Adventure #131

Theme

Goal

Story Hook

Plot

Climax

General Setting

Specific Setting
I
Specific Setting
II

Master Villain

Minor Villain I

Minor Villain II

Ally/Neutral

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.
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.
Mystery Woman
Create an NPC "mystery woman" sure to be fascinating to your hero and have her keep appearing inexplicably in his
life. As he becomes interested and investigates her, he keeps stumbling across the villain's plans and becomes
inextricably mired in the plot. (For female player-characters, the Mystery Man is just as useful.)
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.
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 footchase through nasty terrain -- such as across rooftops, through the dungeons, or across an active battlefield.
Exotic Distant Land
The adventure will take the heroes to some fascinating and exotic distant country, where they'll have to cope with
new customs, monsters unfamiliar to them, and very colorful NPC encounters; choose one of the more fascinating
foreign lands from your campaign world.
Classic Dungeon
This would be the standard monster-filled labyrinth; perhaps it's a nesting ground for the master villain's monster
troops.
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.
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.
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.
Misguided Moralist
This fellow has been convinced that only by helping the villain achieve the Master Plan can he improve the world.
He tends to be encountered all through the adventure's plot, usually escaping from the heroes and taunting them for
their wrong thinking. Fortunately, he's no more effective as a villain than he is as a thinker.
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.

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.
New Enemy
In the course of his ordinary activies, one of the heroes can make a New Enemy. Hurrying along the street, he can
Character
bump into a disagreeable fighter for whom an apology isn't enough; in a tavern, he can make some innocuous
Encounter
remark that you deliberately have the irritable fellow misconstrue as an insult. The New Enemy will only exchange
heated words with the hero at this point, but will appear again later in the adventure and will eventually have to fight
the hero.
Tomb Deathtraps
Another
classic type of trap is the sort of triggered trap left behind in abandoned tombs, ruins, and catacombs. Here,
Deathtrap
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.
Footrace
The chase involves the characters on foot, probably through such terrain as city streets or the corridors of a palace.
Chase
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.
Innocent Fulfills Prophecy
Omen/Prophesy An innocent could fulfill a prophecy -- one which endangers his/her life. This innocent might, for instance, be the
one who is supposed to slay the king, but is not a mighty adventurer able to protect himself from the king; the heroes
may find themselves sheltering and helping this poor dupe.
Lack of Familiarity
Secret Weakness The Master Villain, if he comes from the past or another dimension, or belongs to an alien race, might be
sufficiently unfamiliar with this world that he essentially defeats himself. How? By making incorrect guesses about
human behaviour. One classic error involves underestimating the human capacity for self-sacrifice.
Magic Doesn't Work Right
Special
If the adventure is taking place on an alternate plane, then that plane's magic works oddly or not at all. (A spellcaster
Condition
will find that just making himself useful is a challenge when none of his spells works.)
Respect Quandry
This is much like the Ally Quandry, only at a greater distance. The heroes have been utilizing the aid of two (or
Moral Quandry 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.
Loony who Has It Wrong
Red Herring 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.
Villain Accompanies Party
In this distressing situation, the Master Villain, in disguise or his secret identity, accompanies the heroes for much of
Cruel Trick 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.
Monster
Encounter