Post by logan9a on Feb 28, 2020 16:34:43 GMT
Most people who write mods seem to be more into writing a short story - why that is shit for a mod.
HORRIBLE MISTAKES PEOPLE WRITING MODS MAKE
Order
Burying the lead
Important facts hidden in a different section
Old school descriptions that are careful to tell you dimensions like you're a carpenter rather than focus on mood or comparing it to something everyone playing has seen before.
Asking for stupid rolls (example - in one mod it said that all these different things were on the desk - books and such of research with various passages marked, newspaper clippings, etc. It then said to give the PC's one research roll per hour for each. WHY? IT'S ALL FUCKING THERE.)
Often contains prose or completely useless information - I can often shave 1/3 to 1/2 off of the word count.
Coming to conclusions no sane person would; to be honest, modules are no place for subtly. If you are doing something where you've mentioned a slight thing just once and are thinking that will be enough to get the PC's interested in following up that lead, you should probably be writing novels rather than mods. You pretty much have to beat the PC's over the head (comparatively) with a clue because a) what is obvious to you will not be obvious to them b) they may have fixated on some other path/clue for reasons that defy logical explanation c) they may be thinking a scenario is going a totally different direction than what it is. In other words, 'assuming'. Hence, they ignore any information that doesn't feed into their theory.
Leaving out really amazingly necessary shit - like security cameras being on a property.
Putting in really unneeded shit like this sentence: "Formerly a box/utility room, this has been converted into a small security station." Is there any thing in the room that would tell the PC's it was formerly a box/utility room? No. Does it matter in any way that it was? No. Why do you put it in?
Decent formatting - separate the 'read this to the players' part from the GM only part rather than blend it.
For things the NPC's know I like to put it into either bullet points or short passages I can read straight.
Having NPC's do stupid shit for the purposes of making PC's lives harder. Example - sitting around watching video monitors when they would normally be out doing stuff.
Not thinking through shit logically. Example: One guy says "Meet me at X". That's it. PC's show up and the first words out of his mouth are "I hope you brought a lot of money" because he wants to sell them information. He didn't mention the money on the phone. There was no clue that he wanted to sell them anything. What then happens when the PC's look at him and say "Well, no. But I can buy you a beer?" Is that whole section and any relevant clues from the information done? Do you have to waste time setting up a new meeting? Is one of the PC's expected to go out and find an ATM?
I hate it when the writer assumes what the players will do or 'assigns them their task'. "It is up to the players to do X". Why would you even assume that? Like in one mod I'm working on it literally reads "It is up to the players to capture this guy and bring him to justice." Why would a writer make that assumption? What if the players what to sodomize his corpse instead? Don't make assumptions - just give some idea of what will happen if the players don't get involved.
Thinking about crime scenes logically. Example - there was a guy who the mod said 'when first cut into, the corpse releases lots and lots of stinky gas'. If this was a guy who was long dead, pulled from a river, special other - sure. But he had been murdered by being stabbed over a dozen times. How much more ventilation do you need?
HOW TO CORRECT THESE OBVIOUS BLUNDERS
After playing the mod with at least two or three different groups, I think that simply handing the mod to a GM (get it copyrighted first) and asking them to run it and make notes is a good first step. Handing it to a couple other guys asking them to do the same, probably a good idea as well.
When I look into 'do I want to convert a mod', I generally look for two things:
1) is the pay off worth it? Anyone can make a huge research maze for the PC's to scamper through but when they get to the end will they feel that they've wasted their time?
2) does it have a cool or unique idea/angle to it? Most mods kind of don't.
Shitty mod type:
Timed/ aka 'hurry up and wait'.
Steps I do:
Skim through it - check pay off and end scenes. Are they worth it? If the climax isn't worth the maze, find a better mod.
Copy paste into Scrivener. (If I can't, I generally just pull ideas if it has any from it)
Run a spell check - because they fucking do not. In a world where literally every computer has spell check on it, I find this to be the depths of lazy ineptitude.
Change the spacing, divide it up into logical sections. Fast read it while doing so. Make notes of WTF or where there is an obviously missing link. You have to make sure the links are numerous, obvious and solid. No 'Sherlock Holmes' BS. Also - a 'one sentence, one time' link is INSUFFICIENT; though sadly, common.
Go through the sections more carefully - make sure that all major links have the 'rule of 3'. Get rid of unneeded fluff put in for word count. Reorganize stuff into a logical order - because they fucking don't. Also, highlight with my three different colors (red, yellow, blue - tell what they mean and why)
Loganize it a bit; try to make some of the scenes more cool or interesting. Strengthen the hook. PC's in my campaign are really good about saying "This is what's for dinner" and going for it but still - a lot of these mods have the laziest, least creative hooks I can imagine.
Find a bunch of cool pics on the internet; frequently the art is not there or really horrible. Good artists cost big $$$.
Resize pics to save space on roll20 as well as make it easier to put them in.
