Alpha Dawn - Star Frontiersman

4
NPCs and Creatures
After you have chosen the events that will
lead your players to their goal, you must
create the NPCs and creatures that will be
encountered in the game and write down any
information you will need to know about them to
use them in the game.
Determine the purpose of each NPC and creature in
the adventure. Make sure they fit the purpose of the
adventure and decide what they need to fill that
purpose. For example, a guard needs a weapon and
a technician needs a toolkit. You should try to make
your creatures and NPCs fit the adventure and the
setting. A gentleman would not live in a shack and
wild creatures do not roam the city streets.
5
Special Rules
If any of your events involve special situations
that are not covered in the game rules, you
should think about them before starting to play the
adventure and decide how you will handle these
situations when they arise. You may want to design
special rules for new equipment, alien devices,
general skills, weather, strange terrain or anything
else called for by the event. Try to keep your special
rules simple. Write down any special rules you make
up, so if that situation ever comes up again, you can
handle it the same way.
6
Write a Script
When you have decided the order of the
events, you should write all the information
you need to play in a script that shows when things
should happen. It is best to write down everything
you need to know about each event so that you do
not forget to give players important clues that will
affect their decisions. Number each event, so that
you will know its order. You can put the number of
the event on a map so you can see where the event
is to take place. Each written event should include
the following information:
1. A description of what the characters can see.
2. A description of what happens when characters
enter the setting, including NPC and creature
reactions.
3. Ability scores for any NPCs or creatures that will
be encountered in the area.
4. Any special rules for the event.
5. Random event probabilities.
6. Notes about what the characters can discover
from the event.
7. Notes on what should happen if the characters
succeed, if they fail, or take some other course of
action.
Read your script several times, putting yourself in
the position of a player trying to move through the
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adventure. Make different choices to see whether
you accounted for the most likely possibilities. Make
sure your challenges are not too easy or too
difficult. Players should need to use reason and
judgment to overcome the challenges. However, you
can not think of everything, so try to be flexible.
Make sure events challenge the players.
7
Create Maps
Once you have finished creating the
adventure you should make the maps you will
need during the game. There are two types of maps
that are very useful: a guide map to show the
overall layout of the adventure and playing maps
that are used during combat.
• Guide Maps. Guide maps show the area where the
adventure takes place in small scale. They do not
show much detail, but can be used to mark areas
where characters will have encounters, and show
the types of terrain characters must travel through.
A guide map typically has a scale of 1 to 20 km per
hex or square.
• Combat Maps. Combat maps are drawn on halfinch
square grids and used with the counters
during fights. The scale on these maps typically is
2 to 10 meters per square. They can show any
amount of detail that the referee wants. Important
features like doors, windows, security devices and
natural dangers should be shown.
• Indexing the Maps. Listing information about all
of the important encounter areas directly on a map
would be very confusing. Instead, encounter areas
should be coded with a number or letter, and an
explanation recorded or. a separate sheet of paper.
This way, the referee can see at a glance where
the important areas are on his map. The maps
included with the adventure SFO, Crash on
Volturnus, are good examples of how to set up
both combat and guide maps. the sample
adventure on the next page also includes two very
simple maps, one a guide map with a scale of 1
kilometer per hex and the other a combat map
with a scale of 2 meters per square.
• Players' Maps. In many adventures, characters
will want maps of their own. The referee should
prepare these maps himself, and let the players
keep them. Generally, these should be about the
same as the referee's guide map, but without the
notes and indications of where important
information can be found. The players' map should
include only the information that would be included
on a regular map (unless the characters have
found a hand-made treasure map or something
similar).