A Note on Notes
Heroes Gate is really just a training ground for me. I want to develop a grouping of skills, and I came up with this project as a way to teach myself and to gain practice. Initially everything was written privately in OneNote and then I got the wild idea to publish everything to WordPress. By everything… I decidely meant, everything… even the rambling jabber of of notes I make about what I am doing. So the first thing you might take note of is that my audience, when I am writing any “Notes”, is myself. Yes… I am writing to myself… talking to myself… and while I will not publish anything that might make a stranger seriously uncomfortable… it might be, at times, a bit awkward. Certainly it will not be polished prose or even well-structured content.
The good thing about talking to myself with a keyboard (rather than out loud) is that no one ever looks at me like I am strange. It is strange perhaps… but it is an essential writing tool for me. Notes are sort of like a personal journal but with a specific context. If I ever feel stuck (“writers block”) or lost (“chasing bad ideas”) it really helps me to just start talking to myself about it.
In Notes I come up with a lot of ideas. I ask a lot of questions. I add answers that may or may not be good or helpful or interesting. It is “brainstorming” in a sense… I throw a bunch of stuff up on the wall. Some sticks, some falls off.
As I enter a new scene, I write notes as a way of working out what might happen in the scene. Of course I often veer away from what I wrote in the note, it is not a binding contract, it is more a testing of possibilities. It seems dumb to publish them. Yet maybe it is worth doing if only for the sake of chronicling my learning experience, my learning process.
As I develop new PCs and NPCs (and even some Villains … aka vNPCs) I often start with Notes… “What is up with this person? Where do they come from? Who do they love? Who do they hate and why?”. All of this prattle will eventually get refined and added more formally to the characters bio sheet, but it starts informally and very unrefined.
So, if you read my notes, be aware of what they are. They are not exactly intended for public consumption as real content but I thought, for the sake of example and demonstration of my process, and maybe a little posterity… it might be worth throwing them into the site.
Notes vs Guides
First… what do I mean by Notes and Guides?
– Notes
As explained above, Notes are just my informal ramblings. Read them, skip them, it does not really matter.
– Guides
Here is where I attempt to edit and refine the things I learn into helpful content that others like me might find helpful. (When I say “like me” I just mean someone who desires to write adventurely – define that how you will.)
Notes of a Specific and/or General Type Quality
Notes can be either Specific or General. Specific Notes are associated (and linked) to specific adventure scenes or characters or lore. General Notes are just that… general… over arching or just broad. “Tominn really wants a new sword with some powerful magic” is specific… “Characters are more intersesting when they are in search of something they really want.”
Types of Notes
As I mention, I am seeking to develop a particular grouping of skills. My notes align with these objectives.
Quest Notes
(Specific) Until quite recently (erm… this morning…) I have been mixing Quest Notes in with DM Notes. I decided to try to distinguish between them. I decided I want to attempt to draw a line between Running an Adventure and Designing an Adventure. (Although both seem to happen together quite often) Quest Notes will be the Design portion. Whenever I am considering where the take the adventure… (“Should I introduce a new NPC? Throw in a distraction? Offer alternatives to the main objectives?, etc) these will fall under Quest Notes. Anything which might alter or find its way into a Quest Guide for this scene/encounter I will probably first explore in a Quest Note. From there – I will refine the ideas for addition into the Quest Guide. Be aware… if you read the Quest Notes, they will probably contain spoilers.
DM Notes
(Specific & General) The DM is there to set up scenarios for adventure – to provide opportunity to the characters to explore fantastic worlds, interact with interesting characters and even beat the pulp out of evil. Although I am fairly new to all of this, I feel like an author must where wear many hats… the big hat being the god of the table. In separating Quest Notes from DM Notes, I imagine the DM is running a published adventure exactly as it was published and these are notes on how to do that. If ever I feel like modifying how the adventure might have been published (adding new characters, objectives, lore, etc) then those notes belong in Quest Notes.
