Part 2
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[legend]Location, Location, Location![/legend]
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This is all about the locations that your PC(s) will be visiting during the game. By my definition, a "Location" is any particular area that the player will move through at some point. You can have a lot of fun here. You'll want to come up with interesting, and believable locations, which keep the player interested in the game. Some genres won't focus too much on this area, since there won't be any reason to go into detail on most areas in, say, a platformer. RPGs, on the other hand, benefit from having tons of detail and information on each location.
So lets say we were going to be making an RPG, and we needed a bunch of locations. Lets say our RPG is going to be a Fantasy style, and take place on a world other than Earth (basically your stereotypical Pre-8 final fantasy.. ) So what do we need to do in order to plan our location? Generally, you'll want to come up with some kind of general map, or make one up as you go. Here are a few key points to look into:
Climate - This is the first thing to look at. Where is your first location going to be? Desert? Forest? Swamp? Frozen Tundra? Make a decision here, and keep it in mind, the climate you choose will be important. Sometimes an exotic location makes for an interesting location, but if this is going to be the first place the player sees, you may want to make it something they'll recognize... Let's make an example. Lets say that our location is going to be a Heavily Forested Area, in a temperate zone. Easy enough.
Name - You can really give it a name anytime, but sometimes I like to make up the name first, so that you have a basis to work from. Let's call our area "Foalhaven".
Establishments - Now that you know the climate, you need to know the inhabitants. Are there any cities, towns, villages in this location? Or is it barren, except for the few wandering monsters... is the entire location a City in itself, or is it a section of a city (like Midgar in FFVII, I would consider each section of the city a separate location, giving the Shinra building it's own location.) It's up to you. For our example, lets say that there is only one town in this location, not very large, and each pretty far from any other town. Around 300 people total.
Inhabitants - So what kind of people live in this location? Are they all human? Do they all have to work equally, or is there some kind of slave system in place? What kind of lives do they live? Think hard about all of these, and keep in mind the climate that your location is in. In our example, lets make our own town a logging town, filled with humans, and a few dwarves, where most of the men are loggers, and most of the women run any other trades, like inns, shops, government offices, etc (all the non-physical jobs). I kind of like to throw in a few things that are a little different when coming up with the towns. Feel free to make up whatever interesting features you want.
History - This is (to me) a fairly important feature of the area you're working with. Even if you're not dealing with a town, you can make up some pretty interesting historical events that can, at the very least, add to the player's experience, and can be used for interesting plot events/twists/or special events. Come up with some cool stuff, if you want. FFX had some great history tied into each area of the game... I remember the Calm Lands, which was where an epic battle took place years, and years ago, and was still sporting the craters, and battle scars from the battle in the landscape.
Come up with something that will peak your player's interests, and (when possible, or beneficial), try to tie in to other areas/people/events that the player has or will meet in the game.
Let's go back to our example, and say that this area, Foalhaven, was once nothing but forest, and until just recently was not inhabited by any humans... Hidden somewhere in the deepest section of forest was a colony of Forest Dryads, who have since disappeared to areas unknown, since the humans started moving in to the area. Some believe that the Dryads are still hiding in the forest, and a few eye-witnesses say that they have seen them in small groups, while others fear that they are preparing to take back the forest.
The logging town was established as a direct source of lumber for a nearby nation, which is the only source of external income to the town. As you can see, I tried to add a little bit of history that can be further explored if the player wants to. The history is not too difficult to come up with, if you try to think logically about the type of area you're dealing with.
Finishing Up - That's about all there is to making up a location, feel free to tweak my ideas if you want. You may want to make a map or two for this location, to help get an idea of what's in the area, or whatever works for you. Later on, I'm going to make up a few "Cheat Sheets" to help out if you run out of ideas.
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[legend]Non-Player Characters and Villians[/legend]
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Here, we're going to talk about Non-Player Characters (NPCs), and Villians. as you may have guessed, NPCs are characters that the player does not control, but interact with the PCs somehow. Most game genres will benefit from this section, but, again, due to the in-depth story developments of the RPG type, I'm going to end up focusing on them once again. An RPG will usually have hundreds of NPCs, and at least one major Villain, with lots of henchmen.
