ADVENTURE # 95

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

Horror
This type of adventure is designed to scare both the characters and the players. Just having a monster attack is not
enough for a horror theme; the monster must first frighten the characters.
Gain Money
The heroes are intent on acquiring a fee or treasure. If it's a fee, you may wish to roll again on this page to learn the
patron's goal. If it's a treasure, pay attention to the Settings section, which will dictate where the treasure is, if not
who owns it.
Old Enemy
This is a straightforward story hook; the hero learns that his oldest enemy is back and is very active in the campaign,
up to something. The hero will naturally want to investigate and will walk right into the story.
Event
For this plot, choose some sort of event -- a tournament, a holiday, a celebration called by the king, a masked ball, or
whatever -- and set the commencement of the Master Villain's plan against that backdrop.
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.
On the Sea
Most of the action occurs on the sea -- the heroes are shipborne for some reason, docking in lots of ports. Again, this
is good for adventures where the heroes are investigating clues left all over the map, are part of some trading
enterprise, or are being pursued by villains.
Laboratory
This can be alchemical lab of a friendly wizard, or the horrible experimental chamber of the villain where new
monsters are created and relased upon the world.
Legendary Forest
This classic adventure site is the sometimes dark and fearsom, sometimes light and cheerful, always magical and
incomprehensible forest inhabited by the oldest elven trives and most terrifying monsters.
Sufferer
This Master Villain disguises himself as some other sort of villain. Long ago, he was given an ugly curse -- he longs
for death but can never die unless slain by heroes unaware of his curse. (Naturally, the way the curse works, he has
to defend himself when attacked by the heroes.) So this villain works hard to make sure the best heroes in the world
have sufficient cause to want to come and kill him. He'll insult them, ruin them, kidnap or murder their loved ones,
whatever it takes to bring them against him. Often, he can only die -- his curse can only be undone -- in one specific
holy place, so he'll have to lure the heroes to that place to face him. If the heroes are doing research on the villain all
this time, they may find out his secret, leading to a sad and painful end to the episode as the unkillable villain has to
leave and find someone new to kill him.
Childhood Friend with a Dark Secret
This Minor Villain is like the character of the same name from the Allies and Neutrals section. However, the heroes
find out early on that he's really working for the Master Villain. He may not wish to be helping the villains; his
family may be held hostage, or he may just be too frightened of the villain or otherwise weak-willed to refuse.
Alternatively, he could actually be evil now.
Single-Minded Soldier
This most trustworthy of villain minions is the experienced, competent, persistent soldier -- a field-trained officer
who serves the villain with military precision. He is usually encountered in the field as leader of the villain's field
operations. He is not encountered directly until the middle of or the latter part of the adventure; until then, the heroes
encounter only his subordinates.
Government Observer
For some reason, the heroes' ruler wants one of his own people accompanying them. Whatever the reason, the
heroes are now stuck with a haughty, self-important royal observer, an expert in (probably) military tactics or
espionage. He continually offers unwanted advice and tends to get the heroes into trouble by pulling rank whenever
he's not satisfied.
Foreshadowing Monster
With this monster encounter, combat may not be necessary. This monster encounter exists to alert the characters to

the fact that something unusual is going on, a foreshadowing of their upcoming conflicts with the Master Villain.
Seducer
One of the characters is invited to a romantic liaison with an attractive local. This local can just be interested in a
Character
brief
tryst, could fall madly in love with the hero and follow the hero through the rest of the adventure, could be a
Encounter
Loving Deceiver monster encounter, could be a thief and rob the hero blind, or could be a spy or assassin working
for the Master Villain.
Demolition Zone
Deathtrap
In this classic deathtrap, the heroes are placed (usually bound and weaponless) in some building or area just as it's
due to be destroyed.
Endurance
The Endurance Chase is not some sort of climactic chase -- it's a rugged, tiring, persistent pursuit that tests the
Chase
characters to their limits. In this chase, the heroes and villains are pursuing one another across a lot of territory and
they're not catching up with one another very fast. This may be a horseback pursuit across a hundred miles of
savannah, a camel chase across several days' worth of desert, or a chase across arctic tundra.
Birthmark
Omen/Prophesy One of the heroes has a birthmark that pertains to the adventure in some way. He may have a birthmark identical to
some NPC -- for instance, some person endangered by the Master Villain. This mystery can give the hero his reason
to become involved. Alternatively, his birthmark may mark him as a hero fulfilling some ancient prophecy.
Love
The Master Villain possesses the "weakness" of genuine affection or love -- probably for some NPC, though it could
Secret Weakness be very intriguing if the object of his affections is a player-character. The heroes can then defeat the villain by
holding his loved one hostage, or proving that his loved one will be seriously harmed, betrayed, or killed if the
villain keeps up with his activity.
Time Limit
Finally, the most obvious condition to place on an adventure is to give it a time limit. If the Master Villain is going
Special
to conclude his evil spell in only three days, and his citadel is three hard days' riding away, then the heroes are going
Condition
to be on the go all throughout the adventure -- with little time to rest, plan, gather allies, or anything except get to
where they're going.
Honor Quandry
You want to use this on the character with the most strongly developed sense of personal honor -- someone who has
Moral Quandry lived all his life by a strict code. Toward the end of the adventure, this character realizes that the best way to defeat
the Master Villain is a violation of that code. For instance, the character might be a paladin, who discovers that the
only possible way for the heroes to defeat the Master Villain is to sneak up on him and stab him in the back.
Lying Rumor
This
is the worst and most useful type of red herring -- the interesting rumor which just happens to be false. In
Red Herring
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.
Wanted by the Law
Cruel Trick One final complication, one which occurs pretty frequently, is when the heroes are wanted by the law. When they're
wanted by the law, they have to travel in secret and very limited in the resources they can acquire.