Close
Close
Advanced Search

Encounter TheoryClick to magnify
Quick Preview
/gs_flipbook/flip.php?xml=/demo_xml/278718.xml&w=500&h=324
Full‑size Preview
https://watermark.drivethrurpg.com/pdf_previews/278718-sample.pdf

Encounter Theory

ADD TO WISHLIST >

Write or publish better adventures!

Ben Riggs has read and reviewed hundreds of adventures for Geek & Sundry and the Plot Points podcast. In Encounter Theory he channels that accumulated wisdom into tools you can use to make your adventures better. He has invented a theory of adventure design to cut away unhelpful ideas and created 14 playplans, tools which will apply the theory to help you write better adventures for home or publication.

Life is too short for bad adventures!

Make better fantasy, horror, and investigative adventures today! Encounter Theory includes:

  • A manifesto on Ben’s ideas on adventure design, Encounter Theory

  • 14 playplans that distill Encounter Theory into something you can use at the table, or to publish better adventures

  • A 5E compatible adventure, “The Mysterious Death of Lord Alfred”

  • Commentary on the adventure, explaining how I deployed Encounter Theory to create the adventure

pixel_trans.gif
pixel_trans.gif
 
 Customers Who Bought this Title also Purchased
pixel_trans.gif
pixel_trans.gif
Reviews (3)
Discussions (5)
Customer avatar
Juan David J May 18, 2022 5:19 pm UTC
Do you have it available on Amazon or on kindle format?
Customer avatar
John M February 26, 2020 2:56 pm UTC
PURCHASER
It would be nice if a future update included bookmarks; I find it tiring to read a PDF on screen (now that I'm ancient) and so trying to get back to the place where I was can be painful. Yes, some PDF readers do help with this, but I keep a document on multiple documents, not all of which share PDF readers. I love PDF for a number of things, but it really does assume a structure like paper: you have enough room, and the interrelationships of objects are important. So I second the possibility of a print version.

I am slowly retyping the book to create an ePub for my own use, so an ePub might also be nice. It would not be as useful for the playplans, but you provide those as a word document, so...
Customer avatar
Benjamin M August 11, 2019 3:02 am UTC
PURCHASER
So I've been going through the adventure brainstormer. In it, among other things, you generate a villian, their plan to achieve their goals, and obstacles that stand in their way. To me, it seems like their plan should stem from the obstacles (x, y, and z are in the way, so I should do a, b, and c to get rid of them). Is this the right way to think about it? And if so, why put the plan section before the obstacles section?
Reply
Customer avatar
Erik F September 24, 2019 2:01 pm UTC
PURCHASER
Your reasoning on a villain's plan sounds fine to me. As for "plan" and "obstacles," I think your issue is only a matter of looking at a step-by-step process and seeing something more organic. In other words, you're conceptually correct, but the text is structurally correct. If you're coming up with obstacles that are integral to the plan, that's no problem. Later, the "obstacles" step might help you see something you missed earlier, or give you a chance to add obstacles that the villain might not have planned for (and can therefore be exploited by the players), and so on.
Customer avatar
Stacie W June 20, 2019 4:16 am UTC
Is this available in print?
Reply
Customer avatar
Benjamin R July 01, 2019 3:40 am UTC
PUBLISHER
Unfortunately not. People keep asking, but I have thought that my time would be better spent working on writing another book. But clearly, I need to figure this out, since people keep asking.
Customer avatar
Lucus P June 03, 2019 11:21 pm UTC
There is a button for a full-size preview but its a broken link to...

Not Found
The requested URL /Not PDF (file=Fillable_Playplans.docx, ext=docx) was not found on this server.
Reply
Customer avatar
Scott M June 12, 2019 12:59 am UTC
The "Full-size Preview" link works for me.

Direct link: https://watermark.drivethrurpg.com/pdf_previews/278718-sample.pdf
Reply
Customer avatar
Lucus P June 12, 2019 5:41 pm UTC
Its working now, it hadn't back on June 3rd. Thanks for pointing out it was fixed.
Reply
Customer avatar
Benjamin R June 16, 2019 1:07 pm UTC
PUBLISHER
Yeah, that was my first time uploading to DriveThru, and I made a couple rookie mistakes which I fixed in a frenetic few hours after the upload. Thanks for noticing Lucus!
Narrow Results
$ to $
 Follow Your Favorites!
NotificationsSign in to get custom notifications of new products!
 Recent History















Product Information
Gold seller
Author(s)
Artist(s)
Pages
145
Publisher Stock #
00001
File Size:
17.24 MB
Format
Original electronic Click for more information
Scanned image
These products were created by scanning an original printed edition. Most older books are in scanned image format because original digital layout files never existed or were no longer available from the publisher.

For PDF download editions, each page has been run through Optical Character Recognition (OCR) software to attempt to decipher the printed text. The result of this OCR process is placed invisibly behind the picture of each scanned page, to allow for text searching. However, any text in a given book set on a graphical background or in handwritten fonts would most likely not be picked up by the OCR software, and is therefore not searchable. Also, a few larger books may be resampled to fit into the system, and may not have this searchable text background.

For printed books, we have performed high-resolution scans of an original hardcopy of the book. We essentially digitally re-master the book. Unfortunately, the resulting quality of these books is not as high. It's the problem of making a copy of a copy. The text is fine for reading, but illustration work starts to run dark, pixellating and/or losing shades of grey. Moiré patterns may develop in photos. We mark clearly which print titles come from scanned image books so that you can make an informed purchase decision about the quality of what you will receive.
pixel_trans.gif
Original electronic format
These ebooks were created from the original electronic layout files, and therefore are fully text searchable. Also, their file size tends to be smaller than scanned image books. Most newer books are in the original electronic format. Both download and print editions of such books should be high quality.
File Information
Watermarked PDF Click for more information
Watermarked PDF

These PDF files are digitally watermarked to signify that you are the owner. A small message is added to the bottom of each page of the PDF containing your name and the order number of your purchase.

Warning: If any files bearing your information are found being distributed illegally, then your account will be suspended and legal action may be taken against you.

Here is a sample of a page from a watermarked title:

File Last Updated:
June 03, 2019
This title was added to our catalog on June 03, 2019.