Whizbang1963 said:
Given the lack of a single really good "official" computer program to assist with the chores of running a campaign, how much do you prepare in advance?
I'm thinking of creating an Access 2000 db with all of my campaign specifics - locations, individuals, organization, geographical features, events, etc - all cross-linked...
Do you pre-roll encounters and monsters and treasures and so forth?
My game style is very literary - the goal is to have the events in the game play out (in pacing, flavor, etc) in the same way as a good fantasy novel. Therefore, every encounter fits into the story, even if it's just a random diversion. I try to use the "play in three acts" (e.g. introduction, confrontation, resolution) structure to designing an adventure, with a main plot and a number of side plots (ideally playing off of the characters' motivations and backgrounds). Important opponents are quite detailed - methods, motivations, plans, allies, etc. Minions are not so detailed unless by their nature more detail is required (e.g. a squad of soldiers pretty much describes itself; a hunting party of shapechanging lizardmen needs a bit more explanation).
I like making maps, so I will often use the map-making process as inspiration for the adventure design. For example, I am currently making a map of a large Imperial Provincial Capital City. As I created the city, I decided that the Temple of Apollo should be burned out and gutted - indeed, the entire Imperial quarter of the city is razed to the ground. I decided to surround the city with bocage ("hedgerow") country, and sited a large cemetery on the hill outside the southern gate. Owing to the proximity of the cemetery and the gutted Imperial quarter, I decided then that the cemetery hill was riddled with ghoul warrens underneath, and that the ghouls had infiltrated the city sewers and were now roaming about the gutted Imperial quarter. The ghouls are working with the de-facto ruler of the city to vanquish his rivals, and are looking for something in the vaults below the ruined Temple that would be useful...and so on.
Treasure is not so important, since most good fantasy novels aren't centered around a band of brigands hunting for wealth. Incidental spoils are generally not detailed and have little impact on the story. If treasure is included in an adventure, it is because it is integral to the story - a hoard of riches needed to finance a revolt, a suit of armor crafted from the scales of the Gold Dragon, a chest being smuggled through customs, etc.
Do you ave prepared alternates should the quest/campaign begin to take a direction different from what you were planning?
My adventures are "curvilinear" - there are always different options open to the players (investigate the Purple Lotus smugglers, join up to fight the goblin incursions, accept the offer to guard a caravan over the mountains, help hunt down the insurrectionists, etc.), but "all roads lead to Rome": each option will lead them back to the main story (a Dark Power has insinuated agents into every corner of the Empire and plots it's downfall).