I have tried several times to write numbered paragraphs for fighting fantasy/lone wolf/CYOA-style adventures. I struggle I think because I want to include every sensible option at every stage, and before you know it the things have ballooned to many hundreds of paragraphs.
Traditionally, these adventures are 300 paragraphs long, including all alternative routes and dead ends as well as the planned route to success.
But I can remember reading the Star Wars RPG rules, and there’s a short numbered-paragraph adventure that uses the game’s core rules. That inspired me to write a couple of D&D 5e adventures, which were supposed to turn into a series, but it was much too difficult to keep myself restrained.
I have also played some of the Oracle RPG adventures by email. I got into these when I was moving house, and it took a few weeks or so to get internet connected and such, but I could still get email. These adventures introduced status words, if you had one status, then one option may happen, if you didn’t then something else may happen.
I used that idea in my 5e adventures.
Recently, I was reading the Pathfinder 2e Basic Set, and the players’ reference also includes a numbered-paragraph adventure that uses the Pathfinder rules. It was a simple cave exploration and ran to just 25 paragraphs, and I know I didn’t explore it all because I was asked at one point if I had a key, and I didn’t.
Not to state the obvious, but writing a 25-paragraph adventure has to be easier than writing a 300-paragraph adventure.
I think I may have a go at some of these short adventures. I will post them on the blog so you can see my progress, and flows, and maybe give some constructive feedback.
Eventually, I would like to be able to post these as products on DTRPG, individually as small little things, but if I can get to grips with them, then publish a collection of them as a bigger product and then go into print.
But let me not get ahead of myself first. If I cannot write them, then I can achieve nothing.
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