So you've created your Story Foundation, which consists of your Plot Premise and Setting, but now you need to turn it into an adventure. Think of your adventure as a full story, with a beginning, middle, and end; a series of plot steps that take you from introduction to finale. Each of those plot steps will become scenes where the PCs get to interact with the story and help to determine the course it will take. Each scene then gives the PCs a chance to interact with the story, and make decisions that will influence the story's outcome.

Turning your Premise into an Adventure

Identify the major plot points that are essential to portraying your premise. Start at the beginning, where the PCs first become involved in the plot. From there determine the series of events (i.e. major plot points) that carry your story forward, from beginning to end. It’s important to focus on those events that are crucial to the story, events that if missed would fundamentally change the story (or make it impossible to reach the conclusion).

Each of these major plot points are next converted into scenes, which create points where the PCs can interact with the story. To create a scene, you must determine how a plot point is going to be presented to the PCs. For example, if a major plot point is that the princess is kidnapped, how do the PCs learn that information? You could create a scene where they witness the kidnapping. Alternatively, you can create a scene where an NPC tells them of the kidnapping. There are many different ways the plot point could be portrayed, and as the GM you get to decide which way will work best for your players and the story.

Now that you’ve created the major scenes, go back and fill in the scenes that could exist between those points. These are the scenes that are helpful, but not necessary. They represent bits of information or clues the PCs could discover, interesting bits of the setting or world that you could explore, or side quests that can be used to break up the story a little and give it a change of pace. These minor scenes enhance the story by adding depth and background, providing flavor, and allow you to change the pace of the story to better suit gameplay. Some of these minor scenes may be related to your major scenes and occur at specific times in the story. Others scenes can be inserted at any time in order to adjust the flow and pacing of gameplay.

Adventure Hooks

An Adventure Hook is a premise or idea that gets your player characters started on an adventure. It could be as simple as having an NPC hire the characters for a particular job or the NPCs can be "lead" to the adventure on their own: either by hearing rumors of a problem or strange occurrence, witnessing a particular problem or event, or finding a clue to some mystery or puzzle.

One of your first scenes will likely include an adventure hook. As with developing your Story Foundation, it helps to know your PCs motivation to determine what hooks will most appeal to their character. For example, a PC who is motivated by riches is more likely to accept a quest that provides some sort of financial gain. A more altruistic character, on the other hand, may merely need the knowledge that they are helping others to lead them into danger. Depending on the group of characters, you may need to provide multiple adventure hooks.

Non-Linear Plots

Not every adventure is linear. Some stories will have branches or forks in the road where the PCs get to determine which route to take. Sometimes these routes will meet back up, leading the characters to the same end. Other times, the branch will lead to two separate and distinct endings, demonstrating the impact of the PCs choices. The more branches your story has, the more complex and difficult it can become to navigate. In these cases, we recommend creating a Story Map, a kind of flow chart that helps you to organize your story scenes. Though these are most useful with branching plots, any story can take advantage of a Story Map.

Sometimes this means that your ending is not entirely decided when you begin to craft your adventure, as it depends heavily on what the PCs decide to do. In this case, the Gamemaster will typically determine the details of his plot up to a certain point, then wait to flesh out additional plot after the PCs have made their decision.

Side Quests

Side Quests are short little side plots that are a small departure from the main story line, that allow for a change of pace and tone in the story. Some side quests may be used to drive your main plot, such as completing some task for an NPC in exchange for information. Other side quests can be used to fuel Destinies, which are small side stories unique to the PCs. Some side quests can serve no purpose at all, except to add depth and flavor to your world and add to the fun of gameplay. Some Gamemasters like to plan out side quests ahead of time while others may choose to simply see where the players take the story and develop plots from there (developing side quests from elements of the setting that PCs find most interesting).

Creating a Story Scene

With a list or map of the Story Scenes that you need to create, you can begin to give each scene detail. Each scene is composed of three main elements: Description, Objective, and Content. The Description should detail where the PCs are and what they perceive when the scene begins. It should be detailed enough to give players a mental image of the scene; what it looks like, who or what is there, what is happening, etc. Some Gamemasters choose to just write down a few notes about the scenes description, preferring to come up with the details more in the moment. Other GMs will choose to have a prewritten narrativ, that allows them to better convey tone and feeling. Choose whatever works best for you, and don't' be afraid to experiment with different styles.

The Objective of the scene is what you as the Gamemaster plan to accomplish in that scene, essentially what the scene is about and how that will be done. If the objective is to give information to the PCs, what is the information and how will it be delivered? If the objective is to present the PCs with a combat challenge, why and who are the PCs fighting? Some scenes may have one or more objective, or may have an objective that changes or shifts based on the decisions of the PCs. Regardless of the scene, the Gamemaster knows that it is completed when the objectives have been met and their results determined.

The Content of the scene is the people, objects, and obstacles that exist therein, and any game mechanics related to that content. For Combat Challenges, this would include the numbers and types of creatures the PCs will fight, along with their game statistics. For a Social Encounter, this could include an NPC's personality, prejudices, and social statistics. For a Puzzle, this would include a description of the puzzle and how it works, one or more solutions, and skill checks that the PCs could use to help solve it.

For more details on creating scenes and examples, see the Story Scenes page.