Manhunt!

Being an example of using the

Adventure Creation Handbook

by

Cherie “Jade” Arbuckle

Legal Stuff

Writer: Cherie “Jade” Arbuckle © 2011 rpgGM.com

Book Design and Layout: Cherie Arbuckle All rights reserved

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ii An Adventure Creation Example: Manhunt!

©2011 rpgGM.com, All rights reserved
Contents

Introduction. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4
About this Adventure. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4 Chapter Four: .
Write the Adventure. . . . . . . . . 16
Chapter One: .
Develop Your Idea . . . . . . . . . . . 5 Appendix A: .
Limitations . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5 Running the Adventure. . . . . . 16
Adventure Idea: . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5
Manhunt! Idea Map. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 6 Conclusion. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 16
What My Players Want. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 7 Manhunt! Flowchart. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 17
My player types are. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 7

Chapter Two: .
Ask and Answer Questions. . . . 7
Events for each character:. . . . . . . . . . . . . 8
Worksheet answers. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 8
The Basics . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 8
Concepts . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 8
Who . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 9
What. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 9
When . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 9
Where. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 10
Why . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 10
How . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 10
Plot Details . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 11

Chapter Three: .
Build Adventure Events. . . . . . 11
Random Encounter Tables . . . . . . . . . . . 12
Manhunt! Event Tree. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 15

An Adventure Creation Example: Manhunt! iii

©2011 rpgGM.com, All rights reserved
Adventure Creation Handbook Example
Introduction
S
ometimes it helps to have an example of
how something works. Sometimes those exam-
ples can get in the way and make a book much
longer than it needs to be. To balance both, I wrote
this booklet. This is an example of the adventure cre-
ation method contained in the Adventure Creation
Handbook (ACH). I separated it into its own book-
let so that you wouldn’t have to flip through pages
and pages of example when trying to find a specific
instruction.
In this example, I walk
through the steps outlined in the “Of course, you could
Adventure Creation Handbook, use this example as a
starting from brainstorming an
adventure idea, through to the
jumping-off point for an
final outline. adventure in your own
This isn’t a finished, pol- game. “
ished adventure. Not wanting
to tie this example to any particular game system,
I haven’t included any NPC stats or other mechan-
ics–related material. Nor have I created any maps
or hand–outs. My intent here wasn’t to produce a
ready–to–play adventure, but rather to illustrate the
steps used to create an adventure plot.
About this Adventure
This adventure is set in a Victorian Steampunk/
Fantasy setting, such as the setting of R. Talisorian’s
Castle Falkenstein. That setting includes both steam-
age technology and traditional fantasy elements.
It also includes many historical figures from our
world — in this case,  M.. Jules Verne. In this game
world, many of his more fanciful ideas work and he
is noted scientist as well as a famous author.
Since the nature of the PCs and players who will
be playing this game is an important part of the cre-
 An Adventure Creation Example: Manhunt!
ation process, I’ve created a fictitious party of PCs
and their players to serve as examples.
This adventure is also intended to kick-off a new
campaign. Because of that, I didn’t have any earlier
adventures to draw sub-plots or continuing story
lines from. It has to stand on its own. Of course, you
could use this example as a jumping–off point for an
adventure in your own game. If you do, you’ll need
to substitute events that will appeal to your players
and motivate your PCs.
Without further ado, here’s our fictional adven-
turing party:
 Miss Margaret Evans: A
writer of tales “fantastic and
adventurous”. Miss Evans is
always sticking her nose in
where it doesn’t belong on
the grounds that she’s doing
research for her next book.
Though bold to the point of foolhardy, and
despite a masculine pen-name (“Bertram
Waterhouse”), Margaret is no tomboy; she’s
just not ready to give up her adventurous
life and settle down into marriage and chil-
dren.
 Mme. Fleurette d’Havalinde: A French
noblewoman and salon hostess, Mme..
d’Havalinde has left the comfort of her
estate to find her husband, the sorcerer Le
Comte d’Havalinde, who has disappeared
without a trace. But Fleurette is no swoon-
ing, delicate flower. After all, petticoats can
hide all manner of weapons, n’est pas?
 Mr. James Espy: Yes, Mr. Espy is, in fact,
a spy for the British Crown. Dedicated to the
service of Her Royal Majesty, Queen Victo-
ria of England, and loyal to a fault, he has
proven himself to be a skilled intelligence
©2011 rpgGM.com, All rights reserved

