Much like a movie or a novel, a roleplaying adventure depends on the flow of information. A game can grind to a halt when players don’t know where to go or what to do next. If players are exploring or clearing out a dungeon, this may not be a big problem. However, most GM’s will want to run an adventure with more of a plot at some point. Even in a dungeon, you may want to lead up to a big fight at the cultists inner sanctum or the evil wizard’s laboratory. Just for clarification, I use the term “plot” loosely. I don’t mean that every encounter has to take place in a certain order or with a predetermined outcome. I only mean the general progression of the story that you and your players will tell together.
Some modules include a rumors chart for GM’s to use. This is a great tool for getting players started on an adventure, and can be easily extended to help with the flow of information through the entire adventure or even the campaign. I call my version “Breadcrumbs,” and keep them at the top of all my session notes. Let’s look at the idea of Breadcrumbs in more detail, and how they can help lead players through the forest that is your game.
What Are Breadcrumbs?
Breadcrumbs are bulleted information points. These are the things they need to know to get through the adventure and keep things moving. Keep them short; these are not meant to be read verbatim like block text. They are only reminders for you as GM. They do not all have to be true, just be sure to note which ones are false rumors.
Breadcrumbs are written in the rough order that the GM predicts the story will follow. They should start with simple hooks, but lead to more exciting and dangerous situations. The order may change as a result of the players’ choices and that’s as it should be. However, even though we are not running a railroad, we still need a predicted order as a place to start.
Breadcrumbs are not tied to any one particular NPC. While you may have a particular NPC in mind when you write them, be prepared to adjust that during play. For example, I once had a metal guardian golem who knew a lot of useful information. But he spooked the players and they put an arrow through his forehead. With a critical hit. Having a Breadcrumbs list that is separate from your encounter notes and stats makes transferring that information to another NPC (with an intact cranium) effortless.
An Example Breadcrumbs List
Here’s an example Breadcrumbs list for a fantasy campaign. Notice that all of the information can come from any NPC, from a friendly dwarf, to a captured ice elf, to a wandering explorer.
- Ice elves are operating an outpost about 20 miles north of the dwarf mine at Great Peak. ï¿
- Several dwarf hunters have gone missing in that area. ï¿
- The ice elves are resistant to all forms of magic (FALSE). ï¿
- The ice elves are mining a great meteor for a metal unknown on earth. ï¿
- The metal allows them to make anti-magic bracelets. ï¿
- Their leader is a lich (FALSE). ï¿
Using Breadcrumbs During Play
Check off your bullet points as you provide them to your players. You may wish to note which NPC provided the information. Also, you will want to add or edit your bullet points as needed. Often players will ask questions or propose ideas that you hadn’t considered. These are often gold, so be sure to note them.
Repeat your checked bullet points at the end of the session summary. This gives players a sense of satisfaction knowing they have made some progress towards a goal.
Using Breadcrumbs After the Session
After your session, move your used bullet points to the recap section of your next session’s notes. You will want to include some travel and encounter information, but the Breadcrumbs will remind your players of what they learned last time.
Keep your unused Breadcrumbs for your next session. Use them as inspiration for creating the NPC’s and encounters for the next session. Add any additional points that will keep your campaign flowing. If you are including points brought up by your players, this will help your campaign have a natural, organic flow. You will not just be throwing random adventures at them, but allowing them to help build the world.
Have you used something similar to a Breadcrumbs list? Think it is a good idea, or would you modify it? Let us know below.
Excellent article and a wonderful technique!
Genius. Thank you. I’m running a TimeWatch (Gumshoe system) game at a local con in a few weeks and this will help a bunch in how I lay out my notes.
Breadcrumbs seem closely kin to Aaron’s Backward Design, in that you have a pool of information that the PCs should encounter, but exactly who possess it on (or how) shouldn’t be determined.
They’re both good takes and reinforce each other as scenario design techniques nicely.
Thanks for the kind words folks, I liked Aaron’s Backward Design article as well. I’m going to use it to plan the culmination of a LONG campaign. The end is soon, so this will help me see what we need to build up to the end, without having just random fights to fill time.
All great ideas. The notion of having clues be “in the cloud” to be delivered up by whichever subject happens to be at hand at this moment in time is especially valuable.
If you have a crew that cannot connect the dots even after this you might consider what I call “Arne Saknussemm” – after the character who dies before the start of Journey to the Center of the Earth but who provides the impetus and directions.
Basically you have someone else do whatever you want the PCs to do, go where they should go etc, and allow rumors of his route direct the players.
You do this by having Arne’s life story, including the hook to the adventure you have in mind, fall into the party’s hands.
You can break the chain of “GO THERE FOR CROM’S SAKE” signs any time the team start to get the bit between their teeth and start using Breadcrumbs instead.
You can bring Arne back (in whatever form you crafted him – Arne can be male, female or even an artifact that changes hands en route) if the players get lost again.
In Call of Cthulhu (a personal favorite milieu), Arne can take the form of a meeting in the Dreamlands with some knowledgeable phantom whose conversation can be a metaphor for the real-world situation upon reflection.
In a fantasy campaign it can be even more direct, almost a leisurely chase of a long-dead or lost character as they uncover the reasons he/she was on the quest (and by so doing get themselves on it too).
Roxysteve: I’m stealing this idea. Tracing someone else’s path and perhaps finding a journal or magic necklace or something.
Thanks, consider yourself jacked.
You are jacking Jules Verne, not me. I’m sure he wouldn’t mind.