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Flat Earth Games Story Generator |
[We are experiencing weird script problems with IE3.x. If you experience problems, let me know.]
Welcome
to the Flat Earth Games Story Generator. This tool will give you a randomly
generated story outline, including all the major components of a story plot.
You can take these plot elements, fill in the details, and easily create a unique
story. Creative stories, some assembly required.
Instructions: Start the story generator by pressing the "give me
another story" button to the left. A list of randomly generated story elements
will be presented. To get a new set of story elements, press the "give
me another story" button again. If you want to keep some elements that
you like and "reroll" the others, select the check boxes next the
the element you want to keep from the list to the left. Then click the "give
me another story" button, and you will be given a list of random story
elements with the items you checked remaining the same. Check the box next to
"Include Descriptions for hints on how to use each story element. If you
are satisfied with the list and you want to print it out for future reference,
click the "printable sheet" selection to the left and another browser
window will open containing your story outline, then select "print"
to print it out. This window can be closed after printing is completed. If you
are having problems with the Story Generator, please let me know.
How to use the Story Generator output: The Story Generator gives you
the basic elements required to create a story plot. Often this is all that is
needed to get the creative juices flowing, or to get that fresh idea you need
in your adventures. The Story Generator can also be used to create an entire
story plot line, but this requires some details to be filled in. The Story Generator
gives all of the story elements as general "architypes", or general
catagories. You will need to select the specific location, villian, or monster
that you want to use based on the architype suggested by the Story Generator.
Also, you will need to piece together an actual story line based on the elements
suggested by the Story Generator, so that it logically flows as a story. Some
items may not work with your story as you fill in details, so feel free to disregard
items that do not make sense and make up elements that will make things work
together. Perhaps I can best describe this with an example.
The Story Generator gave me the following outline:
Story Hook: Mistaken Identity
Story Goal: Retrieve/Repair Item
Story Plot Type: Series of Events
Story Climax: Major Battle
Story Setting: Exotic Distant Land
Specific Setting: Dungeon
Major Villian: Advance Agent
Minor Villian: Corrupted Hero
Neutrals & Allies: Helpless Youngster
Featured Monster: Undead/Magic Monster
Featured Encounter: Thief/Rogue
Featured Treasure: Cursed Arms/Armor
Looking these items over, I can get a feeling of how I can peice these together
into a story. I see the Story Goal, Retrieve/Repair Item, can tie in with the
Featured Treasure, Cursed Arms/Armor, so perhaps the goal is to retrieve a cursed
item such as a sword. The Setting is a Dungeon in an Exotic Distant Land, and
the Featured Monster is an Undead/Magic Monster, which can be tied together
by saying that the cursed sword to be retrieved is located in a dungeon in an
exotic distant land guarded by an undead/magic monster. The Neutral/Ally is
a Helpless Youngster, so perhaps there is a youngster in a village near the
dungeon that the adventurers must befriend because she knows a secret way into
the dungeon. The Villian is an Advance Agent, which means that his appearance
is usually a prelude to an invasion. So perhaps the cursed sword is required
because it is the only sword that can defeat the villian. The Minor Villian
is a Corrupted Hero, so it could be a 'good guy' the adventurers know and have
adventured with before, but he is on the other side this time, which could be
a moral problem for the adventurers. The featured encounter is a thief/rogue,
which could be included as a thief that has gotten wind of the adventurer's
plans and means to gain the sword for himself (not knowing of the curse, of
course). The adventure will be a series of events leading up to the story climax,
where the adventurers will be fighting in a Major Battle. We can say that the
major battle will be against the invading forces, and the adventurers will wield
the retrieved sword against the major villian. The only peice left is the hook,
to draw the characters into the story. Mistaken Identity does not seem to work
for this story, so we will not use it. Perhaps the characters could be drawn
into the story with news of the enemy massing at the border, and a legend of
a magical sword that can vanquish the enemy leader.
With the aid of the Flat Earth Games Name Generator, I can now
create a story summary that I can use as the basis of a full adventure.
The adventurers learn of a massive army moving toward their home kingdom, lead
by the evil Elaron, a creature of legendary evil and power that has returned
to this plane after an absence of ages. It is also said that at his right hand
is the King's former champion, Ciennon, whom the adventurers have traveled with
before. This is a dilemma, since the adventurers would have difficulty fighting
their friend. Perhaps he is really only under a spell! The adventurers hear
that Elaron is immune to normal weapons, but there was a weapon forged long
ago that could defeat him. However, the sword is cursed and anyone weilding
it must pay a price. They also learn that it was last seen in the treasure trove
of a distant king, Lómithran, so they must find a way to quickly travel there
to retrieve this sword. Unknown to them Tanar, a thief, overhears their discussion
and is determined to gain this weapon for himself (he does not know of the curse).
Upon arriving at this distant land, they find that the ancient king's palace
is a ruin, but Jyra, a child from a nearby village, has explored the ruins and
knows a way into the underground chambers (but has not gone deeply into them).
Tanar has beaten them to Jyra and has planted seeds of distrust in her mind,
but the adventurers are able to gain her confidence. As they enter the dungeon,
they encounter many traps left by Tanar, and finally catch up to him and must
deal with him. Then they decend deeper into the dungeon. In the depths of the
dungeon, they must face and defeat the spirit of the ancient king Lómithran
to gain possesion of his mighty sword. They return to find the invading army
at the walls of the capital city, and they must face Ciennon and Elaron on the
field of battle. With good fortune, the adventurers are able to defeat Elaron
and free Ciennon from his influence, saving the kingdom.
Many other details can and should be added to create a full adventure.
As you can see, with some imagination you can take the outline supplied by the
Story Generator and create an original, interesting story plot line. If you
are having trouble with the Story Generator or have any questions, please let me know.
The Story Generator is written in JavaScript, and is optimized to run on Microsoft's
Internet Explorer 3.0 or above. However it should work on any JavaScript enabled
browser. If you experience problems, please let me know, including the type
of computer, operating system, browser, and the error given, and I will see
what I can do (but I am not promising anything, I am a gamer not an expert programmer).
I have experienced problems with JavaScript in Netscape 2.x, which I am aware
of but cannot overcome. The only solution is to upgrade. Sorry about that.