officer with the reputation of being unbrib-
able. Despite his unusual name, he has the
fortune of being so ordinary in appearance,
most people would be unable to describe
him once he’s out of their sight.
 M. Michel-Philippe Renard: A French
sorcerer and part-time secret agent for
the French government. M. Renard has
a reputation for being a bit pompous and
prone to pontificate at great length about
many subjects, whether he actually knows
anything about them or not. Nevertheless,
he has kind heart and is the embodiment of
chivalry. His love for La belle France and
her common people knows no bounds.
 Ratchet: Mr. Ratchet is a dwarf with a mis-
sion. Although just as dedicated to making
a name for himself as most of his people,
he left his dwarf–hold for lands of men for
a much more unusual reason — he’s deter-
mined to find a means of building a space-
ship to discover the vast sources of valuable
metals he believes must exist “out there” in
the solar system.
Chapter One: Develop Your Idea
I
already had a glimmer of an idea for an
adventure — but only a glimmer. I knew I wanted
this to be the first adventure of a campaign that
would eventually take our heroes and heroines out to
explore the other planets in our solar system. Beyond
that, I had no idea what to do for this introduction to
my new campaign.
But I did have a very potent tool for developing
an idea: the idea map. You can see idea map I created
for this adventure on the next page. In the box to the
right is the adventure idea I came up with from that
idea map.
An Adventure Creation Example: Manhunt! 
©2011 rpgGM.com, All rights reserved
Manhunt!
Your original idea shouldn’t be set in stone. As
we go along, you’ll see my idea changes and shifts a
bit from the one given below. That’s normal. Ideas
will come to you as work on this adventure and if you
refuse to deviate from your original plan, your final
adventure will be the poorer for it.
Limitations
It’s time to put any necessary limitations on my
idea. Since I want this to be a steampunk adventure,
that by itself gives me a few limitations:
1. The time period. Steampunk is set in
Victorian times, so the late 1800’s. That will
limit both the kinds of technology and the
types of work both NPC and PCs do.
2. Culture. To keep the flavor of steampunk,
all characters will need to adhere to a strict
set of behavior rules and conventions.
3. The Existence of magic. The particu-
lar steampunk setting I’m using has some
magic and many magical beings, but it still
limits the type of magic available.
. Transportation. Transportation is going to
take time. Even Steampunk air ships are
Adventure Idea:
The PCs are hired by a group of indi-
viduals loyal to the British Crown to rescue
Mr. Jules Verne to try and convince Verne
to help them build a vehicle capable of
reaching the other planets in the solar
system. The main problem with this is
that Mr. Verne has been kidnapped while
on his way to a speaking engagement in
London. The PCs must discover where he’s
been take and rescue him.
Adventure Creation Handbook Example

Manhunt!
Idea Map

Want Verne
to help build
space ship

Verne to give
talk about space
travel
Agency
wants to
PCs work hire Verne
for agency
Substituted
Taken by cab driver
undercover
PC’s agents
organization Rescue
Who?

How? Villians spirited

Kidnapped him away
Private Who
individuals are?

