A Map is Most of a Plan
When I was running Delta Green every week I had to think of ways to expedite prep without sacrificing the sandbox nature of investigations that I really value in my games. One of the best ways I found to do that was to offload the prepping of a map entirely to Google Maps since I was using the real world anyways. I would find some miserable small town in the the US and jot down locations. From there I'd think of what horrible things I could have happen there.
We all go about the world and understand what those locations feel like. Our lived experiences take away the gamey feeling a more abstract space (a dungeon) can have --- though I feel dungeons themselves can benefit greatly from not approaching them as prepping a dungeon, but a real location --- and by treating these locations as real they lead to more buy in from the players.
A map is only most of the plan though. I will go through what I think is an extremely potent recipe for generating a strong, responsive sandbox for investigations. I have been really digging what Nate and Luke have been doing with Violence so this will be a scenario for that, but could easily be adapted to any system. We will need:
- inspiration
- a map
- a situation
- Orders of Battle
- PACE plans
Inspiration
This is why Nate is telling us to NOT be RPG FREAKAZOIDS!!! Pay attention to the sensei.
I just wrapped up reading South of Heaven by Jim Thompson and want to have a novel set in a cut off despondent oil town. The overall thrust will be some corporate interest butting up against something that needs to be ignored.
A Map
This is a map of Sunray, Texas using the awesome map maker here.We will need a list of locations to finish off the map.
- Police Station
- Work Camp
- Pipeline end
- Well
- Gun Store
- Diner
- Schoolhouse
A Situation
An oil company is setting up a new pipeline through the Texas Panhandle. Progress had been steady until they started building near the town of Sunray. Back in the 30's a routine batch of chemical weapons tests occurred where the town now stands. A potent gas designed to render enemy armies useless by rotting away the skin to reveal the vulnerable flesh and nerves. The digging and drilling by the pipeline company has broken up where an old canister was nestled in the waterbed and has contaminated the water.
This might have been a normal humanitarian disaster if the town wanted the pipeline there to begin with. The company swindled them and didn't do any preliminary assessments of the area. The town wants blood. Children sob from morning to night and only sleep when they pass out from fatigue. There is going to be a killing.
Orders of Battle (ORBATS)
Knowing the force of the different factions in the scenario helps you understand how and why they might choose to use violence. The Oil Company Security Teams are going to strike together and try to overwhelm entrenched townies. If they take losses they would pull back to try and regroup.
Oil Company
- 2 Security Teams
- 1x Leader with an SMG and the radio
- 2x Shotgunners with slugs and buckshot
- 2x Riflemen
- Sapper team
- 1x Cutter
- 1x Detonation expert
- Workforce
- 50x Rough men, would break a leg for cash. Might kill for a home.
Townsfolk
- Police force
- 1x Sheriff with a large hunting rifle
- 4x Deputies revolvers, shotguns
- Assorted Townies
- 2x WW2 Veterans
- 1x Sniper
- 1x Breacher, shotgun, semi automatic pistol
- 1x Gun Store Owner all manners of artillery
- 1x Failed boxer
- 1x Mean ass PE teacher
- 2x WW2 Veterans
PACE Plans
Oil Company
Primary
Subdue the hysteria in the town by appealing to the common sense of the townsfolk.
Alternate
Have the sapper team blow up an abandoned building to scare them.
Contingency
Take the local police station hostage.
Escalate
Blow the roads in and out of town and send the Security Teams in to deal with them.
Townsfolk
Primary
Stall the Oil Company as much as they can. Sabotage, blackmail, anything.
Alternate
Burn down the work camp.
Contingency
Assassinate the foremen.
Escalate
Blow up the supply yard for the pipeline project.
What remains and "enough"
- These NPCs need names of course.
- The locations need details.
- A simple d6 encounter table, maybe one per faction.
- A map of the work camp.
And there are countless other things I can continue to add on to what else it needs to be ready to go, but that skeleton is enough for me to get it to the table and bring the scenario to life. No "improv dungeon" smoke and mirrors, no 5 room heroes journey bullshit, no three clue breadcrumbs. You don't need all that paraphernalia! The bare essentials you need for successful, spontaneous site creation is: inspiration outside of your game, a location that you make real, and people with aims inside of said location. This works for me, maybe it can work for you. But those constituent parts are what you need to make an adventure come alive. Don't overthink it! Prep something shocking and fun.
I've not noted what the PCs will be doing in this scenario. Well depending on the game they could be rangers coming in to try and keep the peace, folks who car broke down in the middle of bedlam, townsfolk trying to stop the oil company, or even dastardly boes trying to get in good with the oil company for some extra pay. This way of wrapping your mind around an adventure will make it feel much more broken in and real. A big part of that realness has to be your understanding of the world which you aren't gonna get from TTRPG books, random tables, and blogs. So go out and enjoy the splendor! When you come back weave it into your next session, it will feel like magic.