DLP9104 Adventure Generator

ADVENTURE
GENERATOR
a toolkit for randomly creating fantasy roleplaying
adventures usable with any system
Dancing Lights Press

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Copyright 2016-2020 Berin Kinsman. All Rights Reserved. Adventure Generator,
Hippogryph, and respective trade dress are © and ™ 2016-2020, Berin Kinsman. This is a work of
fiction. Any similarity with people or events, past or present, is purely coincidental and
unintentional except for any people and events presented in historical context. This is version 1.0
of this document.
Contents
How to Use This Book.......................................................1
Random Adventure Table..................................................................1
Random Environment Table.............................................................2
Random Adversary Table...................................................................2
Random Theme Table (Optional)...................................................3
Adventures...........................................................................4
1-2 Only the Strong Survive..............................................................6
3-4 Knowledge of the World..........................................................15
5-6 From Hell’s Heart........................................................................23
7-8 Block by Block..............................................................................30
9-10 Wait and Hope............................................................................37
11-12 Between Men and Lions......................................................44
13-14 Everyone Has Secrets...........................................................52
15-16 I, Unlike You...............................................................................59
17-18 To Find Fault..............................................................................66
19-20 The Animal Within..................................................................73
Environments....................................................................80
1 Coasts....................................................................................................80
2-4 Caverns............................................................................................80
5 Deserts.................................................................................................80
6-7 Forests..............................................................................................80
9 Hills.........................................................................................................81
9 Mountains............................................................................................81
10 Plains...................................................................................................81
11-12 Ruins...............................................................................................81
13-14 Rural Village..............................................................................81
15 Swamps..............................................................................................82
16-18 Urban Areas...............................................................................82
19 Water...................................................................................................82
20 Underwater......................................................................................82
Adversaries........................................................................83
1. Aberration...........................................................................................83
2. Animal..................................................................................................83
3. Construct............................................................................................83
4. Dragon.................................................................................................84
5. Elemental...........................................................................................84
6. Fey.........................................................................................................84
7. Giant......................................................................................................84
8-13. Humanoid....................................................................................85
14. Magical Beast.................................................................................85
15. Monstrous Humanoid.................................................................85
16. Ooze....................................................................................................85
17. Outsider.............................................................................................86
18. Plant....................................................................................................86
19. Undead.............................................................................................86
20. Vermin...............................................................................................86
Themes (Optional)..........................................................88
1-2 The Circle of Life..........................................................................88
3-4 Crime Does Not Pay..................................................................89
5-6 Family is the Most Important Thing...................................89
7-8 Friendship Requires Sacrifice...............................................89
9-10 Human Experience is Universal........................................90
11-12 Humanity versus Nature......................................................90
13-14 Humanity versus Society....................................................90
15-16 Love Conquers All..................................................................91
17-18 Sacrifice Brings Reward.......................................................91
19-20 The Universe Seeks Balance............................................91
How to Use This Book
This Adventure Generator is a reusable toolkit for any tabletop
fantasy roleplaying system or setting. With only a few die rolls you’ll have
an outline for an exciting story with clear objectives and a distinct
beginning, middle, and end. From there you can customize it to fit your
world, your player characters, and your style of play. No generic, single-
sentence plot hooks or vague adventure seeds! The Adventure Generator
will provide you with enough substance to get you started on creating a
unique and challenging roleplaying experience.
The process of generating an adventure is simple:
• Roll once on the Random Adventure Table. This will lead you to
a high-level story outline that you can build upon.
• Roll once on the Random Environment Table. The result is the
primary environment for the adventure.
• Roll once on the Random Adversary Table. This is the main
opponent or predominant creature type throughout the adventure.
Random Adventure Table

Roll a d20 and select the adventure with the corresponding number.
For example, if you roll a 7, go to the synopsis of Block By Block.
Random Adventure Table

1-2 Only the Strong Survive
3-4 Knowledge of the World
5-6 From Hell’s Heart
7-8 Block by Block
9-10 Wait and Hope
11-12 Between Men and Lions
13-14 Everyone Has Secrets
15-15 I, Unlike You
17-18 To Find Fault
19-20 The Animal Within
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Random Environment Table
Rolls a d20 and compare the result to the table below to determine the
location of your adventure. For example, if you roll a 9, the adventure takes
places in the mountains.
If your adventure spans across several environments, you can roll
multiple times. For example, if the adventure synopsis indicates that the
player characters are traveling, you can set each encounter at a different
place along their journey.
Random Environment Table

1 Coasts
2-4 Caverns
5 Deserts
6-7 Forests
8 Hills
9 Mountains
10 Plains
11-12 Ruins
13-14 Rural Village
15 Swamps
16-18 Urban Areas
19 Water
20 Underwater
Random Adversary Table

Roll a d20 and compare the result to the table below to determine the
adversary type in your adventure. This could be the main villain, the
primary creature type encountered, or both. For example, if you roll a 17,
the adventure’s adversary will be an outsiders.
If the adventure spans multiple environments, you can either use the
same adversary or roll a separate result for each location. Sometimes
sticking with one type works better for the story, other times variety is a
better option.
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Random Adversary Table
1 Aberration
2 Animal
3 Construct
4 Dragon
5 Elemental
6 Fey
7 Giant
8-13 Humanoid
14 Magical Beast
15 Monstrous Humanoid
16 Ooze
17 Outsider
18 Plant
19 Undead
20 Vermin
Random Theme Table (Optional)

You can interpret what the theme means in the context of the
adventure outline, location, and adversary. Most are self-explanatory.
Random Theme Table
1-2 The Circle of Life
3-4 Crime Does Not Pay
5-6 Family is the Most Important Thing
7-8 Friendship Requires Sacrifice
9-10 Human Experience is Universal
11-12 Humanity versus Nature
13-14 Humanity versus Society
15-16 Love Conquers All
17-18 Sacrifice Brings Reward
19-20 The Universe Seeks Balance
3
Adventures
All of the adventures described in this book are outlines. You can fill in
the missing details based on your setting and system of choice. Each
adventure follows a five-encounter structure, allowing them to be played
out in one or two sessions.
Adventure outlines use the following format. What each of these things
mean in the context of individuals will be explained within that adventure.
Preparing the Adventure

The preparation phase asks you to consider four things:
• Adapting for the System – Rules for your system of choice that
you will need to be familiar with to run the adventure. Every
system has its own strengths and quirks. This covers the types of
mechanics you will need to be familiar with.
• Adapting for the Campaign – Setting and metaplot elements that
you might use to customize the adventure.
• Adapting for the Environment – Selecting a suitable location
within your campaign world for the adventure to take place.
• Adapting for the Adversary – The types of elements your villains
and monsters will need, as interpreted by your system of choice.
Encounter 1
The first encounter will need to do three things:
• Establish the Situation – Bring the player characters into the
events of the adventure and make their goal crystal clear.
• Demonstrate the Stakes – Let the player characters know what
they’ll gain if they succeed, and what could be lost if they don’t.
• Create Character Connections – Make is clear why the player
characters are working together, and why they should cooperate.
Encounter 2
The second encounter only needs to accomplish one thing, aside from
bringing the player characters a little closer to reaching the goal:
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• Build Confidence – A fair but not-too-difficult encounter to draw
the player characters into the story and give them hope.
Encounter 3
The third encounter has only one function:
• Increase the Difficulty – The encounter requires the player
characters to work harder, and doesn’t play to their best abilities.
Encounter 4
There are two things that the fourth encounter needs to accomplish:
• Introduce a Plot Twist – Optional, but if there’s a surprise or
some unexpected turn of events, it typically happens here.
• The Adversary Retaliates – This is where the bad guy pushes
back against the progress the player characters have made.
Encounter 5
The final encounter has two steps:
• Confront the Adversary – Defeat the bad guy, in whatever way
they need to be defeated within the story.
• Complete the Adventure Goal – Complete the task that signals
the adventure is over and the player characters have succeeded.
Adapting the Formula

Is this approach formulaic? Absolutely. Storytelling is like anything
else: you need to learn the rules before you can understand where and how
to break them. The five-encounter template allows you to have basic
elements like a beginning, middle, and end. It gives the player characters
clear victory conditions in the form of a goal to be achieve. There’s no time
wasted wandering around, figuring out what should happen next.
You are absolutely free to change things around. To make an adventure
longer, have multiple versions of Encounter 2 before moving on to
Encounter 3, giving the player characters more time to build confidence
and run through some easier scenarios. Then have multiple versions of
Encounter 3 before moving on to Encounter 4, increasing the difficulty and
making the player characters work to achieve the story goal. Move plot
twists around, and introduce subplots and side quests if you want.
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1-2 Only the Strong Survive
The player characters travel to a strange and exotic
place, facing incredible danger in the hope of finding
fortune and glory.

In this adventure, the player characters go on a journey to a place
they’ve never been before. It’s a simple as that. There’s no deeper meaning
or existential crisis underlying the trip. There’s no hidden message, or a
need for the characters to experience personal growth. It’s all about action:
go to interesting places, encounter exciting things, face exotic dangers, and
have fun doing it.
Examples of this type of adventure include Around the World in 80
Days, Gulliver's Travels, Robinson Crusoe, The Sea Wolf, and Twenty
Thousand Leagues Under the Sea.
To prepare to run this adventure type, you will need to adapt it for the
rules system, your overall campaign, the setting, and how your adversary
will be interpreted in the context of all of the other elements.
Adapting for the System

This adventure features a lot of travel-based encounters like severe
weather and environment-specific hazards. You will need to be familiar
with how those mechanics work within your system of choice. An
understanding of how social mechanics will also be necessary, as the player
characters will meet new people and experience new cultures. Naturally,
the potential exists for combat, as well as chases.
Adapting for the Campaign

Consider how going on a journey to a strange, new place might connect
with events that occurred previously in your campaign. The places the
player characters pass through could be drawn from the setting’s history,
or tie into something from a player character’s back story. Use every
opportunity to build upon things that have gone before. If you can connect
this to your campaign’s metaplot, assuming it has one, think about how this
journey might serve to advance that overarching story.
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Also consider how the adventure might tie into individual player
character goals. If the story lends itself to helping them fulfill some destiny,
learn some ability, or acquire some long-sought-after treasure, use that.
When the journey feels like a distraction, taking the player characters away
from some larger quest, build upon that frustration (or relief) as well.
Adapting for the Environment

For this type of adventure, the player characters will spend a great deal
of time traveling. You will need several different locations. These might be
all within the same type of environment, i.e. stops along a mountain pass or
ports along a coastline. Alternately, you can re-roll and generate a different
environment for each encounter.
Consider the natural hazards present, and how they might affect player
character abilities. Is the character adapted for this sort of environment, or
are they out of their environment? Plan for how they will need to
undertake the journey, based on the terrain and its inhabitants. Think
about equipment they will need, and how they can acquire it. Incorporate
the types of characters, monsters, and other encounters found in the
environment as additional obstacles. There will be some people that are
curious about strangers, and others who are distrustful of outsiders even if
they’re just passing through.
Use established locations within your setting that align with the
environment. The player characters should not have visited the specific
location, or even the general area, on a previous adventure. The whole
point is for the journey to be unfamiliar, making it both exciting and a bit
frightening. Consider what types of rumors they might that have heard
about the area, and design things around the true basis for those rumors;
are they real, have they been exaggerated, or do they downplay the even
more dramatic reality of the environment?
Adapting for the Adversary

If the adversary is a humanoid character, their goal will be to interfere
with the journey. They may not want the player characters to see the truth
of the world for some reason. It might be that they object to the reason for
the excursion, whatever pretense that may be. The adversary might be
someone met along the way, that has been offended or wronged by the
player characters in some fashion, or who simply does not like outsiders
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entering their territory. The adversary’s connection to the adventure will
be centered on their motivation for stopping the player characters. Be sure
to alter them to suit the environment, changing their back story and
abilities as appropriate.
If the adversary is an intelligent creature, their aim might be to acquire
something the player characters have. They might be attracted to a shiny
object or a magic item. It could be that the player characters are seen as
rivals for their territory, or maybe they just smell tasty. Their connection to
the adventure will be based entirely on their motivation. Be sure to alter
them to suit the environment, changing their lair, feeding habits, and
If the adversary is a mindless creature, their instincts might lead them
to see the player characters as prey. They could be curious, feel threatened,
or be protecting their young or their hunting territory. Their connection to
the adventure will be, once again, based around the motivation you give to
them. Be sure to alter them to suit the environment, changing their role in
the local ecology and their abilities as appropriate.
Encounter 1
The first encounter should begin with the player characters doing
whatever it is they normally do. If they’re a regular person, they’re at work
doing their job. If they’re a professional adventurer, they’re at the end of a
previous adventure, or returning home from some epic battle. The scene
needs to show what the status quo for the player characters is. Provide a
little bit of background on who each character is, and what their individual
skill sets are.
It’s important that the location of the opening scene be as different as
possible from the location the player characters will travel to. Juxtaposition
is the key to instilling a sense of wonder into the adventure. If the bulk of
the story is going to be in a place that’s colorful, this scene needs to be
drab. If the journey will be underground, the player characters needs to be
outdoors under beautiful, sunny, open skies. Drive home that where the
player characters go later sharply contrasts with all of their previous
experiences.
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There are three things that need to be accomplished with the first
encounter: Establish the Situation, Demonstrate the Stakes, and Create
Character Connections.
Establish the Situation

