No witty intro for this one.

It’s way too hot and humid to stay in my office space for too long. That’s partly because of my laptop which reaches sun temperatures in the blink of an eye. So I’ll get straight to the point.

Messages are one of the most common ways to get a plot hook to the hands of the party. It’s also a common MacGuffin.

I am not against the use of messages in any of these two ways. My issue is how plain they are, when they don’t have to.

Have an intriguing messenger deliver a message that’s in an intriguing medium. We can’t be playing in a fantasy world and have plain people deliver plain messages.

Have the theme of the messenger and the message be related to the quest. Or you could do the other way around. You can start with the messenger and the message and build your adventure based on them.

Also, try thinking outside the box. When I say messenger, it doesn’t have to be someone delivering a message. It can be a situation that relays a message, a warning, a threat, or whatever you like to the party. And the same goes for the message.

And that’s all for today. Tomorrow’s word is “rest”. And this time I have some homework for you. Should RPGs be designed to convey a message? I’m leaving it a bit vague because I’d love to see how each one of you will translate it.

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