Germans

Joint by who?
European
agency
Faery Chinese

Perhaps
working on behalf Nothing Dragon Why? Lock
of the crown beyond lunar Emperor knowledge
sphere
away

Faeries can’t
travel outside Doesn’t want
Earth orbit? anyone sur-
passing China
technologi-
cally

 The Adventure Creation Handbook

©2011 rpgGM.com, All rights reserved

slower than our modern jets. And travel
within cities will be either on foot, horse-
back, or in horse-drawn coaches. My players
are going to have to take travel time into
account when they make their plans, but so
will the NPCs.
What My Players Want
Now it’s time to start fleshing out the idea. The
first thing I’m going to do is figure out how to begin
fitting this idea to my PCs and the way to do that is
to think about what my players would like from this
game. If I know my players well enough, I can prob-
ably things to this idea without any trouble. But let’s
say that I’ve only playing with these players for a little
while. I know them well enough to be able to fit them
into general player types, but not enough to know
what specific types of encounters are their favorites.
My player types are:
 Margaret Evans (Storyteller): She will
want our encounters to fit into a coherent
whole.
 Fleurette d’Havalinde (Character Actor):
She will want a chance to role-play her char-
acter to bring her character’s background
into play.
 James Espy (Solver): His player will want
a puzzle to figure out and would be thrilled
at the chance to plan a attack of some kind.
 Michel-Philippe Renard (Combat Mon-
ger): He’ll want combat and lots of it.
 Ratchet (Mechanic): This player will look
forward to the chance to take something
apart, not to mention a chance to make skill
checks against his Tinkering and Repair
skills.
An Adventure Creation Example: Manhunt! 
©2011 rpgGM.com, All rights reserved
Manhunt!
I’ve finished the first part of my adventure cre-
ation. Now I have an idea to build on, as well as some
idea of the kinds of encounters or events my players
would enjoy. From here, I move onto Step Two: Ask
Questions.
Chapter Two
Ask and Answer Questions
Now I have an adventure idea, but it’s still no
where near ready for my PCs. Only the most creative
groups and most free-wheeling GMs would feel com-
fortable running the adventure at this stage. I’m rea-
sonably good at improvising while I’m GMing, but
I’m not that good. At this point I don’t even know
who kidnapped M. Verne or why or where he’s being
held. So my first step at this stage of adventure cre-
ation is to get answers to those basic questions.
I’ll start by writing down every question that
occurs to me while I’m rereading my basic adventure
idea and then, once I’ve gotten the questions written
down, I’ll go back and answer them:
 Who kidnapped Jules Verne? Otto
von Bismarck, using pirate members of
the World Crime League and help from the
Unseelie Court.
 Why? To help von Bismarck build a space
ship for Prussia
 Who hired the PCs? A organization called
the Planetary Exploration Society (PES), a
group of wealthy and educated people who
want to explore the Solar System
 Why do they want Verne? To help them
build a vessel capable of traveling to other
planets and back.
 Who are the Planetary Exploration
Society? A group of wealthy and educated
intellectuals who think the answers to
Adventure Creation Handbook Example
society’s problems are going to be found on
other worlds. They are independent of gov-
ernment and contain members from all over
New Europa and even the Americas.
 How was Verne kidnapped? Agents
of von Bismarck paid off the driver of the
handsome designated to take Verne from
his hotel to the speaking engagement. A
man waited in the coach with chloroform
to render Verne unconscious and the coach
went to the docks where von Bismarck had a
submarine waiting.
 Where is Verne now (at the beginning of
the adventure)? Still unconscious on board
the submarine and the crew prepare to take
off.
 What kind of defenses are guarding
him? Groups of Unseelie watch the roads
leading to the docks to head off any pursuit.
There are a small group of Prussian guards
watching Verne inside the vessel and a
group of Selkies loyal to the Adversary will
follow (at a safe distance) and act as escort.
 How will the PCs find out where he’s
been taken? Clues left at the scene of the
kidnapping will point toward the docks,
while the PCs will be attacked by Unseelie
on their way there. If the can, a careful in-
terrogation of the Unseelie will reveal where
Verne is.
Now that I’ve fleshed out my idea a little more,
I can add to it by writing down specific events that
would likely appeal to my players:
Events for each character:
 Margaret: The discovery of Mr. Verne’s
notes about a space ship in his rooms as well
as the chance to mingle with the PES.
 An Adventure Creation Example: Manhunt!
 Fleurette: The chance to mingle in society,
especially dealing the PES where her breed-
ing and manners will be crucial.
 Espy: Working out the plan to assail the
submarine. Can decipher the orders to take
Mr. Verne to Prussia (thereby giving Eng-
land a new Prussian code)
 Renard: Several opportunities to fight—
against the unseelie “blockers,” on-board
the submarine, perhaps even on the top
while its in motion
 Ratchet: The chance to use his mechanical
skills to gain access to the submarine, pos-
sibly the chance to learn to operate it.
That helps expand the idea more, but to really
move it from simple idea to full adventure, I turn to
the Adventure Creation Worksheet, starting on page
ws-1 in the back of the ACH. Figuring out the answers
to those questions takes my idea from generic rescue
idea to a more unique and robust rescue plot.
Worksheet answers
The Basics
Adventure name: Manhunt!
Campaign Name: Space 1869
Geographical Location: London
Start Date (real time): Will fill this in when I run
the game
Start Date (game time): Spring 1868
Concepts
Adventure Archetype: Rescue
Theme: Trust. How do you know when you should
trust someone?
Mood: Whirlwind excitement. The PCs should have
little time to catch their breath.
©2011 rpgGM.com, All rights reserved

