Adventure #125

Theme

Goal

Story Hook

Plot

Climax

General Setting

Specific Setting
I

Specific Setting
II

Master Villain

Minor Villain I

Minor Villain II

Ally/Neutral

Monster
Encounter

Action/Adventure
This is the most common and straightforward sort of adventure there is. In the Action/Adventure scenario, you
present your characters with a task and then confront them with obstacles to overcome in order to accomplish the
task successfully.
Protect Endangered NPC(s)
One or more NPCs are in danger, and the characters must protect them. They might be doing this for a reward, or
because one or more of the NPCs is a friend or relative of the character. You need to decide what the characters are
protecting the NPCs from. The NPC might be a wealthy or powerful person being sought by assassins or kidnappers.
The NPC might be a whole village of peasants who are being terrorized by a bandit chieftain.
Pressing Buttons
As a general story-hook approach, think about the player-character -- his personal goals and his personal dislikes. If
the hero is pursuing a specific goal, you have one of the minor villains, as a side-effect of the villain's master plan,
thwart the hero's latest step towards that goal. Alternatively, if there's something the hero truly hates to see, have it
happen -- and have the villains be responsible.
Accumulation of Elements
In this sort of plot, the heroes have to go from place to place -- perhaps covering very little area like a city, perhaps
roaming the known world -- and accumulate elements to be used against the Master Villain. These elements may be
clues, pieces of an artefact, evidence, or allies.
Scattered Duels
In this climax, the heroes have gotten to the end of their quest -- they may have broken into, sneaked into, or
escaped from imprisonment within the villain's citadel, or have marched into the little town where the villain is
holed up -- and they become separated. You can separate them by having traps and tricks break the party apart, by
having them see two or three things they must resolve (such as danger to innocents or the appearance of minion
villains) pop up simultaneously; they'll have to run in all directions at the same time or suffer failure. Once the party
is broken down into bite-sized chunks, you confront each individual or small group with the enemy or enemies he
most deserves to face -- his personal enemy, the monster which defeated him before, etc. -- for a grand series of
climactic duels.
Under the Sea
This sort of high-fantasy adventure takes place in and under (not on top of) the sea. The heroes require access to
some sort of magic item or spell that allows them to breathe water for long stretches, and might adventure in the
uncharted depths or perhaps in a community of sea-breathers.
Mansion of a Lord
This can be the home of a villain -- the characters may have to break in and rescue someone or steal evidence, or
break out if they've been captured -- or of a heroic ally, in which case it may be used as the headquarters for the
heroes' plans and activities.
Classic Dungeon
This would be the standard monster-filled labyrinth; perhaps it's a nesting ground for the master villain's monster
troops.
Advance Agent
This villain is the vanguard of some sort of invasion; often, he is trying to open up a portal to a dimension full of
trapped demons and evil gods.
Avenger
This character is much like the Master Villain of the same name, but he's not in charge of all this villainy, and he's
definitely an enemy of one of the player-characters. You'll have to decide who he is and why he hates one of the
heroes; he could be anything from a recurring villain to someone who simply lost a fight to the hero once.
Coward
This character is an ordinary grunt minion of the Master Villain, but he's a coward. He's deathly afraid of the Villain
and the heroes. He's best used when you plan to have the heroes captured; by his mannerisms, you can make it clear
to them that this fellow is a coward and they will begin to work on him psychologically.
Villain Ally
For some reason, the heroes find themselves in the company of a villain. Perhaps he's a minion of this adventure's
master villain; he may be guiding the heroes to wherever they must leave a ransom, or, if the master villain is
forcing the heroes to perform some mission, this villain ally is along to make sure they do it right. Whatever the
reason, he's competent, unpredictable, and out for himself.
Nocturnal Predator
This is a classic monster encounter; the arrival of a hungry carnivore in the middle of the night. Usually, this attack
happens to heroes camping between villages or out in the deep wilderness; a wild animal, attracted by food odours
(from the heroes' campfire or from the heroes themselves) sneaks in for a bite.

Old Friend at the Wrong Time

When the heroes are trying to sneak through a guard post, citadel, or city where they can't afford to be recognized,
one of the characters' old friends recognizes him and loudly renews their acquaintance in full view of the guards
looking for the characters. This usually leads to an exciting chase as the heroes must escape.
Avalanche
This is an outdoors trap. Some time when the heroes are in a narrow canyon or gorge, or are on a snow-covered
Death-trap
mountain, their enemies can arrange to dump an avalanche upon them (rocks and boulders in the first instance, snow
in the second).
Endurance
The Endurance Chase is not some sort of climactic chase -- it's a rugged, tiring, persistent pursuit that tests the
Chase
characters to their limits. In this chase, the heroes and villains are pursuing one another across a lot of territory and
they're not catching up with one another very fast. This may be a horseback pursuit across a hundred miles of
savannah, a camel chase across several days' worth of desert, or a chase across arctic tundra.
Hero Fulfils Prophecy
Omen/Prophesy This is the most useful sort of prophecy. In the early part of the adventure, one of the heroes discovers that he fulfils
some ancient prophecy.
Lack of Familiarity
Secret Weakness The Master Villain, if he comes from the past or another dimension, or belongs to an alien race, might be
sufficiently unfamiliar with this world that he essentially defeats himself. How? By making incorrect guesses about
human behaviour. One classic error involves underestimating the human capacity for self-sacrifice.
Time Limit
Finally,
the most obvious condition to place on an adventure is to give it a time limit. If the Master Villain is going
Special
to
conclude
his evil spell in only three days, and his citadel is three hard days' riding away, then the heroes are going
Condition
to be on the go all throughout the adventure -- with little time to rest, plan, gather allies, or anything except get to
where they're going.
Friend Quandary
Moral Quandary
At a critical point in the story, one of the campaign's NPCs makes an impossible demand of one of the heroes.
Lying Rumour
Red Herring This is the worst and most useful type of red herring -- the interesting rumour which just happens to be false. In
adventures of this sort, the best Lying Rumour concerns the Master Villain; it gives the heroes some "important"
information about him which later turns out to be useless.
Wanted by the Law
Cruel Trick One final complication, one which occurs pretty frequently, is when the heroes are wanted by the law. When they're
wanted by the law, they have to travel in secret and very limited in the resources they can acquire.
Character
Encounter