Adventure #274

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

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.
Clear Name
The name of one of the characters or an NPC has been sullied and the characters must clear it. The characters must
find out a) why the name has been smeared, b) who is responsible, and c) why the responsible party is doing it;
then they must find evidence to convince everyone they're telling the truth.
Not in Kansas
The PCs are minding their own business and find themselves transported to a strange place. They must figure out
where they are, why they are there, and how to escape.
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.
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 foot-chase through nasty terrain -- such as across rooftops, through the dungeons, or across an active
battlefield.
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.
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.
Mansion of a Lord
This can be the home of a villain -- the characters may have to break in and rescue someone or steal evidence, or
break out if they've been captured -- or of a heroic ally, in which case it may be used as the headquarters for the
heroes' plans and activities.
Organizer
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.
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.
Congenial Madman
This fellow is a pleasant, happy lunatic whom the heroes encounter; after the initial encounter, he follows them
wherever they go, commenting on their plans, behaving strangely, getting underfoot, and -- very occassionally -proving to be a real 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.
New Enemy
In the course of his ordinary activies, one of the heroes can make a New Enemy. Hurrying along the street, he can
Character
bump into a disagreeable fighter for whom an apology isn't enough; in a tavern, he can make some innocuous
Encounter
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.
Avalanche
This is an outdoors trap. Some time when the heroes are in a narrow canyon or gorge, or are on a snow-covered
Deathtrap
mountain, their enemies can arrange to dump an avalanche upon them (rocks and boulders in the first instance,
snow in the second).
Endurance
The Endurance Chase is not some sort of climactic chase -- it's a rugged, tiring, persistent pursuit that tests the
Chase
characters to their limits. In this chase, the heroes and villains are pursuing one another across a lot of territory and
they're not catching up with one another very fast. This may be a horseback pursuit across a hundred miles of
savannah, a camel chase across several days' worth of desert, or a chase across arctic tundra.
Birthmark
Omen/Prophesy One of the heroes has a birthmark that pertains to the adventure in some way. He may have a birthmark identical to
some NPC -- for instance, some person endangered by the Master Villain. This mystery can give the hero his
reason to become involved. Alternatively, his birthmark may mark him as a hero fulfilling some ancient prophecy.
Element
The Master Villain can be banished, dispelled, killed, or otherwise defeated by some of element or item. The
Secret Weakness Master 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.
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
Condition
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.
Friend Quandry
Moral Quandry
At a critical point in the story, one of the campaign's NPCs makes an impossible demand of one of the heroes.
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.
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.
Encounter

Based on tables from the Dungeon Master's Design Kit by TSR, Inc.