How to Start an Adventure

I've had multiple people approach me and ask how to start an adventure thread on FirstClass. It's really quite easy! Your first step is to come up with a goal, whether it be to find a Diamond or to rescue an ancient dragon from evil chameliollamasauruses.

Next you have to figure out where your adventure is going to be. Is it going to be in the Mage's Guild? In the Noble and Ancient Thread? In the Coldstone's Closet? In the Arcade conference? What about in the Leaky Barrel? There are all kinds of places you can have an adventure! Pick a place that's best suited for your adventure's topic and run with it!

Next, you have to remember to obey the Balance of Powers while you're adventuring. This is absolutely ESSENTIAL to successful and fun adventures. Here's a definition of BOP written by Shalom Cross:

Balance of powers:

Originally from the role-playing games that used to be on NSA, the term balance of powers comes from the mutual respect of power that two people must have when fighting using **. This basically means you can't just guarantee yourself a win or dictate someone else's actions, the people fighting ALL have to adhere to the balance of powers to have a fair fight.

Obeying this rule makes adventures fun and it ensures that no one is more powerful than another one of the people involved, making an even playing field.

Fourth, you need to make it believable. Now, I know this is a little weird since it's all make believe, but you still need to obey certain laws in order to make your story believable. For example, unless you're in space or some weird magic thing is going on, you're always going to have gravity in your adventure. Or, maybe you're fighting off baconypines and you're killing like, 20 a second. That's just not believable. Or maybe you have weird spirit dudes coming in from different realms and it's just strange. We had that happen one time in the NAAT a few years ago where this one guy kept acting like he was a group of spirits from another realm. It made the adventure not fun because first of all no one really knew what was going on, second it was a weird idea, and third it just wasn't that believable. Just make sure you don't get too crazy so that people can still follow along in your story!

Going off of that one, the fifth suggestion is to make sure that the majority of people in your adventure is in agreement of what is going on. If someone voices a concern or something they're not very fond of, listen to it and be respectful of their opinions. Going back to the story from above about the spirits in the NAAT, we had voiced concerns about the way the kid was doing things in the story, but he would never listen to what we were saying, and he wouldn't stop when everyone asked him to stop. This is an issue. Remember to respect the people who you are adventuring with.

I've also gotten the question "How can I make up a legend on my own?" Now, it's good to realize that all of the NSA legends are made up - they had to start somewhere. MM made up zombehs, Andrew Maust made up Porkypines, Jamie Tucker helped make the NAAT, etc. So, because everything is made up, we need new brains to make up new legends! However, again you have to remember to keep it believable and keep it fun, and if you get from multiple people that it's really not that great of an idea, then scrap it and come up with a new one. Also, remember to be respectful of previous legends so that they keep their integrity. Also, remember the BOP when making new legends.

And finally, the adventures that people have the most fun in last for months, so don't feel like your adventure needs to be done within a week or two! We've had adventures that last for over a year. Now, a year might be too long because by the end of it it's definitely time to end the adventure, but just keep in mind that they don't have to be super quick!

So, to summarize, the rules of adventuring are:

1. Come up with a goal. What do you want to accomplish?
2. Figure out where your adventure is going to be.
3. Remember the BOP and obey it!
4. Make your story believable.
5. Make sure your fellow adventurers are on the same page as you.
6. Use old legends and make up some new ones!
7. The most exciting adventures last for months.

This article was written by Lady Morgan Raines, KOTOOMP and SC Pres 2017-18.