Taking 20 Podcast - Ep 174 - Quest Design - 36 Dramatic Situations

Episode Date: May 7, 2023

In this episode I point out how to find inspiration in a book that is 125 years old and use the building blocks to make quests and backstories that are just as compelling today as they were then.   #dnd #opendnd #Pathfinder #DMTips #StoryDesign  Resources: https://www.storyanddrama.com/the-36-dramatic-situations-of-georges-polti/   https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Thirty-Six_Dramatic_Situations   http://ifxgroup.net/plots.htm

This week on the Taking20 Podcast. Or the PCs could even be hired by Big Bad Evil Incorporated to take out the members of the Greenshire. But the head of the Greenshire merchants is on a mission to get backup and reinforcements from someone even more powerful. And the PCs have to stop this leader before they can be reinforced. Thank you for listening to the Taking20 Podcast, episode 174. This time talking about adventure and quest design using the 36 dramatic situations for inspiration. I want to thank this week's sponsor, Chickens. My wife and I were married by a chicken who had just graduated from seminary.

He gave us a wing and a prayer. Do you know of another RPG podcast or another group that would like to either collaborate with or sponsor this podcast? If so, please have them get in touch with me at feedback at taking20podcast.com or send me a direct message on any of my social media outlets. I'm always looking for like-minded individuals who want to help others discover the joy of tabletop role-playing, so please send them my way. I'm going to have to begin this episode with an apology. I will admit that I will occasionally get a bit esoteric on this podcast.

This is going to be one of those episodes. I'm a huge proponent that stories tend to have familiar structures, even if they're executed in novel or different ways, whether you're talking about an individual event story or the overarching narrative, so please accept my apologies in advance. I have repeatedly said that DMs and players can find inspiration anywhere they look. Ideas for characters and NPCs and quests and countries, towns, plots, shops, and story arcs can be found all around us if we know where to look. Players, when you're coming up with that character's backstory or possible character arc, use the media and characters that you know very well already.

DMs, you should have little to no fear about borrowing story arcs and situations from other sources of media. In this podcast, I've mentioned using movies and music, plays, news, short stories, and books as inspiration for your game. The players may be having a great time in their campaign, having no idea that they're flying through an adventure lifted right out of Star Wars, or The Count of Monte Cristo, which I assume is a story about a sandwich of some sort, or even the Berenstain Bears' Big Honey Hunt. Berenstain. Steen. Berenstein. Berenstain. Damn it, I gotta look it up now. It's Stain. Berenstain Bears. Why does that bear family name mess with our heads so much? As I said, you shouldn't feel bad about borrowing or reusing

elements from existing media. I have multiple phrases I use for this. There's nothing new under the sun. Borrow, borrow, borrow. Steal, steal, steal. This is not meant to discourage you, but every single campaign arc or character backstory you could possibly come up with has already been told many, many times before. But that's okay. Just because it's been done before doesn't mean it can't be done again, this time with your twist on the story or your twist on the background. Star Wars at its heart was a full-tilt, four-alarm sci-fi reskin of a story that easily could have been a Western with very few changes.

You have the wild frontier of the Outer Rim, a materialistic bounty hunter with a heart of gold, the burning of the home ranch and the death of Uncle Owen and Aunt Beru, the rescue of a kidnapped damsel, the evil overlord and his standing, faceless army. Start throwing in more recent Star Wars media and the movie Solo has a freaking train robbery. You're only missing the 10-gallon hats, horse turds, and people spitting everywhere,

and you'd be at Yeehaw instead of May the Force Be With You. Does that make Star Wars bad? Absolutely not. George Lucas took something that existed for decades and made it his own behemoth of movies and TV shows and toys and other media set in that universe. Stories truly are timeless, and just because a source is old doesn't mean it can't bear great fruit today. A fellow DM and good, brilliant, well-read friend of mine mentioned a book written in 1895 called The 36 Dramatic Situations. George Pulte published this book, The 36 Dramatic Situations, in which he listed 36 dramatic situations and their variants. He proposed that these 36 were prototypes of all human stories,

whatever the genre, whatever the era, whatever the culture, the media, or their form. He supported his claims with numerous examples at the time of classic plays and literature that he could get his hands on in 1895. Of course, I didn't read it in the original French because the last time I took any French whatsoever was my freshman year of college. These days, I probably wouldn't know the difference between des bagages and a baguette. Je suis un poisson excité et ou est la plage nudiste. That's probably stretching the limit of my French right there. Because my French is not good, I was fortunate enough to find someplace where it was translated for me. When I began reading, I became intrigued by his theory and how it could be applied to our RPG space. Specifically, I think how they could apply to individual quests,

overarching stories, and character backstories. Before I get into how you can use them, I want to give you some examples of what they are. A word of warning about these situations. They are what I would consider Lego blocks, or building blocks, or a skeleton on which you can attach the meat of your story. The situations by themselves require some customization and some work to attach them to your campaign or your character. But by understanding these building blocks of narrative and story, you will always be ready for another adventure should your players take their characters in an unexpected direction. Let me give an example of how these building

blocks are in need of customization. The first dramatic situation I want to mention is called the implore or supplication, depending on which translation you're using. This situation requires a persecutor, a supplicant, and an authority. Now, there's a lot of big words there, and as Captain Barbossa said, we're not but humble pirates. Someone, the supplicant, is being mistreated or harassed or threatened by someone or something else, called the persecutor. So they desperately appeal to someone or something in authority to be delivered from the persecutor. So how could DMs use this story structure?

