Oh, I agree that we should absolutely define an ending. Which is why we have the Climax. The ending to the beginning and middle.
But what you gave as examples seemed more like defining the fate of the characters. Sitting on the throne like Conan.
There is no way we can prep for this. Nor should we.
The 3 Scene Setup - Quick Adventure Building
Meadbeard
#21
Meadbeard
#22
Yeah, there are many good theories and models of narrative structure. I can easily think of at least 10 more.
However, my original intent wasn’t to apply every theory of narrative structure, but to give a quick and easy method of prepping adventures and dungeons, which was just as easy and maybe even faster than the 5-room dungeon method.
If you want to expand into obscure details, all power to you guys. But it wasn’t the intent of my post. I think the discussion is heading away from that. Making things complex is easy. Let’s get back to simple.
Lon
#23
Yeah, no doubt. You can definitely get lost down that rabbit hole. And it’s easy to spend so much time knackering about there that you forget to accomplish any story! (Case in point, LOL) I was replying more specifically to what @Dragonlair had said about the end of journey.
Lon
#24
Just want to point out also, that there is a difference between starting with an End in mind (railroady) starting with an ending Question in mind (less railroady), and watching what happens in the beginning and middle to Improvise an ending question as you get there (my sweet spot, personally).
Ray Bradbury has a quote in Zen and the Art of Writing that I think guides a ton of my current GMing. It goes something like this: Sometimes you have to just jump off the cliff and build your wings on the way down.
ETA: Just noticed that even this quote is 3 Acts: the Cliff You Know, Falling into the Unknown, Building Wings. Kinda cool.