Onto another staple: the "Adventure Summary". This is something a customer expects, and something a gamemaster needs. Not just for an overview, but for an arc - a shape to the nightmare which the characters must plunge their way into then climb their way out of.

I approach Adventure Summaries more like a movie than a book. Movies tend to be more timeboxed and (often) more action-focused. The "beats" and the "acts" are a little sharper. They conjure cinematic pictures.

But enough of that. Here are the key things I consider for an adventure summary:

• The Tentative Opening. There's a reason so many adventures start in a tavern. It's familiar, neutral and safe(ish) ground. But more than that: it's a place where you can refuse the call. I like to give players a taste of what's waiting for them (or coming for them), followed by the option of NOT continuing. I mean, let's not kid ourselves - the players will continue. But the characters? They have that little moment in their stories where they must either leap forward or flinch back. In Pink Moon it's the diner attack. The party are in a comfortable place at the edge of an extraordinary world, but then that world extends a little tentacle to slap at them. A biker gang, who are absolutely not the main villains, but a menace springing from the chaos the villains created. 

• The Monstrous Mess. The middle is the hardest part of a story. But it rightly needs to be. I aim for a middle where the party is facing all kinds of allies, enemies, tasks and challenges. In Pink Moon it's the downtown area, where our heroes are not only chased by antagonists but helped by new allies and called upon for side-quests.  Sure, it can be frustrating, and even confusing if the party are trying to figure something out but keep running into dead-ends and red herrings. It's therefore important to perform a balancing act. You should establish just enough of a "sandbox" in the middle of an adventure while not holding out (for too long)  on the "big lead" - the clear indicator of where everyone should go next. Which brings us to...

• The False Victory. At the end of the mess, the party should strike a decisive blow against the villain. I say the villain here, because it can be tempting at this stage to have another "fake out" and reveal that the party has been fighting the wrong person or wasting its time. But I advise against such bait-and-switch. It's a dangerous gamble to betray the party's expectations and count on frustration or vengefulness to keep them invested in the final act. Better to have the party and the villain mutually inconvenience one another, both to sharpen the grudge between them and to reinforce the idea that victory is within both their reaches. Rather than presenting hopelessness, present uncertainty, and use this to raise the stakes. A false victory makes everything both better and worse. In Pink Moon, you have a real chance to destroy the vampire's coffin at the mid-point of the game. Doing so turns the main villain desperate, destructive and entirely unpredictable in the final act. This is a deliberate shake-up, to keep things exciting.

• The Cutting of the Cord. While a sense of hopelessness should be not be overused, a sense that there is "no turning back" can really sharpen the story if delivered immediately before the finale. Up until now the heroes have always had a chance to refuse the call or fall back on alternate solutions. But right before the final showdown there should be a sense of the ladder kicked away, the bridge burned, or the anchor untethered. In Pink Moon, this comes in the form of the highway attack right before the mansion caper. The party is walloped by a powerful force, and that same force then moves ahead of them to seize a world-ending McGuffin. The party members know that they must follow, or risk losing everything they have fought for. Any frustration felt in this moment is eclipsed by the sense that they must act - right now - and choose their place in the endgame.

• The Showdown. This final stage is pretty obvious. But I will note that the term "showdown" is used in card games, when the final chips are counted and everyone lays down their hands. It helps to think of the final encounter the same way. In a good finale it becomes clear who is sitting at the table, what leverage they have, what they were bluffing or panicking about previously, and how much stands to be won or lost. There is nothing worse than a final battle where things are not "on the table". Keeping plot-twists, characters and contingencies hidden till after the finale is another dangerous storytelling gamble, and can end up making everything seem pointless and underwhelming. It's better to have the full spectacle - the full show, with nothing more to tell. If your final scene wouldn't look good on a movie poster, you might need to tweak it.

So there it is. Start with a tentative opening, plunge into a monstrous mess, achieve a false victory, suffer the cutting of the cord, and enjoy the showdown at the story's end. That will give your adventure a nice shape, and your Adventure Summary some tasty GM bait.