Adventure Idea: the PCs must rescue Mr. Jules
Verne from the agents of von Bismarck before
they reach Prussia. The have five days to accom-
plish this, or France will declare war on England,
who France blames for Mr. Verne’s disappear-
ance.
Important Subplots: Potential war between Eng-
land and France, the alliance of von Bismarck and
the Unseelie court. Race to space. Von Bismarck
wanting to conquer the world.
Who
PCs Involved: See Introduction starting on pg. 3.
Important NPCs:
 Mr. Jules Verne: Writer and scientific
adviser to France
 The submarine captain
 Submarine crew
 Guards for Mr. Verne
 Group of Unseelie to try to prevent PCs
from reaching London docks and another to
try and recapture M. Verne
 Unseelie selkies who guard submarine
 The submarine captain’s English mis-
tress, who’s really a spy for England
Who wants the PCs to succeed? Why?: The PES
wants them to succeed so they can try to employ
Mr. Verne. The English crown wants them to suc-
ceed because they want to prove they had no part
in kidnapping Mr. Verne, The French govern-
ment wants them to succeed because they want
their minister. And neither country really wants
to go to war.
Who wants the PCs to fail? Why?: Otto von
Bismarck wants them to fail. He wants Verne to
build rocket missiles that will allow him to bomb
France and England from a distance. He also
wants France and England to go to war as a dis-
traction so that the world’s eyes will turn away
An Adventure Creation Example: Manhunt! 
©2011 rpgGM.com, All rights reserved
Manhunt!
from him and his plans for awhile. The World
Crime League also wants them to fail so that it can
have Verne and hopefully, then, a space ship.
What
The Goal: Rescue Jules Verne from the forces of
von Bismarck and take him to the nearest French
consulate.
Key Events:
 PCs attempt to see Mr. Verne and watch his
coach riding away at top speed towards the
docks.
 PCs are contacted by PES and offered em-
ployment
 PCs encounter a fight on the way to the
submarine
 PCs pursue Verne to the submarine
 PCs get on board the submarine
 PCs find Mr. Verne
 PCs escape with Mr. Verne from the subma-
rine and return him to the French consulate
 What special items (if any) do the PCs need
to complete their goal? None
What maps do you need?
 London with the route from the hotel to the
submarine worked out
 Deck plans of the submarine
 The North Sea route that the submarine will
take to return to Prussia
What props do you need?
 Orders from von Bismarck to capture Mr.
Verne
 Navigation charts showing the submarine
route from London to Prussia
When
Time Frame (Does this adventure have a dead-
line?): Yes, the PCs have overnight to find and res-
Adventure Creation Handbook Example
cue Mr. Verne while the submarine captain passes
the night with his English mistress (secretly an
English secret agent and how England knows
about the submarine).
What happens if the PCs miss the deadline?
Mr. Verne is taken to Prussia (unless the PCs can
capture the sub mid-route) and disappears.
What season does the adventure take place
in? It’s not important. I’ll say “spring”, since I
don’t want to deal with weather issues.
Where
Starting Location: Mr. Verne’s hotel in London
Ending Location: The French Consulate
Other Important Locations:
 Where the submarine is docked on the
Thames
 The submarine itself,
 The PES building,
 The North Sea and Inland Sea.
 Mr Verne’s rooms in the English hotel
What information do the PCs need to know
about these locations?
 That Verne did not check out of his hotel,
but that he hasn’t been back and has left his
things.
 Where the submarine is docked and its
layout, especially where Mr. Verne is being
kept on-board.
 The underwater route the submarine is tak-
ing to get to Prussia.
Why
Why does this adventure need to happen? It’s
the beginning adventure of the campaign. Sets
the tone and goals of the campaign (to travel to
Outer Space).
Why are the PCs the ones to do it? Because
10 An Adventure Creation Example: Manhunt!
they’re unknown to von Bismarck. They’re also
expendable and each has a personal reason for
seeking out Mr. Verne
Why would the PCs undertake this adven-
ture?
 The group: because they’re paid to do so
 Margaret: Wants to join PES and this is
a way to prove her merit. She also wished
to interview Verne for her newest book-in-
progress “Of Miracles and Moon-Men”
 Espy: Ordered to do so by the Crown and
he’s extremely loyal to the Crown
 Fleurette: Wanted to speak to Verne, since
she discovered while on visiting friends in
England, that he was one of the last people
to see her husband
 Renard: Ordered by the French govern-
ment. Also, he’s a member of the same Or-
der as Fleurette’s husband, who apparently
had a valuable magickal tome in his pos-
session when he disappeared. So wherever
Fleurette goes, Renard goes.
 Ratchet: Seeking employment with Mr.
Verne and also wanted to talk with him
about building a space ship.
What are the rewards for success? Monetary,
membership in the PES, the gratitude of both
England and France, as well as Mr. Verne him-
self. The possibility of being members of the crew
of the first space ship.
What are the consequences of failure? Disfa-
vor with the French and English governments,
loss of reward money, von Bismarck eventually
gets his steered rockets
How
How might the PCs achieve their goal? One way
would be for the PCs to use detective-style work
©2011 rpgGM.com, All rights reserved

