Single-player Adventures

[Rocmistro]

James:

I would snatch them up in a second. Then again I'll snatch up everything you guys publish in a second, and my one beef is that you aren't publishing things fast enough. That's a high horse for another time though.

I got invited to a play-by-forum campaign through one of the other site members. At first I thought it would be something of a side project. I have to confess that I am LOVING the narrative style that is encouraged by Play-By-Forum. So much that I started a second one based off my regular IRL pals. In fact I think it works better for TOR than the traditional style of PnP role playing. Those are just my random sentiments for all those who posted about no lack of geeks in the area thanks to the Interwebz.

But in any event, yes, I would support single player adventures.

[jamesrbrown]

James:

I would snatch them up in a second. Then again I'll snatch up everything you guys publish in a second, and my one beef is that you aren't publishing things fast enough.

Rocmistro, my work is not official. I am simply a fan like you (although I did work on the Expanded Index). I am hoping my single-player adventure is at least half as good as the published adventures. Gareth and Francesco are professional writers with many, many good credits.

My laptop has been in the shop for the last 5 days and I've been working on my home computer late at night. So, I am sorry I haven't been able to respond to everyone on this thread so far. I am hoping to later. I appreciate the offers of help, really.

I'll be back when I have more time to give an update on my progress.

[Rocmistro]

Oh. My mistake. You write with such confidence and "officialness" that I thought you were a paid member on the TOR Project.

Consider this my official "mea culpa" or, to use colloquial Westron, chalk it up as "my bad".

[jamesrbrown]

Rocmistro, I meant to respond to this much earlier; but I have been sick for the last few days and before that I was extremely busy with other matters. Me sounding official is part of my personality, I think. Sorry for the unintended illusion. This game has inspired me to write and create more than any others, including all the Star Wars RPGs; and that's saying something!

I am busy working through the backstory and parts of my single-player adventure, putting in time here and there to write tidbits interspersed with research, etc. My only wish is that I had dictation software to assist me, for I find myself stuck on a few sentences and thoughts for quite some time, trying to get them in the right order. Ugh!

Here is a small piece from the introduction. As you will see, the adventure will be told by the player-hero's companion in the first-person point of view. He is a young Man of the Lake named Thorfast. The adventure begins in Lake-town; and for the introduction, I simply expanded the 'Legends Spring to Life' background found in the Lake-town supplement.

My old nanny taught me many songs about Dwarf-kings of the Mountain, and I grew up thinking that their halls of stone were as real as the bone-littered cave of the Marsh-ogre she told me about when I misbehaved. She wasn't really trying to scare me; but the way she described the creature and it's lair made me think she had been there herself, in person. She knew details. My friends thought she was some kind of retired adventurer masquerading as a nanny. I'll never know for sure: she perished when the dragon burned down our home.

I never believed in dragons —-- not until that day. I can't forget how frightened I was when I felt the wind of Smaug's approach and the heat of his fiery breath. I couldn't see him at first; but in my mind the creature was the most horrifying and terrible demon a child could ever imagine. I ran toward the Merchants' Guild-hall, where I knew my father would be. Just before I reached the building, a blaze of red light flashed in the night, followed by the sounds of cheering and twanging bows. I looked up into the sky and saw the flying serpent with my own eyes. I was mesmerised. All those stories meant to scare me into obedience weren't just legends after all.

The reality of the dragon changed me more than the destruction and loss suffered by our people. Now I know that dreams and legends are real, and that there are treasures and wonderful new lands out there, waiting for me to go and seek them out, if my father will ever let me go.

My name is Thorfast, son of Thorald, the greatest glass painter in all of Lake-town. My father and I live in the Artisan's district, right beside the shoemaker. Our houses were robbed last night. This is the third night of burglaries in the district over the past three weeks and there are no suspects...

[Mim]

This is a great intro James. Now I'm looking forward to reading the rest of your story

[jamesrbrown]

Just a quick update: I have finished up all the background material and decided to make it a three part adventure. The player will not only play his/her character, but will also make all the rolls a Loremaster would make while following the instructions found in special Loremaster text boxes. I am currently writing the first part, which includes the meeting between the player-hero and Thorfast, an investigation of three locations/people, and a stakeout to catch the burglar. The player will be able to make choices about where to go first, second, and third during the investigation. The order of his choices will bring specific advantages or disadvantages to the company throughout the adventure. Likewise, there will be several key choices to make during the stakeout. Each choice will reveal certain clues and secrets and determine parts of the storyline. I am trying to keep things simple on this first adventure, but at the same time provide enough variety through choice so that different players have unique experiences while playing through it.

The adventure will be called, "Lake-town Secrets." There should definitely be at least one sequel, if not two, due to unanswered questions. I have included this information in the Appendix. The purpose for doing that is for Loremasters who would like to use it to create further adventures if they want.

[farinal]

Sounds very very interesting!

[jamesrbrown]

Hello everyone! I wanted to check in and give you an update on my progress. The story is shaping up after a little writers block. It took awhile to complete all the background material and now putting the story together is proving to be equally challenging. Sorry for the long post, but here are the first three-and-a-half pages of my work (the total document is 14 pages so far, with about 20% of the adventure complete). Note: Everything is subject to change as I continue to write.

Lake-town Secrets Preview

[Mim]

Very intriguing switching the tense of the person - it takes some getting use to but I like it.

[LOTR_Nerd]

Please tell me this is coming in the next month or two.Thank You for this by the way.