How To Design Good OSR Adventures

A checklist for writing and running games that don't suck!

There’s been a good deal said about this in various places around the internet, but a lot of what gets written about these days is writing and designing adventures for release. That is, presentation, layout, wording and so on.

I’m gonna keep it old school with you and just talk about a few principles I use to keep my players at the table having a kick ass time year after year, game after game - no matter the system, no matter the setting.

My main angle is never “what is the slickest program to use to make my adventure sell on DriveThru” -  although I can appreciate those concerns and that kind of content - there’s plenty of folks out there doing that really well.

I just want to quickly run through a few things you can use as a checklist when putting a session or an adventure together for your table that can help you scratch all those various itches of a nice, old-school game.

My principles tend to line up mostly with the style of game my players like, which is an adventure with a nice framework of setting, stuff happening, and cool places to go…without feeling you’re *supposed* to go to any of those spots if you don’t want to.

Essentially - a world that is alive and *happening*, and plenty of ways for the PCs to *happen back to it*.

Ok, let’s jump right in:

Engaging Premise.

This is the “angle” of the adventure. Your elevator pitch, if you will. “The baron has sent his right hand man to put the peasants of Pleasantdale off their land - will you help the peasants or work with the baron against the small but growing rebel forces?”

It can be difficult to come up with these in a way that always feels “new” or “exciting.” I don’t worry about “new.” There’s nothing new under the sun. I try to come up with a situation that feels plausible, and that has multiple sides of conflict, or several different reasons *why* the PCs might involve themselves.

Movie plots are an excellent source, but so are any decent books or adventures, especially from another genre than the one you’re playing in. Steal any setting or situation (not plot!), and reskin for your own game.

Don’t forget that everyone needs a good reason why.

Although it can be much easier starting out new campaigns with a few decisions and then drop PCs *in medias res*, this can be more of a challenge with week to week play that picks up where it left off.

Lazy DMs might simply say “you’re the good guys,” but I prefer a much more open approach.

I don’t like tailoring reasons for things to the characters, or leaning on their alignment or things like that - it feels a little cheap. Instead, I like to connect games together, as we will get into later, while providing multiple good reasons for the PCs to be involved.

Make it personal.

Provide options. 

Evocative Setting.

For me, nothing is more important than the setting. This is the adventure’s branding or “vibe,” and you have to make sure it's a place and feel your players will want to interact with and explore.

Spending the time to create a detailed and immersive setting that sparks the players' imagination and provides a rich backdrop for exploration and emerging stories always pays dividends, including your own familiarity.

I’ve run so many games and adventures in my Kragov setting now that I can pretty much run one-shots with zero prep.

Take some time before starting a campaign and talk to your players. What kind of game do they want to run? What feel are they looking for? Do they want to run and gun or are they interested in being merchants on a newly established trade route to the frontier? Asking questions to the people who will (initially, anyway) be playing in your game is critical for enjoyment factor.

I often do this between games. “Do you feel like a dungeon crawl or a political game with lots of roleplay?” and so on.

Check out my Hex Appeal article for more on creating areas for your players to enjoy for years to come. 

Nonlinear Design.

There’s little for me as exciting about TTRPGs as freedom.

Video games, board games, and so on will always be limited by their programming, but in a tabletop game, you can literally go anywhere, and be anything.

Lean into that and embrace a sandbox-style approach that allows for player agency and freedom of choice, enabling them to tackle challenges in various ways.

Don’t make everything a predetermined “right or wrong” way. Let your players surprise you and give them free reign to have fun and experience the game the way they want to. 

Challenging Encounters.

Different strokes for different folks, but one of my biggest peeves with more modern games was the idea that encounters needed to be balanced to what they characters could handle.

I reject that notion, and believe that players who are used to having a DM who balances encounters miss out on a lot of the excitement, the fear of losing a character, the feeling of the unknown, that comes from simply NOT KNOWING.

Go outside the box - change monster stats and appearances. Make your own. Level those skeletons up with retained intelligence and experience from when they were alive…give them tactics and good equipment.

There’s 100 ways to make the humdrum more exciting when it acts in a way the PCs aren’t used to, and they’ll stand up and take notice…

Or else:

Lethality and Consequences.

Maintain a sense of danger and risk by incorporating lethal consequences for poor decisions or reckless actions.

If everything is a fight for your PCs, they can be quickly disabused of this notion by simply not fudging rolls and letting the chips (and the characters dead bodies) fall where they may.

Lethality makes the game more fun, I promise.

The threat of death and dying makes players more attached to their advancing characters, more invested in keeping them going, smarter and craftier in their play style, and way more fun for you to DM for, as they will keep you guessing and do things you never expected. 

Puzzles and Exploration.

Puzzles don’t always have to be literal - a mechanical solution in a dungeon that opens a door or what have you.

Puzzles can be snippets of lore that tantalize, aspects of the adventure or campaign that cross and intersect and create mysteries and opportunities for engagement and exploration for intrepid players.

Anything that calls on your players problem solving abilities and cranks up their curiosity counts. Give them stuff to mess with and experiment with.

Ancient ritual sites and items of uncertain origin or use.

Scraps of maps that lead them somewhere.

Rumors that tie things together or offer potential connections for them to make. 

Writing on a tomb wall that looks just like that cipher they stole from the evil wizard…

Give ‘em something to sink their teeth into. 

Resource Management.

I always liked movies about the good guy building up from nothing until he had an empire. I think that’s what a lot of us enjoy about TTRPGs especially in the OSR, because…it’s hard, and uncertain.

One way to ruin that feeling is by making it happen too fast. Don’t be a stingy bastard, but resist the urge to give the PCs piles of treasure and powerful items out of the gate.

Encourage strategic decision-making by incorporating limited resources such as equipment, supplies, and spells. Put some of these things in short supply and make them figure out how to stretch them or where they’ll get more.

Sometimes the basic need for things can become excellent adventure drivers. 

Hidden Secrets and Rewards.

My other favorite thing about role-playing games is the feeling of finding something hidden, and the vibe that comes along with that. Discovering the secret door in the old ruins that leads to an otherwise inaccessible floor or area where great rewards and challenges are concealed.

Scatter hidden treasures, secrets, and rewards throughout the adventure, rewarding thorough exploration and clever thinking - always make it pay to ask the question: what if we tried to go here, or there?

Put crazy landmarks that can be seen from a great distance, or things that are only seen from a high vantage point. Mounds that seem like a standard burial ground, when viewed from above might spell out a secret rune that unlocks a door or activates a magical item.

Try to sprinkle these liberally throughout. As you work on a setting or adventure, just think - what would be cool here for the player’s to discover? Then connect it to at least one other thing in your world.


Evolving World.

Finally - all good DMs take notes if they’re running an ongoing campaign.

The actions the PCs take should affect things…whether that's as simple as an ale shortage after they take down a corrupt merchant house who just so happens to supply most of the area’s beer, or major things like creating a power struggle to fill the vacuum left by a major villain in the campaign.

Make sure that the PCs can see and feel the difference their actions make in the world around them.

Presenting a dynamic world that reacts and changes based on player actions, creates a sense of impact and consequence that will keep your players invested and connected to the world you’ve made for them to play in.

If you have any tips, hints or tricks to add, drop one in the comments!

Keep your blades sharp.

- Castle Grief