Adventure #43

Action/Adventure
Theme
This is the most common and straightforward sort of adventure there is. In the Action/Adventure scenario, you
present your characters with a task and then confront them with obstacles to overcome in order to accomplish the
task successfully.
Survive Environment
Goal
The characters could end up in a hostile environment which they must cross -- a desert, a jungle, or other hostile
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.
Old Enemy
Story Hook
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.
A-B-C Quest
Plot
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
Climax
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.
Under the Ground
General Setting
In this variety of adventure, the heroes descend into vast cavern networks beneath the earth's crust. There, they can
encounter bizarre races and primitive tribes, hitherto-unknown monsters and strange landscapes.
Magical Lake
Specific Setting I
This is the acquatic equivalent of the Legendary Forest, here beautiful and glistening, there treacherous and
dangerous, filled with water-breathing magical folk.
Palace of the King
Specific Setting
II
The heroes could be here for many, many different reasons: Trying to get a favor from the ruler, part of some
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.
Corruptor
Master Villain
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.
Moronic Muscleman
Minor Villain I
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.
Corrupted Hero
Minor Villain II
This villain was once a hero, possibly one known to the players. He was seduced by the dark side of the dungeon
master. Because of his own weakness, or of a curse, he has become a villain, a pawn of the Master Villain.
Childhood Friend with a Dark Secret
Ally/Neutral
One of the heroes is accompanied by one of his childhood friends... but said friend now has a Dark Secret. He does
strange and mysterious things (sneaks off to send messages, or behaves strangely around certain NPCs, or is scared
to death of certain harmless animals or situations) and will not explain why to his PC friend until late in the story.
Stampede
Monster
Encounter
Should the heroes ever cross plains or prairies, their villainous enemies may wish to stampede a herd of large
animals at them. Alternatively, beasts in the forest may be stampeded by fires set by the villains; in this case, it will
not be one sort of animal charging through, but a mixture of terrified forest animals, from the smallest fox-cub to
the largest bear.
Blackmailer Character
Encounter
If the party is pulling a scam, this person knows it and can tell the potential victim; if they're wanted by the
authorities, he's willing to alert the authorities that they're here; if they're hiding out from the Master Villain, he's
going to tell said villain that they're here; he may have kidnapped one of their favorite NPCs and be holding him
for ransom; and so on.
Rock and a Hard Place
Deathtrap
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.
Footrace
Chase
The chase involves the characters on foot, probably through such terrain as city streets or the corridors of a palace.
One hero may realize that the's being pursued by a party of enemies and choose to run for it; the heroes may have
caught up to the Master Villain, prompting him to run for his life.
Totem Animal
Omen/Prophesy
If a hero has an animal which is his totem, he may see the animal engaged in a fight to the death with another
animal -- one which, coincidentally, is the totem of one of the villains. How his totem defeats the other -- or is
defeated by it -- gives the hero some clues as how to fight his actual opponent when the time comes.
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.
Time Limit
Special
Condition
Finally, the most obvious condition to place on an adventure is to give it a time limit. If the Master Villain is going
to conclude his evil spell in only three days, and his citadel is three hard days' riding away, then the heroes are
going 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.
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.
Mission is a Ruse
Cruel Trick
In the course of their adventuring, the heroes discover they have been tricked into performing a mission which
helps the Master Villain.
Based on tables from the Dungeon Master's Design Kit by TSR, Inc.