ADVENTURE # 82

Theme

Goal

Story Hook

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.
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.
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

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

Prevented Deed
Here, the heroes have been defeated -- captured by the Master Villain, or so thoroughly cut up by his minions that all believe them
to be dead. And the heroes have learned, from the bragging of the villain, loose talk of his minions, or examination of clues, what is
the crucial event of his master plan. In any case, the battered and bruised heroes must race to this site and have their final
confrontation with the villain, bursting in on him and his minions just as the knife or final word or key is poised, and prevent the
awful deed from taking place -- and, incidentally, defeat the master villain and minions who beat them previously.

Torturous Terrain
General Setting The adventure takes place in some sort of unsettled, uncivilized, dangerous terrain; in action stories, the desert and jungle work
best; choose one of those two or decide on a setting that is similarly dangerous and exotic.
Ruins
Specific Setting These can be the ruins of some ancient civilization, an abandoned temple or castle, incomprehensible blocks of stone arranged by
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ancient gods, etc. They can be magical or normal, inhabited by normal animals or by monsters, centers of magic or just tumbleddown buildings.
Demi-human Community
Specific Setting In wilderness areas, this will be a large community of demi-humans -- elves, dwarves, halflings, whatever -- or intelligent
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nonhumans such as orcs. If your action is taking place in a city, this could be a hidden community (such as a secret underground
dwarf community) or a section of the city inhabited mostly by demi-humans.
Organizer
Master Villain This Master Villain is the head of the local criminal syndicate -- the Thieve's Guild or slaver ring, for instance. He's cold-hearted
and unsympathetic, and human life means nothing to him. He employs assassins and musclemen against the heroes, and can only
be reasoned with when it's going to profit him more to cooperate with the heroes than kill them.
Inquisitor
Minor Villain I 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.
Mistress with a Heart of Gold
Minor Villain II This character is much like the "Lover or Daughter of Villain" type of Mystery Woman from the Story Hooks section. In this case,
she usually accompanies the Master Villain, but sometimes goes on missions of her own, where she runs into and develops
affection for one of the player-characters.
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

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

Old Friend at the Wrong Time

When the heroes are trying to sneak through a guardpost, citadel, or city where they can't afford to be recognized, one of the
characters' old friends recognizes him and loudly renews their acquaintance in full view of the guards looking for the characters.
This usually leads to an exciting chase as the heroes must escape.

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

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

Hero 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.
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.
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.

Respect Quandry
This is much like the Ally Quandry, only at a greater distance. The heroes have been utilizing the aid of two (or more) powerful
Moral Quandry 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.
Red Herring

Lying Rumor
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.

Cruel Trick

NPC Turns Traitor

He may alert he enemy when the heroes are planning a raid; he may steal the artifact and take it to the villain; he may stab a hero or
important NPC in the back (literally) before departing.