Poll Ended: Exciting Adventures and Quests for Fleshing Out Your World!

Because the poll had such a close finish, I'm going to work on Quests, Adventures, and ways that you can work both into creating a more memorable and fun game world.

The main points of a successful game world are:

• A form of government, nations, kingdoms, etc. A good mix of nations with different ideals. Your PCs can find common ground with those they find interesting. A party of adventurers may enjoy the intrigues of a royal court, or be more at home in a feasting hall with the Chieftain of the Breakspear tribe.
• Adventure hooks, or lures. Tales of treasure to be found in the ruins of a mythical Elven city, rumors of dark things creeping in the mines of Faltyr, a contest of skills with high stakes. If your players aren't interested in going out and doing, your game may end up on rails and feel forced.
• Lore, fables, myths and legends. Many things may not directly affect the players; Rumors of foul play in a King's ascension to his throne, or dark tales of a warrior who guards a lonely mountain pass. It may not draw in your players, but it helps to make your world seem more complete.
• Consequences. Perhaps the players save a town from a rampaging beast which had destroyed much viable farmland in a rampage. The players move on, but in a few weeks in the game, come back through the town. What do you think they'll find? It may come to pass that without those crops, they've had to begin charging a toll on their bridge. Of course, they may waive the toll for the heroes who saved them. Or perhaps the townsfolk have equipped their men for war and sent them off to a distant battlefield to save their families from starvation.
• Opportunity, and fame. So let's say your players are doing quite well for themselves, and want to establish themselves a presence. They could buy an existing building, and turn it into a home, or an Inn, or a shop. They could have a keep, tower, or house built. Start a business, take advantage of cheap local goods and start a caravan for profit. They may decide to hire sellswords and offer themselves to the highest bidder as mercenaries. Their reputations could grow and become sought after for their previous actions. Perhaps they slew the dread-beast of Illmoor, and a noble hires them to slay a basilisk which wandered into a profitable quarry. Establishing themselves as slayers of exotic monster, they could become the consummate hunters-for-hire. You can set up paths for them to follow with ease, if you learn their goals.
• NPCs. They are the voice of the Dungeon Master. Be they a King or peasant, they fill the game world with their presences. The shady man offering a great deal of gold for a problem "solved", the leader of a bandit gang, the drunken beggar, the damsel in distress, all help to shape your world. Say your players find themselves coming into a new town. It's not much, mostly just small houses on farm plots. There's no one around. They go right into the small town, and find that no one is outside. Heading to the local tavern, they enter and the only person there is the short human bartender. Your Players will probably want to ask him what's going on; How the Bartender responds to the PC will say a lot. If he hides under the bar and starts yelling about needing more time, but that he'll have the money, it will probably lead the players to believe that someone or thing is putting the squeeze on the barkeep. That may lead good characters to wanting to help, and may set in motion events which will see the Players as heroes of the town. But it all comes down to the NPCs.

Remember: You know your players better than I, and what motivates players best is what interests them. I hope you found this information useful; Good luck with your games!

Who's This Guy? Designing NPCs.

So you've got your maps prepared, you've got a world ready to put together, but what's the glue that will make it all stick together? Using the example of Newport(you can find the example town of Newport here:), I'll try to answer that. What will make Newport stand out? It's just a small town, much like any other. It doesn't have any notable geography, nor any exotic exports. In fact, the most exciting news is that they've found a vein of iron ore in the cliff wall of the valley. What will make it stand out?

The Non-Player Characters that populate it, of course. A miserly tavern keep with watered down ales, old bread, drafty rooms and a nasal voice. A customs officer with shifty eyes and suspicious packages. The foppish Captain Rosseau and his clinking chain mail that's seen better days. The drawling Sheriff and his long dark mustache. Maybe they find a lost pair of Dwarven Fighters who've wandered into a dungeon and can't find their way out. The way a character is designed goes beyond an equipment list or stats, and their goals clashing with the Player's goals makes for even more memorable encounters. The miserly tavern keeper sneering at the Players as they complain about the service. "What, you think this is Cormanth? We don't offer a tea service here, laaadies." The foppish Captain Rosseau challenging a Player to a duel over an unintended slight. "How dare you! I challenge thee to honourable combat, you impudent rapscallion!" The Mayor's daughter, seemingly drenched in perfume, flirting with the players. "Oooh, what big strong muscles! You look like you could pick me up...*wink* and lift me too." Lord Shasp, standing strong in front of the gates of the town, Dwarven-crafted war axes clenched in each hand, bellowing, "Archers! FIRE! Infantry, CHARGE!" As he  leads his faithful retainers straight into the goblins.

