Adventure #143

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

Revenge
In this adventure, some villain has so offended one or more of the characters that he cannot be suffered to live.
(Alternatively, the injured party could hire the characters to avenge his honor.) The villain must be found or
otherwise gotten at, setting up the final duel or showdown between villain and characters.
Rescue NPC(s)
The characters must rescue one or more kidnapped NPCs, probably from the stronghold of the kidnapper.
Obviously, they must get to said stronghold, break in, rescue the kidnappee, break out, and escape back to safety;
this usually requires careful and clever planning and a large dose of luck.
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.
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.
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.
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.
Temple/Church
This can be either the church of some lofty and good diety, or the dark and grisly temple of some horrid deity
(doubtless filled with evil soldiers and monsters), or even the temple that the madman villain has dedicated to
himself for when he becomes a god.
Avenger
This villain seeks to avenge some wrong he thinks he's suffered. He may be right; he may have suffered a wrong,
and this makes him a little more sympathetic than villains who are purely evil. The Avenger uses his organization -thugs and bribed officials -- to get at the one who wronged him, and will want either to duel (singly) the one who
wronged him, or to put the wrongdoer in a deathtrap.
Chief Assassin
The Chief Assassin is the favorite killer of the Master Villain. The Assassin works mostly in the field, first killing
witnesses who might prove harmful to his master, then zeroing in on the player-characters. He usually meets his end
before the adventure's climax, but he may taken one of the heroes down with him.
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.
Absent-Minded Expert
The characters find they need an expert in some fields -- pottery, alchemy, whatever -- but all they can find is a
somewhat daffy and absent-minded master of that subject. He's useful when around his subject matter, but otherwise
absent-minded, incautions, in frequent need of rescuing, etc.
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.
Bandit Gang
When the heroes are en route from one place to another, have them run across one of the local bandit gangs. The
Character
bandits are faster and far more numerous than the heroes. But the bandits stay back. Basically, they're bandits who
Encounter
admire courage and prowess, and the bandit leader will challenge one or all of the heroes to a test of bravery or
ability -- such as a horserace, a duel, a wrestling match, a joust, an arm-wrestling match where scorpions sting the
loser, etc.
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
Deathtrap
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.
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.
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.
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.
No Hurting the Villain
Special
For some reason, the heroes cannot afford to fight the villain directly. For instance, what if a demon possesses the
Condition
body of the child of one of the characters, or a very important child spoken of in prophecy, one without whom the
world will perish?
Ally Quandry
Moral Quandry You set up the situation so that the heroes have a good chance at defeating the Master Villain if they get the aid of
two specific individuals, probably experts in fields relating to the villains' activities. But the two experts hate one
another and refuse to work together, even if it costs them their world.
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.
NPC Turns Traitor
Cruel Trick 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.