The adventure begins with a reason to leave. The player characters
need or want something, and it cannot be found where they currently are.
It might be a specific item, needed for a particular purpose. They could just
be bored, because there are no more adventures to be had in this area. The
encounter allows them to learn about a place where they can find want
they want, spurring them to go on a journey.
The goal of this adventure is for the player characters to travel to a
place they’ve never been before. Once they have arrived at their
destination, the adventure has been completed. You can make the goal one-
way, or a round trip, in which case it’s over when they return to where they
started. The players need to be made aware of this goal from the first
encounter, so they can rationalize why their character would answer the
call to adventure.
If you wish to expand the adventure beyond 5 encounters, this
segment can be broken into a separate scene (Encounter 1.1). They will
learn about the opportunity, but comprehension of the stakes and the
establishment of character connections will come later.
Demonstrate the Stakes

As part of the first encounter, the player characters will need to see
what will happen if they don’t answer the call to adventure. For this one, it
pretty much comes down to not being able to get what they want. Whether
they’re looking for action, an object, or the solution to a problem, it doesn’t
exist where they are.
In this adventure, the player characters have the opportunity to gain
whatever it is they’re seeking. That can be literally anything, making this
type of adventure so versatile. Should they fail, the consequences will
depend on what they were after and why. If they’re bored, they remain
bored. If the merely desire something, they don’t get it. Should they be
looking for the solution to a problem, the problem will remain along with
whatever complications that brings.
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If you wish to expand the adventure beyond 5 encounters, this can be
broken into a separate challenge (Encounter 1.2). The player characters
need to get a glimpse of what life will be like if they don’t undertake the
journey, and a taste of what they could gain if they go.
Create Character Connections

If this adventure is part of an established campaign, then the player
characters likely have a working relationship already in place. For a first
adventure or a one-shot, the opening encounter will need to provide a
reason why these random people are working together. Sometimes sharing
the same goal is enough. You may wish to connect their backgrounds,
having them all tied the place they need to get out of somehow, or personal
reasons for traveling to the adventure’s ultimate destination.
broken into a separate scene (Encounter 1.3) or even several if you’d like to
do one for each player character. Establish why each of them needs to take
this trip, get away from the current location, or find the thing they go
looking for.
Encounter 2
In the second act, the journey begins. The player characters sets off to
visit exotic locations as they seek the object of their desire. They will
encounter things that are far removed from their status quo. They’ll see
strange things, meet unusual people, and have totally new experiences.
Each step along the journey should lead logically to the next step.
In the second encounter, the player characters will begin their journey.
This means that this segment could be a travel-related challenge, such as
dealing with weather, environmental hazards, or the bandits that live
beyond the edge of town. They’ll begin to see things they’ve never seen
them before, and this should fill them with a sense of wonder.
There is only one thing that needs to be accomplished with the second
encounter: Build Confidence in the player characters and their abilities.
Build Confidence
The point of this encounter is to give the player characters a taste of
success. The difficulty should be on the low side, and it should play to their
strengths. Let each character have some sort of spotlight moment where
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they can show off their best abilities. That means that the hazards they
encountered are things they anticipated and prepared for. They knew what
the weather might be like. Everyone told them about rickety bridge, the
falling rocks, or the raging river they’d have to ford. The bandits were no
surprise. It will still be a challenge, but they were expecting what they
found and ready to handle it.
If you wish to expand the adventure beyond 5 encounters, you can
have multiple variations of this (Encounter 2.1, 2.2, 2.3, and so on). There
will be several basic, low-level challenges to be overcome, each based on
what the player characters know, what they prepared for, and what their
own abilities have equipped them to overcome.
Encounter 3
In this encounter, the player characters travel into unfamiliar territory.
They have no hard information about this place, only rumors and stories.
This means they will face another travel-based challenge, which ought to
be more difficult than the previous encounter. It might mean running up
against bizarre monsters, people from a different culture, or a lesser
adversary with a world view they don’t understand.
The only thing that’s required of Encounter 3 is that you Increase
Difficulty from the previous encounter.
Increase Difficulty
Where the previous encounter should have been a bit easy, this ought
to be right in line with the player characters’ abilities. They may be
challenged to use skills and powers that aren’t necessarily their best
abilities, making the encounter feel more difficult than it actually is. The
things they come up against aren’t anything they’ve prepared for, so they
might need to improvise tools and equipment.
have multiple variations of this (Encounter 3.1, 3.2, 3.3, and so on). Each
should showcase something unfamiliar about this new environment, and
present a challenge that the player characters did not expect.
Encounter 4
At this point in the adventure, the player characters run into
interference created by the adversary. Everything they’ve faced so far has
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been connect to the environment. It wasn’t personal. This is where the
adversary intentionally attempts to do something with the clear intention
of ending their journey.
In this encounter the player characters will accomplish the final thing
that need to do in order to complete the journey. It could be getting
transportation, finding the lost piece of the map, or paying off a local
official for safe passage. They’re incredibly close to their final destination.
Once they complete this encounter, they’ve reached the finale.
There are 2 additional things that might occur within this encounter:
the player characters could be faced with a Plot Twist, and they will almost
certainly be met with Adversary Retaliation.
Plot Twist
The player characters’ journey doesn’t need to have a plot twist. If it
does, this is the perfect place for it. Maybe they learn the thing they were
seeking doesn’t exist. Maybe the person who sent them off betrays them.
There are endless possibilities. If could be that what the assumed the
adversary’s motivation to be was completely wrong. The object is to throw
the players off balance emotionally without significantly increasing the
actual difficulty of the encounter.
broken into a separate challenge (Encounter 4.1). The order is
interchangeable, so it can happen before or after Adversary Retaliation.
Adversary Retaliation
The adversary might be upset that the player characters are getting too
close to reaching their destination. They could be upset because they never
expected all of them to make it this far. In any case, the adversary decides
to take action to stop the player characters, or at least slow them down.
This will not be direct action on their part; they can be exposed and
possibly defeated yet. Instead, the antagonist will use hirelings, slip the
player characters wrong information, or rile up the locals against the
“foreign invaders”. The purpose is to distract or eliminate the player
characters so the adversary can pursue their own goal.
interchangeable, so it can happen before or after the Plot Twist.
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Encounter 5
This is the final segment of the adventure. The player characters will
arrive at their ultimate destination. Anything they were seeking is
incidental; it was a MacGuffin to get them to undergo the journey, and isn’t
actually important to the plot.
There are 2 things that need to happen in the final encounter: Confront
the Adversary and Complete the Adventure Goal. These can happen together,
or as separate scenes.
Confront the Adversary

For this adventure, the characters will need to defeat the adversary
waiting for them at the final destination. They might be there to stop the
player characters from acquiring what they were seeking, or try to prevent
them from leaving with it. This encounter will either end with the
adversary defeated, or the player characters robbed of what they set out to
acquire.
break this into a separate scene (Encounter 5.1). The order is
interchangeable, so it can happen before or after the player characters
Complete the Adventure Goal.
Complete the Adventure Goal

The goal of this adventure was to travel and see new things, so during
this encounter the player characters should have to leverage that. They will
put something they’ve learned to use. They may also overcome the last
encounter by once more playing to their strengths, and using their best
abilities as in Encounter 2. This should reinforce the message that they’ve
had the power within them all along, and needed the journey to instill
confidence in themselves.
Once they have finished the final encounter, the adventure has been
completed. There may be additional things to play out, like returning home
victorious or solving the problem they sought the answer to. If the
characters have succeeded, they can claim their rewards. If not, then they
will need to deal with the consequences, either in a follow-up scene, the
next adventure, or later in the campaign.
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If you wish to expand the adventure beyond 5 encounters, you can split
this into a separate scene (Encounter 5.2). The order is interchangeable, so
it can happen before or after the player characters Confront the Adversary.
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3-4 Knowledge of the World
The player characters undertake a perilous journey
to find something of great value, but along the way
learn something important about themselves.

In this adventure, the player characters are looking for something. It
might be an object, a person, or a piece of information. The thing they’re
searching for might be real, or it could be metaphorical. It doesn’t actually
matter, because this is really a character-driven story. The quest, and what
the player characters experience, is what’s important. Over the course of
their travels the characters grow, change, and learn something about
themselves. What they thought they wanted in the beginning of the
adventure, they realize, wasn’t what they truly needed after all.
Examples of this type of adventure include The Catcher in the Rye, Don
Quixote, Gilgamesh, The Grapes of Wrath, The Lord of the Rings, Lost
Horizon, and The Wizard of Oz.
will be interpreted in the context of all of the preceding elements.

This type of adventure features a lot of combat encounters, so you will
need to be familiar with how those mechanics work within your system of
choice. Investigation is also is a common feature, as the player characters
have to locate where the object is hidden. An understanding of the way skill
challenges function will also be necessary.

Consider how the quest to locate something might connect with events
that have previously occurred in your campaign. It could be an object
important to the setting’s history, or tie into something that happened to
the player characters in a previous adventure. Use every opportunity to
build upon things that have gone before. If you can connect this to your
campaign’s metaplot, if it has one, think about how this can advance that
overarching story.
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character backgrounds, personal goals, and higher ambitions. If the story
lends itself to helping them fulfill some destiny, learn some new ability, or
acquire some long-sought-after treasure connect to the object of the
adventure goal, use that.

For this type of adventure, the environment may be front and center.
The player characters will need to travel, and the hiding place of the object
may be connected to natural hazards. Showing off the worldbuilding, and
all of the interesting facets of the setting, is half the fun here. This is a
travelogue. Pull out all of the stops.
Plan for the how the player characters will have to undertake their
quest based on the terrain and its inhabitants. Incorporate the types of
characters, monsters, and other encounters found in the environment as
additional obstacles. Sort out any special equipment they’ll have to acquire.
Draw parallels between the type of object and the place it will be located,
i.e. a magical farm implement in a rural setting, a harpoon in a coastal
fishing village, a water jug in a desert, and so on.
environment. Have the player characters have visited the specific location,
or even the general area, on a previous adventure? Does it somehow
connect to their back story? What types of rumors might they have heard
about the area?

If the adversary is a humanoid character, their goal will be to get the
item before the player characters do. Should they already possess it, they’ll
want to prevent the player characters from taking it away from them. Their
connection to the adventure will be centered on their own plans for the
object of the quest. Be sure to alter them to suit the environment, changing
their back story and abilities as appropriate.
If the adversary is an intelligent creature, their aim will be to guard the
object. Their connection to the adventure will be based around that
motivation, and possibly how they came to be appointed its protector. Be
sure to alter them to suit the environment, changing their lair, feeding
habits, and abilities as appropriate.
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If the adversary is a mindless creature, their instincts will draw them
toward protecting their lair. Their connection to the adventure will be
nothing more than the object of the quest being located in their domain. Be
sure to alter them to suit the environment, changing their role in the local
ecology and abilities as appropriate.
Encounter 1
At the start of a search plot, the player characters are going about their
lives normally. It might be a good life, it could be a difficult one, but it isn’t a
satisfying life for that character. Other people might be content, but they’re
not. They want something more. They want something different, or just to
be different.
You need to show that. It has to be interesting in its awkwardness. It
has to be substantially awful in its dullness. You can’t merely bore the
players with the blandest place imaginable; you need to make them want to
get out of there as much as their characters do. Give the player characters a
reason to go, and a reason for the players to cheer the decision to
undertake the quest.
There are three things that need to be accomplished in the first

The adventure can begin with any sort of encounter. Combat can
establish the existence of bad guys, if they’re the core problem that needs
to be solved. A chase or skill challenge can help to establish other sorts of
problems, leading the player characters needed to set off to find an answer.
The point is to create a situation where the player characters will need to
set off on a quest. Whatever they are looking for, it cannot be found at
home. It requires traveling to a strange and unusual places that they’ve
never been to before.
The goal of this adventure is for the player characters to find
something and return with it. Once they have done that, the adventure has
been completed. The players need to be made aware of this from the first
encounter, so they can find reasons why their characters will accept the call
to adventure.
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broken into a separate challenge (Encounter 1.1). The stakes may define
why the player characters need to undergo the quest, but what they need
to do specifically can be presented here in detail.

what will happen if they don’t take up the quest. In this adventure, the
player characters have the opportunity to literally or metaphorically save
the world. The fulfillment of the goal is not about personal gain, but the
greater good. Should they fail, the consequences will be bad for everyone,
including them. For a one-shot adventure this may not mean much, but as
part of an ongoing campaign this could lead to problems that drive future
adventures.
broken into a separate challenge (Encounter 1.2). Even though they
understand the quest, a separate scene to really drive home the stakes can
help any players struggling to understand why their characters would
accept this call to adventure.

