A couple weeks ago, we posted the initial scene of our Isladja fantasy adventure. We thought it did a good job setting up a quest (finding the Tree of Knowledge) in a fun way that let characters introduce themselves and avoided cliches like getting a quest from an employer at the Tavern.
When we started to write the second scene, we realized that we had a major decision to work through. Should The Tree of Knowledge be a straight-forward, single-path adventure designed to be easy to run and play (but not allow much room for deviation from the plot)? Or, should it be designed for more seasoned GMs, as Justin Alexander advocated in Don’t Prep Plots. This second approach would include characters, locations, and situations… but it would not specify order and would allow for a lot more player freedom. This second approach, however, is less structured than the first and may be more difficult to run for a new group of gamers than a linear, very structured story with careful bumpers to prevent players from popping off onto tangents.
Preference on which approach you would like? Comment here, on Facebook, or Twitter.