And remember, each of these NPCs has their own agendas. Perhaps the tavernkeeper is really a spy for a neighboring lord. Maybe the Mayor's daughter is planning on making her boyfriend jealous and causing a brawl in the bars. The tavern's visiting bard could be spying for the Harbourmaster, to find out who his wife is cheating on him with. A cheerful caravan of halflings could be a band of thieves, assassins in disguise, or as they are, a band of merry folk who may contract the Players to guard them on their way to the capital.

A good NPC can drive on a plot, but ultimately, it's the way your players react to them that makes them memorable. You can prepare several interesting, entertaining, or devious NPCs, and the one that the players remember with most fondness may be the young elven maiden who braided them each a daisy crown as they went out to face the goblins on the day of the battle.

Motivations make the game world go around, and your PCs won't want to be pawns to others very often. But a well made NPC with ulterior motives, who convinces them into doing something for him which turns out to be for the worse, can really bring a session to a boil, especially if said NPC will become a focal villain for your game. A good escape plan on his part, and your players will want to track him down, for justice, to right what they did, to reclaim an artifact, or good old fashioned revenge.

Next time, I'll tell more about making a good villain, and tools you can use to make your villains stand out, die well, and to use them to link a story together.

Newport: An Example Small Town Port

Newport: Population 247.
Local Noble: Lord Shasp
Mayor: Edward Edwardson
Mayor's Daughter: Jolene Edwardson
Harbourmaster: Terrence Keeper
Wife: Anna Keeper
Customs Officers: Tom Jones, Greg Edels
Sheriff: Nick Aleksandr, two dozen town guards
Lord Shasp's retainers: an even dozen, two officers
Captain Rosseau Aleksandr
Sergeant Jorge Keeper
Tavernkeeper: Frederick Crosh(miserly)

Newport is a small, newer port town. It services primarily trading vessels and it's small fishing fleet, and the local economy is based on hunting, fishing, and farming. They sell fresh water and rations to the trading vessels, and import most of their luxury goods. A recently discovered vein of fine iron ore has attracted a small clan of Dwarves, the Forge-hammer clan.

The docks are too small for large shipbuilding, but can repair and service the large trading vessels. Lord Shasp is currently building a manse in the town, and a wall for the town. It stands at just two feet, but the gatehouses have been completed at fifteen feet with the wall planned for ten feet. The Forge-Hammer clan has been contracted to build it.

The local goblin tribe steals produce and livestock from the outlying farms but are growing more bold. A hobgoblin with an enchanted mace is riling them up, and will, without player intervention within a day, attack an outlying farmstead. They will continue attacking farmsteads under the cover of night until defeated, or until they try the walls in a week. The mace can, once per day, cast a 1d8 thin bolt of lightning, or deliver that damage on contact once per day.

Recently, an assassin tracked a Wizard to a cavern near the town, and attempted to kill him. The wizard managed to summon a demon into a prepared circle of holding, which scared off the assassin, but before the Wizard could release or instruct the demon to a task, he died, leaving the demon stranded there. It is trapped in our world, and cannot leave until time erases the circle holding him, or until someone breaks it for it. It will perform a task for a character in exchange for freedom, or peacefully vanish if asked, but if not asked to begone or to do a task, it will attack the characters immediately(any minor demon will do).

Before the goblins attack the town, the Dwarves will offer assistance to Lord Shasp and dig a concealed, stake-lined trench behind the walls to protect the town. The Harbourmaster will provide a nearly depleted wand of fireballs if the Players ask him for aid in defending the town. The miserly tavernkeeper will offer a free ale if his tavern is undamaged at the end of hostiles. Just one. The goblins have only ten slings and a bow, and are armed with clubs. They will swarm the gatehouses, and push to the edges to take the stairs if they attack the town, before pushing into the town. Shasp will offer a reward of gold(fifty each for the players) for a report on goblin activities after the first farm is attacked. He will also outfit the PCs with armours or weapons to a certain gold limit, from his armoury if the PCs defend the town(they'll keep them).

Secrets: The Mayor is a widower, and will do whatever his daughter asks of him. His daughter is spoiled rotten and is dating Greg Edels, the customs officer. Tom Jones works with the local Rouges, a father and son, as smugglers. They procure and fence goods, and stash them in crates of produce they grow, and Tom marks it as clean for Rogues in other ports to collect. If the players save the father and son, they'll part with a small stash of gold hidden in their chicken coop. The harbourmaster's wife is cheating on him with the Tavernkeeper.

