Adventure #225

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

Mystery
Here, the characters are presented with a mystery -- often a murder -- and have to find out who did what to whom.
Survive 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.
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.
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.
On the Road
Most of the adventure takes place on the road, as the heroes are travelling from place to place. This is especially
good for adventures where heroes are investigating a wide-ranging mystery, are part of a caravan, or are being
pursued by loathesome villains.
Classic Dungeon
This would be the standard monster-filled labyrinth; perhaps it's a nesting ground for the master villain's monster
troops.
Ruins
These can be the ruins of some ancient civilization, an abandoned temple or castle, incomprehensible blocks of
stone arranged by ancient gods, etc. They can be magical or normal, inhabited by normal animals or by monsters,
centers of magic or just tumbled-down buildings.
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.
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.
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.
Assassin Monster
This mosnter, at some time in the adventure, is sent by the Master Villain to attack one or more heroes when they're
at their most vulnerable -- asleep, enjoying themselves, etc. Usually, the Assassin Monster attacks, but the hero,
though injured, is able to hold it off long enough for his friends to respond to his shouts. The Assassin Monster is
usually killed by his friends, who can then speculate on who sent it and why.
Inquisitive Official
Some local authority has noticed the characters' presence and it makes her curious. She snoops around asking

questions all the time. She may be a city guardsman or special agent of the ruler, but (functionally) she's a police
lieutenant, asking the rong questions at the wrong time; the heroes have to work around her, sneaking where
normally they'd be able to work in the open.
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
Deathtrap
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.
Totem Animal
Omen/Prophesy If a hero has an animal which is his totem, he may see the animal engaged in a fight to the death with another animal
-- one which, coincidentally, is the totem of one of the villains. How his totem defeats the other -- or is defeated by it
-- gives the hero some clues as how to fight his actual opponent when the time comes.
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.)
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.
False Path to the Artifact
Once again, if the heroes have had too easy a time finding the artifact capable of destroying the villain, give them
Red Herring trouble this way: When they get to the place where the artifact is supposed to be contained, they find the coffer or
chamber or whatever empty, obviously looted by robbers, who have scrawled such remarks as "Kelrog was here!"
upon the walls.
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.