characters likely already have a working relationship. For a first adventure
or a one-shot, the opening encounter will need to establish why these
people are teaming up and working together. Sometimes sharing the same
goal is enough. You may wish to connect their backgrounds, having them all
have history with the adversary, or ties to the location and the people that
live there.
broken into a separate challenge (Encounter 1.3).
Encounter 2
The second encounter takes place after the quest is underway. The
player characters have left, and they generally know where they’re headed.
At the very least, they know the first steps that they will need to take, like
who they’ll need to find for information, what road they need to travel, and
the sorts of things they’re likely to find.
18
This means segment can offer up any sort of challenge. It could be
combat, running into hostile wildlife or wandering monsters. There could
be a skill challenge, requiring the player characters to cross a raging river
or ride through terrain without roads or paths. They could have to solve
simple riddles, or convince an ambivalent stranger to give them directions.
There could also be social encounters. This sort of adventure often
involves romantic entanglements. When you travel to strange new places
and meet new people, they’re bound to be appealing simply because
they’re so different from anyone the player characters have ever met
before. They might be impressed that they’re going on a quest. It could also
be that they’re hostile, hating the player characters because they’re from
the next town over. It might be because they feel important, because after
all, they’re on a quest.
There is only one thing that needs to be accomplished with this
Build Confidence
they can show off their best abilities. That means tailoring challenges to
what the player characters can actually do, contextualized for where they
are so far on their quest. What might be mundane at home could be
impressive just a short distance away.
have multiple variations of this (Encounter 2.1, 2.2, 2.3, and so on).
Encounter 3
In this encounter, the player characters travel further along, which
should move them closer to achieving the adventure goal. They will face
another challenge, which ought to be more difficult than the previous
encounter. This can, again, be a skill challenge, combat, or even a chase to
get away from hostile strangers or a foreboding monster.
19
Increase Difficulty
Where the previous encounter should have been a bit easy, this one
ought to be right in line with the player characters’ abilities. It ought to feel
significantly harder by comparison. People are less friendly. They run up
against things they’re not expecting. It could be that they don’t have the
right gear, and need to improvise. The player characters may be challenged
to use skills and powers that aren’t necessarily their best abilities.
Encounter 4
This is where the adversary is either indirectly affected by the player
characters’ progress, or becomes aware of their quest. In this encounter
the player characters will accomplish the final thing that need to do in
order to acquire the object of their quest. That means defeating some
guardian, finding the map to the right location, or getting the MacGuffin
that opens the locks, solves the riddle, or allows them to defeat the
adversary. Once they have done this, they’re ready to go get the object of
the quest and head on home.
There are 2 additional things that occur within this encounter: the
player characters may be faced with a Plot Twist (optional), and they will
be met with Adversary Retaliation.
Plot Twist
Your adventure doesn’t need to have a plot twist. If it does, this is the
perfect place for it. In this adventure, this might mean that the thing
they’ve been after isn’t the thing they need. They could find that this has
been a wild goose chase designed to distract them and get them away from
home. The object is to throw the players off balance emotionally without
significantly increasing the actual difficulty of the encounter.
close to achieving the adventure goal. They either want the object of the
20
quest, or don’t want the player characters to get it. In either case, they
decide to take action to stop the player characters, or at least slow them
down. This will not be direct action on their part, so that they can’t be
defeated and end the adventure prematurely. They will flee with the object,
replace it with a decoy, or create more obstacles so that it’s harder to get to.
The purpose is to distract or eliminate the player characters so the
adversary can pursue their own goals without further disruption.
Encounter 5
acquire the object of the quest, so that they can return home with in and
complete the adventure goal. They will need to defeat the adversary, either
to get the object or to stop the villain from harassing them and trying to
steal it back.

For this adventure, the characters will need to defeat the adversary on
their home turf. If the quest object has magical abilities, the adversary will
use them should they get their hands on the object. They can also grab it
and run, leading to a chase that ends without combat. This encounter
should either end with the adversary dead or surrendering, but not in
possession of the quest object.

The goal of this adventure was to find the quest object and bring it
home, so during this encounter the player characters will need to achieve
that. Once they have the MacGuffin, the adventure has been completed.
21
There may be additional things to play out, like a token encounter on the
way home or loose ends to tie up with people they’ve met along the way. If
the characters have succeeded, they can claim their rewards. If not, then
they will need to deal with the consequences of their failure, either in a
follow-up scene, the next adventure, or later in the campaign.
22
5-6 From Hell’s Heart
The adversary goes to extremes to capture the player
characters, because something important is at stake.

In this adventure, the adversary is pursuing the player characters, who
are in possession of something valuable or important whether they know it
or not. They may have committed a crime and are fleeing justice, or believe
that their pursuer intends to harm them. It could be something one of them
already possessed, or a bit of information that the adversary needs to
complete their personal goals.
This adventure type tends to be chase-centric, with a lot of action but
very little violence. When cornered there may be a small fight, but the
pursued generally doesn’t want to get injured or killed so they run away. If
they are captured or surrender, they then do their best to escape, and the
chase begins again.
Examples of this type of adventure include Fifty-Two Pickup, The
Fugitive, The Hunt for Red October, Les Miserables, Moby-Dick, Raising
Arizona, and The Terminator.
fits with the context of all of those other elements.

This adventure features a lot of chase encounters, so you will need to
be familiar with how those mechanics work within your system of choice.
An understanding of any investigation and information gathering
mechanics will also be necessary. The player characters may need to figure
out what the adversary wants, why they’re being chased, and what to do
with the object of the pursuit.

Consider how the object of the pursuit might connect with events that
have previously occurred in your campaign. Did the player characters
acquire it in an earlier adventure? Is the adversary pursuing them someone
23
they encounter previously? Is there a connection between the object of the
pursuit and the location they’re currently in? Use every opportunity to
build upon things that have gone before. If you can connect this adventure
to your campaign’s metaplot, think about how this can advance that
overarching story.
lends itself to helping them fulfill some destiny, improve some ability, or
acquire some long-sought-after piece of equipment, use that. When the
pursuit feels like a distraction, taking the player characters away from
some other storyline or even their personal desires, work with that
frustration as well.

For this type of adventure, the environment needs to be relatively
small. Alternately, the player characters and the adversary have to be
evenly match in terms of travel capabilities. If they player characters can
teleport to the other side of the world, or open a portal to another
dimension to get away, then it’s not much of a chase.
Consider the natural hazards present, and how that might affect player
character abilities. Plan for the how you can set up chases based on the
terrain and its inhabitants. Think about potential hiding places, as well as
vantage points the adversary could use. Incorporate the types of
additional obstacles.
or even the general area, on a previous adventure? This could provide them
with an advantage. Does it somehow connect to their back story? What
types of rumors might they have heard about the area, that align with the
object of the pursuit and the reason the adversary might be after it?

If the adversary is a humanoid character, their goal will be to get the
object of the pursuit. It might be the characters, if they’re fugitives, but it
could just be something they have. The adversary’s connection to the
adventure will be based on why they need to catch the player characters.
24
Be sure to alter them to suit the environment, changing their back story
and abilities as appropriate.
If the adversary is an intelligent creature, their aim will still be to catch
the player characters. Their connection to the adventure will be centered
on why. They might be trained, working for an organization or an off-
screen villain that wants the MacGuffin. It could be they’re stalking the
characters for revenge, or to eat them. Be sure to alter them to suit the
environment, changing their lair, feeding habits, and abilities.
toward the player characters and keep them locked on their target. Their
connection to the adventure might not be known. They could have been
summoned and sent after the characters, or they could just be some
voracious, evil beast that’s decided to relentlessly track them down. Be
Encounter 1
In the first encounter, the player characters first learn that someone or
something is after them. It could be a surprise, where they’re unarmed or
otherwise unprepared. The adversary might be looking for them. People
the player characters know might be questioned, arrested, or attacked.
Whether or not they know why the adversary wants them is up to you. By
the end of the encounter the player characters know that they need to flee,
and what the consequences will be should they be caught.

You could begin with a combat encounter. The player characters are
ambushed. They might be overwhelmed, forcing them to flee, or simply
unarmed and unprepared. Either way, the point is made that someone is
after them. It could be obvious to them who is out to get them, and why.
They might be utterly clueless, only knowing that their only option at the
moment is to run.
25
This encounter might also be a chase without the combat. They see
their home being stormed, or notice the adversary arriving, or get word
that the adversary is looking for them. So they take off, and get chased until
the manage to give the adversary the slip.
The goal of this adventure is for the player characters to end the
pursuit. This might mean getting to a place of safety, convincing the
pursuer to stop chasing them, or putting an end to their pursuer. It could
require them to figure out what the adversary wants. Once they are safe
and no longer being chased, the adventure has been completed. The
players need to be made aware of this from the first encounter, accepting
the call to adventure.
If you wish to expand the adventure beyond 5 encounters, this
segment can be broken into a separate challenge (Encounter 1.1).

what will happen if they don’t answer the call to adventure. This largely
depends on who or what the adversary is. If they’re authority figures, the
stakes are getting arrested. If the adversary is an assassin, they need to
avoid getting killed. Should the pursuer want something the player
characters possess, the stakes will largely depend on what the adversary
plans to do with it when they get it. Odds are it’s something really, really
bad, though, making it clear that the player characters can’t allow them to
have it.

If this adventure is part of an established campaign, then it’s likely the
player characters already have a working relationship. For a first adventure
people are teaming up and working together. Perhaps each of them has a
piece of what the adversary needs, whether it’s fragments of a larger object
that can be assembled into something, or bits of information. You may wish
to connect their backgrounds, having them all have history with the
adversary, or how they all ended up with things that the adversary wants.
26
broken into a separate challenge (Encounter 1.3). Perhaps have a separate
scene for each player character, to establish they the adversary is after
them personally.
Encounter 2
This is where the player characters run and regroup. Once they evade
the adversary in the first encounter, they need to figure out what’s going on
and make a plan. This could mean finding a safe place it hide. It could be
comparing notes, to determine why they’re being chased. They could need
to get their gear, or acquire weapons, so that they’re not at a disadvantage
and able to do something other than flee. If they’re fugitives, they may
concoct a scheme to prove their innocence.
Build Confidence
they can show off their best abilities. That means the player characters
should easily be able to stay ahead of the adversary, locate some basic
resources, make contact with allies, win a minor fight, find a safe place to
hide out, and so on.
Encounter 3
This is where things become more tense. In this encounter, the player
characters will need to be on the move. Something happens that puts them
at risk of being found out. Gathering resources means going out into the
world where they might be spotted. They will face another chase, which
ought to be more challenging than the previous encounter.
27
Increase Difficulty
to be right in line with the player characters’ abilities. This time they won’t
have an advantage like a head start or familiarity with the location. The
chase will lead them to places they’ve never been, and there won’t be allies
or secure hiding places to fall back on. They may be challenged to use skills
and powers that aren’t necessarily their best abilities, making the
encounter feel more difficult than it actually is.
Encounter 4
During this encounter, the player characters will gather the last of what
they need in order to end their pursuit. That means making contact with
someone who can smuggle them out of the country, finding evidence to
prove their innocence, learning why the adversary wants what they have,
anything that can negate the reason behind the chase. Once they have done
this, they’re ready to advance to the finale.
the player characters could run into a Plot Twist, and they will definitely be
met with Adversary Retaliation.
Plot Twist
perfect place for it. In this adventure, this might mean learning that the
reason they though they were being chased isn’t the reason at all. Someone
they trusted might rat them out and reveal their location. The object is to
throw the players off balance emotionally without significantly increasing
the actual difficulty of the encounter.
The adversary is tired of the chase at this point. They decide to take
drastic action to catch the player characters. It could involve taking loved
ones as hostages, bringing in extra henchmen, or becoming more intense in
28
their efforts. This will not be direct action on their part. They won’t risk a
personal confrontation with the player characters unless it’s on the
adversary’s terms. The purpose is to end this before the player characters
have a chance to resolve the adventure goal, whatever that may entail.
Encounter 5
All chases end eventually. This is the final segment of the adventure.
The player characters will make it to safety, eliminate the adversary, or do
whatever is needed to make their pursuer call off the chase.

For this adventure, the characters will need to stop the adversary from
chasing them. That could mean giving the pursuer what they want, beating
them up, or catching the person responsible for what the player characters
stand accused of. This only ends when the adversary can’t or won’t chase
the player characters any more.

The goal of this adventure was to end the chase, so during this
encounter the player characters need to achieve that. It pretty much goes
hand-in-hand with stopping the adversary. Once they have, the adventure
has been completed.
29
7-8 Block by Block
The player characters head into a dangerous
situation to rescue someone from the adversary and
return them to safety.

This adventure is an action-heavy scenario where a supporting
character, the victim, is being held against their will by the adversary. The
player characters’ job is to locate the victim, rescue them, and return them
to safety. There are variations possible, but the core of this adventure
comes down to finding and retrieving the victim.
Examples of this type of adventure include Black Hawk Down, Escape
from New York, The Princess Bride, The Searchers, The Silver Chair, and
Thunderbirds.
will be interpreted within the context of all of those other elements.

This adventure features a lot of investigative and social encounters, so
you will need to be familiar with how those mechanics work within your
system of choice. The player characters will need to find where the victim
is being held. They’ll also need to negotiate with the adversary, and
possibly interview witnesses. An understanding of the combat mechanics
will also be necessary, because these types of stories tend to end in with a
dramatic fight scene.

Consider how someone being kidnapped or taken hostage might
connect with events that have previously occurred in your campaign. Is the
adversary reacting to a previous adventure? Is this an act of revenge, or the
result of their plans going horribly awry, rather than a planned step toward
their current goal? Use every opportunity to build upon things that have
gone before. If you can connect this to your campaign’s metaplot, if it has
one, think about how this can advance that overarching story.
30
character backgrounds, personal goals, and higher ambitions. Do they
know the victim? Was this action taken to hurt them? Is this a distraction,
mean to draw them away from some other ongoing campaign goal?

For this type of adventure, the environment is controlled by the
adversary. It’s their turf. They will use it to their advantage to hide,
maintain visibility of the player characters’ approach, and to leverage
inherent hazards. Consider that when developing obstacles for the player
characters.
Also consider the natural hazards present, and how they can affect
player character abilities. Plan for the how the characters will need to
approach the adventure goal based on the terrain and its inhabitants.
Incorporate the types of characters, monsters, and other encounters found
in the environment as additional obstacles.
or even the general area, on a previous adventure? Did the adversary
choose this location because it holds some sort of significance? Does it
somehow connect to the relationship between a player character and the
victim? What types of rumors might they have heard about the area, that
would lead the adversary to select it?