DM Notes will include specific things like “How might I run this enounter as a skill challenge?” or “Should I make this boss fight more or less difficult? – and how”. Also general things like “It helps players be more creative during combat if the DM provides adequate description of the environment and terrain.” or “When introducing a new NPC, sometimes leave a question as to whether they can be trusted or some other sense of mystery.”
I like to Homebrew… a lot… I like adding House Rules and custom Subclasses and Magic Items. For now… I will include any notes on these topics under DM Note (unless they more clearly belong somewhere else… like a PC Subclass that defines their backstory… or an item which has connections to the plot)
Design Notes
(General) If a Quest Note is “How do I design this specific adventure to engage players?” and a DM Note is “How do I run this specific adventure as designed for players”… then a Design Note is “What have I learned about desigining adventures for DMs and Players (generally)?”
Among the objectives I have for this writing project is to get good at designing the adventuring experience for RPG players. How to develop an engaging quest, how to detail it so other DMs can easily understand the quest objectives and environments and where and how to tweak things to their own tables. This goal is why I’ve chosen to structure Heroes Gate the way I have… three different parties all having different adventures and yet leveling up together. I am using published adventures as the stock of my stews, but like Treyvigg Monastery, I am giving myself the freedom to rewrite as much as my heart desires. This way I learn from the ones that have had success while exercising my own skills in adventure design.
Character Notes
(Specific and General) I see Character Notes as being about the specific characters I am working with (PC, NPC, vNPC) and also about the skills and practices of developing interesting characters in general.
On the specific side, I ramble on about a characters story and personality and motivations “Notes-style” and then refine the details I wish to keep into the Character Bio pages. In Notes, it is mere exploration of maybes… in the Bio pages… consider it canon.
On the general side… I need to spend more time here… Honestly, I’ve dropped more than a few books into my queue on character development and I’ve yet to read them. I plan on shifting my focus before long, but now I have focus on the narrative, on the “journey” (in fact, I am currently reading Hero with a Thousand Faces – because, well… it seems required of any adventure writer). I created 15 “main” characters on purpose. I see this as a deep well I must dive into and figure out how to make each character distinctly themselves. How to put them each on the heroes journey and yet never let one path smell too much like all the others. Character Development takes me a lot of time. Even NPCs and villainous NPCs need a rich backstory in my mind so that they do not feel like a prop – which they often do… but I am getting better. I plan to create a “Character Guide” with my learnings here.
Lore Notes
(Specific and General) Basically… just same idea as Character Notes above. I ramble my way through figuring out the details of the lore I want to add to the world. I refer to LGFLs (Locations, Guilds, Factions, Lore) as a way to expand the idea. For example… I could have had Deynn grow up in one of the monasterys in the Forgotten Realms that was already part of the established lore. Had I done so, I would have just linked out to entry for that monastery in the FR Wiki. But I choose to create a new monastery within the Realms, one which will help define the backstory, objectives and motivations for Deynn K’Vyll. The information about the history of The Abbey Ironwall is “Lore” but it is also a Faction of sorts – Deynn and others have committed allegiance to the goals of The Abbey. It is also a Location (located just a few miles from the ruins of Starmantle on the Dragon Coast)
Writer Notes
At the top of the list, I want to develop my skills as a writer. At the bottom… I write notes about that desire – notes I don’t yet share. I have notes about word choice, sentence structure, plot and story, plot vs story, etc. I also have notes where I am just writing to convince myself to keep writing even though what I am actually writing currently is fit only for pigs. This may eventually (long while sort of eventual) work its way into a Writer Guide… but that is probably for a far-future version of myself to consider.
Credit Notes
These are a different thing… but since I called them Notes, I should explain them here. As mentioned, this is sort of a learning project for me. When it comes to learning how to design and run adventures, it is preferable (in my view) to build on the work of others who have gone before me. Each scene will have a link to credits – who wrote the module I am using as a base for my own adventure… who wrote the existing lore (and who owns it as property of course). I have no desire to appear to be taking anything from anyone – with the possible exception of inspiration and example – and so I want to be certain I am clear about who gets credit.