Online course for Dungeon Masters
Writing Adventures
that write themselves.
A deep dive into story and adventure writing for Dungeon Masters. Ten methods to write an adventure from scratch, the tools that make a story twist and turn, and NPCs your players will remember. No writing experience needed, and it works with any roleplaying system.
01
Story tools
Ten ways to get from a blank page to a playable adventure.
02
Story tuning
Tension, subplots, twists and red herrings.
03
Characters
Five building blocks for NPCs that feel alive.
04
Bonus
Five adventure seeds, ready to run or remix.
What is it?
Never run out of
adventure ideas again.
An online video course on writing your own adventures, quests and campaigns. Write an adventure people want to play in less than half an hour, and create NPCs your players will talk about for weeks.
No prior experience needed, and it works with any game system: D&D, Pathfinder, Call of Cthulhu, all no problem.
The number one reason people quit DMing is a lack of time to prepare. This course shows you how to speed up and level up your story writing, with an approach that fits your style.
What’s included
Ten methods,
three hours, 14 examples.
Lifetime access to the course and all future updates. No recurring membership fee.
- 10 different methods to write a story from scratch.
- 14 worked examples across three hours of course material.
- Story tools like main and side plot, red herring, plot twist, the moving canvas and more.
- Interesting NPCs built from five simple building blocks.
- Bonus: five story ideas to explore or run as they are.
There is a lot packed into this course. We had to install a Bag of Holding on our server.
What you get out of it
“Creativity looks like magic. But spells can be taught.”
- Come up with an interesting adventure idea, fast.
- Improve any story draft with twists, new story elements and characters.
- Write with many different approaches, from doodling to story dice, books and pictures as prompts.
- Build a canvas for improvisation, so you can bounce off story elements on the fly.
- Write NPCs that seem alive.
Is it for you?
Made for beginners
and veterans.
New Dungeon Masters learn frameworks and tools that make it easy to come up with ideas, even if you have never run a game.
Veteran DMs find new ways of approaching what they’ve done for years, a fresh view on story writing, and tools to supercharge storylines and NPCs you may already have.
Even if…
You don’t think
you’re creative.
- You are not a “writer” and have never written a story before.
- You are not the “creative type”. Creativity is a method anyone can learn.
- You often hit writer’s block, stare at a blank page, or end up with the same ideas again.
Why not just use free stuff?
Tools that actually work.
You can find free advice on the internet, but does it work for you, or do you still run into the blank-page problem? I follow most of the good YouTube channels, and 90% of what’s in this course is not on there. I hand-picked methods from engineering, creative writing and psychology and applied them to RPG adventure writing.
They’ve been tested extensively. They still work if you switch game systems, and they still work once you have ten more years of experience.
Which course is for you?
A brief comparison of our courses
Want to run the game as well as write it? Great Game Mastering covers the table side, and the bundle gets you both courses for less.
From students
What Dungeon Masters told us
Course inventory
Five sections, 29 lessons
About three hours of video, plus five ready-to-use adventure seeds to download.
Introduction 1 lesson
→ About this course and the author
Tools for building stories 13 lessons
→ Linear story framework
→ Organic story framework
→ Method 1: Story mining
→ Method 2: Prime and trigger
→ Method 3: What if?
→ Method 4: Brainstorming
→ Method 5a: Collaborative writing
→ Method 5b: Player participation
→ Method 6: Doodling
→ Method 7: Forced relationships
→ Method 8: World generation
→ Method 9: Fleshing it out
→ Method 10: Monster manual
Story tuning 7 lessons
→ Tension curve
→ Subplots: a moving canvas
→ Subplots: main and side plot
→ Breaking expectations: the twist
→ Breaking expectations: red herring
→ Story mutations: SCAMPER
→ Go where the story leads you
Characters 7 lessons
→ Basic building blocks
→ Building block 1: Profession
→ Building block 2: Appearance
→ Building block 3: Names
→ Building block 4: Traits
→ Building block 5: Drivers and needs
→ Sources of inspiration
Bonus content 1 lesson
→ 5 adventure seeds, ready to play (PDF)
Join us
Open the magical tome.
Lifetime access and all future updates. One payment, no subscription.
$39 one-time
30-day money-back guarantee, as long as you haven’t started more than half the lessons.
Meet your instructor
Hey, I’m Mark.
I am a scientist who also happens to be a long-time roleplayer with 30 years of experience. I have DMed many different systems, from fantasy to sci-fi, and thanks to my day job of handling bacteria in a lab you’ll likely get a unique perspective :)
I spent years putting the information in this course together and learned a lot along the way, which I would love to share with you.
We share the most amazing hobby on the planet, you and I, and I am passionate about getting the most out of our gaming and preparation time to bring the fun front and center. Let’s write some amazing adventures together!
Questions
Frequently
asked.
Do I need any writing experience?
No. The course is built for people who have never written a story before, and for those who feel they are “not the creative type”.
Will this work with my game system?
Yes. Everything in the course works with any roleplaying system and genre, from D&D and Pathfinder to Call of Cthulhu.
I’ve been DMing for years. Is this too basic for me?
No. Veteran DMs get new ways of approaching story writing and tools to improve the storylines and NPCs they already have.
How long do I have access?
For life, including all future updates. It is a one-time payment, with no subscription.
What if I don’t like the course?
There is a 30-day, 100% money-back guarantee. The only condition, to prevent abuse, is that you haven’t started more than half of the lessons.
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