When I refer to Villians, I'm only talking about the characters that play a large role in the game, and seem to have vicious hatred for the PCs, not just every boss the player faces. The Dragon at the end of the cave who pops out of no where, and is killed by the PCs after a long, and grueling battle, while considered a Boss, is not a Villain.
For the most part, most NPCs the PCs will encounter are going to be your average townspeople, walking around town, and giving out semi-helpful one-liners of information. They don't need a lot of details. The NPCs you'll want to focus on, are the ones that will play some kind of important role in the story. A good place to start with your NPCs is by thinking a little bit about your story in general.
You'll want to build up your NPCs in a similar manner to the way you made your PCs, but you won't necessarily have to go into too much detail... Some good examples of NPCs would be:
Cid from FFV
Regis the Mayor from Star Ocean 2
O'aka from FFX-2
Red XIII's Grandfather from FFVII
Those are just a couple of good NPCs, there are a bunch others out there.
When building your NPCs, try to give everyone a little bit of history, even if it's pretty basic. Sometimes an NPC's history can be turned into a plot line of some kind.NPCs help to fill your world with life, and add a touch of believability to your story, but Villians add a touch of chaos, and evil to balance out the world. Plus, Villians can be lots of fun to create!
Creating a Villain can be done in only a few easy steps:
Name - I tend to start with the name, and build from there... sometimes, though, I change it a couple times before finding something that sticks. Good villian names are very ominous. Lets make our example's name something freaky, like: Valouse
Basic Description - Describe your villain - sketch them out... make them look sinister, and decide what their personality is like on a basic level. I want Valouse to be female, and wear lots of dark red/black armor with spikes, and things.
Obsession - All villains are obsessed with something , whether it's a person, an item, or a location, or whatever - the best villains will stop at nothing to obtain what they are obsessed with. Some good examples: Sephiroth (FFVII), was obsessed with becoming an omnipotent being. Kefka (FFVI), was obsessed with obliterating all life, and the classing Bowser (About every Mario Game) was obsessed with the Princess, for some inter-species breeding... or something....
Sometimes, it's a good idea to gradually reveal the Villians obsession over time, let the player try to figure it out on their own. For our example, lets make Valouse obsessed with a certain magical item... um.. lets see.... she's looking for an ancient relic that will allow her to rule the world. Sounds a little cliche-esque, but, no matter.... good enough for me.
Resources - A villain can't be really nasty if they've only got the clothes on there back, and $2.40 in change, most every villain seems to have nigh-infinite resources, and loads of henchmen. For instance, our ol' pal Sephiroth Had a bunch of Followers, and his Mam to help him slow down the heroes' progress... not to mention some backing from Shinra. He wasn't going to be found easily. For some reason, most villains seem to have a lot of extra cash laying around, it seems to make them more viscious.
You'll want to decide just how powerful your villain's going to be... and how much they have to spend. Lets make our baddie be in charge of a large group of warriors from a northern countries. She's sort of like Ghengis Khan, in a sense, only more sophisticated. She is able to call on her troops for support, and she has a large amount of funds (from their hording) to use as needed.
Mania - While this can (and usually is) tied in to their Obsession, most Villians have a level of insanity to go with it. It's hard to find out where the line is, between obsession and insanity, but it can be fun to play with the line a little... kefka (FFVI) was absolutely insane, and that freaking laugh of his was bone-chilling... even in the days of the ol' Super NES. Let's say that our Villain hates wildlife, and wants to raze the forests, and build massive cities of iron and steel to cover the world.
Power - Here you want to have fun. Most every major villain has some sort of ungodly power, which gives them the edge, and the terrifyingly strong attacks... Sephiroth sort of had Meteor's power to call upon, among other powers at his disposal. you never see a villain who is clearly weak, and powerless (at least not unless their faking).
Our villain will have the power of (once she locates it) the Ancient Relic, but in the meantime, her arsenal consists of the ability to build terrifying robotic, and sentient creations of destruction to do her bidding.
That's about the jist of it! Try making your Villians someone that wll scare the crap out of you, or try another method, and make them someone you would perhaps idolize, until they show you their 'other side'... and you'll be on your way to making worthwhile villains in no time!
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[legend]Plot[/legend]
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Now we're getting to the fun part. The Plot is the Meat of your Game Story, without a Plot, your story has no drive, or motivating force. Your characters have no reason to do anything, but laze about on large sofas watching TV, and eating pork rinds.... mmm... pork rinds.....Ahem.
