Adventure Recipes

These frameworks for building your adventure include some basic elements to get you started outlining an adventure. Slot ideas from the threats section into this structure, then customize as you see fit.

Think of each type of threat as the deep, visceral danger the enemies represent. NPCs should be avatars of the threat, whether they're enemies who represent different aspects of the threat or allies and bystanders damaged by it. Each threat entry gives a brief description, followed by some bullet points you can use to guide you in expressing the consequences of the threat. This is followed by monsters that typify this theme. As always, you can come up with your own thematic threats too!

Think about your opposition, and what their goals and motivations are. The motivation of the opposition needs to match your threat. If you have multiple adversaries, their motivations should all work toward your theme, but they might have different goals and act more as rivals or enemies. Motivations should be more than one dimensional. There should be a reason for every action the opposition takes—not necessarily a good one or a smart one, but a believable one. Be true to each character!

Consider these questions so you can use the answers when deciding what the opposition will do.

• What does the opposition want?
• Who or what does the opposition fear? (And no, “the PCs” isn't an answer.)
• Why is the opposition sure to succeed? If the PCs don't do anything, what makes the opposition unstoppable?
• What are the opposition's weaknesses? How can they be bribed or tricked? What's something they ignore that might be used against them?

Keep several story arcs in mind. Most of these arcs will be driven by the opposition in the early going, but PCs might initiate their own story arcs. Think of what the beginning, middle, and end of each arc might look like. Imagine a logical end point the arc would reach if nothing else changes. Then, adjust it based on events in the game. As changes occur, revisit the end point you've imagined. If the adversary's plan has been derailed, what might they do instead? Story arcs should reflect the theme of the adventure and be well-positioned to show off motivations and reflect the PCs' choices.

Many arcs will last only for the duration of one adventure, but others build up and recur across the whole campaign. Include some of each so you have variety. This also provides closure, as the players can see some storylines wrapped up in the short term and others over a long period. Too many dangling plot threads can result in some being forgotten or make players feel overloaded.

Touchstones like the ones below make a story arc adaptable, not too restricted to specific scenes or characters.

• Use motifs. Use repeated thematic elements, visuals, phrases, and items to reinforce the connection between one adventure or segment of the story and another. The motif can also build in complexity as you move further along in the overarching story.
• Follow character growth. Respond to how the PCs changed in previous adventures. Their next undertaking should reflect who they are now.
• Escalate! Build on the previous story and show that the next threat is scarier. The first adventure might endanger a port of call, the next a planet, the next the whole system of planets orbiting a star, and so on.
• Bring in recurring characters. A recurring character is especially strong if they appear in similar circumstances each time. For instance, a space pirate might appear in the campaign only when she wants the PCs to undermine her rivals or is trying to rob them.
• Make each adventure count. While developing an arc, don't diminish individual adventures by making what happened in them inconsequential compared to the larger story. Illustrate the consequences of such adventures so the players feel a sense of accomplishment for completing one before they move onto the next. Each adventure needs some sort of denouement to show immediate and lingering effects of the PCs' victory or defeat.
• Make choices matter. Describe the consequences of PC actions and allow their choices to shape the story.

Allied, neutral, and adversarial NPCs and organizations can all contribute to the theme. You'll want most to follow the theme directly, like the examples in Threats. However, you can add a few counterpoints to the theme. For example, a horror game might include one or two NPCs who are more hopeful, either to grant respite from the dread or to kill off to show just how bad things are. Including NPCs who aren't adversaries makes the game universe feel more real. It also increases the stakes, as PCs have people to care about, protect, and socialize with. You'll often find that NPCs you create will become more or less important than you expected. You can “demote” an NPC if the players don't find them interesting or “promote” them if the PCs like them more than expected.

Memorable settings that include mysterious and fantastical locations for players to visit can elicit the players' curiosity. Exploring each location should be a treat in itself, not just a chore the players must complete to get from one fight to the next. As you create a locale, picture it in your mind's eye and write down minor details you can include as you narrate the game. Describing decorations, landmarks, wildlife, peculiar smells, and even temperature changes make a place feel more real. See Sidebar: Quick Environmental Details for some ideas.

Beyond monsters and loot, your locations can include environment-based challenges, from environmental conditions like blizzards to puzzles, traps, or other hazards. These challenges should suit your adventure's location: barrels of radioactive waste in an old power plant, clouds of acidic gas on an alien planet, or high-tech defenses left armed aboard an abandoned starship.

Additional Guidance: building your own hazards, environments, hazards

A robust set of encounters forms the backbone of your adventure. Encounters often feature combat with other creatures, but they can also include hazards, or you might create social encounters in which characters duel only with words. The rules for building encounters appropriate to your group's level begin below.

Some adventures have a clear and direct progression, with encounters occurring at specific times or in a specific order. Others, such as a research station filled with interconnected rooms the group can investigate in any order, are nonlinear, and the group can face encounters in any order—or even avoid them entirely. Most adventures are somewhere in between, with some keystone encounters you know the characters will need to contend with, but others that are optional.

Additional Guidance: building your own creatures, building your own hazards, encounter design

Your adventure should give out an amount of treasure that's appropriate to the characters' level. You can dole out treasure in all kinds of ways. Treasure could be items carried by an adversary, rewards from a patron for completing a mission, or a shipping crate full of goods guarded by a monster. It's best to spread treasure throughout an adventure rather than stockpiled in a single hoard. This gives the players incremental rewards, letting their characters advance in frequent small steps rather than giant leaps separated by many hours of play.

Additional Guidance: assigning treasure