Chapters

Guild House tells stories through chapters. Chapters are meant to be contained stories that can be completed in a 2-5 hour session, giving players a full story experience. Although, we don’t expect every player picking up Guild House to be a master of writing short stories.

This isn’t to say Guild House doesn’t work as a full campaign experience, GM’s are free to string together chapters however they like, creating longer stories that span across multiple sessions. Completing a chapter grants a character one new XP point to spend, giving them new tools to retrofit their character.

Making a Chapter
When designing a chapter, time is the thing of big concern. The average session has time for 2-3 balanced encounters (1-1 strength with players), and about an hour and a half of roleplay. This should bring your session to around 3 hours, varying by how experienced or roleplay heavy your table is.

If you aren’t an expert writer, that isn’t a worry. Making a session can be easy, and following a 3 act structure will allow you to design a fun and reward structure for any players. These building blocks are:
 * 1) Hook
 * 2) Conflict
 * 3) Resolution

Hook
The hook is what draws your players in. It is the initial event that alerts them to the cause. Did they receive a cry for help from a desperate noble? Was their Guild House ransacked and a precious artifact stolen? Maybe a great beast has a bounty on its head, and your party is looking to collect?

Your conflict should be a strong pull, so much so that no adventurer could resist. Create some drama here, put stakes on the line.

Conflict
Your conflict is something to shake up the story. Something that doesn’t go the way the hook suggested it would. It’s a twist, a surprise for the players. This can shake up the story in a way they didn’t expect, or add a new difficulty to their path.

Did bandits attack you on your path? The enemies are far more powerful than expected? Another group is racing you to the treasure? Use combat to weaken players leading up to their final battle, or make them solve problems using skill checks. The conflict is the bulk of your session.

Resolution
Now you’ve told your story, you have to end it. Try to give some resolution or purpose to characters or plot threads you’ve introduced, and give the players a difficult challenge to surmount. This is also a good time for a boss fight (More on that in Enemies).

Players should finish your resolution feeling satisfied, like they’ve accomplished something as a group.