Adventure #217

Theme

Goal

Story Hook

Plot

Climax

General Setting
Specific Setting
I
Specific Setting
II

Master Villain

Minor Villain I

Minor Villain II

Ally/Neutral

Monster
Encounter

Character
Encounter

Horror
This type of adventure is designed to scare both the characters and the players. Just having a monster attack is not
enough for a horror theme; the monster must first frighten the characters.
Gain Money
The heroes are intent on acquiring a fee or treasure. If it's a fee, you may wish to roll again on this page to learn the
patron's goal. If it's a treasure, pay attention to the Settings section, which will dictate where the treasure is, if not
who owns it.
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.)
Accumulation of Elements
In this sort of plot, the heroes have to go from place to place -- perhaps covering very little area like a city, perhaps
roaming the known world -- and accumulate elements to be used against the Master Villain. These elements may be
clues, pieces of an artifact, evidence, or allies.
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.
Alternate Plane
Most of the story takes place in an alternate dimension; this implies that either the PCs or the villains, or both, have
magic powerful enough to bridge the dimensional barrier, or that the PCs stumble across some dimensional portal.
Tavern/Inn
This is a classic fantasy setting, the residence of travelling heroes and the home of the tavern brawl.
Tavern/Inn
This is a classic fantasy setting, the residence of travelling heroes and the home of the tavern brawl.
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.
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.
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.
Childhood Friend with a Dark Secret
One of the heroes is accompanied by one of his childhood friends... but said friend now has a Dark Secret. He does
strange and mysterious things (sneaks off to send messages, or behaves strangely around certain NPCs, or is scared
to death of certain harmless animals or situations) and will not explain why to his PC friend until late in the story.
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.
New Enemy
In the course of his ordinary activies, one of the heroes can make a New Enemy. Hurrying along the street, he can
bump into a disagreeable fighter for whom an apology isn't enough; in a tavern, he can make some innocuous
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.

Animal Pit
This is a classic trap of the adventure genre: The heroes (perhaps just one hero) are dropped into a pit filled with
Deathtrap
dangerous animals -- snakes, lions, bears, whatever. They must either fight the beasts or delay them until they can
escape -- climb back out, open a secret door, break down a wall, have a rope lowered by friends above, etc.
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.
Hero Fulfills Prophecy
Omen/Prophesy 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.
Element
The Master Villain can be banished, dispelled, killed, or otherwise defeated by some of element or item. The Master
Secret Weakness 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.
No Weapons Allowed
Special
At some point in the story, the heroes must surrender their weapons. Perhaps they're visiting some quarter of the city
Condition
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.
Honor Quandry
You want to use this on the character with the most strongly developed sense of personal honor -- someone who has
Moral Quandry lived all his life by a strict code. Toward the end of the adventure, this character realizes that the best way to defeat
the Master Villain is a violation of that code. For instance, the character might be a paladin, who discovers that the
only possible way for the heroes to defeat the Master Villain is to sneak up on him and stab him in the back.
Lying Rumor
Red Herring 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.
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.