Apr 17, 2016 1:35 am
I was thinking about a back loop too.
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Apr 17, 2016 1:57 am
Maybe there should be some sort of horrible failure condition as well, beyond losing the race. One end leads to Bad Stuff rather than the exit? Would need to be a pretty terrible trigger condition, or possibly a series of them.
Apr 17, 2016 2:01 am
In my head, I had this idea that all leftward paths are the "good" options and all the rightward paths are the "evil" option since they lead to unique nodes (G and J). These could be those endings.
Apr 17, 2016 2:20 am
Sounds good. I count ~12 usable scenarios at the top of this thread, so we should have enough for a decently complex chart, space permitting, and if we're all agreed.
Apr 19, 2016 11:59 pm
I just started thinking of this dungeon like an "amazing race" scenario, and now it suddenly clicks in my head (don't know why "chariot race" wasn't triggering it for me). Alright, I'm onboard. Also the Haunted-ness of the swamp makes the shifting landscape fit nicely thematically too.
Lol, sorry, this post hasn't added anything.
Maybe the PCs are charged with, like, transporting something (the crocodiles), and are in competition with other contestants in that way? Or have just been tasked with racing across the haunted death-swamp by an eccentric madman?
Oh yes! One of the scenes is totally a run-in with another croc-charioteering crew who plays dirty!!
Lol, sorry, this post hasn't added anything.
Maybe the PCs are charged with, like, transporting something (the crocodiles), and are in competition with other contestants in that way? Or have just been tasked with racing across the haunted death-swamp by an eccentric madman?
Oh yes! One of the scenes is totally a run-in with another croc-charioteering crew who plays dirty!!
Apr 20, 2016 12:34 am
Going back to the earlier posts, I'm still loving this tagline:
"In the heart of Skull Swamp, the frogmen keep their sanity only through deadly crocodile charioteering. Will your PCs survive the course?"
And Harden's comment:
If there is something threatening their sanity, then the race would likely be a religious ritual to appease whatever-it-is. Perhaps a dungeon-on-rails? The race maybe involving travel through various dreamscapes, the next of which would depend upon how you resolve the current one? So it would vary by playthrough, but there'd be no backtracking to a previous "room".
Like, maybe, all the race-contestants were captured by the insane bullywugs, who make sport of their prisoners by offering them a means of escape (competitive croc-charioteering!). But there can be only one winner! (everyone else totally gets eaten by psychopathic amphibians)
"In the heart of Skull Swamp, the frogmen keep their sanity only through deadly crocodile charioteering. Will your PCs survive the course?"
And Harden's comment:
If there is something threatening their sanity, then the race would likely be a religious ritual to appease whatever-it-is. Perhaps a dungeon-on-rails? The race maybe involving travel through various dreamscapes, the next of which would depend upon how you resolve the current one? So it would vary by playthrough, but there'd be no backtracking to a previous "room".
Like, maybe, all the race-contestants were captured by the insane bullywugs, who make sport of their prisoners by offering them a means of escape (competitive croc-charioteering!). But there can be only one winner! (everyone else totally gets eaten by psychopathic amphibians)
Apr 21, 2016 5:33 am
Compiled quotes pertaining to story and dungeon structure.
Oh yes! One of the scenes is totally a run-in with another croc-charioteering crew who plays dirty!!I would add that the item grab also makes sense. If we frame each node around a choice of two items that represent the choices made by the players, we can have some easy to frame and understand choices. Also, I would add that each location's write up should have some vague uniformity in how we present certain elements. I am a big fan of the d6 charts ala Lasers and Feelings and think having a few of those will bring an element of randomness to the nodes that we build. Not every node necessarily needs one, but we want both variety and continuity between nodes. Gravity works (or does it in all of them?), travel between them is by an effect that is consistent, other racers behave as expected. Maybe there are other groups of good or bad racers and that can be a chart. We can bold things like "Players face a trap from the *Racer from Chart 1*"
Also, I am beginning to consider layout. I like a bold title, an easy tagline, a scroll of flavor, a paragraph of exposition that can exceed the normal node length for the beginning node, and then clear node direction travel.
I like both of these for Flavor Text options.
The first could be near the title, the second could be flavor text on a scroll or torn sheet of paper.
Which means we made need an Id Wizard node. Maybe that's Node A. Utilitarian vs Hedonic is a good third axis.
themightykobold says:
"In the heart of Skull Swamp, the frogmen keep their sanity only through deadly crocodile charioteering. Will your PCs survive the course?"foaloke says:
If there is something threatening their sanity, then the race would likely be a religious ritual to appease whatever-it-is. Perhaps a dungeon-on-rails? The race maybe involving travel through various dreamscapes, the next of which would depend upon how you resolve the current one? So it would vary by playthrough, but there'd be no backtracking to a previous "room". Jesse says:
Like, maybe, all the race-contestants were captured by the insane bullywugs, who make sport of their prisoners by offering them a means of escape (competitive croc-charioteering!). But there can be only one winner! (everyone else totally gets eaten by psychopathic amphibians)foaloke says:
So main goal would be survival through the end of the race, with maybe a secondary goal hidden in there somewhere? Players would either be frog-men themselves, or captured prisoners, or adventurers who volunteered for the thrill, etc.foaloke says:
Maybe there should be some sort of horrible failure condition as well, beyond losing the race. One end leads to Bad Stuff rather than the exit? Would need to be a pretty terrible trigger condition, or possibly a series of them.Jesse says:
Maybe the PCs are charged with, like, transporting something (the crocodiles), and are in competition with other contestants in that way? Or have just been tasked with racing across the haunted death-swamp by an eccentric madman?Oh yes! One of the scenes is totally a run-in with another croc-charioteering crew who plays dirty!!
themightykobold says:
It could have the entrance to the race, the entrance to the prize hall (with earned items from the race serving as keys to different treasures) and the exit to the "real world". Perhaps it is a series of pocket dimensions. The Bully Wugs have sponsored the PCs in the race because it has somehow settled into their swamp and won't leave until the correct combination is opened. Bully Wugs are unable to make one of the choices the correct way (because it is based on "Lawfulness" or "Good" and they don't have the ability to choose the "correct" path.) The temporal distortion that has settled on the swamp also causes effects that lead to people believing that the swamp is haunted. The local humans are killing off Bullywugs that they blame for the evil which is why the Bullywugs have hired the adventurers.Also, I am beginning to consider layout. I like a bold title, an easy tagline, a scroll of flavor, a paragraph of exposition that can exceed the normal node length for the beginning node, and then clear node direction travel.
I like both of these for Flavor Text options.
themightykobold says:
"In the heart of Skull Swamp, the frogmen keep their sanity only through deadly crocodile charioteering. Will your PCs survive the course?"foaloke says:
"Your chariot careens through the temple, your crocodiles' legs windmilling furiously under the lash, untold piles of loot flashing by as you hone in on the scepter standing on the distant altar. But the temptation proves too much for your warrior and he leans over, sword outstretched to snag a glittering gemstone necklace as it goes past. At the moment of contact you feel the world around you lurch, and an instant of dislocation ends with your chariot stuck and sinking into the waters of a bog. The world is dark around you. Ahead through the trees is the glitter of a fire and the twisted silhouettes of a cabal of Id Wizards as they gibber and dance around it."Which means we made need an Id Wizard node. Maybe that's Node A. Utilitarian vs Hedonic is a good third axis.