GURPS - Basic Set 3r..

Features of a GoodAdventureA good adventure (by the standards weuse for our own publications) will include:Lots of opportunities for the PCs to usetheir non-combat skills - including somedifficult rolls, and some involving unusualskills (forcing the PCs to roll againstdefaults).Contests of skill between PCs andNPCs, and possibly between PCs as well.Situations where the players will haveto think about the right thing to do ... puzzles,moral choices, or both.Situations where proper use of socialskills, like Fast-Talk or Diplomacy, willavoid combat.Situations where no possible use ofsocial skills will avoid combat!Interesting descriptions of people,places and things," to give the players thefeeling that they are really there with theircharacters.A clear introduction; a plotline whichbuilds tension or mystery; and a clearconclusion.Opportunity for roleplaying and characterdevelopment. This should be presenteven if the adventure is the most lightheartedhack'n'slash imaginable! Fightersare interesting people, too - or theyshould be.A reward for characters who completethe adventure successfully, and a consequencefor characters who fail!Sample Encounter tableAn encounter table can be used to provideextra interest in an adventure. Part ofits value is that even the GM doesn't knowwhat he's going to roll. An example:Trivial Low-Tech RoadEncounters: roll one die1: A group of farmers (roll 2 dice fornumber)2: One holy hermit3: One not-so-holy beggar4: One merchant with horse, wagon,and 1 to 3 guards5: A single horseman6: NothingMapsAs described under Game Mastering, p. 177, you will need a number of maps - one forevery area you consider "important" to the adventure. Combat maps should be prepared inadvance for any location where a fight is likely.The experienced GM can save a lot of time by "recycling" maps. One house is a lotlike another. One tavern is a lot like another. And so on. Of course, if you always use thesame one, your players will kid you about it... "Aha, here we are, back in the GenericTavern!"Commercially-produced combat maps (from SJ Games, or any number of othercompanies) can also save time. And often an interesting map will suggest an appropriateencounter, helping you to design your adventure!Characters (NPCs and Adversaries)The non-player characters - the characters played by the GM and the Adversary -arevital to an adventure. Often, the whole adventure will be planned around two or threeinteresting NPCs, and what happens when the characters become involved with them.The most important NPCs should be designed first, before you work out theencounters and the other details of the adventure. Their abilities, personalities, motivationand background will set the tone for the whole adventure, and give you ideas forencounters and lesser NPCs. These important NPCs should be worked out according tothe Character Creation rules. You can start them off with 100 points, or even more.Make up a full-scale Character Sheet for each important NPC, and a brief characterstory - so you can roleplay him well.Less important NPCs - spear-carriers, cannon fodder, minor encounters and the like -can be made up after the encounters are planned. You do not need complete stats orCharacter Sheets for these characters - just notes on their important stats. Some trivialcharacters will require no pre-planning at all - if you suddenly need to know (forinstance) a Skill for one of them, you can just roll three dice and use the result.You will also want to work out a few "generic" characters to use, as needed, inimprovised or random encounters. For instance, in an adventure set in a fantasy city, youcould prepare a few city guards, a couple of storekeepers, a couple of thieves, andmaybe a strolling minstrel or wandering drunk. Then, if you need them, you have them. Ifyou don't need them, you have them for next time. (And guards, like taverns, can berecycled over and over again). The pre-generated characters in this and other GURPS setsshould be saved; they will come in very handy as instant NPCs.EncountersAn "encounter" is a meeting with NPCs, animals, a trap or anything else the GMwrites into his adventure. Encounters are of three kinds: planned, improvised and random.Ideally, as you run the game, your players should never know which kind is which!Planned encounters are worked out in advance by the GM. He has already decidedthat when the characters come to this place, they will meet these people (or animals, orwhatever). All the important encounters in your adventure should be planned.Of course, few encounters will go exactly as planned. The GM should always beready to adapt to the characters' actions. Suppose a planned encounter involves thebouncer at the "Blue Boar" - but the PCs don't go near there. You can drop a hint tosend them there, of course - but it might be easier to change things a bit. and let theinnkeeper at their rooming-house serve the same purpose. The more flexible you are. themore you can avoid the appearance of manipulating the players. And appearance ismore important than reality!Improvised encounters are "made up" by the GM in order to keep the adventuremoving along planned lines. The simplest "improvised encounter" is the little old man