Story board it - easier to find.
Flag it as ready to be run.
HORRIBLE MISTAKES PEOPLE WRITING MODS MAKE
Order
Burying the lead
Important facts hidden in a different section
Old school descriptions that are careful to tell you dimensions like you're a carpenter rather than focus on mood or comparing it to something everyone playing has seen before.
Asking for stupid rolls (example - in one mod it said that all these different things were on the desk - books and such of research with various passages marked, newspaper clippings, etc. It then said to give the PC's one research roll per hour for each. WHY? IT'S ALL FUCKING THERE.)
Often contains prose or completely useless information - I can often shave 1/3 to 1/2 off of the word count.
Coming to conclusions no sane person would; to be honest, modules are no place for subtly. If you are doing something where you've mentioned a slight thing just once and are thinking that will be enough to get the PC's interested in following up that lead, you should probably be writing novels rather than mods. You pretty much have to beat the PC's over the head (comparatively) with a clue because a) what is obvious to you will not be obvious to them b) they may have fixated on some other path/clue for reasons that defy logical explanation c) they may be thinking a scenario is going a totally different direction than what it is. In other words, 'assuming'. Hence, they ignore any information that doesn't feed into their theory.
Leaving out really amazingly necessary shit - like security cameras being on a property.
Putting in really unneeded shit like this sentence: "Formerly a box/utility room, this has been converted into a small security station." Is there any thing in the room that would tell the PC's it was formerly a box/utility room? No. Does it matter in any way that it was? No. Why do you put it in?
Decent formatting - separate the 'read this to the players' part from the GM only part rather than blend it.
For things the NPC's know I like to put it into either bullet points or short passages I can read straight.
Having NPC's do stupid shit for the purposes of making PC's lives harder. Example - sitting around watching video monitors when they would normally be out doing stuff.
Not thinking through shit logically. Example: One guy says "Meet me at X". That's it. PC's show up and the first words out of his mouth are "I hope you brought a lot of money" because he wants to sell them information. He didn't mention the money on the phone. There was no clue that he wanted to sell them anything. What then happens when the PC's look at him and say "Well, no. But I can buy you a beer?" Is that whole section and any relevant clues from the information done? Do you have to waste time setting up a new meeting? Is one of the PC's expected to go out and find an ATM?
I hate it when the writer assumes what the players will do or 'assigns them their task'. "It is up to the players to do X". Why would you even assume that? Like in one mod I'm working on it literally reads "It is up to the players to capture this guy and bring him to justice." Why would a writer make that assumption? What if the players what to sodomize his corpse instead? Don't make assumptions - just give some idea of what will happen if the players don't get involved.
Thinking about crime scenes logically. Example - there was a guy who the mod said 'when first cut into, the corpse releases lots and lots of stinky gas'. If this was a guy who was long dead, pulled from a river, special other - sure. But he had been murdered by being stabbed over a dozen times. How much more ventilation do you need?
HOW TO CORRECT THESE OBVIOUS BLUNDERS
After playing the mod with at least two or three different groups, I think that simply handing the mod to a GM (get it copyrighted first) and asking them to run it and make notes is a good first step. Handing it to a couple other guys asking them to do the same, probably a good idea as well.
When I look into 'do I want to convert a mod', I generally look for two things:
1) is the pay off worth it? Anyone can make a huge research maze for the PC's to scamper through but when they get to the end will they feel that they've wasted their time?
2) does it have a cool or unique idea/angle to it? Most mods kind of don't.
Shitty mod type:
Timed/ aka 'hurry up and wait'.
Steps I do:
Skim through it - check pay off and end scenes. Are they worth it? If the climax isn't worth the maze, find a better mod.
Copy paste into Scrivener. (If I can't, I generally just pull ideas if it has any from it)
Run a spell check - because they fucking do not. In a world where literally every computer has spell check on it, I find this to be the depths of lazy ineptitude.
Change the spacing, divide it up into logical sections. Fast read it while doing so. Make notes of WTF or where there is an obviously missing link. You have to make sure the links are numerous, obvious and solid. No 'Sherlock Holmes' BS. Also - a 'one sentence, one time' link is INSUFFICIENT; though sadly, common.
Go through the sections more carefully - make sure that all major links have the 'rule of 3'. Get rid of unneeded fluff put in for word count. Reorganize stuff into a logical order - because they fucking don't. Also, highlight with my three different colors (red, yellow, blue - tell what they mean and why)
Loganize it a bit; try to make some of the scenes more cool or interesting. Strengthen the hook. PC's in my campaign are really good about saying "This is what's for dinner" and going for it but still - a lot of these mods have the laziest, least creative hooks I can imagine.
Find a bunch of cool pics on the internet; frequently the art is not there or really horrible. Good artists cost big $$$.
Resize pics to save space on roll20 as well as make it easier to put them in.
Story board it - easier to find.
Flag it as ready to be run.