Adventure #246

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
Character
Encounter
Deathtrap

Horror
This type of adventure is designed to scare both the characters and the players. Just having a monster attack is not
enough for a horror theme; the monster must first frighten the characters.
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 chieftan.
Missing Memories
One or more of the PCs wakes up with no memory of the recent past, and now they find themselves in some kind of
trouble they don't understand. The PCs must find the reason for the memory lapse, and solve any problems they
uncover in the meantime.
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 artifact, evidence, or allies.
Throne Room Duel
This is set up much like the Scattered Duels, except that you don't separate the heroes. It's harder to control whom
fights who in this situation... but if it doesn't matter who has the final duel with the Master Villain, this is a classic
climax choice.
Cosmopolitan City
Most of the story takes place in a large, sophisticated city; center the villain's plot and activities around that city.
This setting is best suited to adventures involving more people than monsters; most of your villains should be
human or demi-human.
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.
Avenger
This villain seeks to avenge some wrong he thinks he's suffered. He may be right; he may have suffered a wrong,
and this makes him a little more sympathetic than villains who are purely evil. The Avenger uses his organization -thugs and bribed officials -- to get at the one who wronged him, and will want either to duel (singly) the one who
wronged him, or to put the wrongdoer in a deathtrap.
Childhood Friend with a Dark Secret
This Minor Villain is like the character of the same name from the Allies and Neutrals section. However, the heroes
find out early on that he's really working for the Master Villain. He may not wish to be helping the villains; his
family may be held hostage, or he may just be too frightened of the villain or otherwise weak-willed to refuse.
Alternatively, he could actually be evil now.
Chief Assassin
The Chief Assassin is the favorite killer of the Master Villain. The Assassin works mostly in the field, first killing
witnesses who might prove harmful to his master, then zeroing in on the player-characters. He usually meets his end
before the adventure's climax, but he may taken one of the heroes down with him.
Ingenue in Distress
The heroes must protect some defenseless young innocent who is in danger from the villains. This person, perhaps
the sheltered son or daughter of a nobleman or merchant, has no abilities at all but is sweet, charming, and in great
need of help.
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 odors
(from the heroes' campfire or from the heroes themselves) sneaks in for a bite.
Thief
At some point in their adventure, the heroes have a run-in with thieves.
Demolition Zone

In this classic deathtrap, the heroes are placed (usually bound and weaponless) in some building or area just as it's
due to be destroyed.
Aerial
The heroes could be riding pegasi or friendly griffons or allied great eagles; the villains could be carried aloft by
Chase
gargoyles or demons. The prospect of taking a mile-long fall if one's mount is hit is a very daunting and challenging
one for the hero.
Innocent Fulfills Prophecy
Omen/Prophesy An innocent could fulfill a prophecy -- one which endangers his/her life. This innocent might, for instance, be the
one who is supposed to slay the king, but is not a mighty adventurer able to protect himself from the king; the heroes
may find themselves sheltering and helping this poor dupe.
Love
The Master Villain possesses the "weakness" of genuine affection or love -- probably for some NPC, though it could
Secret Weakness be very intriguing if the object of his affections is a player-character. The heroes can then defeat the villain by
holding his loved one hostage, or proving that his loved one will be seriously harmed, betrayed, or killed if the
villain keeps up with his activity.
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.
Saving Quandry
Moral Quandry Finally, another classic quandry 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 Artifact
Once again, if the heroes have had too easy a time finding the artifact capable of destroying the villain, give them
Red Herring trouble this way: When they get to the place where the artifact 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.