A Realization

I don't know how to write adventures.

I've been a DM for a while now, indeed with our current group and most of the others ones I've been involved in I have spent the most time in the DM's chair, steering our ship towards adventure, but in retrospect I actually have no idea of how to write an adventure.

The reason: I've never read one.

Well I suppose technically that's not true, but compared to other bloggers involved with writing about role playing I feel terribly inadequet. They're all busy talking about old Moldvay and B/x modules (The Lost City etc) and I have no frame of reference.

Lets be honest I never played D&D as a kid, in most cases I'm younger than the majority of role playing bloggers and I only got into D&D at 3rd. Ed when WotC decided they'd let somebody else write the adventures for them. Consequently I know bugger all about writing adventures simply because I've spent next to no time with them, eading them, understand the structure of them and how to incorporate that structure into my own endevours.

This feels like the same thing I did with Conan, where I saw a gap in my knowledge and took the time to plug it. I need to lay my hands on some old adventures or failing that some of the great stuff that's coming out of publications like Fight On! in order to increase my knowledge base.

Actually, speaking of Fight On! they're running a literature competition at the moment that will keep going until October 31st and I'm giving serious thought to entering. I'm not entirely sure I'd win, indeed I doubt I would, but I hope for an honourable mention, perhaps.