to find out that Verne was taken to the ship (they
could make contact with the Captain’s mistress),
fight their way onto the ship, locate Verne, then
fight their way out and make a run to the French
Consulate.
Plot Details
Opening
PCs individually try to visit Mr. Verne at his hotel
rooms, only to find the place crawling with govern-
ment agents who, in turn, question the PCs about
their reasons for seeking Mr. Verne.
Opening Location: The hotel Verne is staying at.
NPCs: Government officials, the head of the investi-
gation, police agents, hotel staff, the concierge
Ending
PCs bring Mr. Verne to the French consulate.
Ending Location: the French consulate
NPCs: consulate head, employees, and staff, Mr.
Verne
Midpoints
PCs questioned by lead investigator, hired to
work as a team, investigate Verne’s rooms, learn
about the submarine, get information from the sub
captain’s mistress, find the submarine, enter it and
rescue Mr. Verne.
Midpoint locations: investigation headquarters at
PES building across the street from Mr. Verne’s
hotel, submarine location in the Thames, cap-
tain’s mistress’ rooms, the submarine
NPCs: the mistress, the captain, crew of submarine,
faerie bullies who try to dissuade PCs from fol-
lowing trail, guards for Mr. Verne.
Look at the amount of information I have about
my adventure now! At this point, my adventure idea
is so much more than a variant of the classic “Save
the princess” story. Now that I know the ins and
An Adventure Creation Example: Manhunt! 11
©2011 rpgGM.com, All rights reserved
Manhunt!
outs, the whys and wherefores of my adventure, I can
begin converting those ideas into actual events and
encounters the PCs will play through.
Chapter Three
Build Adventure Events
A
t this stage, I need to go back over all the
answers I gave to all the questions above. What
events would lead the PCs to the information
they need to complete the mission. Sure, some NPC
could simply tell them what they need to know, that
would take all the fun out the adventure.
Here’s the list of events I came up with:
 Encounter English police
 Meet representatives of PES
 Get hired by PES
 Investigate Verne’s hotel rooms
 Investigate Captain’s mistress
 Unseelie attack
 Investigate waterfront
 Find submarine
 Capture member of sub’s crew or the cap-
tain himself
 Get onboard Submarine
 Find Verne
 Take out Verne’s guards
 Get out of submarine
 Go to French consulate
 Interrogated by consulate personnel. Verne
vouches for PCs.
I also want to include the chances for random
encounters while the PCs are exploring the city. For
that, I’ll use a random encounter table I designed for
generic city adventures, updating it for the time peri-
od and the location. See the sidebar on the next two
pages for the random encounters table. I’ll figure out
 Adventure Creation Handbook Example Manhunt!

