Adventure Architect: Part Three

Into all this, I plunge the cowboy who I’ve chosen to be the hero of the story. I decide that the game should open with some kind of discovery that will create a sense of mystery. The abandoned gold mine seems like the perfect place for it, if I can just figure out what the cowboy is doing on the outskirts of a nearly abandoned town swirling with mystery.

data-fancybox="images"
>

I stop and think for a moment about how I might open the game, and then I write:

‘Rattlesnake’ Jake Dawson finds himself in the hills above a dusty desert town called Old Sierra, staring at a cheap-looking treasure map that he won in a game of poker. The map is clearly a fake—a copy of a copy, at the very least—but he’s got nothing to lose, so he’s set off to see what lies at the end of the trail. It’s just Jake, his horse, his trusty six-shooter—and this nagging feeling that someone is following him.

Next I try to put together some of the mishmash of ideas relating to the town and the treasure:

data-fancybox="images"
>

Old Sierra was a boomtown a few years back, built up during the Gold Rush and all but deserted in its aftermath. Some folks still believe that there’s gold up in the hills, but most say the area ran dry a decade ago. There’s even an abandoned gold mine just outside of town, but it’s been locked up and avoided for years—most of the town says it’s haunted.

Of course, everyone’s got a story to tell about the weird happenings around Old Sierra, what with the Indian ghost stories about the Sacred Valley, and the weird hermit who’s lived in the hills for longer than anyone can remember. And with a gang of bandits on the outskirts and a crooked sheriff running honest folks out of town, Old Sierra’s sure seen better days…

Now I’m getting a feel for how a lot of different threads might relate to each other, and things are starting to make sense. With a few more ideas floating just out of reach, I begin to outline how the opening scene might play out.

data-fancybox="images"
>

Jake stands at an overlook near a cave entrance. A trail leads winds off-screen from the overlook before returning near the outskirts of town. There’s a second cave hole looming high above, but he can’t reach it—yet. And not too far away is the blocked entrance to the abandoned mine. Does his map lead him to some kind of secret backdoor into the mine?

From here, I play around with a few ideas for how to draw Jake into the mystery surrounding the gold mine, the treasure map, and the Indian legends. What will he find in the cave? Who’s following him? How does it involve the secret society? And what’s the origin of this cheap-looking treasure map he’s gotten a hold of?