If the adversary is a humanoid character, their goal will be to somehow
leverage their hostage to get what they want. It might be ransom, safe
passage, or the release of a compatriot that is currently incarcerated. Their
connection to the adventure will be based on their motive for kidnapping
the victim. Be sure to alter the adversary to suit the environment, changing
their back story and abilities as appropriate.
If the adversary is an intelligent creature, their aim will be to keep the
victim. They might like them and want them as a companion, need them as
a host, or be saving them to eat later. Their connection to the adventure
will be based on whatever motivated the kidnapping. Be sure to alter them
to suit the environment, changing their lair, feeding habits, and abilities as
appropriate.
31
toward taking the victim. Their connection to the adventure will be much
the same as an intelligent creature, but with far less planning and
awareness. They take because they want, or because their biology drives
them. Be sure to alter the adversary to suit the environment, changing their
role in the local ecology and abilities as appropriate.
Encounter 1
At the start of the adventure, the victim is kidnapped by the adversary.
This probably won’t happen in the presence of the player characters,
because there’s too much risk they could defeat the adversary right here
and end the adventure before it starts. Likely the characters will be notified
if the victim is someone they know. Otherwise, they may be hired or
pressed into service to rescue the victim and bring the adversary to justice.

There are a few ways that the adventure can begin. If the adversary has
henchmen, hirelings, or associates, there could be a combat encounter.
While the player characters are busy dealing with lackeys, the adversary
gets away with the victim. It’s risky, but it could be made to work without
railroading the player characters.
Another, and probably better, option is to begin with an investigation
encounter. The victim has gone missing, and the player characters have to
find them. This will result in them figuring out that the victim has been
kidnapped, leading them to continue investigating to determine who did it,
why they did it, and where the victim was taken so they can be rescued.
The goal of this adventure is for the player characters to save the
victim. Once they have done that, the adventure has been completed. The
players need to be made aware of this by the end of the first encounter,
thus accepting the call to adventure.
32
what will happen if they don’t answer the call to adventure. This could be
as simple as assuming the worst about what will happen to the victim. If
they don’t know who the adversary is, it’s easy to conclude the various
types of harm that could potentially befall the person that was taken. When
the adversary is know, either because this follows up a previous adventure,
the bad guy leaves a ransom note, or there is some other telltale trace that
gives away their identity, players can infer the potential for harm from the
adversary’s reputation and past actions.
In this adventure, the player characters have the opportunity to save a
life. They might be paid for their efforts, if the victim’s family has means or
is an important public figure. Should they fail, the consequences cold be
cultural or political. Failing to rescue a little girl, or save the king, is going
to create all manner of problems. For a one-shot adventure this may not
mean much, but as part of an ongoing campaign this could lead to being
shunned, exiled, or even arrested.

characters likely already have a working relationship with one another. For
a first adventure or a one-shot, the opening encounter will need to
establish why these people are teaming up and working together. They
might all know the victim. Perhaps they work for the same agency tasked
with the rescue, or are all seeking the reward. You may wish to connect
their backgrounds, having them all have history with the adversary, or ties
to the location and the people that live there.
Encounter 2
In the second encounter, the player characters will begin their pursuit
of the adversary. This means that this segment should be an investigative
challenge. They might need to find clues as to who the adversary is, why
33
they committed this heinous act, what they want, and where they could be
hiding out.
Build Confidence
The point of this encounter is to give the player characters hope that
the victim can in fact be rescued. This means giving them proof of life in the
form of easy-to-find clues. The difficulty has to be on the low side, and the
encounter should play to their strengths. Let each character have some sort
of spotlight moment where they can show off their best abilities. That
means getting answers from friendly witnesses, allowing their hunches to
pay off, and letting them acquire the resources they ask for.
Encounter 3
In this encounter, the player characters begin to stumble a bit. Every
success should move them closer to achieving the adventure goal, but the
investigative challenges will be harder than the earlier encounters.
There are two necessary components of Encounter 3: Increase
Difficulty from the previous encounter, and Adversary Retaliation.
Increase Difficulty
abilities, making the encounter feel more difficult than it actually is.
Normally this segment doesn’t appear until Encounter 3. In this type of
adventure, the adversary will take a more active hand in opposing the
player characters’ rescue mission. The adversary might be concerned that
the player characters are getting too close. They could be upset at their
successes in learning the location of the victim. In any case, they decide to
34
take action to stop the player characters, or at least slow them down. This
will not be direct action on their part. They will use threats to the victim,
henchmen, or even attempts on the player characters’ lives. The purpose is
to distract or eliminate the player characters so the adversary can continue
to pursue their own goal without further disruption.
Encounter 4
In this encounter the player characters will gather the final resources
needed to rescue the victim. This might mean gathering any special
equipment, gaining necessary allies, or learning where the adversary is
holding the hostage. Once the player characters have done this, they’re
ready to proceed to the finale.
the player characters are faced with a Plot Twist, and they will be met with
further Adversary Retaliation.
Plot Twist
Your adventure doesn’t need to contain a plot twist. If it does have one,
this is the appropriate place for it. In this adventure, this might mean that
the kidnapping was a distraction, and the player characters will need to do
something else in the finale. It could be that the kidnap victim was in on it
all along, or that they were never actually kidnapped. The object is to throw
the players emotionally off balance, without significantly increasing the
difficulty of the encounter.
See Encounter 3. The adversary will continue to indirectly oppose the
player characters and interfere with their rescue mission in any way
possible.
35
Encounter 5
This is where the adventure goal is achieved. The player characters will
rescue the hostage, and return them home safely. It’s where the adversary’s
plans are foiled, and they are brought to justice in whatever fashion is
appropriate to the setting.

For this adventure, the characters will need to defeat the adversary in
their hiding place. This encounter is usually a combat scene, and will either
end with the adversary dead, or the player characters capturing them.
There may be a series of smaller combats with the adversary’s minions, as
well as traps and other hazards meant to slow the player characters down.

The goal of this adventure was to rescue the victim, so during this
encounter the player characters will need to achieve that. Once they have,
the adventure has been completed. There may be additional things to play
out, like taking the victim home or turning the adversary over to the proper
authorities. If the characters have succeeded, they can claim their rewards.
If not, then they will need to deal with the consequences, either in a follow-
up scene, the next adventure, or later in the campaign.
36
9-10 Wait and Hope
The player characters must escape from a bad
situation, and get away from an adversary who
wants to keep them there.

This adventure involves the player characters trying to escape from a
situation that’s not of their choosing. Their captivity can be literal, like
being locked in prison or stranded on an island. It may also be figurative,
like an abusive relationship or an emotional situation they remain in due to
guilt or fear. It’s clear that no one else is going to break them free from
their situation; they need to rescue themselves.
Examples of the breakout plot include The Count of Monte Cristo,
Escape from New York, Invasion of the Body Snatchers, The Great Escape,
Midnight Express, and The Prisoner of Zenda.
will be interpreted in the context of all of those elements.

This adventure features a lot of social encounters, so you will need to
be familiar with how those mechanics work within your system of choice.
An understanding of stealth, skill challenges, and possibly even combat will
also be necessary. It depends on the type of situation the player characters
are in, and what means they will need to use in order to escape.

Consider how the player characters being held captive might connect
with prior events in your campaign. What happened to the player
characters in a previous adventure? Did they make an enemy, break the
law, or offend a deity? Use every opportunity to build upon things that have
gone before. If you can connect this to your campaign’s metaplot, if it has
one, think about how this can advance that overarching story.
character backgrounds, personal goals, and higher ambitions. Are they
37
being punished for something they did, or are they swept up in some
prejudice against their culture, religion, or political affiliation? Did they
support a leader who is no longer in power, and the new king, emperor, or
whatever is dealing with potential enemies? When the adventure takes the
player characters away from some larger storyline that they’re invested in,
work with that frustration as well. Use it to fuel anger and resentment
toward their oppressor.

For this type of adventure, the environment should serve to contain the
player characters. They might lack special equipment to survive in extreme
heat, cold, or underwater. A forest or jungle could be dense, or they might
need climbing gear to descend a mountain.
Consider how natural hazards might affect player character abilities.
Work out how they will need to plan their escape based on the terrain and
its inhabitants. Leverage the types of characters, monsters, and other
encounters found in the environment to make the obstacles ever-present
and credible.
about the area, and how it might have been used to contain or imprison
people in the past?

If the adversary is a humanoid character, their goal will be to keep the
player characters where they are. Their connection to the adventure will be
based on their reasoning for confining the characters. It may be a personal
vendetta. It could be rooted in their cultural, political, or religious beliefs.
They may see it as their job, or a duty. Be sure to alter them to suit the
environment, changing their back story and abilities as appropriate.
If the adversary is an intelligent creature, their aim may be the same as
a humanoid characters. Their connection to the adventure will be based on
their sense of duty and purpose, or because they were trained to do so. Be
38
toward monitoring their territory. This means the player characters will be
attacked if they try to cross the adversary’s perimeter, or enter what
they’ve claimed as their space. Their connection to the adventure will be
that they existed there, or were placed there, and the creator of the
“prison” is leveraging the monster as a guard. Be sure to alter the adversary
to suit the environment, changing their role in the local ecology and
Encounter 1
In the first encounter, the player characters are captured. If they were
captured in a previous adventure, you can begin with them being
imprisoned. Should their captivity be more metaphorical, you can use this
scene to establish and reinforce their oppression.

If you’re going with the player characters start off as free, the
adventure begins with either a chase or combat encounter. Things have to
be set up so that the player characters will lose. It may be best to discuss
the nature of this adventure ahead of time, so that the players understand
and know ahead of time what the objective will be. The goal of this
adventure is for the player characters to escape. Once they have done that,
the adventure has been completed. To do that, they need to get caught here.

what will happen if they don’t answer the call to adventure. That means
demonstrating the nature of their oppression, and the conditions of their
captivity. How brutal you want to be depends upon the group, the setting,
and the overall tone of your campaign.
their freedom. Should they fail, the consequences will be continued
39
oppression or worse. For a one-shot adventure this may not mean much,
but as part of an ongoing campaign this could lead to the effective end of
the campaign, or at least the exit of these particular characters.

characters likely already have a working relationship with one another.
Otherwise, all of them wanting to escape ought to be enough to create a
spirit of cooperation. You may wish to connect their backgrounds, having
them all have history with the adversary, or a common reason for their
captivity.
Encounter 2
The begin their characters plan their escape, gathering information,
materials, and allies. This is going to be an investigation challenge, as the
player characters try to learn as much as they can about the nature of their
captivity as they can. All of the “low hanging fruit” will be gather in terms
of tools, friends, and easy-to-acquire info.
Build Confidence
success and a sense of hope. The difficulty should be on the low side, and it
should play to their strengths. Let each character have some sort of
spotlight moment where they can show off their best abilities. That means
going with their ideas, allowing them to find the things they ask about, and
arranging things so that their plan seems like it will work.
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Encounter 3
The characters may try to escape, based on the plan they devised in the
previous encounter. They will fail, not because they make a mistake or that
the their scheme was bad, but because the situation is more complex than
they anticipated. Beyond what they knew are challenges that they were not
aware of, and in turn could not have prepared for.
Alternately, their escape plans are discovered. The adversary
increases security measures, or punishes them. This leaves them cut off
from allies, possibly moved to a new location, and having their tools and
materials confiscated.
Increase Difficulty
abilities, making the encounter feel more difficult than it actually is. This
makes sense in context, because in theory the adversary would have taken
their capabilities into account when arranging for their captivity.
Encounter 4
This encounter is where an opportunity presents itself, and the player
characters make their escape attempts. They might get the last resource
they need to execute their plan, or something unexpected happens that
they are able to capitalize on. Once they’ve made it past this encounter, the
player characters will be in the home stretch for the finale.
Adversary Retaliation.
Plot Twist
The escape plan doesn’t need to have a plot twist, but they’re so much
fun. Someone betrays them, the opportunity that popped up was a trap, or
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additional complications arise that ruin their well-laid plans. It wouldn’t be
an escape story is things went perfectly. The object is to complicate things
without increasing the mechanical difficulty of the encounter.
The adversary is going to be upset at the escape attempt, especially
when it seems to be succeeding. If the plot twist was a trap, it will be
designed with arrogance and no notion that the player characters can
outwit it.
This will not involve direct action on the adversary’s part. They will be
monitoring the situation, but all will be felt to traps, hirelings, and other
minions. The purpose is to give the player characters false hope before
crushing them, and then putting them solidly back into captivity.
Encounter 5
It’s time to escape. This is the final segment of the adventure. The
player characters will somehow get free of the adversary and no longer be
oppressed. They will need to wildly improvise things and capitalize on
luck, even if they’re following a brilliantly conceived plan.

combat. Even if the adventure has not been violent up to this point,
oppression and desperation inevitably lead to acts of aggression. The
player characters can also try to avoid the adversary, hoping some
authorities will come in arrest them. This encounter will either end with
the adversary tied up or dead, or the player characters failing to escape.
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The goal of this adventure was for the player characters to escape, so
during this encounter they will need to do that. Once they have, the
adventure has been completed. There may be additional things to play out,
like returning home or getting to a place where they will be able to live
free. There may be consequences if they were legally imprisoned, or the
adversary had allies or an organization for them, which will manifest in
future adventures.
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11-12 Between Men and Lions
After being hurt by the adversary, the player
characters take justice into their own hands in an
attempt to even the score.