Random Encounter Tables

1 . A young flower girl (around eight years old)approaches the PCs to buy some of her flowers.
She tells the PCs that her dad is watching from a nearby corner and if the PCs don’t buy
a flower from her, he’ll beat her for coming back empty-handed. If the PCs try to send her
away without any money, they will encounter her again with a black eye and several nasty
brusies.
2 . A man walking his dog loses control of the animal, which immediately runs off into the
nearest crowd of people, barking and snarling.
3 . A small girl asks the party to help her find her lost kitten.
4 . The PCs turn down a side street whose only outlets are at either end. Two horse–drawn
cabs enter, one from each side. Neither party will back up to let the other pass and the
situation degenerates into a fist fight between the two cabbies, with the characters in the
middle.
5 . A man obviously in a hurry comes up to the PCs and asks directions to the train station. If
the PCs know where it is and tell him, he’ll give them some money as a tip. A few moments
later, they hear the sound of police whistles and four or five police officers ask the PCs if
they’ve seen the man in question, who had just robbed a bank.
6 . A small child (age five or six) jumps out of an upper-story window. The PCs should have a
chance to save her from harm. If questioned, she will tell them that she was trying to prove
to her friends that she could fly.
7 . One of the PCs trips make–shift fruit stand that sends him sprawling into the street. Fruit
rolls everywhere into the street or park area, where they’re quickly gathered up by nearby
beggar children. The stall owner demands the PCs pay for the broken stand and the lost
produce.
8 . The PCs pass a house where a man throws a suitcase of women’s clothes into the street,
then pushes a very young woman out the door, calling her a whore, among other nasty
names. If the PCs question her, she’ll tell them that her father has just disowned her for
being “with child”.
9 . In a very public place, a woman announces that one of the PCs is the father of her child.
It’s up to you to decide if it’s true or not, or if any of the party members have even seen the
woman before.
10 . One of the PCs is a dead ringer for a local prominient business man who is also a gambler.
Less than savory men stop the PC and demand that he settle his debts. Have the PC make
a charisma, fast-talk, or diplomacy check (or other such skill) to see if the creditor believes
that he’s got the wrong man.

12 The Adventure Creation Handbook

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 Manhunt!

