| 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 | 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 artifacts, before being
strong enough to face their enemy. |
| Story Hook | Dying Delivery |
| On some occassion when the hero is out wandering the streets or
is otherwise all alone, a dying man bumbs into him, hands him
something, says a few words, and dies. |
| Plot | A-B-C Quest |
| This is an epic sort of plot. In it, the heros are given (or
undertake) a task to perform: The taking of a city, the rescue of
an innocent, the destruction of a monster, the creation of a
magical item, the defeat of a Master Villain, etc. But the path
to victory is not a simple one. To get to their goal, Event A,
they find that they must first accomplish some other task --
Event B. But when they undertake the task of accomplishing Event
B, they find that they must first accomplish Event C. This goes
on for several encounters, until the heroes accomplish all the
obstacle events which prevent them from returning to Event A,
their original goal. |
| Climax | Chase to Ground |
| First, you have the Heroes Chasing the Villain. The villain,
after a series of encounters with the heroes, is running to
safety, to some place where he can acquire more power, or to
somehwere he can accomplish some dread purpose such as
assassination or mass murder. The heroes chase him, have to deal
with the obstacles he leaves behind, and finally catch up to him
before or just as he reaches his goal. Here, we have the final
duel between the villains forces and the heroes. Second, you have
the Villain Chasing the Heroes. Often, in a story like this, the
heroes have found out how to defeat the villain -- such as
getting to a particular temple and conducting a particular
ritual. The villain chases them all through their quest, catching
up to them just as they're commenciing their ritual; they must,
with heroic effort, conclude the ritual while suffering his
attacks. Third, you have the Master Villain's Sudden Escape
Attempt. This takes place in adventures where the Master
Villain's identity is unknown until the end. His identity is
revealed and he makes a sudden bolt for freedom; the heroes give
chase. This usually results in a dangerous foot-chase through
nasty terrain -- such as across rooftops, through the dungeons,
or across an active battlefield. |
| 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 | 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. |
| Specific Setting II | Military Encampment |
| This is best used in an episode involving warfare; it could be
the good-guy army's encampment, from which the heroes launch
their adventures, or the villains' encampment, in which case the
heroes might have to sneak in on a mission or escape from it if
they're captured. |
| Master Villain | Corruptor |
| The Corruptor is the villain who wants to make something nasty
out of something that is currently nice. He may be working on a
small scale -- i.e., wish to corrupt one character or a few
characters, particularly PCs and their favorite NPCs.
Alternatively, he may be a big-scale villain trying to change an
entire city or nation into a jaded, debased pit of sin, hatred
and death. |
| Minor Villain I | 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. |
| Minor Villain II | Moronic Muscleman |
| This fellow is a huge, powerful monster of a fighter. His job is
to smash anything the villain tells him to smash. He does that
very well, but don't ask him to do any thinking; he has no time
for such brainy stuff. |
| Ally/Neutral | Congenial Madman |
| This fellow is a pleasant, happy lunatic whom the heroes
encounter; after the initial encounter, he follows them wherever
they go, commenting on their plans, behaving strangely, getting
underfoot, and -- very occassionally -- proving to be a real
help. |
| Monster Encounter | 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. |
| 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 | Aerial |
| The heroes could be riding pegasi or friendly griffons or allied
great eagles; the villains could be carried aloft by 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. |
| Omen/Prophesy | Birthmark |
| One of the heroes has a birthmark that pertains to the adventure
in some way. He may have a birthmark identical to some NPC -- for
instance, some person endangered by the Master Villain. This
mystery can give the hero his reason to become involved.
Alternatively, his birthmark may mark him as a hero fulfilling
some ancient prophecy. |
| Secret Weakness | Element |
| The Master Villain can be banished, dispelled, killed, or
otherwise defeated by some of element or item. The Master Villain
tries to get rid of all the examples of this element in his
vicinity; he doesn't let his minions carry it or bring it into
his presence. But he's not stupid; he doesn't announce to the
world what his weakness is. He tries to hide his concern within
another command. If he's allergic to red roses, for instance, he
orders all "things of beauty" destroyed within miles of his
abode. |
| Special Condition | 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 to
conclude his evil spell in only three days, and his citadel is
three hard days' riding away, then the heroes are going 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. |
| Moral Quandry | Saving 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. |
| 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 | NPC Turns Traitor |
| He may alert the enemy when the heroes are planning a raid; he
may steal the artifact and take it to the villain; he may stab a
hero or important NPC in the back (literally) before departing. |
Based upon tables from the
Dungeon Master's Design Kit by TSR, Inc.