Evocative Adventure Preparation Structure
This week I have been thinking about how I structure my ideation and preparation for my adventures as a Game Master so that I give the intended play experience for Rift Walker. I am not saying that all sessions are the same. But, I know that if I have a default, I can have a consistent style while being able to break the rules in the future. It will make these breaks more impactful, by having a default. This is a lead on from me Describing My Game Master Style — Matthew Davis Projects. There are many factors that create this structure. Throughout this post, I will go over a few topics but first it is important to uncover the goals for Rift Walker. In the rule set, the game is described in the following way:
What is Rift Walker?
This is a tabletop roleplaying game (TTRPG). It is a collaborative storytelling experience and game where players create characters with unique abilities and backgrounds. Guided by a game master, players navigate a fictional world filled with adventures, challenges, and quests. The outcome of their actions is determined by dice rolls, with the rules providing a framework for resolving conflicts and shaping the narrative. TTRPGs blend imagination, strategy, and social interaction, offering players the freedom to shape their destinies in a rich, interactive fantasy setting.
Rift Walker is about heroic, diverse characters (Rift Walkers), who have come from many different worlds. The game encourages teamwork through simple archetype character design, having strengths and weaknesses. Characters have epic moments through auto success and find times of interesting choice in resource allocation and use. They will explore many different worlds and time periods; discover legends to tell stories and overcome challenges. There they will combat unique creatures and socialize with interesting NPCs. Rift Masters should create interesting encounters, wilderness, dungeons, towns, folks and factions throughout a variety of worlds. Its flow is characterized by cinematic play, with abstract distances and easy core mechanic resolutions. It allows Rift Masters and Rift Walkers to create any kind of world or campaign, by providing options, building procedures and rules that can be customised. It is a game where all the old modules from a variety of games can be played. This can be done across many genres, worlds and settings. This keeps campaigns from going stale, and creates an “adventure” style format.
You can see I bolded the key parts of what I am trying to achieve. The intended play experience should be exciting, based on exploration of new lands! As I said, it is kind of the kitchen sink type play. As Rift Walkers jump through rifts, as a RM, you can use all those old modules you have collected from multiple genres and systems to run! Things like mysteries, social interactions and combat sprinkled in as to how the players choose to interact with the game. It should be episodic, like Start Trek; sometimes there is a series/lore episode, but mostly you are jumping into new worlds, meeting new people and finding interesting conflicts to overcome. This will be different for each campaign.
On Modularity
It is clear from the above description, that there is some modularity to the play style. In campaign preparation, RMs and RWs will pick optional rules to facilitate the type of play style they want from the experience. This can be seen in the Rift Plane Alpha Campaign where there was Corruption and Mutation Tables that was a part of the rules. In my Luminvale Campaign there is a Renown system at play. So there is option for the game to be what you want it be, as the base rules are so light. I see the irony in defining what the game is not, when I just said there is optional modularity and customization options, but bear with me as I get to my point. Even with that in mind, the default should be the same.
On Session Constraints
The length of the sessions, timing of the sessions and our players all lead to determining the play style we want as a group. We like to have 2-2.5 hours weeknight sessions. So, we try not to go over time, as we all have lives to go to. The players in my group, like the impact of their decisions but they also like some constraints put in, as they are all tired and don’t want to be ultra creative on every little decision. I consider the game, a limited sandbox – or as SlyFlourish puts it, offer 3 + infinite options. This is in a lot of my design decisions (more on that later), but especially with adventure choices. These adventures are built around the idea of having a few options put to the players and them whittling through what they want to do. I also note that there is always the possibility of not following what I set forward when the players want, (hence the infinite part of the structure). I have been especially trying to practice this after reading this book The Game Master's Handbook of Proactive Roleplaying by Jonah Fishel | Guidelines and strategies for running PC-driven narratives in 5E adventures | 9781956403442 | Booktopia. The adventures also are built around being 1-2 sessions in length. Typically the bulk of the adventure encounters in one and the second being a major conflict or extended resolution scene, more on that here Combat Micro-System for Other Modes of Play & Resolution Granularity — Matthew Davis Projects. Having this one shot mentality comes from my history as a game master, even prior to this game being written.
My Game Master Experience
In the past I have run many one-shot adventures with friends. I then chopped my teeth GMing in a store, where I was set to run one-shots for strangers every week, with drop in and out players. This made me learn the beauty of 1-2 session adventures. The importance of pacing in these games is essential. Moving things along so there is always excitement. Getting to the good bits, and cutting the fat, are tools I have practiced in running these sessions. I know the importance of cutting out long haggling shopping sessions, limiting choices for players and prioritizing the exciting scenes. Story beats are things I have hardwired into me, even when they are player driven. I have structures like Trackers/montage skill challenges to speed up certain elements of play for this very reason. These are extra contributing factors of the way my game was developed. The game being set in multiple worlds but made for one shot play, also facilitates the type of medium depth world building that I like. It is enough that I can create the worlds I like, and consider how sometimes, premade adventures can be slotted into them – without them needing to be TOO DEEP, that some world building gets into, (that actually slows play and limits player agency).
What it Isn’t
Based on the above, you can see that there are many things the game is not:
Slow, multi-session, methodical play – pacing is key to my style.
Deep talk in character for each full scene - we don’t have time!
Provide no guidance as Game Master play – we are all friends and have lives so I get you don’t remember all the details.
Deep tactical play – The rules are light but also provide some choice.
Non-collaborative play – while I can provide some more structures, I like the characters and abilities being built together.
There is definitely times where the sort of session I have run breaks these rules. That is ok. It is also not an indictment on anyone else’s type of chosen play style. This is just a moment of realization for myself. I have had conversations with players recently and collected their feedback. Most of this I have taken on, but some parts of my play style are hardwired. It made me think that 5e see sorts of things are a miss match in expected play style and that is ok. That’s why it is so good to test games with different players.
The Preparation Phases
Let’s go through it. I hope you enjoy!
A Legend Begins
One player gives overview of last session
I give overview of the chosen quest as the Quest giver NPC
I give a set of narrative approach options (3+ Infinite)
Drop them into an exciting moment – called a strong start
Through the Passage of Time
Use the Montage/Tracker structure to pass through a type of adventure narrative moment: Social, Exploration, Travel, Minor Combat, Mystery/Investigation etc
Define the successes goal to hit (PC count -/+0-3)
Bane or boon applied to being below or above this count: doom, difficult encounter/setback, reward, narrative progress, positive encounter, additional secrets
Trials of a Legend
3-5 narrative encounters that are thematic to the quest: combat, puzzle, travel, social, exploration etc
Keep in mind variety and length of session
Focus on choice in the players determining order or additional/less encounters from their actions
A Conflict Arises
This is the detailed section of play as a granular resolution encounter
Determine difficulty, boons/banes and next steps
A Legend Concludes
Wrap up the story, determine if reward or consequence of outcome
Reward: Contact, Skill, Gear, Resource
Consequence: loss of ability, narrative consequence
Run through optional mechanic like outcomes of Renown or Corruption
Run through Downtime for players: Gain, Solace, Heal, Chance (can be done between sessions via message)
Offer players 3 Legends for them to go through next session and players vote on their choice (can be done between sessions via message)
