Planning my adventure book

Here i will briefly show the process of creating my game book.

Three act structure plan

Dramatic premise: A dragon has been imprisoned in a vast, underground prison by a power obsessed sorcerer. The dragon befriends a wizards’ apprentice who is in a similar predicament as the main character and; with his help try to escape the prison and to discover the sorcerer’s plan and put a stop to it.

Inciting incident: After the apprentice manages to blast open the doors for his and the dragon’s cell they both travel through the prison, searching for an escape route. The inciting incident occurs when our heroes get into brief scrape with the sorcerer. The main characters get separated after the sorcerer splits the ground beneath them; forcing them to try and regroup.

Plot point 1: After navigating the tunnels the dragon and apprentice are within sight of each other. The sorcerer casts a spell of temporary paralysis on the apprentice and after a bit of boasting from the sorcerer, destroys the floor beneath the dragon. He falls seemingly to his death.

Midpoint: After surviving the fall, the dragon finds himself in a dark, underground chasm. He has to find a way out and to rescue his friend from the sorcerer’s grasp. The dragon must face the horrors that lurk within these cavern walls in order to accomplish this.

Plot point 2: The dragon emerges onto a green valley in the sunlight. He spots a white tower in the distance and goes inside to find the apprentice and defeat the sorcerer.

Climax: The dragon reaches the top of the tower just in time. He blasts of the apprentice’s shackles off and both engage the sorcerer in battle. He summons all of his power to shield himself.

Denouement: In a last ditch effort to rid himself of our heroes, the sorcerer channels all the energy in himself and the chamber in order to destroy them. Before he finishes the incantation the dragon and apprentice strike the sorcerer, causing him to implode with the strength of the universe itself. The bindings on the dragon’s wings are broken, allowing both him and the apprentice to escape.

Characters

Main character (Player): Therion Blazewing.

Therion Blazewing is the heir to the Blazewing clan; one of the most ancient tribes of dragon in the world. Once in a generation all flights of dragon embark on a journey to the lands of their forebears long ago. Unfortunately for the Blazewings it is the longest and arduous trek of all; spanning half the world. The time has now come for Therion to undertake the sacred pilgrimage his ancestors have undertaken since ancient times. After flying for days over oceans and mountains the clan soar over a lush green valley. Curious, Therion decides to explore the landscape and shortly discovers a white tower deep within the valley. As soon as Therion approaches the tower he is shot down by burst of light from the top of the spire. Disorientated, he wakes up in a dank cell with his wings bound and mouth muzzled. Therion realises he is not alone because next door a wizards apprentice seeks escape and it seems co-operation is the only way out.

Secondary character (Non-player character): Farren Arcanen

Farren Arcanen showed great potential in spell weaving at a young age. He was born and raised in a small fishing village in the south, isolated during the winter months. He was the only child in the family after his older siblings perished from the harsh chill. Times were tough on his family; the previous season’s low fish quota and gold income had plunged them into poverty. When Farren reached his tenth birthday he was visited by a wandering wizard who had travelled from the capital of the region to the village in search of a gifted apprentice. The wizard offered Farren’s parents a great sum of gold in return for mentoring their son in the art of spell weaving. After an emotional parting Farren left his homestead and began his life as the wizard’s apprentice. Nine years later Farren had learned everything that his master could teach him; it was time to move on. With words of encouragement Farren is sent to the residence of Arcteion Destronus to further his knowledge in the arcane. As soon as Farren crosses threshold he is chained up and thrown into a cell deep underground. He now finds himself locked away with no chance of escape; his only hope of freedom lies with a dragon who is imprisoned in another cell next door.

Antagonist: Arcteion Destronus the Third.

Arcteion Destronus the Third is one of the most powerful wizards in the land and the most infamous. He was the head of The Institute for Gifted Magicians for 30 years, attaining deep respect from the rest of the wizarding community. But this was only a stepping stone for him; he craved more power. He began experimenting with life-siphoning; a very controversial practise which is considered immoral, absorbing the energy sucked from magical entities. He was soon cast out from the institute after “acquiring” the power of many gifted students in attendance. Arcteion travelled far away in search of a base of operations. He found an ivory tower in a valley a fair distance away from prying eyes, with complete privacy Arcteion Destronus began obtaining the magical essence from powerful creatures, artefacts and people for half a decade. Five years later Arcteion receives a letter from an old colleague requesting his expertise to help train his apprentice further in spell weaving. Nearing his goal Arcteion accepts the offer and sets the trap for his guest to fall into. Arcteion wasn’t expecting a dragon to accidently barge in before his intended appointment. It seems that luck is smiling upon Arcteion Destronus this day.

Narrative map

Act 1

Act 2

Act 3

Narrative map key

three act story

This is an exercise i did in a group where we had to plot a story and apply the plot points to correspond with the three act structure. 

Main character: stone golem

Inciting incident: the golem's master is slain by a group of heroes.

