Hey folks! Sorry for the delay on this, real life got in the way (see my previous post for brief details).
In this series so far, we talked about what Scenario Structures are, Pathfinder's Non-Scenario Subsystems, its Infiltration Subsystem (which is IMO the system's best example of Scenario Structure), and the Other Scenario Structures that Pathfinder 2e has.
Today's post will start relatively short, but it will be a living post, and I may come back and update it with other structures or resources. We'll talk about what Scenario Structures need and what things to consider when running them, briefly discuss Scenario Structures from other games that can be stolen without too much work, and we'll keep a running list of PF2 Scenario Structures as well as resources that might help folks design their own.
Lets jump in!
What Do Scenario Structures Need?
The short answer is, it depends! The more focus you want on the Scenario Structure, the more weight that it ought to have, the more fleshed out it should be. That might even change within the same Structure - for example, some timelines might be more fleshed out than others!
- If running a linear sequence, you really just need to know what the events in that sequence are and how far apart they are.
- If running a timeline, you need a little more - not just what is happening, but when, and what some likely options are that the PCs might pursue (either formally or informally). If running a timeline that the PCs can disrupt, you'll also want a sense of how the bad guys might react to various changes (you don't need to go overboard here, but a couple contingencies could be good!).
- Overland travel could be as simple as "do the math on travel pace," but if you want it to take up more time and focus you might want to add things like tracking time within the day, random encounters, weather rolls, etc.
And so on! However, across all of these, there are a handful of commonalities that most or all Scenario Structures could benefit from.
Organization
A good Scenario Structure should make clear to the GM how it ought to be run. Ideally, this takes the form of either a checklist/bullet points or with concrete steps that remind the GM of everything they'll need to do. If things are more complicated, you may want some sort of tracking sheet for the GM to use.
Time
How long do things take? How long do the PCs have? How should the GM handle edge cases? As much as possible, don't make the GM guess, lay it out for them clearly.
What's Actually Happening?
What are the PCs likely to actually do? How many rolls or similar is that likely to take? How meaningful are the choices that they can make there? Are there constraints on their actions beyond how much time things take? Are there common options that should be more fully detailed, such as "how long does travel take," "how big an area can you search in a round," or similar? Are there new actions that aren't available in other modes?
In some cases, this doesn't need to be explicitly written out (particularly for more abstract/hands-off Scenario Structures), but it's essential for the designer to meaningfully consider this.
Levers For Interaction
Whenever possible, I like to try to give the PCs ways to interact with the scenario on a broader level. This can be as simple as ways for the PCs to gain useful information to help them make decisions, or as complicated as new elements or systems that can give the PCs some amount of control (e.g. scenario-level systems like response teams in the Strength of Thousands finale, factions with opposed agendas in a dungeon, or interesting magical artifacts that can be used creatively).
Stealing from Other Games
If you want to look for more detailed Scenario Structures, what other games can you look to? Many of these are fairly system-neutral, and can be grabbed entirely or
This will be a living list - please feel free to add other sources I should look at in the comments below!
Dungeons
- Adversity Rosters
- Jaquaysing the Dungeon
- Dungeon Checklist
- The Dungeon as a Theatre of Operations
- Matryoskha Search Technique
- Landmark, Hidden, Secret
Overland Travel/Exploration
- Hexcrawls
- Hexcrawl Checklist
- Hex-based Campaign Design
- Crawling Without Hexes: The Pointcrawl
- Pointcrawl Series Index
- The rules from most OSR games! Worlds Without Number is free, and Shadwowdark has a free quickstart
Mysteries
- The Three Clues Rule
- Node-Based Design
- Don't Prep Plots (Prep Situations)
- Using Revelation Lists
- Making Clues
- Running Mysteries
Misc. Structures
- The Alexandrian: Game Structures
- Scenario Design Challenge #1: The Death Star Raid
- Scenario Design Challenge #2: Race to the Prize
- Scenario Design Challenge #3: McGuffin Keep-Away
- Scenario Design Challenge #4: Heists
- Scenario Design Challenge #5: The RPG Montage
- Scenario Design Challenge #6: Innkeepers
- Party Planning / The Festival
PF2 Scenario Structures
Existing Structures
- Infiltration works fairly well on its own, though struggles with map-based integration
- Hexploration has some gaps and oddities, but isn't too bad.
- Investigation is a bit one-note but serviceable. I recommend a node-based approach
- Dungeons are not explicitly written out anywhere, and as such aren't super interesting.
My Structures
Over time, I'll be developing more fleshed out Scenario Structures designed specifically for PF2. This will probably be a long term project, as I'm a bit low on capacity for RPG stuff that isn't directly related to prepping my ongoing campaigns, but I've already made some progress!
- This Dungeon Structure should work for most location exploration! I designed it specifically to slot in easily to existing PF2 modules, rather than needing too much more work on the GMs part (though doing that work will certainly pay off).
- This Overland Travel subsystem is a pretty big departure from hexploration, and employs a couple houserules to minimize how much travel is trivialized in the base game, but works well for what it does.
- I'm working on a map-based Infiltration subsystem and a more simplified Overland Travel system that will be released... when they're done!
Let me know if there are any structures you'd like me to prioritize, or if you have questions on how to run one type in particular! Or feel free to link your own structures (or ones found online) below!
I think that's all for now - again, this will be a living post that I'll update as I find new resources or make new structures. Let me know what you think, and see y'all soon!
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