| Theme | 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. |
| Goal | Gain Money |
| The heroes are intent on acquiring a fee or treasure. If it's a
fee, you may wish to roll again on this page to learn the
patron's goal. If it's a treasure, pay attention to the Settings
section, which will dictate where the treasure is, if not who
owns it. |
| Story Hook | Not in Kansas |
| The PCs are minding their own business and find themselves
transported to a strange place. They must figure out where they
are, why they are there, and how to escape. |
| Plot | Series of Villains |
| This is a very dramatic plot, and very well-suited to oriental
campaigns. In it, the heroes have undertaken a quest, usually the
finding and defeat of the Master Villain. They may have to travel
to his citadel, or head off in another direction to find some
artifact capable of defeating him, or run away from pursuing
villains until they can figure out what's going on. All along
their route, they are set upon by villains -- each villain has a
name and distinct personality, and each encounter is
life-or-death for the heroes and villains; the villain never
escapes to safety if the tide turns against him, he fights unto
death. |
| Climax | 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. |
| General Setting | Torturous Terrain |
| The adventure takes place in some sort of unsettled, uncivilized,
dangerous terrain; in action stories, the desert and jungle work
best; choose one of those two or decide on a setting that is
similarly dangerous and exotic. |
| Specific Setting I | Tavern/Inn |
| This is a classic fantasy setting, the residence of travelling
heroes and the home of the tavern brawl. |
| Specific Setting II | 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. |
| Master Villain | God of Chance |
| Here you have two options. This Master Villain could be a real
entity -- an actual god of mischief or silliness, who has
intruded in the heroes' lives to cause chaos and have fun.
Alternatively, this "villain" could actually be pure chance: The
heroes are having a series of unrelated, accidental encounters
which cause them fits. No real single villain is involved,
although initially it looks as though there is. |
| Minor Villain I | Lovable Rogue |
| This character is like the Master Villain of the same name,
except that he has no minions of his own and serves at someone
else's bidding. However, he's very independent, not always
working in his employer's best interests; he often makes fun of
the Master Villain's pretensions and may suffer that villain's
retaliation because of it. |
| Minor Villain II | 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. |
| Ally/Neutral | Inquisitive Chronicler |
| This character is a historian who wishes to accompany the heroes
to record their exploits. He constantly pries into the heroes'
backgrounds, asking questions that are none of his business, as
the adventure continues. |
| Monster Encounter | Assassin Monster |
| This mosnter, at some time in the adventure, is sent by the
Master Villain to attack one or more heroes when they're at their
most vulnerable -- asleep, enjoying themselves, etc. Usually, the
Assassin Monster attacks, but the hero, though injured, is able
to hold it off long enough for his friends to respond to his
shouts. The Assassin Monster is usually killed by his friends,
who can then speculate on who sent it and why. |
| Character Encounter | Blackmailer |
| If the party is pulling a scam, this person knows it and can tell
the potential victim; if they're wanted by the authorities, he's
willing to alert the authorities that they're here; if they're
hiding out from the Master Villain, he's going to tell said
villain that they're here; he may have kidnapped one of their
favorite NPCs and be holding him for ransom; and so on. |
| Deathtrap | Mutually Assured Destruction |
| In this very nasty deathtrap, the heroes are bound up in such a
manner that any one of them may get free of his bonds -- but when
he does, all his friends perish. Obviously, the heroes' task is
to find some way for everyone to get out alive. Perhaps an
intricate series of cooperative rope-cutting will defuse the
trap; perhaps a coordinated maneuver will get everyone free as
the trap is being sprung. |
| Chase | Footrace |
| The chase involves the characters on foot, probably through such
terrain as city streets or the corridors of a palace. One hero
may realize that the's being pursued by a party of enemies and
choose to run for it; the heroes may have caught up to the Master
Villain, prompting him to run for his life. |
| Omen/Prophesy | Innocent Fulfills Prophecy |
| 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. |
| Secret Weakness | Love |
| The Master Villain possesses the "weakness" of genuine affection
or love -- probably for some NPC, though it could 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. |
| Special Condition | Coping with a Curse |
| The curse might be making the hero progressively uglier, might be
draining out his life-force (he's losing experience which will be
retruned 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. |
| Moral Quandry | Honor Quandry |
| You want to use this on the character with the most strongly
developed sense of personal honor -- someone who has lived all
his life by a strict code. Toward the end of the adventure, this
character realizes that the best way to defeat the Master Villain
is a violation of that code. For instance, the character might be
a paladin, who discovers that the only possible way for the
heroes to defeat the Master Villain is to sneak up on him and
stab him in the back. |
| Red Herring | 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 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. |
| Cruel Trick | Wanted by the Law |
| 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. |