Best part of this material is, the port town is in a long valley with a bottleneck end leading to... Anywhere you would need it to. It would be a great place for anything, like a maze of twisty canyons, a deep forest, or so on.

Building Your Foundations

So, you've got the plans made, you're the Dungeon Master, you've got some time to prepare, and some map pieces already made up. But where to begin?

Some Dungeon Masters usually like starting things off in a tavern, but feel free to be creative. Perhaps they were escorting a caravan, and have just arrived in a town(maybe they see something happen and rush to do something about it). Maybe they were all gathered by a local noble for a task, and await his audience. Maybe they've been gathered from a prison, and are offered freedom in exchange for recovering an artifact.

But what motivates your players? Do they seek fame? Wealth? A position of power? Or do they just want to slay themselves some monsters?

Introducing organizations in the game world with their own objectives and goals can help your players set their own goals. Perhaps they decide to eradicate the Black Claw Mercs, a small outfit of Lizardmen and Half-Orcs who take any job, no questions asked. Or perhaps they may want to join and rise to the top of the Black Claws; Either way, it helps them feel like they're making a presence. Say they wipe out the Black Claw mercs to protect a small town mayor they were sent to kill. The corrupt noble who hired the Black Claws may attempt a reprisal, or perhaps another mercenary outfit decides that they like the player's bravado and offer them membership in the Red Blades. Possibilities exist as far as you can imagine.

Say you want to lead the characters to a specific point, but you don't want to drag them by the nose. You can tailor certain encounters to make them interested. A band of players who likes the idea of being mercenaries for hire may be swayed by a stranger showing up and offering them a job with a bag of gold or of precious stones as a down payment. Maybe a wounded soldier riding into town and reporting bandits having kidnapped the Duke's daughter will stir a compassionate party. Reports coming in of a terrifying fire-breathing beast will surely draw in a party interested in a good fight. But in the end, your knowledge of your players will help far more than anything I can suggest in an article.

Next time, I'll explain a bit more about NPC design, and handy tricks for making up memorable characters on short notice, and on the spot.

Starting your game

It's one of the more challenging things to do when none of your friends have any of the same days off, and even more difficult when you've got work to juggle, but a bit of preparation can go a long way.
Lots of employers will be happy to schedule off for a certain day, or a certain time frame, so long as you ask well in advance. Don't be afraid to plan for a weekday!

It's a good idea to choose where to play in advance, and a courtesy to make it a potluck kind of thing, with everyone bringing some food to share; pizzas, sodas, etc, whatever you and your friends like to eat.

As the DM/GM(Dungeon Master, Game Master), it's always wise to have a campaign ready. A good way to prepare is to build pen and paper maps of specific towns, let's say Greyville, Orangetown and Blue Harbour, in advance(along with some roads). So if the party decides that Orangetown is not their speed, and decide to set out for Blue Harbour, you can use a prepared road and add it to your world, between Orangetown and Blue Harbour. You'd construct the world as you play; You'll always have something to place down, be it a road, dungeon, tower, fortress, cave, canyon, cliff, whatever you'd need. A bit of tape, and your map will stay together and you can work in whatever you need.

Designing your world involves more than places, though. NPCs, villains, treasures and traps. Goals to reach, fame to earn, and of course, a dragon to slay or dungeon to delve.

We'll expound on each of these in turn, but for now, we'll focus on hard and fast rules to keep up with players who do things outside the box, and how to keep the game going beyond what material you've prepared.

Your tools will be:
Pencils, mechanical or otherwise
A sheet of paper for mapping on the fly
A notebook to write in details of new NPCs, places, organizations, myths, lore, rumors, and dungeons

Your players will want to get into the world and do things, and more often than not, they'll want to do things you couldn't begin to expect before everyone sat down to play. In this situation, improvising on the fly is your best bet. You've built the foundations of the world your players are in, but they only know what they've seen so far. You can build grand mountains, massive fortresses, ramshackle towns. You can create noble thieves, dastardly wizards, foppish nobility. You can make a sheriff a corrupt scoundrel, a lazy layabout, an incompetent bungler, or a veritable bloodhound of a detective.
Just take notes on all that you create, and when the session is over, you can put it all together with your existing materials, and collate it into a solid session. Best of all, you'll know more about your players, their aims and goals, and what you should focus on for the next session. You'll know what motivates them, and what they find boring. You can plan consequences for their actions, be they acclaim, vendettas, or even just whispers overheard in the tavern as they sit down to a meal.

Next time, I'll discuss starting points, motivations, and how to build a successful foundation for a campaign.