| Theme | Espionage |
| Espionage adventures are active, grim scenarios involving spying
and perhaps other cloak-and-dagger deeds such as assassination or
rescue. |
| 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 | Pressing Buttons |
| As a general story-hook approach, think about the
player-character -- his personal goals and his personal dislikes.
If the hero is pursuing a specific goal, you have one of the
minor villains, as a side-effect of the villain's master plan,
thwart the hero's latest step towards that goal. Alternatively,
if there's something the hero truly hates to see, have it happen
-- and have the villains be responsible. |
| 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 | Scattered Duels |
| In this climax, the heroes have gotten to the end of their quest
-- they may have broken into, sneaked into, or escaped from
imprisonment within the villain's citadel, or have marched into
the little town where the villain is holed up -- and they become
separated. You can separate them by having traps and tricks break
the party apart, by having them see two or three things they must
resolve (such as danger to innocents or the appearance of minion
villains) pop up simultaneously; they'll have to run in all
directions at the same time or suffer failure. Once the party is
broken down into bite-sized chunks, you confront each individual
or small group with the enemy or enemies he most deserves to face
-- his personal enemy, the monster which defeated him before,
etc. -- for a grand series of climactic duels. |
| General Setting | On the Sea |
| Most of the action occurs on the sea -- the heroes are shipborne
for some reason, docking in lots of ports. Again, this is good
for adventures where the heroes are investigating clues left all
over the map, are part of some trading enterprise, or are being
pursued by villains. |
| 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 | Madman's Fortress |
| This is the citadel of a major enemy: Strong, unassailable,
filled with soldiers and monsters, lined with secret passages and
deathtraps; not a wholesome place for adventurers to spend their
time. |
| Master Villain | Conqueror |
| This character is moving his army in to take over; that's what he
lives for. He's been the enemy of your characters' nation's
ruler, and has launched a full-scale invasion of your characters'
favorite nation. The heroes have to beat their way through or
elude his hordes of soldiers in order to get at him; better yet,
they might lead their own nation's troops against his and
outthink him in military fashion. |
| Minor Villain I | 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. |
| 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 | Obsequious Merchant |
| This fellow is the owner of the caravan the heroes are
protecting, or the merchant the heroes encounter when they
desperately need to buy something. He is oily, ever-flattering,
overly agreeable, and is a sharp bargainer; the heroes will not
find him willing to give them a sale price. |
| 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 | Belligerent Soldier |
| The billigerent one has just had his ears pinned back by his
commanding officer and is anxious to take it out on some hapless
civilian. If this is a city gate, he claims that the hero's
papers are wrong or that he recognizes the hero from descriptions
of a wanted criminal; if this is the streets, he insults the
hero's lack of military bearing, pretty looks, clothes, smell,
companion, or whatever it takes to provoke a reaction. |
| Deathtrap | Pit and the Pendulum |
| Actually, we're applying this term to any of many time-delay
deathtraps. In this sort of trap, the villains capture the heroes
and place them in a trap which will soon kill them -- it operates
on a delay, often based on a timing device or a burning fuse. |
| Chase | Water |
| Don't forget the water chase: Whether it's a battle of seamanship
between naval vessels, a chase of rafts toward the inevitable
waterfall ahead, a contest of canoeing ability, or a chase
between the villain and his giant shark vs. the heroes and their
dolphin friends, the water chase can be a distinctive and
dramatic one. |
| Omen/Prophesy | Fortune Teller Predicts Doom |
| This is an ominous encounter: A fortune-teller predicts doom for
one of the heroes, or for some community menaced by the Master
Villain. Shortly after, some calamity should befall the hero: He
can be attacked by an assassin, be in a building when it is
struck by fire or an earthquake, or suffer other danger.
Investigation of the events can then point the heroes toward the
Master Villain as the event's instigator. |
| 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 Weapons Allowed |
| At some point in the story, the heroes must surrender their
weapons. Perhaps they're visiting some quarter of the city where
weapons are not allowed; or a particularly peace-loving temple.
In any case, once they're there, they are attacked by enemies
belonging to the Master Villain. |
| Moral Quandry | Friend Quandry |
| At a critical point in the story, one of the campaign's NPCs
makes an impossible demand of one of the heroes. |
| 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 | Villain is Related to Hero |
| In this very irritating complication, one of the heroes discovers
that the Master Villain is related to him. The villain might be
his long-lost father or twin; perhaps this relative is not
long-lost after all, but has secretly been a Master Villain for
years, and only now has the hero discovered it. |
Based on tables from the
Dungeon Master's Design Kit by TSR, Inc.