, as do the stories of Carnaki the Ghost Finder. Other campaigns have complex plots and subplots running across many adventures.
Designing a Ravenloft Scenario
Creating an adventure for a RAVENLOFT game is both similar to the drafting of any other role-playing scenario and, at the same time, a unique undertaking. The following section details this process step by step.
Adventure Ideas
The first step in designing an adventure involves forming a core idea upon which it will be based. No matter how grand or convoluted the Dungeon Master intends to make the plot, he should always be able to summarize the storyline in a single sentence. Consider the following example:
The heroes are shipwrecked on a mysterious island, where they are imprisoned by a sadistic asylum keeper who conducts experiments that drive his patients mad.This describes Whom Fortune Would Destroy, an adventure in the Bleak House boxed set. Of course, the adventure consists of a great deal more than that, but that single, short paragraph establishes the important facts. If an adventure cannot be boiled down to so succinct a description, it is probably too convoluted.
Important Considerations
Any good adventure will be imaginative, frightening, and well-reasoned, just like a good story. In addition, however, a good Ravenloft scenario should feature most or all of the following things:
The setting should be intriguing, with interesting
nonplayer characters. Opportunities for role-playing
should be many and frequent.
The characters must have a fair amount of control over
the flow of the adventure. While the Dungeon Master
may have a good idea of what he expects his players to
do, he must always be ready for the unexpected. A good
Ravenloft scenario is fluid, responding to the actions of
the heroes whenever possible.
If the scenario fits into an ongoing campaign, the
Dungeon Master should try to include aspects of
foreshadowing that will offer players a glimpse of what is
to come in future games.
By the same token, a campaign scenario should harken
back to events in past games, giving the players a sense
of continuity.
The adventure should include scenes that will appeal to
each of the players in the group. Those who like to
charge into combat should have a chance to battle
monsters, while those who like to solve puzzles should
find their wits challenged.
Lastly, the adventure should begin and end with an
exciting scene. A quick-paced beginning captures their
interest and draws them into the story, while an
exhilarating ending gives them the satisfaction of a
grand finale, resulting in a standing ovation for the
Dungeon Master.
Objectives
Each adventure must have a clearly defined objective. In some cases, this might consist of a mystery for the heroes to solve; in others, it might entail the destruction of a truly powerful monster. Whatever the objective, it must be clear to the players.
This does not mean that the Dungeon Master needs to open every adventure by saying, "In this scenario, your characters have to explore the haunted castle and banish the spirit that lives there". Part of the fun in any role-playing game lies in discovering exactly what the characters are expected to do. Neither does this imply that the Dungeon Master should avoid using smoke and mirrors to obscure the ultimate goal of the adventure or even having a few red herrings show up.
Villians
Every adventure should have a central villain. Often, the objective of the adventure will be, more or less, to confront and defeat this character. Much more goes into the creation of a "good" villain than simply giving him a few extra Hit Dice and special attacks, however. A truly memorable villain probably embodies some (if not all) of the following characteristics:
The villain must have qualities that the heroes see in
themselves. Professor Moriarty, for example, is all the
more terrible because he is so much like Sherlock
Holmes. At least one of the players should feel as if his
character is looking into a dark mirror when he gazes
upon the villain.
The villain must pose a threat to either the heroes or
something that they hold dear. This does not mean that
he must be physically powerful, only that his
machinations and influence are great enough to
endanger them. Few villains are as terrible as Adolf
Hitler, yet he was hardly a physically imposing man.
The elements of poetic justice discussed elsewhere in
this book should be apparent to the players. If this is not
the case during the course of the adventure, it should
appear by its conclusion. The heroes should always end
a game thinking "he got what he deserved".
The villain must become an individual in the eyes of the
players. Dracula is not a classic novel merely because it
focuses on a vampire; its fame comes from the fact that it
features the greatest of all vampires. Though many other
vampires appear in the book, there is only one Dracula.
Lastly, the villain should be larger than life - or death, as
the case may be. Just as the heroes stand a little taller
than the common folk of the world, so too must their
enemy be exceptional.
Minions
In addition to the main villain of an adventure, the heroes will almost certainly come across lesser creatures who serve the true fiend. In some cases, these will be monsters, while in others they might be normal folk who follow their dark master for their own reasons.
The minions of a villain should generally help pace the adventure by giving the heroes someone to defeat. However, they can also serve as sources of information, revealing important secrets through accidental slips of the tongue or after being captured. A good minion might have one or two of the characteristics listed above, but he need not be as detailed as the main villain.
Laying Out the Plot
Once the Dungeon Master establishes the objective of the scenario, the major villain, and a few minions, he must detail the storyline. The best method of constructing a plot is to lay out the most likely course of events (just as you might outline the scenes of a movie).
| I | The heroes discover the body of an old man who was murdered and left in a dark alley. | |
| II | Investigating the murder, they find that he was a hermit who lived in the woods several miles outside of town. | |
| III | The player characters travel to the hermit's home and discover that he dabbled in magic, including the dark art of necromancy. | |
| IV |
Further investigations reveal that the hermit accidentally
summoned a vengeful spirit from beyond the grave. |
|
| V | The player characters track the spirit to its lair, the churchyard in which it was buried, and confront it. |
Of course, this is a very simple plot, but it illustrates the important scenes that make up the scenario. These scenes obviously need to be detailed more before playing the game. No doubt the players will have to discover some secret weapon or tactic that enables them to face the spirit triumphantly.