The PCs could be any of the three I mentioned, the supplicant, the persecutor, or the authority. Suppose the Greenshire merchants are being killed off by Big Bad Evil Incorporated. The PCs could be the supplicant on a quest to speak to the Emperor on behalf of the Greenshire merchants to get help against this Big Bad Evil Incorporated. Or they could even be supplicants sent to speak to the leader of Big Bad Evil Incorporated to try to get them to knock it off. Alternatively, the PCs could be the representatives of the Emperor, who sends the PCs to make Big Bad Evil Incorporated stop what they're

doing by means of diplomacy, stealth, bribery, or good old-fashioned punching them in the face. Or the PCs could even be hired by Big Bad Evil Incorporated to take out the members of the Greenshire, but the head of the Greenshire Merchants is on a mission to get backup and reinforcements from someone even more powerful, and the PCs have to stop this leader before they can be reinforced. One dramatic situation, three completely different quests that could emerge from it. So how could PCs use this story structure for their backstory? Maybe their parents were supplicants begging Emperor Fartdoodle for protection against Big Bad Evil Incorporated, but the Emperor didn't respond. Now, they've taken up the sword to try to avenge their parents or infiltrate Big Bad Evil Incorporated and exact their revenge from the

inside. Now, don't worry, we're not going in-depth into every single one of these 36 dramatic situations. We don't have time. This is only a 20-minute-ish podcast, after all. But I do want to hit a few that hopefully will spark the idea for some quests or backstories in your game. Another dramatic situation is the Savior or Deliverance situation, where someone is condemned by some organization and a rescuer arrives to save them. The PCs are hired to rescue the head of the Greenshire Merchants

before Big Bad Evil Incorporated can publicly kill them to set an example. Or, a PC was delivered from execution at the last minute by, say, the Church of Iomaday. They have picked up the sword and adventure in her honor. Another example of a dramatic situation is that a loved one has been killed or wronged and someone is sent to avenge them. The head of the Greenshire Merchants is murdered and their loved one hires the PCs to exact justice upon Big Bad Evil Incorporated. And a great example of this, by the way, the movie The Godfather.

Kindred rivalry are when one sibling or one spouse or one relative have conflict with someone else. The PCs could be brought in on anyone's side to try to fight for their position or for their belief. Or, maybe in your backstory, your character starts an adventuring life due to a rivalry with a sibling or a close friend. Generically, instead of kindred, it could be just that a crime has been committed and those guilty have not been punished. So the PCs are brought in to serve as agents of wrath to bring justice to an unjust situation. A revolt or rebellion is happening, and the PCs could be brought in to support this rebellion by accomplishing various missions on the rebellion's behalf. Foment the uprising by sowing discord

among those in power. Or maybe you can flip the script and have the PCs be brought in by the ruling class to stomp down the uprising. Sacrifice for an ideal. This is where a hero or a villain sacrifices someone or something for an ideal of theirs. From this idea alone, the PCs could be the ones asked to make a sacrifice. The PCs could be asked to save the person or thing that's about to be sacrificed, or put in a position where the PCs agree with the ideal, but not with the sacrifice itself. For example, a rebellious group is fighting for freedom against a tyrannical king and want to murder the king in the town square. The PCs are all for freedom and justice, but not

necessarily killing the current regent to get it, because maybe he's just a puppet. Are they willing to sacrifice their beliefs for the outcome they want? A daring enterprise or war? The list of possible quests and adventures around war are too numerous to mention. The PCs could be hired to try to negotiate a solution before war starts, or maybe make sure that the war does happen. They could be the elite behind-the-enemy-lines force, like a Navy SEAL team that takes out strategic targets

and slips out before anyone can notice. They could be an elite fighting force sent to wreak havoc behind enemy lines, disrupting supply lines, taking out key figures, or making the enemy question whether they want a war at all. Is it even worth it? Abduction. The PCs have to find someone who's been kidnapped against, or more interestingly, with their will. How interesting would it be if one of your players couldn't be there that night for gaming, so their character was kidnapped and those that are there have to find them before the session is over. Flipping the script, maybe the PCs are hired

to kidnap someone else. Acquisition or obtaining something. Someone needs a MacGuffin and the PCs are just the ones to get it for them. Or maybe your character starts adventuring to reclaim their father's lost spellbook or family crest or pet donkey's favorite snack, dragon spleen. Wait a minute, do dragons have spleens? I mean, I would assume that dragons have red and white blood cells. I'll have you know I just lost 30 minutes of my life trying to figure out if dragons would have red and white blood cells because I got lost in the world of reptilian hematology. This is your fault, you know.