11 . The PCs are approached by two young women who demand the PCs decide which one of
them is the prettier of the two. This is a no-win situation for the PCs. The “loser” will walk off
in a huff. The PCs will later discover she’s a shop-girl or waitress at someplace they need to
buy something or order a meal. She will do what she can to make the experience as difficult
as possible for the PCs.
12 . One of the PC is accused of rigging a “friendly” game of cards. The blaming NPC demands
a duel to settle the “matter of honor”.
13 . One or more of the PCs mounts or vehicles are impounded by the “local constabulary”..
They claim the PCs did not obtain the proper permits and must pay a fine to recover their
lost transportation. The permit is fictitious — as are the “constables”. They’re actually con
artists who prey on people new to town.
14 . The PCs come across a beggar child who’s only parent has just died. The city will not help
the child (“If we aided one, we’d have to aid all of them and we just don’t have the resourc-
es do that.”)
15 . A horse or working aid animal takes an instant dislike to one of the PCs and will attempt to
bite or kick the PC every time they cross paths.
16 . The PCs hear sounds of brawl inside a nearby pub. Next, a child runs out of the pub and
begs the PCs to come help because “they’re going to kill each other.”
17 . A child thief cuts a hole in one of the PC’s purses or other bag. Make a hidden roll to see if
the PC notices. If not, she’ll be leaking small items from her bag until she either notices or
there’s nothing left that will fit through the hole.
18 . A street artist sets his or her sights on one of the PCs and begins to follow him around, try-
ing to woo him. You can make this as humorous (a harmless youth) or as serious (a stalker)
as you like.
19 . A pet or small child becomes attached to one of the PCs and follows him around every-
where. If taken home, the pet/child escapes and seems to be able to find the PC, no matter
where he is in town. This can be either very funny or very creepy, depending on how you
handled it.
20 . The PCs are roped into witnessing the marriage of a young couple who have eloped.

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Adventure Creation Handbook Example
mechanics of it (such as how often to check for ran-
dom events) after I’ve completed the adventure plot.
That gives me a list of possible events, but I want
to make sure I’m not leaving out something really
important, so I’ll do an event tree (see pg. 14). This is
also the point where I go back over my list of events
for each PC and make sure they fit in with the adven-
ture as it’s taking shape:
 Margaret: The discovery of Mr. Verne’s
notes about a space ship in his rooms. If she
returns those notes to him, he will invite
her to attend a very private meeting he
has scheduled with the PES and allow her
the chance to ask questions to her heart’s
delight.
 Fleurette: She will be able to use her social
skills to get more information out of the
Captain’s mistress. We can also have her
turn the captain’s head and she could be
very useful in distracting the captain so that
the PCs can get into the submarine. Because
Fleurette’s player is a Character Actor, I’ll
play on role-playing this scene, rather than
making it a skill-check.
 Espy: will have a chance to form a plan-of-
attack for getting into the submarine and
getting themselves with M. Verne out of it.
Also, I’ll create the captain’s orders using
a substitution cipher, which will give this
player a chance to actually puzzle out some-
thing.
 Renard: Several opportunities to fight—
against the unseelie “blockers,” on-board
the submarine, perhaps even on the top
while its in motion. We can add yet an-
other combat by having the PCs pursued by
another group of Unseelie who are trying to
recover M. Verne.
14 An Adventure Creation Example: Manhunt!
 Ratchet: There’s a good chance he’ll be
able to make a mechanical skill check to
get the submarine’s hatch open. If the PCs
choose to, they could try to take over the
submarine and Ratchet’s player will then be
able to use his skills to try and operate the
sub. To help ensure he’ll get a chance to use
those skills, I’ll give any reasonable proposal
the PCs have to take over the sub a chance
of working.
Now that I’ve worked out what events I’ll be using,
it’s time to put them in order. I can either order them
by location or by time. Since this is a rather linear
plot where events are triggered by what happens
when, rather than by where the PCs go, I’ll put them
in a temporal sequence:
I. PC’s go to Verne and his hotel
 They get picked up by the police individually
and questioned about their presence and
motives
 As the PCs leave the hotel room law enforce-
ment are using, they’re invited to a meeting
by the PES
 The PES hire the PCs to work as a team
to find Verne. They tell the PCs about the
presence of a submarine, its captain and his
mistress.
II. PCs pursue leads
 Investigate Verne’s hotel room. Find notes
about space ship ideas, signs of struggle, but-
ton from Prussian seaman’s coat.
 Go see mistress. Find out sub is shipping out
at daybreak, the captain is coming to see her.
If really persuasive, she will give them a copy
of the captain’s orders she stole from his coat.
 PCs can try to break code or find someone
else able and willing to do it.
©2011 rpgGM.com, All rights reserved
 Manhunt!

