Adventure 02

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

Comedy
This adventure is fun for fun's sake. Its basic purpose is to provide humorous entertainment with a minimum of
actual danger or tragedy.
Thwart Monstrous Plan
This is a classic fantasy-adventure plot: The characters learn of some horrible plan made by a monstrous enemy,
and must thwart it before the kingdom is lost or the world is destroyed. This is an epic goal, and usually requires
that the characters go to all sorts of places, rounding up allies and artefacts, before being strong enough to face
their enemy.
Dying Delivery
On some occasion when the hero is out wandering the streets or is otherwise all alone, a dying man bumps into
him, hands him something, says a few words, and dies.
Geographic Progression
This is the simplest sort of adventure plot. The heroes have an area to investigate or travel through; they have
encounters based on where they are. For instance, the traditional dungeon, where monsters are tied to specific
rooms or areas. Or, if the heroes are travelling along a narrow valley or through an enchanted forest, they might
suffer ambushes and other encounters fixed to various points along their travel plan. The plot, then, is getting to the
villain by surviving the intervening obstacle encounters.
Prevented Deed
Here, the heroes have been defeated -- captured by the Master Villain, or so thoroughly cut up by his minions that
all believe them to be dead. And the heroes have learned, from the bragging of the villain, loose talk of his
minions, or examination of clues, what is the crucial event of his master plan. In any case, the battered and bruised
heroes must race to this site and have their final confrontation with the villain, bursting in on him and his minions
just as the knife or final word or key is poised, and prevent the awful deed from taking place -- and, incidentally,
defeat the master villain and minions who beat them previously.
On the Road
Most of the adventure takes place on the road, as the heroes are travelling from place to place. This is especially
good for adventures where heroes are investigating a wide-ranging mystery, are part of a caravan, or are being
pursued by loathsome villains.
Caves of Magical Folk
These can be either beautiful, glittering homes of gorgeous magical peoples, or the dank and terrifying lairs of
horrible monsters.
Demi-human Community
In wilderness areas, this will be a large community of demi-humans -- elves, dwarves, halflings, whatever -- or
intelligent nonhumans such as orcs. If your action is taking place in a city, this could be a hidden community (such
as a secret underground dwarf community) or a section of the city inhabited mostly by demi-humans.
Lovable Rogue
This Master Villain isn't really evil -- he's just chaotic and fun. Cheerful bandits in the forest who rob from the rich
and give to the poor, singing and rope-swinging pirate kings, and romantic, sophisticated duellists all belong to the
category of the Lovable Rogue. Often, the Rogue will not be behind the nastiness the heroes are encountering; he
may be in competition with them for the prize they're seeking. Often the heroes and the Rogue (and his minions)
will have to team up to succeed at their task. Just as often, the Rogue will try to get away with the whole treasure.
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.
Single-Minded Soldier
This most trustworthy of villain minions is the experienced, competent, persistent soldier -- a field-trained officer
who serves the villain with military precision. He is usually encountered in the field as leader of the villain's field
operations. He is not encountered directly until the middle of or the latter part of the adventure; until then, the
heroes encounter only his subordinates.
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
Character
When the heroes are trying to sneak through a guardpost, citadel, or city where they can't afford to be recognized,
Encounter
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.
Rock and a Hard Place
This trap starts out as an Animal Pit, Pit and the Pendulum, or Tomb Deathtrap, but an obvious escape suggests
Deathtrap
itself very early on. Trouble is, it leads into even worse danger. The hole out of the animal pit may lead to the lair
of an even worse animal; it may lead through a succession of dangers (collapsing old catacombs, into an
underground river, into a den of zombies) before the heroes reach the light.
Special Terrain
You can make any chase more memorable by having it take place in a setting to which it is utterly unsuited. For
Chase
instance, horse chases are fine and dramatic when they take place through the forest, out in the open plains, or
along a road -- but they become diabolical when they take place inside the Royal Palace or in dangerous,
labyrinthine, treacherous catacombs.
Comet's Progress
Events during the adventure may be enlivened by a large and menacing comet which appears in the night sky for
Omen/Prophesy several days during the scenario; the locals take it for an omen of doom. The comet may be the result of magic
being used by the Master Villain, or the comet's appearance can pertain to an old legend involving the Master
Villain.
Secret Embarrassment
Finally, the villain may have some aberration or secret shame that will force him to flee when he is confronted with
Secret Weakness it. It could be something as simple as the fact that his nose is too big, or that he is a small and nebbishly wizard
pretending to be some vast, powerful demonic power. When his shame is revealed, he is too humiliated to
continue; this is a good option for comedy adventures.
Coping with a Curse
Special
The curse might be making the hero progressively uglier, might be draining out his life-force (he's losing
Condition
experience which will be returned if he succeeds), or might be making him progressively insane. Each day, as he
sees his reflection in a mirror or pond or fountain, he'll know himself to be less than he used to be.
Saving Quandary
Moral Quandary Finally, another classic quandary puts the heroes in the position of choosing between a grand opportunity to hurt
the Master Villain -- or saving the lives of a number of individuals.
False Path to the Artefact
Once again, if the heroes have had too easy a time finding the artefact capable of destroying the villain, give them
Red Herring trouble this way: When they get to the place where the artefact is supposed to be contained, they find the coffer or
chamber or whatever empty, obviously looted by robbers, who have scrawled such remarks as "Kelrog was here!"
upon the walls.
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.