donjon; Random Adventure Generator

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Random Adventure Generator

ThemeAction/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.
GoalSurvive Environment
The characters could end up in a hostile environment which they must cross -- a desert, a jungle, or other hostile setting. In the course of the adventure they'll need to find food and water, resist the elements, and perhaps fight off attacks of the natives.
Story HookOld Friend
Another classic story hook is the Old Friend, the childhood friend of our hero, who shows up in one of several ways to drag the hero into the story.
PlotEvent
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.
ClimaxThrone Room Duel
This is set up much like the Scattered Duels, except that you don't separate the heroes. It's harder to control whom fights who in this situation... but if it doesn't matter who has the final duel with the Master Villain, this is a classic climax choice.
General SettingCosmopolitan 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 IMansion 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 IIPalace 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.
Master VillainRavager
This Master Villain is like the Destroyer, except that he terrorizes a very limited area -- such as a village, island, castle, or clan stronghold. (He may want to destroy the whole world but be trapped where he is; perhaps his efforts to free himself constitute the adventure's plot.) He stays in his area and terrorizes whatever comes into it.
Minor Villain IInquisitor
This villain is the one who interrogates the heroes and NPCs captured by the villains. He accompanies the other Minor Villain out into the field and works on anyone captured; he enjoys inflicting pain and suffering.
Minor Villain IISingle-Minded Soldier
This most trustworthy of villain minions is the experienced, competent, persistent soldier -- a field-trained officer who serves the villain with military precision. He is usually encountered in the field as leader of the villain's field operations. He is not encountered directly until the middle of or the latter part of the adventure; until then, the heroes encounter only his subordinates.
Ally/NeutralTalkative Barkeep
This classic encounter is the garrulous innkeeper who has information the characters want; trouble is, they'll have to bribe him to get it, or agree to stay at his inn, or buy a lavish meal, or listen to his incessant stories about his career in the army, or whatever.
Monster EncounterRavager
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 EncounterBelligerent 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.
DeathtrapTomb 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.
ChaseHorseback
This is a relatively short chase -- it only needs to go on for a mile or so before even the best horses are winded. If it goes on longer than that, the horses may collapse and perhaps die.
Omen/ProphesyHero 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 WeaknessHoly Symbol
The villain may have the traditional weakness to a specific holy symbol -- but don't choose just an ordinary one. It may be a holly symbol no longer used by the church, or may be some forgotten variation of the current symbol. (For instance, the cross may not work, but a variation -- such as the Roman cross -- might; alternatively, it might have to be a holy symbol which has undergone some unfamiliar ritual.)
Special ConditionMagic Doesn't Work Right
If the adventure is taking place on an alternate plane, then that plane's magic works oddly or not at all. (A spellcaster will find that just making himself useful is a challenge when none of his spells works.)
Moral QuandrySaving 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 HerringLoony who Has It Wrong
You can have the heroes "aided" by a so-called expert who is actually a lunatic who doesn't know anything about what he's talking about. Once he's led the heroes off to some remote part of the continent, his evasive answers and bizarre behaviour will alert them that he really doesn't know anything about what he's pretended to be an expert on.
Cruel TrickWanted 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.