Adventure #283

Theme

Goal

Story Hook

Plot

Climax

General Setting

Specific Setting I

Specific Setting
II

Master Villain

Minor Villain I

Minor Villain II

Ally/Neutral
Monster
Encounter

Comedy
This adventure is fun for fun's sake. Its basic purpose is to provide humorous entertainment with a minimum of
actual danger or tragedy.
Thwart Monstrous Plan
This is a classic fantasy-adventure plot: The characters learn of some horrible plan made by a monstrous enemy,
and must thwart it before the kingdom is lost or the world is destroyed. This is an epic goal, and usually requires
that the characters go to all sorts of places, rounding up allies and artifacts, before being strong enough to face their
enemy.
Mistaken Identity
The hero could be mistaken by one villain for another villain involved in the master plot. This has good comic
potential if the hero and missing villain are in fact so similar that no one can tell them apart. (This is even more fun
if they turn out to be long-lost twins.)
Geographic Progression
This is the simplest sort of adventure plot. The heroes have an area to investigate or travel through; they have
encounters based on where they are. For instance, the traditional dungeon, where monsters are tied to specific
rooms or areas. Or, if the heroes are travelling along a narrow valley or through an enchanted forest, they might
suffer ambushes and other encounters fixed to various points along their travel plan. The plot, then, is getting to the
villain by surviving the intervening obstacle encounters.
Scattered Duels
In this climax, the heroes have gotten to the end of their quest -- they may have broken into, sneaked into, or
escaped from imprisonment within the villain's citadel, or have marched into the little town where the villain is
holed up -- and they become separated. You can separate them by having traps and tricks break the party apart, by
having them see two or three things they must resolve (such as danger to innocents or the appearance of minion
villains) pop up simultaneously; they'll have to run in all directions at the same time or suffer failure. Once the
party is broken down into bite-sized chunks, you confront each individual or small group with the enemy or
enemies he most deserves to face -- his personal enemy, the monster which defeated him before, etc. -- for a grand
series of climactic duels.
Cosmopolitan City
Most of the story takes place in a large, sophisticated city; center the villain's plot and activities around that city.
This setting is best suited to adventures involving more people than monsters; most of your villains should be
human or demi-human.
Military Encampment
This is best used in an episode involving warfare; it could be the good-guy army's encampment, from which the
heroes launch their adventures, or the villains' encampment, in which case the heroes might have to sneak in on a
mission or escape from it if they're captured.
Caves of Magical Folk
These can be either beautiful, glittering homes of gorgeous magical peoples, or the dank and terrifying lairs of
horrible monsters.
God of Chance
Here you have two options. This Master Villain could be a real entity -- an actual god of mischief or silliness, who
has intruded in the heroes' lives to cause chaos and have fun. Alternatively, this "villain" could actually be pure
chance: The heroes are having a series of unrelated, accidental encounters which cause them fits. No real single
villain is involved, although initially it looks as though there is.
Avenger
This character is much like the Master Villain of the same name, but he's not in charge of all this villainy, and he's
definitely an enemy of one of the player-characters. You'll have to decide who he is and why he hates one of the
heroes; he could be anything from a recurring villain to someone who simply lost a fight to the hero once.
Avenger
This character is much like the Master Villain of the same name, but he's not in charge of all this villainy, and he's
definitely an enemy of one of the player-characters. You'll have to decide who he is and why he hates one of the
heroes; he could be anything from a recurring villain to someone who simply lost a fight to the hero once.
Inquisitive Chronicler
This character is a historian who wishes to accompany the heroes to record their exploits. He constantly pries into
the heroes' backgrounds, asking questions that are none of his business, as the adventure continues.
Nocturnal Predator
This is a classic monster encounter; the arrival of a hungry carnivore in the middle of the night. Usually, this attack

happens to heroes camping between villages or out in the deep wilderness; a wild animal, attracted by food odors
(from the heroes' campfire or from the heroes themselves) sneaks in for a bite.
New Enemy
In the course of his ordinary activies, one of the heroes can make a New Enemy. Hurrying along the street, he can
Character
bump into a disagreeable fighter for whom an apology isn't enough; in a tavern, he can make some innocuous
Encounter
remark that you deliberately have the irritable fellow misconstrue as an insult. The New Enemy will only exchange
heated words with the hero at this point, but will appear again later in the adventure and will eventually have to
fight the hero.
Tomb Deathtraps
Another classic type of trap is the sort of triggered trap left behind in abandoned tombs, ruins, and catacombs.
Deathtrap
Here, a hero who touches the wrong step, floor tile, wall brick, torch bracket, mounted gemstone, or other device
will trigger some sort of ancient trap designed to kill tomb-robbers and intruders.
Footrace
The chase involves the characters on foot, probably through such terrain as city streets or the corridors of a palace.
Chase
One hero may realize that the's being pursued by a party of enemies and choose to run for it; the heroes may have
caught up to the Master Villain, prompting him to run for his life.
Hero Fulfills Prophecy
Omen/Prophesy This is the most useful sort of prophecy. In the early part of the adventure, one of the heroes discovers that he
fulfills some ancient prophecy.
Holy Symbol
The villain may have the traditional weakness to a specific holy symbol -- but don't choose just an ordinary one. It
Secret Weakness may be a holly symbol no longer used by the church, or may be some forgotten variation of the current symbol.
(For instance, the cross may not work, but a variation -- such as the Roman cross -- might; alternatively, it might
have to be a holy symbol which has undergone some unfamiliar ritual.)
Magic Doesn't Work Right
Special
If the adventure is taking place on an alternate plane, then that plane's magic works oddly or not at all. (A
Condition
spellcaster will find that just making himself useful is a challenge when none of his spells works.)
Saving Quandry
Moral Quandry Finally, another classic quandry puts the heroes in the position of choosing between a grand opportunity to hurt the
Master Villain -- or saving the lives of a number of individuals.
Lying Rumor
Red Herring This is the worst and most useful type of red herring -- the interesting rumor which just happens to be false. In
adventures of this sort, the best Lying Rumor concerns the Master Villain; it gives the heroes some "important"
information about him which later turns out to be useless.
Villain is Related to Hero
In this very irritating complication, one of the heroes discovers that the Master Villain is related to him. The villain
Cruel Trick
might be his long-lost father or twin; perhaps this relative is not long-lost after all, but has secretly been a Master
Villain for years, and only now has the hero discovered it.

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