Anyway, since the Plot is so important, I'm going to dedicate several posts to it. The first post is going to start with some of the basics of developing your story out from start to finish. Now, everyone works differently, and most people find their own way of looking at things, but I'm going to lay out a few different methods that I've seen work, and then I'm going to explain the way I do it. We're going to have fun...
First off, now you have a bunch of characters, a few locations, and a few bad guys, you need to figure out how to get your story assembled. Now, like I said, there are many different methods to build your story. We'll start with the Bubble Method. Essentially, the Bubble Method is sort of a way to brainstorm some of your ideas, and bring them together. It's also a good way to put together a non-linear storyline. It works like this: Draw a bubble in the center of a sheet of paper. Make it sort of small, so you can add to it later. In the center of this bubble, write down an event, or some kind of scene.
Now, you'll continue to add these bubbles, and keep adding more sections of the story, eventually ending up with a whole bunch of bubbles on sticks, with ideas inside. This can help you form a representation of all the items in your game, and when they occur. This is one method I've seen lots of times before, but doesn't work for me very well... Some people like it, so you should give it a shot, and see if it works for you.
The next method I've seen is a little bit more like my method, but a little too logical for me... basically, you want to write down each of your events, the people involved, and give each a ranking to determine when they happen, and then apply these events to a timeline. This works for some people.
Example:
1: Introduce Characters
2: Tutorial
3: Boss Fight
4a: Find Lock Pick
4b: Find Key
5: Open Door
1----2----3---4---5----
This can be good for those who are very logical thinkers, and who keep track of things through numbers, etc. I find it very hard to keep track of things this way, so my method is a little more straightforward.I start with several sheets of paper, or to be able to read it later, I will probably use Word, and I start a Numbered List. I start out similar to above, with just a few words to describe each event:
Intro Movie - Lab
Introduce Eta
(optional) Learn how to play
Explore Ninja Ruins
Boss: RagMan
Scolded by Sensei
Etc
Next, I open a new Word Document, and just start filling in the blanks. I'll start with a Numbered event in my first list, and fill in the details:
Intro Movie: Lab
Lengthy Description of Intro Movie
Lengthy Description of This Event
Etc.
Now, we were talking about my method of Plot Building. For the most part, I lay it all out in my head, and then let my fingers go wild on the keyboard. I know that this method doesn't work for everyone, but for me, it ends up with me getting a lot of the story done in one go. While I may not yet know the precise ending, I sort of imagine, and act out the story in my head, like a movie...
Anyone who's seen my Design Doc will probably say that it almost reads like a storyboard, minus the pictures. And with a lot of details. Some people will find it easier to leave out most of the details until far later in the process, but for the most part, you want to find a method that works for you. Some people like to work in chapters, or sections, or scenes, and I try to break up my story that way myself, but eventually end up with a long list of events that just keep going, and going. I end up adding the chapters later on, as I re-read the finished product.
Don't struggle too much just yet with the overall plot layout, we still need to figure out how to create the plot.
Why did I talk about all this crap about bubbles, and stuff? Because I want you to start trying to come up with a method of your own on getting your plot written down, to be converted to real use later. We're going to start talking about the actual story itself now, and you need to know how to lay everything you're going to make up out. So there.
Okay, so you have a couple of Good Guys, a Villain or two, a settings, and, essentially, a world in which your Game will take place. Now what? Well, for some MMORPGs, this is it. Your done. Throw in some crazy tasks, and adventures, and a few billion different types of items, and you've got your game, and people will flock to it, and stand around all day chatting, and showing off the fact that they played for 6 months straight, at $20 a month, and have just now gotten strong enough to defeat the big bad monster, and obtain the Black Dye they used to make their shirt black. Fun.
But if you're like me, and require, rather, demand some kind of adherable story, or relish the fact that when you play the game, your actions matter, you're going to want to come up with an interesting, mysterious, and fun story for your Players to follow, and treat them to a game they can have a good time with. So the story is going to play a big part. Better not screw it up.
