| 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 | Encounter Old Villain |
| If your campaign has a villain who shows up again and again to
bedevil the heroes, then this is an episode featuring that
villain. You might wish to roll once again on this section to see
what the villain's goal is. |
| 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 | Event |
| For this plot, choose some sort of event -- a tournament, a
holiday, a celebration called by the king, a masked ball, or
whatever -- and set the commencement of the Master Villain's plan
against that backdrop. |
| 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 | 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. |
| Specific Setting I | Shacktown of the Oppressed |
| Part of the action centers around the tenements or shacks of the
worst part of town; perhaps an allied NPC lives here or the
characters are fugitives hiding out in the nasty part of town. |
| 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 | Lovable Rogue |
| This Master Villain isn't really evil -- he's just chaotic and
fun. Cheerful bandits in the forest who rob from the rich and
give to the poor, singing and rope-swinging pirate kings, and
romantic, sophisticated duellists all belong to the category of
the Lovable Rogue. Often, the Rogue will not be behind the
nastiness the heroes are encountering; he may be in competition
with them for the prize they're seeking. Often the heroes and the
Rogue (and his minions) will have to team up to succeed at their
task. Just as often, the Rogue will try to get away with the
whole treasure. |
| Minor Villain I | Avenger |
| This character is much like the Master Villain of the same name,
but he's not in charge of all this villainy, and he's definitely
an enemy of one of the player-characters. You'll have to decide
who he is and why he hates one of the heroes; he could be
anything from a recurring villain to someone who simply lost a
fight to the hero once. |
| Minor Villain II | Avenger |
| This character is much like the Master Villain of the same name,
but he's not in charge of all this villainy, and he's definitely
an enemy of one of the player-characters. You'll have to decide
who he is and why he hates one of the heroes; he could be
anything from a recurring villain to someone who simply lost a
fight to the hero once. |
| Ally/Neutral | 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. |
| Monster Encounter | Ravager |
| This is another classic monster encounter; the monster which is
bedeviling a community or local area and will continue to do so
unless the heroes destroy or defeat it. Yes, this is similar to
the Master Villain of the same name, but the Ravager usually has
no master plan -- it just wants to kill, destroy, or eat. |
| Character Encounter | Truthful Accuser |
| This encounter is like the Lying Accuser except that the accuser
is telling the truth. Dig through your characters' pasts, uncover
a misdeed or two, and, when the heroes are at a critical point in
their adventure, confront them with someone they actually have
wronged. This person has found them and appealed to sympathetic
local authorities. The heroes will have to make good or have the
authorities on their backs for some time to come. |
| 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 | Special Terrain |
| You can make any chase more memorable by having it take place in
a setting to which it is utterly unsuited. For instance, horse
chases are fine and dramatic when they take place through the
forest, out in the open plains, or along a road -- but they
become diabolical when they take place inside the Royal Palace or
in dangerous, labrynthine, treacherous catacombs. |
| 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 | 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 | 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 | Ally Quandry |
| You set up the situation so that the heroes have a good chance at
defeating the Master Villain if they get the aid of two specific
individuals, probably experts in fields relating to the villains'
activities. But the two experts hate one another and refuse to
work together, even if it costs them their world. |
| 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. |
Based upon tables from the
Dungeon Master's Design Kit by TSR, Inc.