Adventure #231

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
Deathtrap

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.
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 Friend
Another classic story hook is the Old Friend, the childhood friend of our hero, who shows up in one of several ways
to drag the hero 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.
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.
Exotic Distant Land
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.
Caves of Magical Folk
These can be either beautiful, glittering homes of gorgeous magical peoples, or the dank and terrifying lairs of
horrible monsters.
Tavern/Inn
This is a classic fantasy setting, the residence of travelling heroes and the home of the tavern brawl.
Destroyer
This villain is like the Corruptor, except that he likes destroying instead of corrupting. He operates like the
Conqueror, moving in his armies -- often nonhuman or monstrous armies -- and destroying everything in sight.
Again, the Destroyer could easily be an evil god or demon, meaning the heroes wil have to find his weakness in
order to thwart his current plan.
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.
Mistress with a Heart of Gold
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.
Congenial Madman
This fellow is a pleasant, happy lunatic whom the heroes encounter; after the initial encounter, he follows them
wherever they go, commenting on their plans, behaving strangely, getting underfoot, and -- very occassionally -proving to be a real help.
Terrain Monster
Don't forget the simple run-in with the animal belonging to the terrain where the heroes are: Every type of
wilderness has its predators and big, nasty herbivores.
Lying Accuser
A captured thief may accuse the character of putting him up to the theft; an abandoned mother may accuse the hero
of fathering the child; a reputable witness (working for the Master Villain) may accuse the hero of a murder or
robbery. The hero shouldn't know what he's accused of until he's hauled in by the authorities.
Rock and a Hard Place

This trap starts out as an Animal Pit, Pit and the Pendulum, or Tomb Deathtrap, but an obvious escape suggests
itself very early on. Trouble is, it leads into even worse danger. The hole out of the animal pit may lead to the lair of
an even worse animal; it may lead through a succession of dangers (collapsing old catacombs, into an underground
river, into a den of zombies) before the heroes reach the light.
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.
Fortune Teller Predicts Doom
This is an ominous encounter: A fortune-teller predicts doom for one of the heroes, or for some community menaced
Omen/Prophesy by the Master Villain. Shortly after, some calamity should befall the hero: He can be attacked by an assassin, be in a
building when it is struck by fire or an earthquake, or suffer other danger. Investigation of the events can then point
the heroes toward the Master Villain as the event's instigator.
Secret Embarrassment
Finally, the villain may have some aberration or secret shame that will force him to flee when he is confronted with
Secret Weakness it. It could be something as simple as the fact that his nose is too big, or that he is a small and nebbishly wizard
pretending to be some vast, powerful demonic power. When his shame is revealed, he is too humiliated to continue;
this is a good option for comedy adventures.
Coping with a Curse
Special
The curse might be making the hero progressively uglier, might be draining out his life-force (he's losing experience
Condition
which will be retruned if he succeeds), or might be making him progressively insane. Each day, as he sees his
reflection in a mirror or pond or fountain, he'll know himself to be less than he used to be.
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.
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.
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.