At this point, you should know something of what your story is going to be like... some inkling of an idea, but if you don't there are some tricks that I have up my sleeve, to help you out.There are several Key Story Points that we have to discuss, in order to build our story:
The Quest
The PCs' Role
The Villians' Role
The Path
The Reward
The Consequences
Misc
We're going to discuss each of these items in turn, and hopefully go through a process of getting your story together.
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[legend]The Plot:The Quest[/legend]
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First, what is the purpose of your PCs? Why do they have to do whatever you want them to do? Perhaps they have to find a secret item, or rescue someone, or anything... you should decide why their leaving home. In my RPG, Worlds , our main PC, Eta, is accidentally sucked into another world through a portal, and after an accident in the Lab where he ends up, Eta is blown to another world, and lost within the Omniverse. He's now on a Quest to find his way home. (See that? That's like pointing out the key word, that is... oooo... )
Now the Quest can (and probably will) change periodically throughout the game, as more information becomes available... but they should generally stay static through most of the major sections (only really changing occasionally). Now a quest is the overall goal of the PCs, which is what they're trying to do in a big-picture type of thinking, a path is sort of like a mini-quest, that only lasts for a short time, until the PCs get to the next Path. Try not to get them confused...
Alright, so you're having trouble Picking a quest. Well, I've got help for you! Anyone who's familiar with the D&D Dungeon Master's Guide on Building a Dungeon should know this trick. Get out your d6es (six sided dice) (or made a quick random-number generator), and roll to pick out a quest (roll for each category, and then add them together):
Type of quest:
Find
Destroy/Kill
Escape from
Steal/Kidnap
Free/Release
Re-roll
Item/Person Involved:
Royalty (King/Queen/Prince/Princess)
A City/Town/Building/etc
Magic Item (Ring/Gem/etc)
Ruins
Monster
Regular Person
Okay, so lets make some rolls....
And it looks like I got........... a 3 , and a .... 1 ... hmmm, so we consult the tables, and we get: Escape from Royalty . Well, so how do we work this in as a Quest.... let's see...
Quest Dialog
Our Main Character, who happens to be some sort of political activist, is under surveillance by the Duke of a neighboring Dukedom. The Character is suspected in a plot to overthrow the government, but he continues to state his innocence. After a failed assassination attempt on the Duke's Brother, he sends a team of warriors to take out our main character. While having a quiet evening at home one night, our PC sees a group of mercenaries snooping around his house, so he picks up his well-oiled sword, dons his ebon cloak, and steps out into the night to confront the sneaks.
Came up with that on the spot... You may find that you have a little trouble coming up with a good quest right off the fly, so you may want to think it out for a while. I've kind of touched on a little bit of a path as well, at least the beginnings of one...You may decide to come up with your own general quest generator, or just make up a quest out of your head... You'll want to try and make it a coherent path from quest-to-quest, so you may decide to do a few rolls all at once. Lets say I roll again, and I get: 5 and 2 .... Release a Town/Place ..
Okay, so our hero escapes from the Duke, but then comes back to Free the town from his tyrannical rule. It all should lock together. Remember, Quests are big events, that take a lot of time to complete, and are composed of tiny Paths .... it will all make sense soon..
The PCs' Role
We're going to talk about the role that the PCs have in their quest. While this is sometimes something you want to come up with before you make up the Quest, you can usually base it off of what the Quest is, which is why I wanted to bring it up after the Quest. Generally, what is the PCs overall role in this adventure? Are they trying to save the world? Save a country? Find a particular item? Are they good guys? What? This is going to be the overall general thing that's going on in the game.
Example (continued off of the last example):
Our heroes are going to eventually go on a quest to find a secret, magical item to save the world with, and keep it from the villains. If you look at it in sort of a hierarchy of how the story breaks down, the PCs' Role is at the top, which is made up of slightly smaller Quests , which are each made up of even smaller Paths .You can go ahead and roll for your Role, if you want, but I would recommend looking for a bigger connection to the whole thing yourself. If you want, you can save the Rold for last, and put everything together then.
The Villians' Role
Just like the aforementioned PCs' Role , the Villians' Role is what the overall goal of the Villians in your story. Make it simple. Why do they want to stop the PCs? Or what goal do they have that the PCs are interfering with? Lets bring out our Villain again from the earlier NPC section.
The Villians are looking for the same magical item, to bring total chaos and darkness to the world. They are racing against the PCs to locate the item first.Short and sweet is all you really need.
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