Madness. Friend or loved one slain by someone in a permanent or temporary state of madness. Could be someone the killer loved. The classic werewolf accidentally killing their family member, child, or spouse when they turn into a monster every full moon. To me, it would be very interesting if the killer slayed someone they legitimately wanted dead, but only did so in a fit of madness and asked the PCs to help them prove it, or help them escape justice. Broad category here, fatal imprudence.

Imprudence is the lack of wisdom or good judgment. Someone makes bad choices or a dumb decision that leads to death or misfortune of some sort. It could be that the person hiring the PCs has harmed themselves and maybe even caused their own death. The spirit of a slain business leader asks the PCs to help pass on critical information and assets to her family, but the investigation reveals that she had a horrible gambling problem and passed on not just the asset, but also the debt that she owes. There's something there that could make for a good adventure, but I want to keep it this short and not make you listen to me piece it together live.

Mary Sideres has a gambling problem. I owed thousands of gold pieces to Sir Simeon Laper, who has written off the debt until he finds out that she left a small fortune to her daughter. Crap, I said I wouldn't hash it out online while I was recording, but oh well, damage done. So far, I've barely scratched the surface on 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10 of the 36 situations.

There are 26 others that I haven't even touched, like tracking something and being tracked by something, the calamity or disaster causing, preventing, or surviving it, delivery from a cruel master, solving a puzzle or riddle, finding an expert, crimes of passion, adultery, jealousy, defending a loved one's honor, and so on and so on and so on. Putting yourself in the right frame of mind, I'm willing to bet that you could read these 36 Lego block-like structures and build a narrative around your character or even an entire adventure around each one of these. But we can't stop there,

because these Lego block situations can be connected together to form entire campaigns or complicated backstories. Putting three together, like obstacles to love, love between enemies, and crimes of passion, and you could have a campaign about someone who has a lover who's a member of a rival organization. They've been accused of killing someone else who is in that organization, and damn it, that's just Romeo and Juliet, isn't it? Montague, Capulet, Romeo kills Juliet's cousin, Tybalt.

They hatch a plan to fake a death. Oh, happy dagger, this is thy sheath. And yeah. Okay, let me try again with three more pieces. Conflict with a god, ambition to accomplish the impossible, and mourning the loss of a loved one. There you go. A god struck down someone you love because they were doing things they shouldn't, and

fuck, that's the Greek mythology story of Zeus striking down Apollo's son, Asclepius. Okay then, three more. Remorse for a wrong done, avenging a loved one, and a daring enterprise or war? No, wait, that's John Wick.

Jealousy, obtaining an expert, and rivalry between a superior and inferior? God, that could be the Matrix trilogy. Sibling rivalry, crime of passion, and conflict with a god? That's Cain and Abel. Sacrificing everything for passion, crime of passion, and death of a loved one? Oh God, that's like a dozen different movies. True Romance, and Bonnie and Clyde,

Natural Born Killers, Young Guns, and probably more that I'm not even thinking of right now. Okay, okay, I'll stop. But you see my point. I think there are two lessons here. One, if you're concerned that your character's backstory sounds a lot like one of the characters from The King and I, or The Evil Dead, or Weird Al's Amish Paradise, or that your adventure sounds like a retelling of Seven Samurai, Judge Dredd, or The Cask of Amontillado, don't be. Change a few details and make it your own. Man, I just threw that out there, but a murder mystery based on finding a dead body sealed within a wall that maybe doesn't respond to speak with dead for some reason? There's a murderer on the loose who's hiding bodies in buildings. Hang on, I gotta grab my notebook. Two, these 36 situations

can be used in a variety of ways, and I recommend looking at the episode resources and giving them a glance. You may easily gain some inspiration for your next character or your table's next set of adventures. Inspiration truly can come from anywhere. Movies, short stories, music, and yes, 125-year-old books. Keep an eye out for some situation, building block, or idea that you can incorporate in your RPG, and I'll bet you and your players could have fun doing it. Do you have a topic idea that you'd like me to cover on the podcast? If so, send me a message on Facebook, Insta, or email it to feedback at taking20podcast.com, and I'll try to get it slotted into an upcoming episode. Tune in next week when the advice is

going to get a little more practical for DMs. It's the question you can ask your players to hopefully keep them from making a bad decision. But before I go, I want to thank this week's sponsor, Chickens. If you have any complaints about my chicken joke, save them. The last thing I need to be is hen peck. This has been episode 174, drawing inspiration for quest design from the 36 dramatic situations. My name is Jeremy Shelley, and I hope that your next game is your best game. My name is Jeremy Shelley, and I hope that your next game is your best game. The Taking 20 Podcast is a Publishing Cube Media Production. Copyright 2023.

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