| 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 | Explore a New Area |
| The heroes are hired or convinced to enter an unmapped area and
explore it. They may be making a map; they may be trying to find
someone who disappeared into this area in the past; they may be
following legends that tell of treasure in the unexplored
interior. |
| Story Hook | Legend and Rumor |
| In this classic story hook, the hero stumbles across some new or
long-forgotten knowledge that promises great treasure or gain. |
| Plot | 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. |
| Climax | Divine Retribution |
| Here, the heroes' goal has been to alert the gods that the Master
Villain threatens them or their plans; in the last scenes of the
adventure, as our heroes face an overwhelming enemy force, the
gods bring down their divine retribution on the villain, causing
a massive earthquake, tidal wave, lightning storm, or flood of
monsters. This is all well and good, but the heroes are too close
and must escape the fringe effects of this awesome disaster. A
variant on this is the Natural Disaster. No gods are actually
involved, but the Master Villain has been tampering with the
delicate forces of nature. He may, for instance, have been
powering his master spell with the energies of a volcano. When
the heroes attack the scene of his spellcasting, the spell goes
out of control and so does the volcano. The villain is consumed
in the eruption and the heroes must escape or be consumed
themselves. |
| General Setting | 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 loathesome
villains. |
| Specific Setting I | Palace of the King |
| The heroes could be here for many, many different reasons: Trying
to get a favor from the ruler, part of some nobleman's retinue,
members of the palace guard, sneaking in to save the ruler from
assassins, sneaking in to assassinate the ruler, thrown into the
dungeon for crimes they did or didn't commit, etc. |
| Specific Setting II | 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. |
| Master Villain | Sufferer |
| This Master Villain disguises himself as some other sort of
villain. Long ago, he was given an ugly curse -- he longs for
death but can never die unless slain by heroes unaware of his
curse. (Naturally, the way the curse works, he has to defend
himself when attacked by the heroes.) So this villain works hard
to make sure the best heroes in the world have sufficient cause
to want to come and kill him. He'll insult them, ruin them,
kidnap or murder their loved ones, whatever it takes to bring
them against him. Often, he can only die -- his curse can only be
undone -- in one specific holy place, so he'll have to lure the
heroes to that place to face him. If the heroes are doing
research on the villain all this time, they may find out his
secret, leading to a sad and painful end to the episode as the
unkillable villain has to leave and find someone new to kill him. |
| Minor Villain I | Hard-Eyed Advisor |
| This is the sort of villain whom the heroes see in the Master
Villain's throne room. He's hard-eyed and scary; life means
nothing to him and he enjoys killing. He's also a good advisor to
his master. |
| Minor Villain II | Hard-Eyed Advisor |
| This is the sort of villain whom the heroes see in the Master
Villain's throne room. He's hard-eyed and scary; life means
nothing to him and he enjoys killing. He's also a good advisor to
his master. |
| Ally/Neutral | Absent-Minded Expert |
| The characters find they need an expert in some fields --
pottery, alchemy, whatever -- but all they can find is a somewhat
daffy and absent-minded master of that subject. He's useful when
around his subject matter, but otherwise absent-minded,
incautions, in frequent need of rescuing, etc. |
| Monster Encounter | Powerful Tester |
| Here, some powerful, intelligent monster with shapechanging
ability turns into a human form. When the heroes encounter him,
he is in need of help or having trouble. He also obviously can't
reward the heroes for their help, and will only serve to slow the
heroes down from their quest. If the heroes help him anyway, the
Powerful Tester reveals himself in his true form and offers to
aid the heroes in their quest. |
| Character Encounter | Inquisitive Official |
| Some local authority has noticed the characters' presence and it
makes her curious. She snoops around asking questions all the
time. She may be a city guardsman or special agent of the ruler,
but (functionally) she's a police lieutenant, asking the rong
questions at the wrong time; the heroes have to work around her,
sneaking where normally they'd be able to work in the open. |
| Deathtrap | Tomb Deathtraps |
| Another classic type of trap is the sort of triggered trap left
behind in abandoned tombs, ruins, and catacombs. Here, a hero who
touches the wrong step, floor tile, wall brick, torch bracket,
mounted gemstone, or other device will trigger some sort of
ancient trap designed to kill tomb-robbers and intruders. |
| 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 | Hero Fulfills Prophecy |
| This is the most useful sort of prophecy. In the early part of
the adventure, one of the heroes discovers that he fulfills some
ancient prophecy. |
| Secret Weakness | Secret Embarrassment |
| Finally, the villain may have some aberration or secret shame
that will force him to flee when he is confronted with 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. |
| Special Condition | No Lawbreaking |
| For some reason, at one point in the story, the heroes cannot
allow themselves to break the law -- even when it would help them
greatly to do so. For instance, the heroes may be asking for the
help of a king whose word is law and whose power is immense. When
they arrive for their audience, an emissary of the Master Villain
is making a similar plea for help. If the heroes attack and kill
that emissary, they will lose any chance at the king's help -- in
fact, he may order their execution. |
| Moral Quandry | Respect Quandry |
| This is much like the Ally Quandry, only at a greater distance.
The heroes have been utilizing the aid of two (or more) powerful
NPC allies. Now, in the course of the adventure, the heroes come
across a task which can be accomplished in one of two ways --
say, through military intervention or by esoteric magic. The
problem is, the NPC allies are arguing for different choices, and
the one whom the heores choose against will no longer aid them. |
| Red Herring | Lying Rumor |
| This is the worst and most useful type of red herring -- the
interesting rumor which just happens to be false. In adventures
of this sort, the best Lying Rumor concerns the Master Villain;
it gives the heroes some "important" information about him which
later turns out to be useless. |
| Cruel Trick | Villain Accompanies Party |
| In this distressing situation, the Master Villain, in disguise or
his secret identity, accompanies the heroes for much of their
quest. He gets to know them, learns their strengths and
weaknesses, learns their plans, and just as soon as it's most
efficient for him, he thwarts their current plans and leaves.
Alternatively, the Master Villain might be with the heroes all
along, up to the very end; the heroes know that one of their
companions is the villain, and the whole thrust of the story is
finding out who he is. This is the whole purpose of most
Mystery-type adventures. |
Based upon tables from the
Dungeon Master's Design Kit by TSR, Inc.