Storyline: Flashbacks or ongoing? (Patreon)

Bloodgrass Rovers is back in development and worldbuilding.

I am however stuck on how to present what is essentially chapter 1.

My first thought is to make it into a self-contained one-shot.

• A little backstory
• reveals a peaceful town, conflict's over, it's a happy ending
  
• introduce the oldest living member of the town, one of the two heroes
  
• The adventures are retellings stories to a younger generation aspiring to be heroes too.
  

The upside of this prologue is all the stories can be individual scenarios that progress  the main plot, or side-quests with no affect to main plot at all. It also needs no constant megavillain, it can be all about just doing stuff and exploring the world, anecdotes that have no lasting impact.

The downside is it has already spoiled that one of the hero is dead. Change also happens very rarely, let's say they get new items or scars in the stories, it's a milestone from which I cannot turn back without the frequent "this was before [event/change]..." .

The second approach is more traditional:

• A little backstory
• present conflict
• first hero shows up
• a taste of the world's monsters and troubles
  
• second hero shows up
• they team up, solve the problem together
• ride off into the sunset, off to the next adventure
• a hint of the villain and greater purpose
  

This lends to a more journey-type story, with character growth and open to constant change, I can explore new outfits and gear more often. It also allows for grander scope whch includes gathering alliances, persistent changes and the megavillain has more presence as they react to worldly events.

The con is it's linear. Each story leaves a breadcrumb of cause and effect that, for continuity sake, I cannot deviate too far from. There will be twists and turns but everything eventually returns to center and twisty paths just means more consistency milestones to remember

The main upside? Both heroes may survive together to the happy ending.

Which sounds more interesting if you're reading it? I'm leaning more to the former, for no other reason than I have terrible long-term attention span. I can barely finish idea sets, a comic will be testing.

I have the story for chapter 1, currently still world building and flattening some curly black paper for the backstory bit (that looks like cave drawings with white chalk)