Contingencies: Next, the Dungeon Master must look at his plot and consider other possible actions. If the heroes do not take an interest in investigating the murder, for example, he might introduce a young woman who provides them with a reason to do so. Of course, the Dungeon Master cannot possibly predict every possible action of the players, but he can certainly anticipate the most likely ones.
Subplots: When the scenario has been laid out, the Dungeon Master can consider adding a few subplots to it. In the example above, he might require the characters to undertake a minor expedition to acquire a rare herb that will keep the spirit at bay.
Subplots can also tie the adventure to upcoming ones or tie up loose ends from previous ones.
Pacing: The scenes that make up the plots of a scenario should provide for changes of pace in the story. A scenario composed of all combat scenes quickly becomes dull, no matter how dangerous the enemies are. A good scenario may begin and end on a fast pace, but it should include times where the heroes can rest and recover from the terrors of the world.
In essence, every scenario should feature three general types of scenes. The first of these is a combat scene, in which fast-paced action dominates all aspects of play. The second type of commonly encountered scene centers upon role-playing, requiring the characters to interact with each other and the nonplayer characters. The third type of scene involves a puzzle or riddle of some sort that must be solved before the adventure can continue.
Of course, a given scene can include aspects of two or even three of the above examples. The heroes might have to ferret out some secret from an ancient library while zombies try to fight their way into the room.
Designing a Ravenloft Scene
Once the scenario has been laid out, with all of its plots, villains, and events decided upon, the Dungeon Master must detail the individual scenes that make it up. He should consider the following elements when designing a scene.
Requirements
When designing a scene, the Dungeon Master must keep in mind the events that must come before it. For example, if a scene requires the heroes to battle a creature that can be harmed only by +3 or better magical weapons, they had better acquire such arms before the encounter. By the same token, if the players need to know a magical word to enter an evil shrine, an earlier scene must give them the chance to learn it.
Though this may sound like common sense, it is the sort of thing that often gets overlooked. A good Dungeon Master never takes anything for granted and always tries to foresee the events that precede a scene as well as those that follow after.
References
A Dungeon Master should always have the materials he will need for a scene close at hand. If the heroes are going to battle wolfweres, then he should have a copy of the MONSTROUS MANUAL page describing those beasts in his hand when the scene opens. If he needs a map, it should be just as accessible. If a certain rule is likely to be invoked, like a madness check, then he should clearly understand those mechanics and have them ready for use.
Not only do such preparations save time during play, they actually help the storyline. If the Dungeon Master has to stop the game to look for a missing sheet, then he loses all of the build-up that preceded the scene. Whenever the players find themselves distracted from the game for any reason, the whole scenario suffers.
Descriptions
In published adventures, most scenes begin with a bit of boxed text that the Dungeon Master can read aloud to his players. This gives them a chance to close their eyes and visualize the scene before their characters. If the description is especially vivid, they may even find themselves sporting a few goose bumps.
A good description should do more than describe what the player characters see. The Dungeon Master should take care to include at least one other sense. He should not just tell the players how desolate the beach is, he should mention the rhythmic crashing of the surf or the bitter, salty smell of the air. Each additional element added to a scene increases both the drama of the adventure and the enjoyment of the players.
Resolution
Of course, the Dungeon Master has some idea of how he expects a scene to be played out. Whether it is a combat, problem-solving, or role-playing encounter, the heroes should have a goal and a possible route to it.
In designing the scene, however, the Dungeon Master should consider what happens if the players do something unusual. Suppose they try to smash down a door that they are not intended to go through. What is beyond it? What if they fail to notice a given clue or draw the wrong conclusions from what seem to be obvious facts? Planning for these contingencies prevents headaches during game time.
Conclusion
When all is said and done, the Dungeon Master needs to know where the scene goes from here. This is especially true if the heroes have somehow gotten off the path of the adventure.
Designing a Ravenloft Campaign
Earlier, it was mentioned that a campaign is nothing more than a linked series of scenarios. In a general sense, this is certainly the case. However, Dungeon Masters should include a few more elements in order to make the campaign more vital and gripping for the players.
The Dungeon Master can make the campaign more satisfying by including an overall goal for the heroes. Even if he has no plans to allow the player characters to accomplish this great feat in the near future, it should be made evident. It's even possible that characters never complete their quest.
Of course, the Dungeon Master may wish to design the campaign so as to allow the heroes to complete this goal. Perhaps they spend many adventures hunting down evil fiends only to discover that a single being masterminded all that they have experienced. When they confront and (hopefully) defeat this archfiend, they feel a great sense of accomplishment and excitement.
If a Dungeon Master intends his campaign to be finite, he will have to make sure that the grand finale lives up to the promise. If they fight their way through armies of undead, solve countless macabre puzzles, and survive dozens of cunning death traps only to defeat the master villain with a single crossbow bolt, the players will feel sorely disappointed.
In the wake of the climax, the Dungeon Master must have an idea of what comes next. Do the heroes retire from adventuring now and take up farming? If so, he can start a new campaign with new characters. If the players are very attached to their characters (a likely possibility), the Dungeon Master may want to consider carrying them over into a new campaign.
Whatever decisions are made, they must be acceptable to both the Dungeon Master and his players. Remember, a Ravenloft campaign is a game, and games are meant to be fun.
