Story Design: Search Stories
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How can you add more emotional resonance to your quest adventure story?
Story Design Volume 2 - In the search plot¸ the protagonist is looking for something. It might be an object¸ a person¸ or a piece of information. The thing they're searching for might be real¸ or it could be metaphorical. It doesn't actually matter¸ because this is really a character-driven story. The journey¸ and what the protagonist experiences¸ is what's important. Over the course of their travels¸ the character grows¸ changes¸ and learns something about his- or herself. What they thought they wanted in the beginning of the story¸ they realize¸ wasn't what they truly needed after all. Story Design: The Search helps writers and roleplayers to construct quest adventures centered on character development.
Examples of the search plot include The Catcher in the Rye¸ Don Quixote¸ Gilgamesh¸ The Grapes of Wrath¸ The Lord of the Rings¸ Lost Horizon¸ and The Wizard of Oz.
Story Design: The Search covers all of the elements you need to prepare in order to tell a quest-type 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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