A summary of the adventure.
or of the scene/level
or a vista overview? does that go here instead of in DM advice?
or of the scene/level
or a vista overview? does that go here instead of in DM advice?
1.16 Write an overview of whats going on
- Thread starter bryce0lynch
- Start date
Map third dimension section: note windows and rooftops
Adventure/Section Summary
some misunderstanding of words example
Even a small adventure can be dense, with a lot going on in them. It's easy to miss connections and other pertinent details as you are preparing an adventure, and especially when you are running it. A brief overview at the beginning of the adventure, noting the major points and flow of the adventure, is a helpful device for the DM. As they are preparing the adventure, reading it through for the first time, they now a reference point to help anchor all of the new content they are receiving. This can continue in to the various chapters or sections of or levels of the adventures. In each major section a couple of sentences about what is going on helps orient the Dm to the content that is coming up.
not the similaries to the room description
Vista Overlook Summaries
There's a specific instance of Overviews that I want to mention: the expansive view. Imagine the party comes up over the top of a rise and see, down below them, a great manor home, the destination of their journey. The DM might tell them something like "You seem a manor home sprawled out before you." The players are then sure to ask for details. Where are the entrances? Anything unusual going on? What is the southern dome is on fire or the northern wing is under attack by ape-men, or both? Don't the players deserve to know this? Doesn't the DM deserve to know this? I mean, without reading through every single room description to figure out which parts of the manor are collapsed, on fire, previously on fire, or under siege? The players deserve to know the obvious things going on and the DM needs the most pertinent details at their fingertips. otherwise, how will they respond quickly to the players inquiries? By digging through the individual room entries? I think not!
Note the similarity of this topic to that of a well written room description. The room description quickly provides an overview of the room to the players and then the follows it up with other text that expands on those points. These "expanse overviews" do something similar, stating the most obvious things up front and then following up on other minor points. The general concept applies to rooms, to coming upon the adventure site for the first time, or any other situation in which a new area is revealed to the players. A substantial amount of this can be provided by the map, copses of trees, waterfalls, doors, etc. But the siege of the ape-men, fire, collapsed domes and the like? If it's obvious then make it obvious to the DM so they can respond to the players.
This applies to many situations. Coming down in to a large open and well lit cavern. Surveying the countryside from atop a bell tower or cliff. Arriving outside of just about any location that you can walk around. And, obviously, this doesn't mean for ALL of those locations all of the time. Only game-able content and locations, only information likely to be of interest to the part.
(what was that graveyard thing? green glows and shit? it was in a review)
Adventure/Section Summary
some misunderstanding of words example
Even a small adventure can be dense, with a lot going on in them. It's easy to miss connections and other pertinent details as you are preparing an adventure, and especially when you are running it. A brief overview at the beginning of the adventure, noting the major points and flow of the adventure, is a helpful device for the DM. As they are preparing the adventure, reading it through for the first time, they now a reference point to help anchor all of the new content they are receiving. This can continue in to the various chapters or sections of or levels of the adventures. In each major section a couple of sentences about what is going on helps orient the Dm to the content that is coming up.
not the similaries to the room description
Vista Overlook Summaries
There's a specific instance of Overviews that I want to mention: the expansive view. Imagine the party comes up over the top of a rise and see, down below them, a great manor home, the destination of their journey. The DM might tell them something like "You seem a manor home sprawled out before you." The players are then sure to ask for details. Where are the entrances? Anything unusual going on? What is the southern dome is on fire or the northern wing is under attack by ape-men, or both? Don't the players deserve to know this? Doesn't the DM deserve to know this? I mean, without reading through every single room description to figure out which parts of the manor are collapsed, on fire, previously on fire, or under siege? The players deserve to know the obvious things going on and the DM needs the most pertinent details at their fingertips. otherwise, how will they respond quickly to the players inquiries? By digging through the individual room entries? I think not!
Note the similarity of this topic to that of a well written room description. The room description quickly provides an overview of the room to the players and then the follows it up with other text that expands on those points. These "expanse overviews" do something similar, stating the most obvious things up front and then following up on other minor points. The general concept applies to rooms, to coming upon the adventure site for the first time, or any other situation in which a new area is revealed to the players. A substantial amount of this can be provided by the map, copses of trees, waterfalls, doors, etc. But the siege of the ape-men, fire, collapsed domes and the like? If it's obvious then make it obvious to the DM so they can respond to the players.
This applies to many situations. Coming down in to a large open and well lit cavern. Surveying the countryside from atop a bell tower or cliff. Arriving outside of just about any location that you can walk around. And, obviously, this doesn't mean for ALL of those locations all of the time. Only game-able content and locations, only information likely to be of interest to the part.
(what was that graveyard thing? green glows and shit? it was in a review)
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