Plot point 1: the golem decides to follow his former master's assailants to find out whether or not the golem is free. This ends up being true and the golem decides to share his enlightenment with his kin.

Midpoint: the other members of his kind don't share his worldview and is consequently outcast from the group.

Plot point2: the golem happens upon the huge number of humans slaves. The golem frees them all.

Climax: the golem and slaves form a new society.

Evaluation

For this module I had to create a choose your own adventure game book. At the start of the task the whole class had a look at already existing books and play through them to understand how they work, to map them out and to get inspiration for our own books. I played a few on a website that had fan made adventure game books on it. I really enjoyed the fantasy setting that some of these books had and I decided to use this theme in my book.

I had this idea for a story that featured two characters; a human and a dragon that had to escape from a dungeon complex owned by an evil wizard. I wanted to create a logical reason why these characters were trapped in the dungeon so I made it that the evil wizard was imprisoning magical beings and artefacts in order to absorb their power and add it to his magical strength. I decided to have the human be a young wizards’ apprentice so that he would fit into the story better. I wanted to have a dragon as the players’ character because dragons are usually an enemy in these books and I wanted to turn that convention on its head.

I thoroughly planned the story using the three act structure that I learned during lectures earlier in the year. I ended up with a narrative that took the player from a dungeon, underground caves and a tower. Next I went on to draw a map in photoshop of all three locations along with encounters and puzzles and alongside that I wrote a word document as a key to the maps so I could be reminded of what my drawings resembled. I was very happy with my maps but I would have liked to have had more varied enemy encounters.

When I started writing the game book I decided to provide a brief description of each numbered entry for play testing purposes and for my reminders of events. I decided to go ahead and write it properly because I thought that it would be better for time if I started writing it then. As I wrote each entry it became apparent that I may not be able to include everything that I set out to accomplish in the time I had left. The amount of entries yet to fill was daunting to me because of the approaching deadline. I decided to remove the caves and tower locations and leave the game on a cliff-hanger but because of my hatred of leaving a story unfulfilled I decided to bring the final boss to the end of the dungeon level. I really liked this decision because it allowed me to complete the game on time and in a satisfactory condition.

Because of my time limits I did not have much time to play test so I decided to use the same numerical stats for each enemy encounter. This does limit variety but I had to go with it because of time restrictions. I did play-test this game with my sister in order to see if the game was playable. The result forced me to amend the rules regarding rolling the same numbers in an encounter and what to do afterwards. At the end of the day I am pleased with the result despite it not being as long as I wanted it to be and as challenging. Time constraints was the real hurdle for me and if I were to do it again I would start writing the adventure book as soon as I have arranged the narrative and mapped it out. I would also decide on a reasonable entry per day ratio in order to reach over 100 entries.

Adventure books

I have looked at one adventure book called A knight's trial. Adventure books are an interactive story presented in book form. They are played with pencil, paper and dice. The most well known adventure books are that of the Fighting Fantasy created by Ian Livingstone and Steve Jackson.

The book i read wasn't an official one because i played it on a fan-site but it was arranged the same. Here is the map and descriptions of the adventure. The coloured lines represent the play-throughs of the game and the red line around 26 represent the death paragraph. The green lines represent the entries that the player was forced towards after a right or wrong decision.

You play as an aspiring knight who is sent on a quest to save the kingdom of Camelot from a dragon. The game features Merlin, King Arthur, Sir Bedievere and Lancelot as characters in the story. This adventure book was enjoyable for the first three play throughs because it was completely new to me and i was learning the correct way to go. It wasn't until the forth or fifth attempt where i began to assume that the game could be beaten in one specific way. I learned this as i arrived at the dragon's lair. I was expecting an encounter but i got a game over instead. It wasn't until another play through where i discovered that i needed a special weapon to defeat the dragon but i stopped playing after that. Personally i think this game is an overly long case of trial and error.

I played another game book on the same website called Hunger of the wolf. You play as a barbarian who is betrayed by his allies and is seeking revenge. This game gave the sense of a great trek through the world of the game and didn't provide a feeling of confinement. There is a segment that i particularly enjoyed which involved a brawl with an orc-man. It didn't use the typical method of dice rolling but instead involved choices of what fight move to use. It provided a real sense of involvement with the fight that dice rolls struggle to pull off. Overall i think this game doesn't feel linear and you feel like you are in control of your quest.

Below is the map.

The Hero's journey

The Hero's journey or Monomyth is a pattern that exists in myth and fiction that was theorised by Joseph Campbell in his book called The hero with a thousand faces.

The pattern is arranged in a cycle. It is divided into three phases called departure, initiation and return. Within each phase are a selection of factors that contribute to the journey.

1. Departure

• The call to adventure

An evil force or disease has taken over the hero's home. This is where the hero is offered to leave his home and everything he knows in order to begin his adventure. Willingly or not. 

