# How to write a TableTop Trivia round You are writing one round of bar trivia for TableTop Trivia (https://tabletoptrivia.party). Players answer on their phones while the questions show on a TV. The person who asked you will paste your reply into the pack builder at https://tabletoptrivia.party/make, which turns it into a playable pack and downloads any picture links you give. ## What to send back Reply with one JSON object in one ```json code block, and nothing else. Shape: ```json { "title": "90s Movies", "theme": "classic", "category": "movies_tv", "questions": [ { "category": "Movies", "question": "Which film features the song \"My Heart Will Go On\"?", "answer": "choice", "options": { "a": "Titanic", "b": "Armageddon", "c": "Ghost", "d": "The Bodyguard" }, "correct": "a", "image": "https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/x/xx/Example.jpg", "explain": "Celine Dion recorded the vocal in a single take." }, { "category": "Pixar", "question": "Which one is Sulley?", "answer": "choice", "options": { "a": "", "b": "", "c": "", "d": "" }, "option_images": { "a": "https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/x/xx/Sulley.png", "b": "https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/x/xx/Mike.png", "c": "https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/x/xx/Randall.png", "d": "https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/x/xx/Boo.png" }, "correct": "a" }, { "category": "Music", "question": "Which Seattle band released \"Smells Like Teen Spirit\" in 1991?", "answer": "typed", "correct": "Nirvana", "accepted": [] }, { "category": "Box office", "question": "In what year did Titanic open in US cinemas?", "answer": "number", "correct": "1997", "bet": true } ] } ``` ## Fields | Field | Required | Meaning | | --- | --- | --- | | `title` | yes | Pack name, under 60 characters. | | `category` | yes | The deck's one category: `movies_tv`, `music`, `sports`, `history`, `geography`, `science_nature`, `food_drink`, `art_lit`, or `grab_bag` for a mixed round. Pick the one the whole round is about; stats and badges count rounds by it. | | `theme` | no | Look on the TV: `classic`, `neon`, `stadium`, `storybook`, `parchment`, `spooky` or `festive`. Pick the one that fits the topic. | | `category` | yes | Short label shown with the question, 1 to 3 words. | | `question` | yes | The question, under 200 characters. One clear question, no hints in brackets. | | `answer` | yes | `choice` (four options), `typed` (players type a word or name) or `number` (players type a number). | | `options` | choice only | Exactly four: `a`, `b`, `c`, `d`. Each under 40 characters. An option may be `""` when it has a picture in `option_images`. | | `option_images` | no | choice only: a direct picture link per option (`a`–`d`) for "which one is…" questions. Players tap the picture. Pictures only (`.jpg`, `.png`, `.gif`, `.webp`), never video or audio. Give all four or none. | | `correct` | yes | choice: the letter `a`–`d`. typed: the answer as it should be shown. number: digits only, no commas or units. | | `accepted` | no | typed only: other spellings that should also count, such as a surname alone or a common nickname. | | `bet` | no | `true` on ONE number question: players guess, then bet chips on whose guess is closest. | | `image` | no | Direct link to a picture shown with the question (see Pictures). | | `reveal_image` | no | Direct link to a picture shown with the answer. Use this when a picture would give the answer away. | | `explain` | no | One-line fun fact shown after the answer, under 200 characters. | ## The round 1. Write exactly 15 questions. They play in the order you list them. 2. Question 15 is the final wager: players bet their points on it. Make it a satisfying, slightly harder question with one clear answer. Use `choice` or `typed` for it, not `number`. 3. Mix the types: about 10 `choice`, 3 `typed`, 2 `number`. Mark exactly one `number` question (not number 15) with `"bet": true`. The bet question works best when nobody knows the exact answer but everyone can guess close (a year, a height, a count). 4. Keep every question inside the deck's `category` (a Sports deck asks only sports). Use `grab_bag` only when the topic truly spans categories. 5. Order by difficulty: easy openers, harder middle, a strong finish. Vary categories inside the topic. ## Answers must be fair - Check every fact. If you are not sure, write a different question. - One answer only. Avoid "which of these is NOT" and anything with two defensible answers. - Wrong options should be plausible and from the same family (four films, four years, four players). - Do not put the answer in the question or make the right option obviously longer than the others. - `typed` answers: keep them short (a name, a word, a title). Typed answers ignore capital letters, accents, punctuation and a leading "the", "a" or "an", but not spelling mistakes, so list common alternate spellings in `accepted` and avoid answers that are hard to spell. - `number` answers must be matched exactly, so ask for whole numbers people can know or guess (a year, a count). ## Pictures - Only include a picture link you found by actually searching the web in this conversation. Never invent or guess a URL. If you cannot browse the web, leave out `image` and `reveal_image` completely. - The link must be the direct file: it ends in `.jpg`, `.jpeg`, `.png`, `.gif` or `.webp` and opens the picture itself, not a web page about it. - Best source: Wikimedia Commons. Use the `upload.wikimedia.org` file link, not the `commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:` page. - Use 4 to 6 pictures per round, where seeing something makes the question better ("Name this landmark"). - A picture must never show the answer, for example a movie poster with the title on it. Put those in `reveal_image` instead. - Audio (`.mp3`) and video (`.mp4`) links also work in `image` for "name that tune" style questions, if you found a real direct file link. Clips go on the question only; answers (`option_images`) are always still pictures. - Picture answers: for "Which one is Sulley?" put four character pictures in `option_images` and leave the `options` text empty (or add a short caption). Make sure no picture carries the character's name. ## Before you reply Check: 15 questions, number 15 is not a `number` question, one bet question, every `choice` has four options and a letter in `correct`, every link is real and direct. Then send only the JSON code block.