Adventure #291

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

Espionage
Espionage adventures are active, grim scenarios involving spying and perhaps other cloak-and-dagger deeds such
as assassination or rescue.
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.
Missing Memories
One or more of the PCs wakes up with no memory of the recent past, and now they find themselves in some kind
of trouble they don't understand. The PCs must find the reason for the memory lapse, and solve any problems they
uncover in the meantime.
A-B-C Quest
This is an epic sort of plot. In it, the heros are given (or undertake) a task to perform: The taking of a city, the
rescue of an innocent, the destruction of a monster, the creation of a magical item, the defeat of a Master Villain,
etc. But the path to victory is not a simple one. To get to their goal, Event A, they find that they must first
accomplish some other task -- Event B. But when they undertake the task of accomplishing Event B, they find that
they must first accomplish Event C. This goes on for several encounters, until the heroes accomplish all the
obstacle events which prevent them from returning to Event A, their original goal.
Prevented Deed
Here, the heroes have been defeated -- captured by the Master Villain, or so thoroughly cut up by his minions that
all believe them to be dead. And the heroes have learned, from the bragging of the villain, loose talk of his
minions, or examination of clues, what is the crucial event of his master plan. In any case, the battered and bruised
heroes must race to this site and have their final confrontation with the villain, bursting in on him and his minions
just as the knife or final word or key is poised, and prevent the awful deed from taking place -- and, incidentally,
defeat the master villain and minions who beat them previously.
On the Road
Most of the adventure takes place on the road, as the heroes are travelling from place to place. This is especially
good for adventures where heroes are investigating a wide-ranging mystery, are part of a caravan, or are being
pursued by loathesome villains.
Classic Dungeon
This would be the standard monster-filled labyrinth; perhaps it's a nesting ground for the master villain's monster
troops.
Classic Dungeon
This would be the standard monster-filled labyrinth; perhaps it's a nesting ground for the master villain's monster
troops.
Corruptor
The Corruptor is the villain who wants to make something nasty out of something that is currently nice. He may be
working on a small scale -- i.e., wish to corrupt one character or a few characters, particularly PCs and their
favorite NPCs. Alternatively, he may be a big-scale villain trying to change an entire city or nation into a jaded,
debased pit of sin, hatred and death.
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.
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.
Romantic Loony
Somewhere, the heroes bump into a lunatic who falls immediately in love with a player-character and won't leave
him or her alone. This character may be a love-smitten village lass or nebbishy adventurer. Whatever the origin,
this character must be hopelessly in love with the character but have some trait which keeps the character from
reciprocating; perhaps the loony is too plain, too crazed, or too stupid. Whatever, he or she really is sincere in his
affection for the character.
King Beast
At some point in their adventure, the heroes run across a King Beast -- some enormous, intelligent monster (which
speaks the Common tongue) which is the leader of its species. Perhaps it needs help; if the heroes help it they'll

earn themselves a favor which the King Beast will repay at some later time in the adventure. Perhaps the heroes are
in deadly danger and need help; the King Beast can be persuaded to help, but only in return for a deed or favor in
the future.
Bandit Gang
When the heroes are en route from one place to another, have them run across one of the local bandit gangs. The
Character
bandits are faster and far more numerous than the heroes. But the bandits stay back. Basically, they're bandits who
Encounter
admire courage and prowess, and the bandit leader will challenge one or all of the heroes to a test of bravery or
ability -- such as a horserace, a duel, a wrestling match, a joust, an arm-wrestling match where scorpions sting the
loser, etc.
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.
Special Terrain
You can make any chase more memorable by having it take place in a setting to which it is utterly unsuited. For
Chase
instance, horse chases are fine and dramatic when they take place through the forest, out in the open plains, or
along a road -- but they become diabolical when they take place inside the Royal Palace or in dangerous,
labrynthine, treacherous catacombs.
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.
Lack of Familiarity
Secret Weakness The Master Villain, if he comes from the past or another dimension, or belongs to an alien race, might be
sufficiently unfamiliar with this world that he essentially defeats himself. How? By making incorrect guesses about
human behaviour. One classic error involves underestimating the human capacity for self-sacrifice.
No Hurting the Villain
Special
For some reason, the heroes cannot afford to fight the villain directly. For instance, what if a demon possesses the
Condition
body of the child of one of the characters, or a very important child spoken of in prophecy, one without whom the
world will perish?
Honor Quandry
You want to use this on the character with the most strongly developed sense of personal honor -- someone who
has
lived all his life by a strict code. Toward the end of the adventure, this character realizes that the best way to
Moral Quandry
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.
False Path to the Artifact
Once again, if the heroes have had too easy a time finding the artifact capable of destroying the villain, give them
Red Herring trouble this way: When they get to the place where the artifact is supposed to be contained, they find the coffer or
chamber or whatever empty, obviously looted by robbers, who have scrawled such remarks as "Kelrog was here!"
upon the walls.
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.