In this adventure the player characters, or someone close to them, have
somehow been wronged by the adversary. Seeking to balance the scales or
settle the score, the player characters go on a mission of vengeance. It’s all
about seeking justice by taking the law into their own hands. This is a basic
revenge story.
Examples of the payback plot include The Cask of Amontillado, Death
Wish, Hamlet, The Outlaw Josey Wales, and Sweeney Todd.
rules system, your overall campaign, the setting, and how the adversary fits
into the context of those other elements.

This adventure features a lot of confidence work and dirty tricks
encounters, so you will need to be familiar with how social mechanics
work within your system of choice. An understanding of sneaking around
and not being spotted will also be necessary. Of course, there will likely be
combat as well.

Consider how a revenge scheme might connect with events that have
previously occurred in your campaign. This should be drawn from
something that happened to the player characters, possibly in the first
encounter but more likely in a previous adventure. Use every opportunity
to build upon things that have gone before. If you can connect this to your
campaign’s metaplot, if it has one, think about how this can advance that
overarching story.
character backgrounds, personal goals, and higher ambitions. There could
be other unresolved issues that they’re dealing with, other injustices that
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were never handled to their satisfaction. It could be cathartic, but that
could also make the player characters go too far.
If the story lends itself to helping the player characters fulfill some
destiny, learn some useful ability, or acquire some long-sought-after
treasure, throw it in. While the adventure might be a distraction from some
longer campaign plot, invested players will gladly set that aside to go all-in
on a revenge scheme. You can tie in the impact this adventure is having on
the overall campaign, and the people around the player characters.

For this type of adventure, the environment will affect the possibilities
for the revenge scheme. It might be incorporated in the player characters’
plans, or create obstacles and challenges. Consider the natural hazards
present, and how they might affect player character possibilities. Plan for
how they will need to approach their goal goal of vengeance based on the
terrain and its inhabitants. Incorporate the types of characters, monsters,
and other encounters found in the environment as additional obstacles.
connect to their back story, and the reason they’re seeking payback? What
types of rumors might they have heard about the area that make it idea for
exacting vengeance?

If the adversary is a humanoid character, their goal will be to avoid the
player characters. Their connection to the adventure will be as the target of
revenge, for whatever misdeeds that have committed. Be sure to alter them
to suit the environment, changing their back story and abilities as
appropriate to best aggravate the hot button issues and personalities of the
player characters.
If the adversary is an intelligent creature, their aim will be to get away
from the player characters as well. Their connection to the adventure will
be whatever they did that made them the target of revenge. Be sure to alter
them to suit the environment, changing their lair, feeding habits, and
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toward food, mating opportunities, and so forth. That will tend to bring
them into conflict with civilization. What they did was probably done
without malice, but it created emotional upset. Even if you took the player
characters’ feelings out of it, this is probably a dangerous creature that
poses a threat. The adversary’s connection to the adventure will be
unintentional. Be sure to alter them to suit the environment, changing their
role in the local ecology and abilities as appropriate.
Encounter 1
During the first encounter, the incident that leads to revenge takes
place. If it’s something that happened to the player characters in a previous
adventure, start with a recap then move on to what the adversary is doing
currently. The player characters need to be reminded the target if their ire
is still at large.

There are several ways for this type of adventure to begin. If the
adversary’s actions are being introduced here, they need to do something
incredibly heinous. If the player characters are present, they are powerless
to stop the event. It may be best for the incident to occur off-screen, and
begin with the player characters learning about it. This avoids the potential
for the adventure to end before it begins.
Should the event be something that occurred in a previous adventure,
the player characters should be reminded of it. The scene should be
something that’s affected by what the adversary did. It might just be a
reminder that the adversary is still free, having escaped justice or any
consequences for what they did. It has to make the player characters angry
enough to want to take actions.
The goal of this adventure is for the player characters to take revenge
on the adversary. Once they have done that, the adventure has been
completed. The players need to be made aware of this from the first
encounter, accepting the call to adventure.
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The player characters may already know what will happen if they don’t
answer the call to adventure. If the event they’re seeking revenge for
happened because of their failure, or even if they feel responsible and carry
guilt, then they’re feeling the consequences. In this adventure, the player
characters have the opportunity to set things right. That’s the reward.
Should they fail, the consequences will be continued guilt, and the
possibility that the adversary will do more terrible things.

characters likely already have a relationship with one another. For a first
adventure or a one-shot, the opening encounter will need to establish that
the adversary, and possibly the inciting event itself, directly affected them.
They are united in their desire for vengeance. You may wish to connect
their backgrounds, having them all have history with the adversary, or ties
to the location and the people that live there.
Encounter 2
In the second encounter, the player characters will begin their quest
for sweet, sweet revenge. This means that this segment should include an
investigative challenge, to learn more about their target. When they learn
will be the sort of information that’s easy to find. People they question will
be generally cooperative.
You can also include time for the player characters to make plans. They
can begin to gather basic, easy-to-acquire resources without much effort.
Nothing that do at this point should make supporting characters
suspicious, unless the player characters are being patently obvious or
incredibly sloppy.
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Build Confidence
The point of this encounter is to provide a taste of success. The
difficulty should be on the low side, and it should play to the player
characters’ strengths. Allow each character a spotlight moment where they
can show off their best abilities, and to utilize things they already know.
This means that no one is challenging them yet, or catching on that they’re
plotting vengeance. The target isn’t aware of them, or if they are have no
idea that the player characters are up to something. By the end of the
encounter it should feel plausible that these characters can pull off some
sort of payback scheme, even if they’re plan isn’t fully formed yet.
Encounter 3
In this encounter, the player characters will continue gathering
resources and formulating plans. They should feels that they’re moving
closer to achieving their goal. They will begin to run the risk of being found
out, especially if what they’re planning has the potential to get them into
trouble. While the target doesn’t know what’s going on, they may begin to
get suspicious. This segment will be more challenging than the previous
encounter.
Increase Difficulty
The greatest obstacle here is going to be fear of discovery. In seeking
information, people will be less cooperative and start asking why the
player characters want to know. Outside parties will begin to connect the
dots as to what the resources be gathered could be used for. Not only will
the player characters need to be more sneaky, they’ll need to employ social
48
skills to explain away suspicions. They might also have to resort to bribes,
or doing favors that will distract them from pursuing their goal, in order to
keep others from exposing their scheme.
Encounter 4
necessary before executing their master plan. That means they know
where the target is, or will be. They have all of the resources and
information they need. Everyone understands exactly what they need to
do. Once the player characters reach this point, they’re ready to exact their
revenge.
A Change in Adversary Behavior.
Plot Twist
Your adventure doesn’t need to have a plot twist, but something going
wrong at the last minute is a common trope in revenge schemes. This could
happen in conjunction with A Change in Adversary Behavior, or operate
separately from it.
In a revenge plot this can mean four things:
• A third party has figured out what the player characters are
up to, and wants to be included in the plan;
• A third party has figure out what the player characters are up
to, and is trying to stop them;
• A piece if information was incorrect, or the circumstances
have changed;
• A necessary resource is lost or broken, and needs to be
repairs or replaced under imperfect circumstances.
There are other possible plot twists, or course. These are the most
common tropes in revenge stories, so they become the easiest to work with
in your adventures. Variations are almost limitless, so play with things that
fit in with the characters, the setting, and the overall themes of the
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adventure. The object is to throw the players off balance emotionally
without significantly increasing the actual difficulty of the encounter.
interchangeable, so it can happen before or after A Change in Adversary
Behavior.
A Change in Adversary Behavior

The target of the revenge scheme does something unexpected. It
doesn’t mean that they’re on to the player characters’ plot, but it can be a
lot of fun to leave the players unsure about that. For this type of adventure,
this beat typically means one of three things:
• The target has become suspicious and attempts to run;
• The target has become suspicious and comes after the player
characters;
• Something unrelated happens that alters the target’s routines. This
could also be an unintended consequences of the Plot Twist.
Encounter 5
do whatever it is they’ve been planning to do to the target. They will gain
their revenge, completing the story goal.

There are two possibilities here. The first is that the player characters
want their target to know that they’re responsible. It’s important that the
adversary know that they have done this thing, and why they’ve done it.
There’s little concern about getting caught after the fact, or that the target
will escalate things and keep the hostilities going. It’s very much dependent
on the nature of the vengeance being taken.
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The other possibility is that the player characters want to remain
anonymous. If things go wrong, they don’t want to be blamed. There is the
possibility that the adversary could retaliate. If the nature of their revenge
is illegal, they don’t want the target calling the authorities, pressing
charges, or suing them (if such a thing exists in your setting). The player
characters might leave hints that let the target know who was behind it,
but nothing that would constitute proof.

The goal of this adventure was to exact revenge against a target that
had somehow wronged the player characters. During this encounter they
will need to achieve that. Once they have their payback, the adventure has
been completed. There may be additional things to play out, like any
unintended consequences or legal ramifications. If the characters have
succeeded, that’s their reward.
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13-14 Everyone Has Secrets
The player characters have to find the answer to a
question, but the adversary doesn’t want that
question answered.

This adventure is a mystery. The goal is to discover what happened,
how it happened, and/or who is responsible. The plot doesn’t have to be
significant or serious. It doesn’t have to be about murder, or even crime. It
can be centered on any type of question that needs an answer, or any
problem that cries out to be solved.
Examples of the mystery plot include And Then There Were None, The
Girl with the Dragon Tattoo, The Maltese Falcon, The Moonstone, and
Murders in the Rue Morgue.

This adventure features a lot of investigation encounters, so you will
choice. An understanding of social interactions will also be necessary,
because there will be people to question. Chases and combat can come
into play as well, especially during the finale.

Consider how the mystery might connect with events that happened
earlier in your campaign. It could be an unsolved crime drawn from the
setting’s history, or tie into something that happened to the player
characters in a previous adventure. Use every opportunity to build upon
things that have gone before. If you can connect this to a campaign
metaplot, think of how solving this might advance the overarching story.
lends itself to helping them fulfill some destiny, learn some ability, or
52
acquire some long-sought-after treasure, use that. When the adventure
feels like a distraction, taking the player characters away from some larger
quest, work with that frustration as well.

Consider the natural hazards present, and how that might hinder
player character investigations. Plan for how they will need to approach
the mystery based on how the terrain and its inhabitants might conceal
clues. Incorporate the types of characters, monsters, and other encounters
found in the environment as additional obstacles.
about the area, that connect to possible answers to the mystery?

If the adversary is a humanoid character, their goal will be to keep the
player characters from solving the mystery. Their connection to the
adventure will be either as the responsible party, so simply a person who
somehow benefits from the mystery not being solved. Be sure to alter them
to suit the environment, changing their back story and abilities as
appropriate.
If the adversary is an intelligent creature, their aim will be the same;
hinder the investigation and prevent the mystery from being solved. Their
connection to the adventure will be as the responsible party, or the
beneficiary of the way things are as a result of the unsolved mystery. Be
toward some element of the mystery. Their connection to the adventure
could be as a macguffin, an obstacle, or the guardian of a great secret. Be
53
Encounter 1
In the initial encounter, the player characters will learn of the mystery.
It might be that something has just happened, like a murder or robbery,
and they need to react to it. They may learn of a great secret, and finding
the answer is the key to attaining something they desire. It could even be
information about their own past that they’ve always wondered about, and
now an opportunity has arisen to find the answers they seek.

The adventure can begin with any sort of encounter. All that matter is
that at some point, an unanswered question or unsolved problem presents
itself. It can be tied to the actions in this encounter, be accidentally
uncovered by it, or randomly appear during or after this scene’s events. It’s
a matter of what else you’re seeking to establish with the characters and
setting.
The goal of this adventure is for the player characters to solve the
mystery. Once they have done that, the adventure has been completed. The
players need to be made aware of this from the first encounter, accepting
the call to adventure.

what will happen if they don’t solve the mystery. The killer will go free.
Valuable items won’t be recovered. They won’t gain information, or acquire
the object of their desire. It could be as simple as not getting paid unless
the can find the answer their employer seeks.

54
people are teaming up and working together. Even if they share the same
goal, they may be suspicious of one another. You may wish to connect their
backgrounds, so they all have ties to the mystery, its location, or the stakes
at hand.
Encounter 2
In the second clue, the player characters will gather clues, question
people, and test hypotheses. This means that the segment should be an
investigation challenge. There will be elements of social interaction
necessary as well.
Build Confidence
success. The difficulty should be on the low side, and should play to their
strengths. Let each character have a spotlight moment where they can
show off their best abilities, use their connections, and leverage what they
already know. Clue will be easy to find, witnesses will be cooperative, and a
basic picture of what happened should become clear.
Encounter 3
In this encounter, the player characters will continue to gather clues,
question people, and test their hypotheses. By the end they should feel
close to solving the mystery, although not all questions will be answered
and some new ones will arise. They will face investigation and social
interaction challenges, but their may be chases or even combat scenes
when suspects and witnesses are uncooperative.
55
Increase Difficulty
Where the previous encounter should have been on the easy side, this
ought to be in line with the player characters’ abilities. They may be
abilities, making the encounter feel more difficult than it actually is. Clues
will be more difficult to locate, as will any resources the characters need.
People will be less willing to cooperate, for all manner of reasons that may
or may not tie directly to the mystery.
Encounter 4
In this encounter the player characters collect the final clues, find the
last witness, or arrive at the penultimate location. They will do the final
thing needed to solve the mystery. Once they have done this, they’re ready
to move on to the finale.
Plot Twist
Your mystery doesn’t need to have a plot twist. If it does, make sure it
doesn’t completely invalidate all of the player characters’ work and hard-
drawn conclusions. In this adventure, a twist might mean that they’ve
misinterpreted a clue. Perhaps someone they trusted turns on them.
Someone else is murdered, or something else goes missing. The object is to
throw the players off balance emotionally without significantly increasing
the actual difficulty of the encounter.
close to achieving the adventure goal. If it’s a murder mystery, this is the
point where the killer attempts to murder the player characters, silence a
key witness, or destroy evidence of their misdeeds.
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Often, retaliation is how the adversary tips their hand. They might feel
that the player characters are getting to close to solving the mystery. They
make action to stop the investigation, or at least slow its progress until
they can quiet slip away and make their escape without drawing too much
attention to themselves.
Encounter 5
present their conclusion, along with the evidence to support it. They will
need to confront the antagonist, whether they were the person responsible
for a crime or merely interfering with finding the answer or solving the
problem.

