The RPG Guy presents…
10 Parts for building an Epic Story.
So, what is the Hero’s Journey?
There are two kinds of hero’s journey, also called the “monomyth” and are used in hundreds (perhaps thousands) of amazing stories. For example, The Lord of the Rings and Star Wars just to name a few.
Their are two versions of The Hero’s Journey; however, I’ve condensed these 16 parts down to 10 here.
RPG Basics – How to Create an Epic Story (Video)
10 Key Points Recap
- An Appealing Adventure
- A Guide
- From the Known to the Unknown
- Trials
- The Underworld
- A Gift from a Mentor
- Die to Self
- The Quest is Achieved
- The Return Home
- The Gift is Home
The Original Hero’s Journey parts…
- The Call to Adventure
- The Road of Trials
- The Vision Quest
- The Meeting with the Goddess
- The Boon
- The Magic Flight
- The Return Threshold
- The Master of Two Worlds
And also here…
- Miraculous conception and birth
- Initiation of the hero-child
- Withdrawal from family or community for meditation and preparation
- Trial and Quest
- Death
- Descent into the underworld
- Resurrection and rebirth
- Ascension, apotheosis, and atonement
More about The Hero’s Journey can be found here.
So, what do you think? What do you use when you’re writing a story?
A Note from The RPG Guy: Thoughts/ Concerns/ Questions/ Comments? Then, leave a comment! Here are some other Story related articles you may find interesting:
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{ 35 comments… read them below or add one }
A truely great video! And I must tell you that I am a big advocate for this website!
Wow, I really appreciate the great comment! More to come! :-)
I’ve never heard of this method and you also laid it out so well.
Thank you so much! There are more on youtube if you get a chance… and more to come.
hello i found your website today and I have read some good posts over here. I just wanna say thanks you. I likes this post too
Thank you, I appreciate it! Glad you liked the post!
Back in school, I’m doing so much learning. I’m not able to get my gaming addiction fed. Unfortunately this just makes it worse, RPG Guy!
Ooooh…. sorry about that. :-)
I read your early post and you proceed to maintain great info here. I look forward to reading more from you in a while!?
Glad you liked this one. I’ll be doing more and more videos so make sure to come back soon!
This really is a good help! Thanks!
Sure, not a problem! Glad to help!
Hahaha! Watchedc your other videos and I just had to leave a comment. Good stuff! Keep it up!
Thank you for taking the time to leave a comment! :-)
There are certainly lots more ways of creating a story… but, what makes this one epic, besides your crazy looking faces in that video???? Hahaha!
You’re right. This isn’t the only method for creating an epic story. However, this is the most widely used and successful one. What I mean by epic is that you don’t use this template for more melodramatic stories, but hey, anything can work. I’m interested to know what you and others think about this method…
I like the video! Good fun and I learned somethnig! Thanks mate!
Wow, thank you so much! I’m hoping to get another one out here soon… I got a lot going on here (projects) at The RPG Guy. Come back soon to see what I have next!
I really liked the video. It was well put. Nice job!
Thank you and thanks for the comment! :-)
How do you make your own role playing game?
That is for a post that is to come… stick around and you’ll see, Alanceden.
All good points! I really liked it – good mixture of funny and “rpg goodness.” :)
Hahaha! Thanks! Glad you liked it! :-)
Loving your blog and this article. Keep it up!
Will do! Thank you for taking the time to leave a comment! :-)
You can’t get much basic than this. Great sereis so far!!!! AND FUNNY!!!!
Thank you! :-)
I like all of your points here. What are some other templates that I can use to create my story? Besides the Hero’s Journey.
Thank you! Yes, this certainly isn’t the only way to create a story. That question sounds big enough to be entirely new post. Long story short (‘scuse the pun) make sure that you are creating an outline first and then go from there.
Of course after you do that you will want to make sure you’re not using your “beloved story” to railroad your players. Check out my post on railroading like a ninja.
Good day, i am doing research right now and your blog really helped me
Really?? Great to hear! Make sure to come back for more. New articles are published Monday, Wednesday and Friday.
Great post!
Thank you so much! :-)
You got it! More to come!
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