Writing an RPG Part One

So recently I've been trying to write a story for a Tabletop RPG.  I've never done it before, I've never DM'd before and it has been awhile since I've actually played an RPG so it's a long process.  I'm not going to post any details of the story here since I know members of my group read this blog from time to time and I don't want to spoil it incase I get to use it.  I will be posting some updates on how it is going.

I'm writing the story for Changeling: The Lost but the main frame I have done so far could be adapted to other settings if we decide to use another game system.  I picked Changeling because I really like the World of Darkness books and Changeling is the setting I find most interesting, if you want more information on Changeling or the World of Darkness White Wolf have a decent Wiki on it here http://whitewolf.wikia.com/wiki/Changeling:_The_Lost.  So far the story doesn't have anything so unique to the setting that I couldn't change it to a fantasy or even Sci Fi setting if I really wanted to.

I did toy with the idea of writing something similar to Wil Wheaton's Titansgrave, a mix of Fantasy and Sci-Fi but I settled on Changeling.

So where am I do far?  Well I have written a background for the area where I have based the story, The Freehold of London.  I have written basic notes about the Freehold of London leaving enough room to change things, add detail or make up new parts of the background for future stories or during the process of playing/writing this one.

I have also started to write the shell of a story.  I have split it up into episodes and written a few lines that will happen in each.  They are barebones, what has to happen to the players to move the story forward.  I will then be going through using the outlines to flesh out each episode into a whole game session.  The outlines of each session might change as I add detail to the story but I wrote them as guidelines in order to make sure I am moving the story the way I want.

I haven't started writing each episode yet.  I will try and get some sort of encounter into most of them, but the combat system in World of Darkness is quite deadly and for me that's not the main focus of the game so there might be a few where it is less combat and more trying to find how to progress the story.

I have decided to copy the notes I made on the background into the blog.  None of this is finalised as I said I've left it open to change and vague except where it needs to be.  This is a direct copy and paste from my notes.  Sorry if some of this doesn't make sense to everyone, these were written as personal notes.



Freehold of London

Court uses the Courts of Four seasons. Tension between the Winter and Spring Courts, still peaceful but growing tension which threatens to escalate, especially once a year when the Winter Court has to hand over power to Spring. Winter and Spring are the more powerful of the two courts while Summer and Autumn still take power but are not as prominent. There is a sort of “Cold War” vibe and Summer and Autumn, in their own ways, try and keep the peace.

The Freehold have banned Changelings going to Goblin Markets within the Freehold in the last few months. The Markets still go on and some changelings from outside the Freehold visit for them, especially the Covert Garden Market which is the biggest in the UK. Visiting the markets was banned after a flood of Fae items designed to entrap Changelings were sold. Being caught going in the markets is punishable by expulsion from Freehold which is why outside Changelings can visit them. The ban was put in place before the players Motley escaped out the Hedge. Due to the rising tension only Autumn and Summer court members act as guards enforcing the ban.

The Freehold only actually operates within central London but due to the size of the city it does have members outside in the outlying areas. The Freeholds services and protection are weaker here but some changelings from the city had issues living the areas of London they lived in with their families before and so smaller “Mini Freeholds” have grown in areas outside of Central London. These are all still ruled by the Main Freehold but some run their own services for Changelings living outside of the main Freehold. All Court actions still take place within Central London.

The Local Hedge

There are many entrances to the Hedge in the city. There are multiple entrances in the London Underground system. Most people that escape and arrive the Freehold are found on the tube lines as they drag themselves out the Hedge.

Goblin Markets

There are a number of Markets in the Freehold, most are small. The main one is in Covent Garden. It is a market within the Hedge that takes place each month for 3 nights around the full moon. The 1st and 3rd days are smaller than the 2nd which takes place at when the moon is full. The entrance is the basement of a shop in the main market. The shop was abandoned but has recently been taken over by a Fetch. The way to the market is via the stairs to the basement, when the market is not there it leads down to a store room as normal, but for 3 nights when you go down the stairs there are vines growing through the warn wood and fairy lights over the walls with no visible cable or power source. Once inside the Basement is more like a large warehouse underground. The room is made from the same wood and vines as the stairs with the same small lights. There are stalls everywhere with walkways and stairs creating multiple levels.

There is another largish market at the Southbank. By the river a market springs up. It is not as large as the Covent Garden market but is more regular and doesn’t take place in the Hedge. Boats float together on the bank, some acting as stalls others as walkways between them. There are also Stalls on the bank itself. This market has less of a planned time.

Each time the markets are in town there are enforcers from the Summer and Autumn Courts around. They are forbidden by Freehold Law to enter but they watch for Changelings from the Freehold coming or going. Anyone attempting to enter gets a warning, on the second attempt they are detained by the Enforcers and taking before the Freehold which holds 24/7 hearings whenever a market is active. Changelings caught entering can be expelled from the Freehold but none ever have been, most are given a warning or some sort of “community service”. Changelings caught leaving the Markets are treated much more harshly. The punishment for entering a Goblin Market is exile from the Freehold and most cases are very short with the Changeling being exiled in every case since the ban was introduced.

 
I will hopefully do some more updates on how the writing is going as I carry on with it.  If there are changes to this background I will post them here as well, but only if it is things the players characters would know before starting this story.  Future updates might be short since from now it's mostly story details rather than background I need to write and like I said, I don't want to post spoilers here.  If we ever get to play the story, I might play session by session updates on the story as it progresses.