Got plot? Eureka! :)

[VV_GM]

Hey there Tavern patrons! Guess what your local Administrator, Telas, and Rick_TWA have been working on behind the scenes for many, many months?

Eureka: 501 Adventure Plots to Inspire Game Masters

This book of 501 plots for Fantasy, Horror, and Sci-fi genres is written by 9 different GMs with a passion for running the craft of game mastering. We modeled it to be a tool that you can use at any stage of the preparation process: From the "I have an idea for a campaign and I wnat to develop it over several weeks." stage to the "My players are at the door and have nothing!" stage.

And because you have one third of the book's authors right here tending bar for all of our thirsty GM patrons feel free to ask questions, provide feedback, and shower us with praise (please, oh pretty please shower us with praise?) about the project. We're really excited to share what we can about Eureka, and we would love to hear what you think about the idea as well.

Thanks all!

[EruditeDragon]

Hmm... I'm suprised there's not many (for that matter, any) comments on this...

All I can really say about this is yes, yes, a thousand times yes.  It's always nice to have more plot ideas, and this sounds like it should cover every campaign.  Any news on an ETA?

[VV_GM]

Hope I don't get in hot water for this one ( ): Unofficially I will say that we are working hard at a date no later than 4/30/2010. Officially the ETA has not been announced yet.

[scruffylad]

Sounds potentially fantastic.

One question is how big will this sucker be? And how detailed are the plots? Full on adventure skeletons or just brief ideas to tease the GM's own brain?

[VV_GM]

Each plot is 200 to 400 words. We aimed to have background info, tips, and 3-5 encounters in each plot. You should be able to take one of these plots and have at least a whole night's worth of gaming material to work with. If I can acquire permission I'll see if I can post a sample plot sometime soon.

[Rick_TWA]

And at 501 plots, it's a pretty large chunk of book.  At least it certainly feels gigantic every time we have to go through the whole thing again for re-writes or proofs etc...  We're really putting a lot of effort into this because we want it to be the kind of book we'd want to own, not just one we want to sell.

[Telas]

Many of my plots can easily be turned into campaign arcs.  I didn't intend it that way, but there you go...

One of the situations we used to illustrate what the plots should be:  Your game starts in an hour, but you don't have anything ready, so you look up some potential plots, and find one you like.  Spend the hour statting up the opposition, and you're ready. 

Another situation:  Some of your players can't make it, but a couple of friends have been on your waiting list for a month.  To top it off, you're ready for a break from the grind, and you want to run something completely different.  It's the perfect time for a one-shot from another genre.  Grab Eureka!, find something that sounds fun, and have at it.

Finally:  You've almost finished your plot arc, and everyone's had a great time so far.  The players' expectation is hanging over your head, but you're out of ideas.  Skim the plots in Eureka! for a few days until something sets your imagination afire again.