Manhunt!
Verne Event Tree
arrives at
French con- Unseelie
sulate attack to
recover
Verne

PCs get
Verne out
of the sub PCs over-
come or
escape
guards PCs must
find Verne
in sub

PCs enter
sub
? Capture
unseelie
attacker
Interrogate
PCs find
captive
sub
Unseelie
Attack to
Follow deter PCs
member of Interrogate
crew captain

Capture
Find sub captain
crew
members
Find
captain
PCs PCs visit
investigate mistress
docks Investigate
Verne’s
room
PES hires PCs visit
characters Verne’s
hotel

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©2011 rpgGM.com, All rights reserved
Adventure Creation Handbook Example
 Look for submarine. Can find Prussian sea-
men in pub near the docks.
 While pursuing leads, will be attacked by
Unseelie who were watching the mistress. If
they find proof of mistresses treachery, they
will kidnap her, as well.
III. Get to Submarine
 Fight or circumvent the five guards
 Find a way to open the hatch or get someone
inside to open the hatch
IV. Get inside the submarine
 Find Verne inside the submarine
 Fight off Verne’s military guards (two out-
side the door where they’re keeping him,
one inside)
 Fighting will attract attention of other sea-
men on board. Will bring 2-6 seamen to
investigate
 If the NPCs also kidnapped the captain’s
mistress, then she will be in with Verne until
the captain returns.
V. Get out of ship
 Head for the nearest French consulate.
 Group will be pursued by some unseelie
forces
VI. At the French consulate
 Pursuers will break off
 PCs will gain monetary reward and will be
invited to join the PES.
Now I’ll take the above outline and put it into a
flow chart format (see pg. 16).
Chapter Four
Write the Adventure
S
ince I’m comfortable running from a flow-
chart, I don’t feel a need to write the adventure
out in any more detail than that. If I were a less-
16 An Adventure Creation Example: Manhunt!
experienced GM or if I were writing this adventure
for someone else to run, I’d write out full descriptions
of each location and encounter. At this point, it’s time
for me to I decide which rules system I’ll use to run
it (you can actually decide this at any step along the
way).
Then I’ll flesh out the NPCs in terms of stats and
other mechanics-related information. I’ll also look
over my events so I can figure out if I’m going to
familiarize myself with game mechanics I don’t nec-
essarily use on a regular basis.
Appendix A
Running the Adventure
W
hen I finally run this adventure, I’ll make
notes of what the PCs actually do when they
play through it. That’s because my players
are likely to come up with great solutions and ideas I
never thought of and I can add these to the “official”
version of this adventure.
If I were going to publish this adventure or even
run it as a convention game, I’d play-test it. Since
this is just for my regular group (who would be the
play-testers anyway), I don’t feel I need to go into
any more detail than I have. But I still take extensive
notes, in case I do decide to run it again later.
Conclusion
T
here you have it: one adventure from idea to
outline. I would love to hear your experiences
using this method of adventure creation, good or
bad. It’s always nice to receive positive feedback and
negative feedback can help me improve this product.
You can leave a comment on this product’s web page, or
you can drop me a private e-mail at jade@rpggm.com.
©2011 rpgGM.com, All rights reserved
 Manhunt!

PCs try to visit Verne

Manhunt! at hotel
Flowchart
PCs questioned by
police

PES tells them about accept decline

PCs contacted by
Prussian sub and Find sailor button
PES and offered job
mistress

Investigate Verne’s Search docks for

Talk to Mistress
hotel room Prussian sailors

Get copy orders from Capture Sailor and

Unseelie attack PCs
von Bismarck interrogate

Capture and inter-

Capture and
Follow captain rogate unseelie
interrogate
attacker
captain
?

Unseelie Kidnap
Find submarine
mistress

Get onboard sub

Find mistress Find Verne

Fight way out of

? sub

2nd unseelie attack

to recover Verne

Take Verne to
French consulate

The Adventure Creation Handbook 17

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