For this adventure, the characters will need to defeat the adversary
simply by present evidence of their guilt. From their, the authorities might
handle things. The culprit might also also try to flee, leading to a chase, or
attack the player characters culminating in an epic fight scene.

The goal of this adventure was to solve a mystery, so during this
encounter the player characters will need to conclusively show that they
have found the correct answer. Once they’ve done so, the adventure is over.
There may be additional things to play out, like seeing what happens to the
adversary, collecting a reward, or putting the answer they’ve discovered to
its intended use.
57
If the characters have somehow failed, then they will need to deal with
the consequences, either in a follow-up scene, the next adventure, or later
in the campaign. The villain lives to commit crimes another day, the
mystery remains unsolved, and the search for answers continues.
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15-16 I, Unlike You
The player characters compete against the
adversary to prove who is the absolute best.

In this adventure, the player characters and the adversary are in direct
competition against one another. They may have the same objective, but
only one side can be the first to achieve it. It might be that each side wants
to prevent the other from getting what they’re after. The competition could
be friendly rivalry, like a sports competition, a race to make a discovery, or
a romantic triangle where two characters vie for the affections of the same
love interest. Things could be more grim, like spies trying to acquire some
secret that will give their side an advantage. No matter what form the
competition takes, only one side can win.
Examples of the this type of adventure include Les Miserables, Lord of
the Flies, Mutiny on the Bounty, The Odd Couple, and Paradise Lost.

This adventure features a lot of skill challenge encounters, so you will
choice. An understanding of chase rules may also be necessary, if part of
the competition involves getting to locations first. As always, combat is a
possibility as even friendly competitors can become frustrated with one
another.

Consider how a competition might connect with events that have
previously occurred in your campaign. This might be a regular event be
drawn from the setting’s history, or be a one-off issues related to
something that happened to the player characters in a previous adventure.
Use every opportunity to build upon things that have gone before. If you
can connect this to your campaign’s setting and cultures. think about how
this can advance your worldbuilding opportunities.
59
acquire some long-sought-after treasure, make that the focus of the
competition. When the nature of the competition feels like a distraction,
taking the player characters away from some larger quest, work with that
frustration and resentment as well.

Consider the natural hazards present, and how that might affect the
nature of the competition. Plan for the how the player characters will need
to approach the goal based on the terrain and its inhabitants. Incorporate
the types of characters, monsters, and other encounters found in the
environment as additional obstacles. There may be more competitors than
just the player characters and the main adversary, after all.
about the area that could possibly give them an edge in the competition?

If the adversary is a humanoid character, their goal will be to win the
competition. Their connection to the adventure will be as a rival for
whatever prize or reward the player characters are seeking. Be sure to
alter them to suit the environment, changing their back story and abilities
as appropriate.
If the adversary is an intelligent creature, their aim might still be to
win the competition. The focus might be to get to people and eat them
before the player characters can evacuate them, or to reach their lair before
the characters arrive to loot it. Their connection to the adventure will be
based on their motivation, and what they’re trying to achieve. Be sure to
alter them to suit the environment, changing their lair, feeding habits, and
toward whatever the player characters are after. Their connection to the
adventure will be what lies at the end of the competition. They might also
60
have been places there to hinder competition. The creature might be
nature to the environment, disturbed by the competition going on in their
territory. Be sure to alter them to suit the environment, changing their role
in the local ecology and abilities as appropriate.
Encounter 1
In the first encounter, you will need to establish the nature of the
competition. Is this a race, an ongoing skill challenge, or some sort of
investigation? You will also need to establish the rivalry between the player
characters and the adversary.

The goal of this adventure is for the player characters to win a
competition. Once they have done that, the adventure has been completed.
The players need to be made aware of this from the first encounter,
accepting the call to adventure. The first encounter might be the opening
leg of the competition, starting in media res. It might also be a social
encounter, or any other type of challenge, with the competition being
introduced as a result of this encounter.

what will happen if they don’t answer compete. They won’t win whatever
prize goes to the winner, but there might be other, longer-lasting
consequences that affect other people. All of this ties into some larger
reason for them competing and accepting the story goal.

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or a one-shot, the opening encounter will need to establish whether these
people are teaming up and working together, of if they are also competing
against each other. You may wish to connect their backgrounds, having
them all have history with the adversary, or personal ties to the stakes of
the competition.
Encounter 2
The second encounter will find the player characters engaged in the
competition. This means that this segment should be whatever type of
challenge they need to prevail at in order to eventually win. There is only
one thing that needs to be accomplished with this encounter: Build
Confidence in the player characters and their abilities.
Build Confidence
success. They need to feel that they can win. The difficulty should be on the
low side, and it should play to their strengths. Let each character have
some sort of spotlight moment where they can show off their best abilities.
That means keeping outside obstacles to the minimum, providing optimal
conditions for races, and making sure the player characters have all of the
proper tool required for skill challenges. Competitors will be acting nice,
sticking to the rules, and playing fair.
Encounter 3
In this encounter the player characters continue the competition, but
gradually becomes harder. Their actions should move them closer to
winning, and they should feel that they’ve made progress by the end of the
segment. They will face another challenge of the sort relevant to the
competition.
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Increase Difficulty
to be right in line with the player characters’ abilities. Conditions are no
longer optimal. They may need to improvise because they don’t have the
proper resources. Competitors are no longer playing nice. If there are rules
for it in your system of choice, the player characters may begin to feel
fatigued as the competition drags on.
Encounter 4
In this encounter the player characters will be approaching the final
phase of the competition. That means there isn’t far to the finish line,
they’re close to making a major breakthrough, or there are only a few more
steps left in the skill challenge. They’re almost ready for the finale.
Plot Twist
Your competition doesn’t need to have a plot twist. If it does, this is
where it will happen. In this adventure, this might mean a sudden
revelation about what the player characters are actually competing for.
There could be stakes that there weren’t previously aware of, making them
even more motivated to win. The object is to throw the players off balance
emotionally without significantly increasing the actual difficulty of the
encounter.
In a competition the adversary will absolutely be upset if the player
characters are winning Even if the adversary is in the lead, they might feel
threatened if there is any chance that the player characters could overtake
them. In any case, they decide to take action to stop the player characters,
or at least slow them down. They will cheat, they will attempt to sabotage
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the player characters, they will do anything they feel they can get away
with in order to win.
This doesn’t have to be a direct action on the part of the adversary. If
they have henchmen, partners, or allies they’ll leave the dirty work up to
them. That way the adversary can focus on the competition, while the
player characters are placed at a disadvantage, preoccupied with other
things, and distracted.
Encounter 5
need to complete the competition. They will do what they need to in order
to win. This means going head-to-head with the adversary during the final
moments of the event.
There are 2 things that happen in the final encounter: have a
Showdown with the Adversary and Complete the Adventure Goal. These can
happen together, or as separate scenes.
Showdown with the Adversary

Whatever the competition has been, this challenge will represent its
purest form. The player characters compete directly against the adversary.
Only one of them will win. Both sides will face equal obstacles, and the
same level of difficulty. It’s as fair as it can possibly be, and comes down to
who makes better use of their abilities.

The goal of this adventure was to win the competition, so during this
encounter the player characters will need to do that. Once they have
achieve victory, the adventure has been completed. There may be
additional things to play out, like collecting their reward, saving off
negative complications, or dealing with an adversary that’s a sore loser.
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Consequences can appear either in a follow-up scene, the next adventure,
or later in the campaign.
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17-18 To Find Fault
The player characters must prove their aptitude in a
chosen field against a more experienced adversary.

In this type of adventure, the player characters and the adversary are
not evenly matched. The odds are stacked heavily in favor of the adversary.
Initially no one takes the player characters seriously, but over the course of
the adventure they shake off their underdog status to become successful
and respected.
Examples of this type of adventure include Cinderella, Forrest Gump,
The Hunger Games, One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest, and Rocky.

This adventure features variations on one type of encounter, often a
skill challenge. You will need to be familiar with how the mechanics work
for that type of challenge within your system of choice. An understanding
of related abilities, special maneuvers, and relevant equipment will also be
necessary.

Consider how an underdog might connect with events that have
previously occurred in your campaign. This could be drawn from the
setting’s history, or tie into something that happened to the player
characters in a previous adventure. Use every opportunity to build upon
things that have gone before. If you can connect this to your campaign’s
metaplot, if it has one, think about how this can advance that overarching
story.
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character abilities. They may be suited to the environment, or have abilities
that stem from growing up there. The inverse could be true, placing them
at a further disadvantage in relation to the adversary. Plan for the how the
player characters will need to approach the adventure goal based on the
terrain and its inhabitants. Incorporate the types of characters, monsters,
and other encounters found in the environment as additional obstacles.
about the area that might be leveraged to gain an edge over the adversary?

If the adversary is a humanoid character, their goal will be to defeat the
player characters and prove themselves to be the best. Their connection to
the adventure will be winning for its own sake. Be sure to alter them to suit
the environment, changing their back story and abilities as appropriate.
If the adversary is an intelligent creature, their aim will be to defeat the
player characters, but there is usually some additional purpose. Their
connection to the adventure will be to attain some goal, and defeating the
player characters is secondary to that. Be sure to alter the adversary to suit
the environment, changing their lair, feeding habits, and abilities as
appropriate.
toward doing what they do. Their connection to the adventure will be their
instinct to locate food or find a mate, which inadvertently puts them at
odds with the player characters and their goals. Be sure to alter this type of
adversary to suit the environment, changing their role in the local ecology
and abilities as appropriate.
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Encounter 1
In the first encounter, it needs to be established that the player
characters are the underdogs. This has to be handled in a way that might
leave the players feeling frustrated, but not entirely demoralized. It isn’t
that the characters aren’t capable. They simply aren’t respected,
appreciated, or believed. The adversary is the one with credibility, even
when their motives are self-serving, they’re not as capable as people
believe, and their conclusions are dead wrong.

The adventure begins with an encounter that plays to the player
characters’ collective strengths. In spite of their objective success, no one
pays any attention to them. Instead, all glory, sympathy, and other positive
attention goes to their adversary. It needs to be made clear that the
adversary is undeserving of accolades.
The goal of this adventure is for the player characters to prove
themselves and be taken seriously. Once they have done that, the adventure
has been completed. The players need to be made aware of this from the
first encounter, accepting the call to adventure.

what will happen if they don’t answer the call to adventure. They will never
get the rewards that they rightfully deserve. Their adversary will never face
any consequences for their actions. If the adversary is genuinely
incompetent or unqualified for what they’ve been tasked to do, there may
be greater ramifications to the setting and its people.
the recognition they deserve. They will need this in order to earn respect,
rewards, and future opportunities. Should they fail, the consequences will
be the continued elevation of the adversary, and all of the troubles that
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come with that. For a one-shot adventure this may not mean much, but as
part of an ongoing campaign this could lead to more problems that the
player characters will need to face in future adventures.

people are teaming up and working together. They might all share
frustration at the lack of recognition, toiling in obscurity, and band together
to do something about it. You may wish to connect their backgrounds,
having them all have history with the adversary, or ties to the location and
the people that live there.
Encounter 2
of the adventure goal. This means that this segment should be a series of
challenges meant to spotlight their competence. It won’t be any sort of
direct competition with the adversary, but the will begin to garner some
low-level recognition.
Build Confidence
they can show off their best abilities. Their efforts will be noticed, either by
a small, local crowd or a supporting character with some amount of
influence. They get validation that they’re as good as they think they are.
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Encounter 3
In this encounter, the player characters will experience a moment of
doubt. They should still succeed, and move closer to achieving the
adventure goal, but it will feel as if they’ve may have bitten off more than
they can chew. They will face another series of challenge that play to their
strengths, which ought to be more difficult than the previous encounter.
Increase Difficulty
Where the previous encounter should have been a bit on the easy side,
this ought to be right in line with the player characters’ abilities. They may
be challenged to use skills and powers that aren’t necessarily their best
One of the ways to make this feel more difficult is to have people
actually paying attention to them. Their success in the previous encounter
has people watching them. There are now expectations that they can do
what they claim. Even though they are genuinely capable, people will
express doubts, and the encounter should feel stressful.
Encounter 4
that need to do in order to complete the adventure goal. That means facing
a huge challenge that plays, once again, to the abilities their meant to be
the objective best at. Once they have done this, they’re ready to move on to
the finale.
Plot Twist
perfect place for it. In this adventure, this might mean that the stakes are
increased. There is a huge reward that they can ear, if they’re able to do
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what they saw they can. The flip side is that they are subject to more
scrutiny than they’ve ever been before, so if they fail their reputation will
be ruined. The object is to throw the players off balance emotionally
without significantly increasing the actual difficulty of the encounter.
The adversary will be upset that the player characters are starting to
upstage them. They feel threatened. This is where the player characters
finally go head-to-head against the adversary. Naturally, the adversary is
going to cheat. They’ll employ dirty tricks, try to sabotage the player
characters, and spread nasty rumors. Whatever is appropriate for the type
of challenge, and the stakes of the adventure.
Encounter 5
face off against the adversary for a final time, winner takes all. They will
need to prove once and for all that they are competent and deserve to be
taken seriously.

some sort of public competition. This is where they get to show that they
have abilities that are a match of the adversary, if not better. People will be
watching, to see who will win.
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The goal of this adventure was to prove that the player characters
deserve to be taken seriously, so during this encounter they will need to
achieve that. In a rare turn, this can be achieved even if they lose; all the
player characters have to do is show that they’re better than anyone give
them credit for. If they manage to win a competition or save the world, all
the better.
Once they have proven themselves, the adventure has been completed.
There may be additional things to play out, like granting then their
deserved rewards. The adversary should face overdue consequences, just
for the emotional satisfaction.
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19-20 The Animal Within
The player characters are drawn toward something
they should avoid, as the adversary seeks to get them
into trouble.

