Designing the Devil’s Game

Steffie here. I’m currently seven chapters into the eight-chapter Devil’s Game adventure path, and wanted to talk about some of the design decisions I made.

I’m a huge fan of sandboxes. I hate feeling railroaded as a player, and I hate railroading players as a GM. Adventure paths require a little linearity though, as villains have plans and events happen in order. 

Here’s how I find the median between sandboxing and guiding the group from chapter to chapter.

Optional Encounters

I’m a writer, not a psychic–I can’t see what your gaming table looks like. So I’ll present you with several pick ‘n choose encounters in every chapter. A group maximized for combat probably likes the challenge of running escalating combat encounters in succession. A group of scholars probably wants more puzzles. It’s my task as designer to give you a buffet of encounters, and your task as GM to pick the right selection for your group.

Different Actions

After you selected encounters A, C, and D for your group, we’re back to allowing different tactics. Most groups have three fall-back options: fight, run/sneak, negotiate. They don’t have to defeat the morally ambiguous NPC. They can help with the villain’s schemes, and the villain does them a solid in return–the PCs can just get or borrow the item they need, rather than taking it off the villain’s corpse. Does that mean they exchanged the morality of murder for the morality of complicity? Yes–but choosing either should always be the group’s choice.

Now I did say three fall-back options, so to be clear: No, I did not account for that time in chapter three where the PCs built a steampunk ornithopter from scavenged materials. If that happened, you’re gonna have to wing it. Good luck.

Consequences

Actions have consequences. That goes for items: if you don’t search the room you won’t find the trinket. But it also goes for making friends and enemies. I’m a huge fan of letting PC actions influence whether an NPC is friendly/neutral/hostile. A friendly NPC will help them if given the change. A hostile NPC will kick them while they’re down. What the PCs did in chapters 1-7 reflects on both resources at hand and favours they can call in in chapter 8.

If Y, then Z

All that means that when you get to chapter eight, you should have a list of “if Y, then Z.” Did they find the enchanted weapon? Did they befriend the local witch? All those things will make their lives easier in the resolution chapter. That does mean someone needs to keep track of these things, so tip: bribe one of your players with snacks. Some of the things the PCs did will have consequences “beyond the bounds of this adventure.” That’s shorthand for: Make a note of it ‘cause you can use it if you turn this adventure path into a campaign, but it won’t come up again in the adventure path itself. These little snippets form the beginnings of your own sandbox, if you choose to build it.

So that’s how I design adventures. If you have questions or comments, drop them below.