• Refusal of the call

The hero refuses to accept the call and resumes his normal life despite the troubles plaguing it until a tragic event forces him to undertake the quest.

• Supernatural aid

The hero meets a  someone who will aid the hero by imparting a magic item or relic. Sometimes the helper will provide some wisdom that will aid the hero.

• Crossing the first threshold

The hero crosses a boundary between normality and the unknown. This is where the adventure truly begins.

• The belly of the whale

This where the hero is absorbed entirely into the unknown. He is ready to give himself to the quest at hand.

2. Initiation

• The road of trials

This is a series of challenges the hero must overcome on his quest. They usually come in threes and sometimes the hero fails one of these.

• Meeting with the Goddess

The hero meets his love interest.

• Woman as temptress

This is where the hero faces the temptation of love. The hero is at risk of being tempted away from his journey at this stage. This stage isn't always represented by a woman.

• Atonement with the father

The hero must confront the father or father figure. Usually the figure wields great power. The quest has been leading to this moment.

• Apotheosis

This is where the hero dies physically or spiritually. He now inherited a state of greater understanding of the world. This is a state of rest before the return journey.

• The ultimate boon

This is the main goal of the quest. that hero was sent on. It is now in his possession.

3. Return

• Refusal of the return

After all the hero has been through he would like to stay in this world of the unknown and never return to normality.

• The magic flight

After acquiring the boon the hero must return while being pursued by the guardian of the item. If there was one.

• Rescue from without

This where the hero is brought back to everyday life by powerful guides or rescuers.. Usually the hero is revived if the quest has wounded him.

• Crossing the return threshold

The hero must return with the boon and any wisdom gained and to try and impart it onto his fellow man and the world.

• Master of two worlds

The hero has achieved complete mastery of the material and spiritual world.

• Freedom to live

The hero now has the freedom to live without fear of the future.

Text adventures

A text adventure is one of the earliest examples of video games. The games are presented entirely in text and the player interacts with the game by typing in specific commands such as "go North, open door or pick up lamp". Every location and event is described in text and the visual element is entirely imagined.

I have played two examples of this game type. One was called Ye Dungeon Man and the other The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy. Ye Dungeon Man was a relatively short game structured around three locations. The journey involves going to the canyon to collect a jewel which is then given to a character called Dennis. As a gaming experience this was quite humorous in comparison to modern game narrative and structure. The creators have recognised the functionality of text based adventures and parodied them. The result is a game that is a short yet enjoyable spoof.

The Hitchhikers Guide to the Galaxy is another text based game I have experienced. It is an adaptation of the existing media of the same title. The game is constructed in such a way that it is not possible to progress unless specific items have been found or specific tasks completed. I think prior knowledge of the book would give the player an advantage. The game was also humorous but in this instance due to story content.

The game that I played had an interface allowing you to click on which direction to go and which items to pick up. Personally I would play the game again to try to reach the end. These text adventures were a predecessor to the early point and click adventure games. Text based adventures present a less clear structure than a typical contemporary video game. Exploration is a major factor and an enquiring mind and good imagination would add to an individual's enjoyment of the game.

Propps Characters

Propps' Narrative Theory

Vladimir Propp was a Russian critic who was interested in the narrative of folk tales. He identified a theory relating to characters and actions acting as narrative functions. Propp is suggesting that all narrative is character driven. Propp describes the key characters as follows.

The Hero - Usually the main character of the story. He/She typically go on a quest to achieve a personal goal.

The Villain- The main adversary - often responsible for creating chaos out of order. Their role is to hinder the hero at any crucial moment.

The Donor- The donor imparts either wisdom or a special object to assist the hero in their quest.

The Helper- The helper provides physical assistance to the hero often appearing at the right moment to rescue the hero from a deadly situation.

The Princess - The princess is often objectified as a reward for the hero's efforts.

The Dispatcher - Is always the one who sends the hero on his quest.

The False Hero- Essentially a character who on the surface seems heroic but usually the hero ends up encountering them as an adversary rather than a comrade.

A good example of a film that follows this structure is The Matrix (Wachowski 1999).

The Hero - Neo leads a regular life until Morpheus contacts him through his computer. Becomes a hero by ridding The Matrix of Smith and ultimately saves the human race.

The Villain - Agent Smith's role is to eliminate the humans who became self aware.

The Donor - Morpheus- Teaches Neo fighting techniques and shows Neo what he could potentially achieve.

The Helper - The Oracle's function in the film is to help through guidance and advice.

The Princess - Trinity- Not a typical princess but hierarchically could be defined as such within the resistance movement.

The Dispatcher -Morpheus is the character who sends Neo who is "The One" on his journey to ultimately save humanity.

The False Hero - Cipher at first seems to be a member of the resistance. He wants to return to the Matrix because the real world is not a good place to be. He wants to return to a state of ignorance which he tries to achieve by betraying his peers.