Story Design: Duel Stories
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How can you add more conflict and suspense to your competitive adventures?
Story Design Volume 8 - In a duel story¸ the protagonist and antagonist are competing against one another. They may be fighting to obtain the same objective¸ or simply trying to insure that the other doesn't get what they're after. The rivalry might be a sports competition¸ a race to make a discovery¸ or a triangle where both characters compete for the same love interest. No matter what form the competition takes¸ only one character can win.
Examples of the duel plot include Les Miserables¸ Lord of the Flies¸ Mutiny on the Bounty¸ The Odd Couple¸ and Paradise Lost.
Story Design: The Duel covers all of the elements you need to prepare in order to tell a rivalry story. It's based on concepts explored in Story Structure and the Lighthouse System games¸ also published by Dancing Light Press. It's a big book that goes into greater detail on how to get the most out of the three-act structure¸ as well as developing a three-phase series (campaign¸ if you prefer) with a clear beginning¸ middle¸ and end. If you want to use your favorite roleplaying game system to tell stories with more depth than kill monster¸ get treasure¸ repeat (not that there's anything wrong with that)¸ it is worth looking into.
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