Class Notes Wednesdays are my way of keeping myself honest and on track. It forces me to come clean with you, the patient fans who have been waiting years for Degrees of Horror. So let me just be up front and say plot point 11 isn’t done yet. Still working on it.
In a lot of ways, the penultimate plot point is the one we’ve all be waiting for. This is the one where our lingering questions are answered and dangling plots are supposed to click together. That’s all well and good, but I imagine most of you aren’t interested in a horror adventure that’s all talky-talky. Am I correct? So even though I have a clear beginning (the plot catalyst) and the ending, it’s that pesky middle part that’s slowing me down.
It would be a pretty boring game if the player characters just breezed in and accomplished his or her goals. Something stands in the way. In RPG it’s typically physical like an enemy or terrain, or immaterial such as a mystery or social influences. What I’m working on right now are the challenges the characters must overcome to reach the end point. Doesn’t sound too hard, does it? Just throw in a few zombies and call it done! Well… maybe, maybe not. Is another straight-up fight going to be sufficiently satisfying? Is it enough? If there’s one thing I’ve learned writing (and re-writing) this plot point campaign, it’s that mysteries are HARD to write…but good ones are more satisfying to overcome as a player.
So that’s what I’m struggling with right now. My outline had the beginning and end but left the middle vague. Those are the details I’m trying to flesh out. Hopefully this time next week you’ll be reading about this plot point’s completion. The good news is that the final plot point is very straightforward and will be relatively easy to hammer out. This one really is the last big hurdle.
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