Adventure #63

Action/Adventure
This is the most common and straightforward sort of adventure there is. In the Action/Adventure scenario, you
Theme
present your characters with a task and then confront them with obstacles to overcome in order to accomplish the
task successfully.
Survive Environment
The characters could end up in a hostile environment which they must cross -- a desert, a jungle, or other hostile
Goal
setting. In the course of the adventure they'll need to find food and water, resist the elements, and perhaps fight off
attacks of the natives.
Dying Delivery
Story Hook
On some occassion when the hero is out wandering the streets or is otherwise all alone, a dying man bumbs into
him, hands him something, says a few words, and dies.
Event
Plot
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.
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
Climax
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.
Exotic Distant Land
General Setting The adventure will take the heroes to some fascinating and exotic distant country, where they'll have to cope with
new customs, monsters unfamiliar to them, and very colorful NPC encounters; choose one of the more fascinating
foreign lands from your campaign world.
Temple/Church
Specific Setting I This can be either the church of some lofty and good diety, or the dark and grisly temple of some horrid deity
(doubtless filled with evil soldiers and monsters), or even the temple that the madman villain has dedicated to
himself for when he becomes a god.
Palace of the King
Specific Setting The heroes could be here for many, many different reasons: Trying to get a favor from the ruler, part of some
II
nobleman's retinue, members of the palace guard, sneaking in to save the ruler from assassins, sneaking in to
assassinate the ruler, thrown into the dungeon for crimes they did or didn't commit, etc.
Organizer
This Master Villain is the head of the local criminal syndicate -- the Thieve's Guild or slaver ring, for instance.
Master Villain
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.
Lovable Rogue
Minor Villain I This character is like the Master Villain of the same name, except that he has no minions of his own and serves at
someone else's bidding. However, he's very independent, not always working in his employer's best interests; he
often makes fun of the Master Villain's pretensions and may suffer that villain's retaliation because of it.
Mistress with a Heart of Gold
Minor Villain II This character is much like the "Lover or Daughter of Villain" type of Mystery Woman from the Story Hooks
section. In this case, she usually accompanies the Master Villain, but sometimes goes on missions of her own,
where she runs into and develops affection for one of the player-characters.
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,
Ally/Neutral
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.
Ravager
Monster
This is another classic monster encounter; the monster which is bedeviling a community or local area and will
Encounter
continue to do so unless the heroes destroy or defeat it. Yes, this is similar to the Master Villain of the same name,
but the Ravager usually has no master plan -- it just wants to kill, destroy, or eat.

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.
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.
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.
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
Secret Weakness could 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.
No Lawbreaking
For some reason, at one point in the story, the heroes cannot allow themselves to break the law -- even when it
Special
would help them greatly to do so. For instance, the heroes may be asking for the help of a king whose word is law
Condition
and whose power is immense. When they arrive for their audience, an emissary of the Master Villain is making a
similar plea for help. If the heroes attack and kill that emissary, they will lose any chance at the king's help -- in
fact, he may order their execution.
Respect Quandry
This is much like the Ally Quandry, only at a greater distance. The heroes have been utilizing the aid of two (or
Moral Quandry more) powerful NPC allies. Now, in the course of the adventure, the heroes come across a task which can be
accomplished in one of two ways -- say, through military intervention or by esoteric magic. The problem is, the
NPC allies are arguing for different choices, and the one whom the heores choose against will no longer aid them.
Extraneous Details
When giving the heroes details on their enemy -- for instance, details they are learning from investigations and
Red Herring
readings -- you can give them just a few details too many. This may prompt the heroes to investigate the "extra"
(i.e., irrelevant) details in addition to the relevant onces, thus losing them valuable time.
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.
Based on tables from the Dungeon Master's Design Kit by TSR, Inc.