Adventure Theory

Any System! Any Setting!

Adventure is the Third Pillar of Fantasy Storytelling

This book is about story. I named it Adventure Theory because it and rsquo;s a more compelling title for tabletop roleplaying gamers, but it and rsquo;s only one component of a great fantasy adventure. To have a compelling adventure, you need solid characters and an interesting setting as well as a moderately coherent plot and goals. The previous volumes in the Foragers Guild Guide series dealt with the former two pillars of fantasy storytelling. This book deals with how to structure the story element of your game, as well as how story interacts with and is influenced by the other elements of emergent character development and worldbuilding.

What this book isn and rsquo;t going to give you is advice on encounter design. Plenty has been written about that, a lot of it system-specific. The only sort of and ldquo;game balance and rdquo; you and rsquo;ll find referenced herein will refer to balancing the needs of the gamemaster, the players, and the characters. Gamemasters need the processes for preparing and running a game to be streamlined and easy. Players need to get the type of satisfaction they and rsquo;re looking for from game play. Characters all need to have something useful and meaningful to do within the story. Making sure your challenge rating numbers up isn and rsquo;t enough to accomplish those things.

I wrote Adventure Theory to help tie character, setting, and story together into a coherent whole. All of the plot hooks that the gamemaster came up with while worldbuilding, plus all of the things players inserted into their character back story, can be pulled together with a little structure and a lot of imagination. So sit back, take notes, and enjoy!

About the Foragers Guild Series

Most tabletop roleplaying manuals will tell you everything that you need to know about running a game. At the same time, they offer precious little information on how to tell a story. There will be a wealth of advice on how to build a world and develop a setting, but not much on what you should do with those details once you have them. You and rsquo;ll find volumes on how to maximize your character and rsquo;s abilities and put them to the best tactical use, but not much on how to use that character to help bring that world to life and tell the story. The Foragers Guild series is for everyone harboring a desire to create better fantasy adventures, no matter what system or setting you and rsquo;re using. and nbsp; and nbsp;