Adventure #106

Espionage

Theme Espionage adventures are active, grim scenarios involving spying and perhaps other cloak-and-dagger

deeds such as assassination or rescue.

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.

Hero Offended

Story Hook Someone greatly offends the hero, so much so that he'll pursue his offender right into the adventure.

(Note that this usually means that the offender is a minion of the Master Villain. You'll have to decide

whether the minion offended the hero precisely to bring him into the adventure or just as a side-effect of

his ordinary villain activities.)

Accumulation of Elements

Plot In this sort of plot, the heroes have to go from place to place -- perhaps covering very little area like a

city, perhaps roaming the known world -- and accumulate elements to be used against the Master

Villain. These elements may be clues, pieces of an artifact, evidence, or allies.

Chase to Ground

Climax

First, you have the Heroes Chasing the Villain. The villain, after a series of encounters with the heroes,

is running to safety, to some place where he can acquire more power, or to somehwere he can

accomplish some dread purpose such as assassination or mass murder. The heroes chase him, have to

deal with the obstacles he leaves behind, and finally catch up to him before or just as he reaches his

goal. Here, we have the final duel between the villains forces and the heroes. Second, you have the

Villain Chasing the Heroes. Often, in a story like this, the heroes have found out how to defeat the

villain -- such as getting to a particular temple and conducting a particular ritual. The villain chases

them all through their quest, catching up to them just as they're commenciing their ritual; they must,

with heroic effort, conclude the ritual while suffering his attacks. Third, you have the Master Villain's

Sudden Escape Attempt. This takes place in adventures where the Master Villain's identity is unknown

until the end. His identity is revealed and he makes a sudden bolt for freedom; the heroes give chase.

This usually results in a dangerous foot-chase through nasty terrain -- such as across rooftops, through

the dungeons, or across an active battlefield.

Torturous Terrain

General Setting The adventure takes place in some sort of unsettled, uncivilized, dangerous terrain; in action stories, the

desert and jungle work best; choose one of those two or decide on a setting that is similarly dangerous

and exotic.

Laboratory Specific Setting

I This can be alchemical lab of a friendly wizard, or the horrible experimental chamber of the villain

where new monsters are created and relased upon the world.

Classic Dungeon Specific Setting

II This would be the standard monster-filled labyrinth; perhaps it's a nesting ground for the master villain's

monster troops.

God of Chance

Master Villain Here you have two options. This Master Villain could be a real entity -- an actual god of mischief or

silliness, who has intruded in the heroes' lives to cause chaos and have fun. Alternatively, this "villain"

could actually be pure chance: The heroes are having a series of unrelated, accidental encounters which

cause them fits. No real single villain is involved, although initially it looks as though there is.

Hard-Eyed Advisor

Minor Villain I 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

Minor Villain II 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.

Obsequious Merchant Ally/Neutral

This fellow is the owner of the caravan the heroes are protecting, or the merchant the heroes encounter

when they desperately need to buy something. He is oily, ever-flattering, overly agreeable, and is a

sharp bargainer; the heroes will not find him willing to give them a sale price.

Noble Beast

Monster

Encounter With this encounter, the heroes find that they have to capture -- but not injure -- some sort of powerful,

noble beast in order to accomplish their mission. For instance, to reach a mountain-top aerie, they must

capture pegasi and ride them up to their enemy.

Inquisitive Official

Character

Encounter

Some local authority has noticed the characters' presence and it makes her curious. She snoops around

asking questions all the time. She may be a city guardsman or special agent of the ruler, but

(functionally) she's a police lieutenant, asking the rong questions at the wrong time; the heroes have to

work around her, sneaking where normally they'd be able to work in the open.

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.

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.

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.

Element

Secret Weakness

The Master Villain can be banished, dispelled, killed, or otherwise defeated by some of element or item.

The Master Villain tries to get rid of all the examples of this element in his vicinity; he doesn't let his

minions carry it or bring it into his presence. But he's not stupid; he doesn't announce to the world what

his weakness is. He tries to hide his concern within another command. If he's allergic to red roses, for

instance, he orders all "things of beauty" destroyed within miles of his abode.

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.

Friend Quandry

Moral Quandry At a critical point in the story, one of the campaign's NPCs makes an impossible demand of one of the

heroes.

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.

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.