ADVENTURE # 93

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
Deathtrap

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.
Thwart Monstrous Plan
This is a classic fantasy-adventure plot: The characters learn of some horrible plan made by a monstrous enemy, and
must thwart it before the kingdom is lost or the world is destroyed. This is an epic goal, and usually requires that the
characters go to all sorts of places, rounding up allies and artifacts, before being strong enough to face their enemy.
Pressing Buttons
As a general story-hook approach, think about the player-character -- his personal goals and his personal dislikes. If
the hero is pursuing a specific goal, you have one of the minor villains, as a side-effect of the villain's master plan,
thwart the hero's latest step towards that goal. Alternatively, if there's something the hero truly hates to see, have it
happen -- and have the villains be responsible.
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.
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.
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.
Catacombs
These can be catacombs beneath a living city or a ruined one; they can be long-forgotten or still in use.
Classic Dungeon
This would be the standard monster-filled labyrinth; perhaps it's a nesting ground for the master villain's monster
troops.
Advance Agent
This villain is the vanguard of some sort of invastion; often, he is trying to open up a portal to a dimension full of
trapped demons and evil gods.
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.
Mistress with a Heart of Gold
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.
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.
Noble Beast
With this encounter, the heroes find that they have to capture -- but not injure -- some sort of powerful, noble beast
in order to accomplish their mission. For instance, to reach a mountain-top aerie, they must capture pegasi and ride
them up to their enemy.
Mean Drunk
The Mean Drunk works much like the Belligerent Soldier except that he's not as tough, is of course drunk, and is
usually accompanied by other Mean Drunks.
Rock and a Hard Place

This trap starts out as an Animal Pit, Pit and the Pendulum, or Tomb Deathtrap, but an obvious escape suggests
itself very early on. Trouble is, it leads into even worse danger. The hole out of the animal pit may lead to the lair of
an even worse animal; it may lead through a succession of dangers (collapsing old catacombs, into an underground
river, into a den of zombies) before the heroes reach the light.
Horseback
Chase
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.
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.
Secret Embarrassment
Finally, the villain may have some aberration or secret shame that will force him to flee when he is confronted with
Secret Weakness it. It could be something as simple as the fact that his nose is too big, or that he is a small and nebbishly wizard
pretending to be some vast, powerful demonic power. When his shame is revealed, he is too humiliated to continue;
this is a good option for comedy adventures.
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
Special
to conclude his evil spell in only three days, and his citadel is three hard days' riding away, then the heroes are going
Condition
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
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.
Artifact that Doesn't Work
Often, epic quests against powerful Master Villains require that the heroes find some legendary artifact, the only
Red Herring
object which can defeat the villain. If your heroes have had no trouble getting to the artifact -- they've effortlessly
sliced through every obstacle you've put in their path and are confidently advancing on the resting place of the
magical item -- you can have it not work.
Mission is a Ruse
Cruel Trick
In the course of their adventuring, the heroes discover they have been tricked into performing a mission which helps
the Master Villain.