This type of adventure has the player characters trying to avoid doing
something they aren’t supposed to do. It could be lying, cheating, stealing,
breaking an oath, succumbing to addiction, anything with potentially
serious complications. It might be something that’s not objectively wrong,
but subjectively frowned upon within the culture. They may hold cultural,
religious, or political views that are in the minority, which lands them in
trouble. It could be an expression of identity that’s not accepted within the
community. This plot is almost wholly character-driven.
Examples of this type of adventure include Doctor Faustus, The Last
Temptation of Christ, The Lord of the Rings, and The Strange Case of Dr.
Jekyll and Mr. Hyde.

This adventure features a lot of social interaction encounters, so you
will need to be familiar with how those mechanics work within your
system of choice. An understanding of rules for stealth and sneakiness will
also be necessary. As with most fantasy scenarios, the combat rules will
likely come into play if the consequences for the player characters’ choices
result in them being physically attacked.

Consider how temptations and taboo actions might connect with
events that have previously occurred in your campaign. This could be
drawn from the setting’s history, or tie into something that happened to the
player characters in a previous adventure. Use every opportunity to build
upon things that have gone before. If you can connect this to your
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campaign’s overall themes and recurring plot points, think about how this
can advance the overarching story you’re trying to tell.

For this type of adventure, the environment could affect the way
communities are gathered, and restrict the player characters’ freedom.
They are unable to avoid other people. If they engage in forbidden
activities, they will be at greater risk of discovery.
character abilities. Plan for how they will need to approach the adventure
goal based on the terrain and its inhabitants. Incorporate the types of
additional obstacles.
about the area that could provide them with a place to hide, or have
moments of privacy away from prying eyes?

If the adversary is a humanoid character, their goal will be to expose
the player characters and see them punished. Their connection to the
adventure will be as the enforcer of the rules, whether that is their official
position or they are self-appointed. Be sure to alter them to suit the
environment, changing their back story and abilities as appropriate.
If the adversary is an intelligent creature, their aim will be to seek out
the player characters and administer punishment. They may be trained and
utilized as an enforcer for an individual or organization with a cultural,
religious, or political agenda. Be sure to alter them to suit the environment,
changing their lair, feeding habits, and abilities as appropriate.
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toward whatever sort of taboo behavior the player characters exhibit. Their
connection to the adventure will be as living detectors, likely utilized by a
cultural, religious, or political institution. Be sure to alter them to suit the
environment, changing their role in the local ecology and abilities as
appropriate.
Encounter 1
In the first encounter you need to establish the player characters’
morality. Are they wicked, secret doing things that are considered wrong
within the cultural, religious, or political context they live in? Or are they
simply part of a repressed minority, or living in a community where being
different isn’t tolerated?
The other thing that needs to be established is what, exactly, their issue
is. Culture, religion, politics, and identity cover a lot of ground, so you can
focus in on one thing. Are they in favor of a parliamentary democracy in a
country with a hereditary monarchy? Do they belong to a cult that has been
banned by the dominant church? Maybe they’re elves living in a human-
majority city. Again, they could just be criminals, members of a thieves’
guild or organized crime family in a town that values law and order.

The adventure begins with an encounter that makes it clear that the
player characters’ particular beliefs, behaviors, and proclivities are not
tolerated in the community. They might nearly get caught, or arouse the
suspicion of moral crusaders. It could be that they’re subjected to a
demonstration of bigotry and prejudice. It depends upon what exactly the
core issue or taboo is.
The goal of this adventure is for the player characters to survive. That
could mean abstaining from something, or simply not getting caught. It
may mean finding a way out of the community that oppressed them, or
finding a level of acceptance. Once they have done that, the adventure has
been completed. The players need to be made aware of this from the first
encounter, accepting the call to adventure.
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what happens to people that don’t conform. Criminals go to jail. People
who are different get beaten up, or their houses get burned down.
Everyday people shun them, discriminate against them, and treat them like
dirt.
In this adventure, the player characters have the opportunity to gain a
degree of freedom. They will need this in order to continue with their
taboo activities. Should they fail, the consequences will be dire for them.
For a one-shot adventure this may not mean much, but as part of an
ongoing campaign this could lead to a slow escalation of problems and
personal, legal, and physical actions taken against them.

people are teaming up and working together. Sometimes sharing the same
beliefs or proclivities is enough. They may need to find one another in the
first encounter, and begin the process of banding together for aid and
support. You may wish to connect their backgrounds, having them all have
history with the adversary, or ties to the location and the people that live
there.
Encounter 2
of the adventure goal. This means that this segment should present them
with an opportunity to do the thing that they are not supposed to do. The
risks will be low, making it easy to give in to the temptation presented.
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Build Confidence
they can show off their best abilities. That means they should be able to do
they thing they want and get away with it rather easily.
Encounter 3
In this encounter, the player characters are presented with another
opportunity to do the thing they’re not allowed to. The activity itself is
more difficult in some way, and that increases the risks of being caught.
People are starting to become suspicious after the second encounter, and
even if no one suspects the player characters the level of scrutiny will make
things harder.
Increase Difficulty
abilities, making the encounter feel more difficult than it actually is. The
actual obstacle is that people are now aware that there are people with the
player characters’ beliefs and proclivities in the area, and are watching.
Valuables will be lock up better to deter thieves, previous safe meeting
places will be watched, and everyone’s words and actions will be
scrutinized for cultural, religious, or political deviance.
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Encounter 4
that need to do in order to complete the adventure goal. That might mean
making one final heist, affecting political change, or gaining acceptance. It
could mean finding a way out of the community, so they can go live in a
more accepting place. Once they have done this, they’re ready to advance to
the finale.
Unlike other adventure types, this is the big moment. It’s the sort of
event that would be the finale in other stories. The actual finale, however, is
going to be dealing with the consequences of this segment.
Plot Twist
perfect place for it. In this adventure, this might mean discovering that
there are even more people who think and behave like the player
characters than they previously knew. It could be the discovery of the
adversary’s own cultural, religious, or political deviance that could be used
against them. They may accidentally discover that there is a place where
they will be accepted. The object is to throw the players off balance
emotionally without significantly increasing the actual difficulty of the
encounter.
As part of this encounter, the adversary will come for the player
characters. Maybe they have proof of the player characters’ taboo beliefs or
behavior. They may only suspect, and attempt to lure them into a trap. It
could be that the adversary dislikes them and doesn’t care whether or not
they can prove their allegations. The player characters might be arrested,
or have to escape, or defeat the adversary in combat.
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Encounter 5
need to follow up on whatever happened in the previous encounter. If they
were arrested, they will need to escape. Should they have defeated the
adversary, they’ll be outed and have to face public consequences. If they’ve
chose to flee the community, they will be pursued.

If the adversary was defeated in the previous encounter, the player
character will face the consequences for that. Cultural, religious, and
political forces will be after them. Maybe with the adversary out of the way,
people will be openly supporting of the player characters.
If the adversary survived the previous encounter, they will be brutal
here. They will come at the player characters with everything they’ve got,
even if it publicly exposes them or violates the very precepts they claim to
embody. It’s going to be personal, and it’s going to be ugly.

The goal of this adventure was to be free to do as they wanted, so
during this encounter the player characters will need to achieve that. Once
they have, the adventure has been completed. There may be additional
things to play out, like showing what life will be like for them going
forward.
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Environments
The primary location for your adventure will be built around one of the
following environments. If you are expanding beyond the 5-encounter
format, you can have the players start in one environment in Encounter 1,
travel through one or more different environments in Encounters 2
through 4, and conclude with another environment in Encounter 5. You
will need to decide which environment the primary adversary is native to,
and will need to make adjustments to the adventure based on the
particular hazards and local color each environment provides.
1 Coasts
A coast is any location where land meets a substantial body of water.
There are usually stone cliffs, a rocky or muddy band, or a sandy beach.
The most common uses for beaches involve sailing, fishing, and
recreations. The color and composition of the sand will vary. The types of
flora and fauna will change with the climate, and sometimes with the
season.
2-4 Caverns
A cavern is a naturally-created hollow space underground, large
enough for people to get though. They are often the result of water carving
out areas of soft rock. Caverns are common habitats for insects, spiders,
and bats. Larger animals, including monsters and characters, sometimes
use them for shelter.
5 Deserts
A desert is a dry, mostly barren area hostile to both plant and animal
life. The things that do live in a desert are specially adapted to deal with the
lack of water and precipitation. Characters who live in the desert either use
irrigation, or at skilled at located rare and isolated water sources.
6-7 Forests
A forest is a piece of land covered with trees and other vegetation. The
types of trees and other life within a forest will vary with the location,
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climate, and season. Tropical forests, or jungles, have denser vegetation,
higher humidity, and greater precipitation.
9 Hills
A hill is an elevated environment, often near bodies of water like river
or lakes. They may also be part of plains or forest. The areas below hills are
sometimes prone to flooding, making the hills ideal for settlements. The
view they afford means they are also desirable locations for fortifications
and military lookouts.
9 Mountains
Mountains are larger and steeper land forms than hills. They are
usually formed by volcanic or tectonic activity. Mountaintops are often
colder than the land below. While not good for agriculture, they are
frequently climbed for recreation.
10 Plains
A plain is any flat area of land. They are sometimes located in valleys
between mountain ranges. Plains are frequently used for agriculture
because of their flatness. They may also be grasslands, providing grazing
area for wild or domesticated animals.
11-12 Ruins
A ruin is the remnant of an architectural structure, such as a castle,
building, or collection buildings. They can be in any state of disrepair,
either due to a lack of maintenance, complete abandonment, or deliberate
destruction. Ruins often appear where an area has been ravaged by war or
natural disaster, or the local population has severely declined.
13-14 Rural Village

A rural area is marked by small settlements surrounded by wilderness.
This includes villages, farms, and individual homes. Existence is tied to the
land, either through agriculture, hunting, fishing, or other uses of the
environment’s resources.
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15 Swamps
A swamp is a forested wetland, where the ground is mostly shallow,
slow-moving water with protrusions of dry land. They are usually located
near rivers or lakes. A rich variety of plant and animal life can be found in
swamps, and they are also prime areas for hunting and fishing.
16-18 Urban Areas

