One week in: Submitting a one page adventure

I am pleased to report that within the first week of the jam we already have two submissions! That’s a record for early submissions, I believe.

Browsing various social media channels, I understand that some clarifications could be beneficial, if not necessary.

For instance, questions about challenge tests and consequences. If you can fit it on the one side of the adventure, feel free to put it there, but if you want to make the challenge test formatted similarly to how Green Ronin does it, then feel free to use the second side of the page to put it in as a table.

The first side, the adventure side of the page, must contain the story, plot, scenes, and the narrative content of the adventure. For stats, maps, (special) rules (additions), gear, and so on, the second can be used to that. It can be worth looking at previous submissions, such as Hanging On For Dear Life; Here, Kitty; Dancing on Saturnian Ice; and Amadeus Mayday, and many more in the collections of the previous jams. If you want to look at the original submissions, feel free to join the Facebook GM group and look in the files section.

The other sentiment I’ve come across is the presentation and layout of the adventure. Here you should feel free to do whatever you want, but this is not a competition about the best layout and design. There’s no need to make fancy stat blocks for original NPCs, that will be done for the collection by yours truly. Also, consider if you actually need original NPC stats – there’s likely a fitting one in published material you can reference instead (and this saves space for more adventuring mayhem!)

Sure, one could make the argument that layout and design can enhance an adventure, but some simple rules of thumb can help you: air, lists, tables, and short paragraphs. Allow room and space to be part of the adventure. Limitation is the challenge here. One way to look at it could that these very short adventures are extended encounters or serialised sets of encounters. Whether it’s a complete and self-contained story, a hook to set off a campaign, or a modular encounter to be slotted into an ongoing campaign, the limitations are key. Roll with them.

Finally, I would like to thank everyone that participating this year, and that have participated in previous years.

Go here for more information about the jam and submissions.