(4e) Campaigns as Flowchart?

[Hammel]

I've been thinking about this again, recently. It strikes me as a potentially easy and somewhat gamey way to plan a campaign, but I really want to try it.

Perhaps what feel might come from it is a fantasy war game campaign. Basically, a storyline is planned via a flowchart, and each box in the flowchart is a separate encounter, whether it be a battle, quick dungeon crawl, or a skill challenge. There would be, naturally, several branches and diverging paths to keep things interesting.

Has anyone tried this before? Do you have any other potential ideas? Are there already some articles out on this type of campaign planning?

[Durandal]

It's currently how I plan the skeleton for each of my games. It gives me a rough timeline and something to do if players need some feedback. I still tend to let them shape things in their own way but with the flow-chart in front of me I at least have a rough plan to hang their decision off of.

Tends to give me enough prep for the weekly game with about half an hour of work or so.

[chiguayante]

I thought most people did this. I set up encounters to always have conditions on success or failure and it helps me keep story possibilities in mind. If the players derail this or think of something else, great! But I like to plan out in advance.

[Ratchet]

http://masterplan.habitualindolence.net/

Not just flowcharts for campaign planning also but map building, encounter building, skill challenge building and the ability to download all the monsters in the compendium (subcribtion to the DDI required).

awesome bit of software.

[Seroster]

Bruce Baugh suggested something like that in his little GMing book. And ways to bring branches back to the same point, so the party gets where you want it to go, along the route they want to take

[Mercurial]

Off-topic for this forum, but the Savage Worlds setting Necropolis 2350 has the flowchart for its mini campaign printed up right there in the book.

[Yakk]

I've done adventures as flow-charts. Never a campaign.

Here is a (very cheesy) introductory adventure done as a flow-chart:
http://www.giantitp.com/forums/showp...4&postcount=11

[Joe_G_Kushner]

Yes.

These are useful especially in things like sewer chases/hunts where you don't necessarily want to map out the whole sewer.

THey are also useful for listing heirarchies of enemies and possible allies between various enemies and how they all interact.

Flexilbility is the key to them.