An urban area is characterized by high population density and a
heavily built-up environment. This includes towns and cities. Existence is
tied to a manufacturing-based, service-based, or information-based
economy. Suburbs are residential areas adjacent to the core urban area. A
metropolis is a network interconnected urban and suburban areas.
19 Water
Bodies of water aren’t technically a type of environment, but exist
within and alongside other types. This includes streams and rivers running
through rivers and plains, and ponds, lakes, and oceans adjacent virtually
any other environment. Being aboard a ship at sea counts as a water
environment.
20 Underwater
An underwater location exists below the surface of a lake or ocean. Life
is either aquatic, or exists in an artificial habitat the mimics surface
conditions. This creates the necessity for oxygen replenishment, and the
ability to deal with increased atmospheric pressure.
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Adversaries
The adversaries are listed here by type. This lack of specificity allows
you to choose foes that are appropriate to the system of your choice and
the setting. You can also select an adversary that is challenging for your
player characters, without being either too easy nor overwhelming.
1. Aberration
Aberrations are utterly alien beings. Most do no originate on this plane
of existence, which accounts for their strangeness. Many of them have
innate magical abilities, or psionic talents drawn from their minds rather
than the mystical forces of the world.
Examples: Aboleth, Cloaker, Dark Young of Shub-Niggurath, Drider,
Elder Thing, Gibbering Mouther, Intellect Devourer, Mimic, Otyugh, Rust
Monster, Tentacled Horror, Will-o'-Wisp
2. Animal
This includes non-intelligent, non-magical creatures of every type and
species. They may be acting individually, in small groups, or large herds.
Select animal adversaries based on the environment, and what qualities
seem suitable for the adventure.
Examples: Badger, Bear, Eel, Elephant, Gorilla, Hippopotamus, Hyena,
Jackal, Lion, Octopus, Panther, Piranha, Rhinoceros, Shark, Tiger,
Tyrannosaurus Rex, Whale, Wolverine, Wolf
3. Construct
Constructs are animated objects or artificially constructed creatures.
Most are mindless automatons, with neither a soul nor a purpose beyond
what their creator tasks them to do. They are immune to the woes of the
living, include mind-altering magic, poison, sleep, paralysis, and disease.
Examples: Animated Objects, Automaton, Caryatid Column,
Clockwork, Golem, Guardian Gargoyle, Homunculus, Robot, Scarecrow,
Taxidermic Grizzly Bear, Terra-cotta Soldier, Waxwork Human, Wickerman
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4. Dragon
Dragons are powerful magical creatures. There were several types of
dragons with various breath weapons, with breeds usually distinguished
by color. They are an ancient race, and few intelligent species can claim
longer lineage.
Examples: Basilisk, Chromatic Dragon, Dracolisk, Drakes, Elder Wyrm,
Imperial Dragon, Jabberwock, Metallic Dragon, Pseudodragon,
Pseudowyvern, Sea Serpent, Shen, Wyrm, Wyvern
5. Elemental
Elementals are the purest living forms of the four basic elements—air,
earth, fire, and water. There are also several other less common elements,
all related to natural forces. An elemental is an intelligent, self-aware entity
that can be summoned to nearly any plane of existence.
Examples: Aerial Servant, Air Elemental, Earth Elemental, Fire
Elemental, Ice Elemental, Lightning Elemental, Magma Elemental, Plasma
Elemental, Sandman, Water Elemental, Water Wyrd
6. Fey
Fey come from a realm that exists parallel to the mortal realm. Most
have supernatural abilities and a strong connection to nature. The fey can
be any size, shape, texture, or smell, with an appearance that exemplifies
their ties to natural wonders.
Examples: Boggart, Brownie, Dryad, Faerie, Gremlin, Kelpie,
Leprechaun, Mite, Naiad, Nereid, Nixie, Nymph, Pixie, Pooka, Redcap, Satyr,
Spriggan, Sprite, Tooth Fairy
7. Giant
Giants are creatures of exceptionally large size. Their appearance
varies according to their type, but they are generally humanoid in
appearance. Their bone structure is more dense than that of humans,
giving them extra toughness but slowing them down a little.
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Examples: Cave Giant, Cyclops, Ettin, Fire Giant, Frost Giant, Hill Giant,
Jotun Troll, Merrow, Moon Giant, Ogre, Rock Troll, Storm Giant, Titan, Troll,
Two-Headed Troll
8-13. Humanoid
Humanoids care the main peoples of the world, including humans,
elves, orcs, goblins, and so on. They are capable of using language,
developing culture, and learning magic. The term humanoid therefore
includes an enormous variety of intelligent species.
Examples: Bugbear, Catfolk, Deep One, Dragonkin, Drow, Dwarf, Elf,
Gnoll, Gnome, Goblin, Halfling, Hobgoblin, Human, Kobold, Lizardfolk,
Merfolk, Orc, Ratfolk, Sasquatch
14. Magical Beast

A magical beast is any creature that behaves in a manner similar to the
common animals of the world. Physically, they tended to resemble animals
or other natural wildlife as well. Most magical beasts have highly abnormal
origins, features, and abilities.
Examples: Bandersnatch, Basilisk, Behemoth, Blink Dog, Catoblepas,
Chimera, Chupacabra, Cockatrice, Firebird, Hippogriff, Kraken, Leng Spider,
Leviathan, Manticore, Owlbear, Pegasus, Stirge, Unicorn. Winter Wolf
15. Monstrous Humanoid

These are often frightening and usually dangerous monsters that have
a humanoid form. They are usually not natural creatures, with some the
result of magical experimentation or curses. Many creatures that do not fit
neatly into other categories are considered monstrous humanoids.
Examples: Centaur, Crabman, Deep One, Doppelganger, Gargoyle, Hag,
Harpy, Krampus, Lamia, Medusa, Minotaur, Mothman, Saurian, Serpentfolk,
Troglodyte, Wendigo. Yeti
16. Ooze
An ooze is a category of creatures that generally resemble amorphous
blobs. This includes slimes, molds, fungi, jellies, and puddings. Most oozes
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live underground, but some can be found in damp, fetid environments like
swamps, sewer systems, middens, and mausoleums.
Examples: Black Pudding, Carnivorous Blob, Colour Out of Space,
Ectoplasm, Gelatinous Cube, Giant Amoeba, Gray Ooze, Ochre Jelly,
Shoggoth, Slime Mold, Slithering Tracker
17. Outsider
Outsiders are extraplanar creatures. They are often associated with the
realms of deities, moral stances, and the supernatural. Their plane of
original might also be considered an “afterlife” for mortal humanoids.
Examples: Angel, Couatl, Demon, Devil, Divine Herald, Elohim, Foo
Dog, Genie, Guardian Spirit, Hell Hound, Hound of Tindalos, Manitou,
Mephit, Nephilim, Nightmare, Rakshasa, Soul Eater, Tiefling, Valkyrie
18. Plant
Plant are any species of vegetation. This includes both normal and
magical plant species, as well as intelligent creatures that fit the criteria for
classification as plant life.
Examples: Assassin Vine, Bog Creeper, Crypt Flower, Dire Flytrap,
Fungus Man, Gallows Tree, Green Man, Jack-o'-Lantern, Kelpie, Mi-Go,
Myceloid, Shambling Mound, Shrieker, Treant, Yellow Musk Creeper
19. Undead
Undead are once-living creatures that had been animated by
supernatural forces. While many are mindless, other have retained the
intelligence and abilities they possessed in life.
Examples: Bogeyman, Crypt Thing, Demiurge, Devourer, Ghost, Ghoul,
Grim Reaper, Lich, Mummy, Nightshade, Poltergeist, Revenant, Shadow,
Skeleton, Spectre, Unrisen, Vampire, Wight, Wraith, Zombie
20. Vermin
Vermin are any creatures that spread disease, destroy crops, or harm
livestock. This includes rodents, insects, and parasitical creatures. They
often come as swarms, or in giant form.
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Examples: Ant, Assassin Bug, Bees, Beetles, Cave Fisher, Centipedes,
Cockroach, Dragonfly, Hellgrammite, Horsefly, Leech, Locust, Mantis,
Mosquito, Rot Grub, Spider, Rust Mite, Scarab, Slug, Termite, Tick
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Themes (Optional)
This section is optional. If you want to inject something akin to literary
theme into your adventure, you can use these. This is by no means a
definitive list of themes, but represents some of the most common found in
fantasy fiction and published adventures.
Adapting Adventures to the Theme

Sometimes the theme will perfectly align with the adventure goal. It
will provide some nuance, or help to explain the motivations of the player
characters and their adversary. Other times it won’t seem to fit at all. The
concepts don’t jibe, or at least can’t be fit together organically. In those
instances you might apply the theme to a subplot, or simply choose a
different theme.
Adapting Environments to the Theme

Certain themes will connect directly to the theme, i.e. Humanity vs
Nature. You can directly tie the environment to the theme. Other times the
environment might seem incidental, as with Crime Does Not Pay. You can
find ways to have the environment, and the hazards within, represent one
side of the thematic argument. The environment might act as a character,
with a thematic stance on things.
Adapting Adversaries to the Theme

Adversaries are a good way to present thematic stances. They can be
the representatives of the gamemaster’s stance, or at the very least be
contrary to the stances held by the player characters. Using theme is a good
way to quickly develop motivations and character traits for villains,
because you almost automatically know what they stand for.
1-2 The Circle of Life

All things end, but new things begin. People die, literally or
metaphorically, but new people are born. This theme is similar to The
Universe Seeks Balance below, but with the idea that all lives have meaning
and life will go on no matter what happens.
The conflicts and obstacles with this theme will literally center on life
and death situations. There will be images of renewal and continuation.
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Something or someone will come to an end, with a replacement appearing
by the conclusion.
3-4 Crime Does Not Pay

Honesty is the best policy, within the baseline interpretation of this
theme. Good and honorable people will always succeed and thrive in the
end. Criminals will inevitably be caught and punished. The crimes don’t
have to be major, and may only be metaphorical. Moral and ethical lapses
will have consequences, and selfish choices with come back around to bite
characters in the behind.
The conflicts and obstacles in this theme will be around what many
people call karma. Justice will be served, either through the actions of the
character or through acts of fate. There is often as element of irony
involved.
5-6 Family is the Most Important Thing

No matter what happens in the life of an individual, family will always
be there for them. Family members might be crazy, they might create
problems, but whether things are going well or have taken a turn for the
worst, you can count on them. Taking care of family is more important than
any other personal goals and dreams a character might have.
Conflicts and obstacles will always involve family members and
relationships. It’s a loved one that’s placed in peril, rather than the main
character. Choices have to be made between relationship and other goals.
The cavalry that comes to the rescue or discovers what the main character
is look for will be a family member trying their best to help.
7-8 Friendship Requires Sacrifice

The way to gain and keep friends is to be a true friend. If you don’t
treat your friends well, they won’t be there for you when you need them. If
you make personal sacrifices, people will rally to help you in your time of
greatest need. Friendship is so valuable that it is worth giving up other
things for.
The conflicts and obstacles with this theme will require characters to
sacrifice things in order to gain gain, retain, or grow a platonic relationship.
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A main character will have to choose between helping a friend or attaining
a personal goal, but won’t be able to do both. There has to be something
notable for the player characters to lose by making this choice.
9-10 Human Experience is Universal

Rich or poor, powerful or humble, educated or simple, all people have
the same hopes, dreams, desires, and needs. Dissimilar people are thrown
together, and have to find ways to cooperate, learn about each other, and
discover that they’re not so different after all.
The obstacles and conflicts here will be things that everyone can relate
to. Growing up, falling in love, finding a job, making money, and facing
death are common expressions of the theme. It’s entirely about finding
resonance between the lives of the readers and the lives of the characters,
so that the player characters is really a proxy for the audience.
11-12 Humanity versus Nature

Nature is a huge topic, so this theme could pit humans against the
wilderness in a tale of survival, humans versus extreme weather, humans
versus the inevitability of aging, and any number of other iterations.
The conflicts and obstacles in this sort of story care all things outside
of the main characters’ ability to control. They can survive if they’re clever,
resourceful, and tough, but they’re not going to be able to stop what’s
happening. The goal may not be to win, but to hold out as long as possible,
or until some other story event can take place.
13-14 Humanity versus Society

Societal pressure always tries to drive the way we behave, and often
limits what we are able to do. The struggle against this might make one a
pariah, a revolutionary, a criminal, or a hero. There are a million causes for
a player characters to rebel against, or to champion. In this theme the
conflict is between what the individual character wants, or knows is right,
and what society demands.
The conflicts and obstacles with this theme will be people, laws, and
institutions that are invested in tradition, even when those traditions are
irrational, outdated, or harmful to others.
90
15-16 Love Conquers All
Working together, believing in each other, and providing each other
with support are essential to happiness. Romantic partners can overcome
adversity, survive hard times, and even achieve greatness. It does not have
to be romantic love, or course, and can be the love between a parent and
child, siblings, a platonic “bromance”, or a strong female friendship.
Unconditional love is the most powerful force of all.
Conflicts and obstacles within this theme will be anything that works
to keep the characters apart. This might be other romantic entanglements,
rivals for the main characters’ affections, distance, or conflicting personal
goals.
17-18 Sacrifice Brings Reward

Anything worthwhile requires hard work. No matter how many
obstacles appear, or how insurmountable problems may seem, in the end
dedicated and diligent people willing to make sacrifices will be able to
persevere and succeed.
In order to get something, the characters will have to give something
up, and the conflict will be that these are not easy choices. Sacrifice means
losing something of value. The reward cannot be significantly greater than
the sacrifice, in order to make the decisions less obvious and therefore
harder to make.
19-20 The Universe Seeks Balance

When things are going too well to be true, something bad will happen.
Just when things seem to have reached their darkest point, something good
will happen. Extremes seem to have a way of balancing out, like water
finding its own level. Or, possibly, fate just enjoys screwing with people.
The obstacles here have to somehow be related to the rewards. They
should always be a like-kind exchange; what’s gained should never be more
important or more valuable that what’s lost, or vice-versa. The conflict
often comes in recognizing that the character isn’t getting ahead or falling
behind, and accepting that life has both ups and downs.
91
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ADVENTURE

Dancing Lights Press

Random Adventure Table

Random Adventure Table

Random Environment Table

Random Adversary Table

Random Theme Table (Optional)

Preparing the Adventure

Adapting the Formula

Preparing the Adventure

Adapting for the System

Adapting for the Campaign

Adapting for the Environment

Adapting for the Adversary

Establish the Situation

Demonstrate the Stakes

Create Character Connections

Confront the Adversary

Complete the Adventure Goal

Preparing the Adventure

Adapting for the System

Adapting for the Campaign

Adapting for the Environment

Adapting for the Adversary

Establish the Situation

Demonstrate the Stakes

Create Character Connections

Confront the Adversary

Complete the Adventure Goal

Preparing the Adventure

Adapting for the System

Adapting for the Campaign

Adapting for the Environment

Adapting for the Adversary

Establish the Situation

Demonstrate the Stakes

Create Character Connections

Confront the Adversary

Complete the Adventure Goal

Preparing the Adventure

Adapting for the System

Adapting for the Campaign

Adapting for the Environment

Adapting for the Adversary

Establish the Situation

Create Character Connections

Confront the Adversary

Complete the Adventure Goal

Preparing the Adventure

Adapting for the System

Adapting for the Campaign

Adapting for the Environment

Adapting for the Adversary

Establish the Situation

Demonstrate the Stakes

Create Character Connections

Confront the Adversary

Complete the Adventure Goal

Preparing the Adventure