ADVENTURE # 97

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
Character
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.
Clear Name
The name of one of the characters or an NPC has been sullied and the characters must clear it. The characters must
find out a) why the name has been smeared, b) who is responsible, and c) why the responsible party is doing it; then
they must find evidence to convince everyone they're telling the truth.
Hero Offended
Someone greatly offends the hero, so much so that he'll pursue his offender right into the adventure. (Note that this
usually means that the offender is a minion of the Master Villain. You'll have to decide whether the minion offended
the hero precisely to bring him into the adventure or just as a side-effect of his ordinary villain activities.)
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.
Divine Retribution
Here, the heroes' goal has been to alert the gods that the Master Villain threatens them or their plans; in the last
scenes of the adventure, as our heroes face an overwhelming enemy force, the gods bring down their divine
retribution on the villain, causing a massive earthquake, tidal wave, lightning storm, or flood of monsters. This is all
well and good, but the heroes are too close and must escape the fringe effects of this awesome disaster. A variant on
this is the Natural Disaster. No gods are actually involved, but the Master Villain has been tampering with the
delicate forces of nature. He may, for instance, have been powering his master spell with the energies of a volcano.
When the heroes attack the scene of his spellcasting, the spell goes out of control and so does the volcano. The
villain is consumed in the eruption and the heroes must escape or be consumed themselves.
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.
Lost City
This is the remnant of some lost civilization or expedition, still thriving in some forgotten corner of the world.
Remnants of lost civilizations can even inhabit cavern systems beneath campaign cities, preying on the aboveworlders for their goods, slaves, and sacrifices.
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.
Organizer
This Master Villain is the head of the local criminal syndicate -- the Thieve's Guild or slaver ring, for instance. He's
cold-hearted and unsympathetic, and human life means nothing to him. He employs assassins and musclemen
against the heroes, and can only be reasoned with when it's going to profit him more to cooperate with the heroes
than kill them.
Moronic Muscleman
This fellow is a huge, powerful monster of a fighter. His job is to smash anything the villain tells him to smash. He
does that very well, but don't ask him to do any thinking; he has no time for such brainy stuff.
Hard-Eyed Advisor
This is the sort of villain whom the heroes see in the Master Villain's throne room. He's hard-eyed and scary; life
means nothing to him and he enjoys killing. He's also a good advisor to his master.
Merry Minstrel
This character follows the heroes in order that he might find inspiration for his song and storytelling. He can't be
shut up; he sings all the day long and into the night, is a showoff before crowds, and is far too noisy for a party
trying to remain unobserved.
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.
New Enemy
In the course of his ordinary activies, one of the heroes can make a New Enemy. Hurrying along the street, he can
bump into a disagreeable fighter for whom an apology isn't enough; in a tavern, he can make some innocuous

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.
Pit and the Pendulum
Actually, we're applying this term to any of many time-delay deathtraps. In this sort of trap, the villains capture the
Deathtrap
heroes and place them in a trap which will soon kill them -- it operates on a delay, often based on a timing device or
a burning fuse.
Aerial
The heroes could be riding pegasi or friendly griffons or allied great eagles; the villains could be carried aloft by
Chase
gargoyles or demons. The prospect of taking a mile-long fall if one's mount is hit is a very daunting and challenging
one for the hero.
Innocent Fulfills Prophecy
Omen/Prophesy An innocent could fulfill a prophecy -- one which endangers his/her life. This innocent might, for instance, be the
one who is supposed to slay the king, but is not a mighty adventurer able to protect himself from the king; the heroes
may find themselves sheltering and helping this poor dupe.
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.
Omnipresent Observer
If a wizard, demigod or god has forced the heroes to undertake this quest, he may be with them continually -- in
Special
spirit. He can't help them, but does magically watch everything they do. And when they do something he doesn't
Condition
like, he tells them about it -- loudly and nastily. (This is distressing when they're trying to break into a fortress or
sneak through enemy lines.)
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.
NPC Turns Traitor
Cruel Trick He may alert he enemy when the heroes are planning a raid; he may steal the artifact and take it to the villain; he
may stab a hero or important NPC in the back (literally) before departing.