Quick Adventure Outlines

by Kalvin Lyle

Now let’s look at a few published D&D adventures to see how they hold up to these criteria and look at an example adventure built from these four simple principles.

Adventure Critique: Keep on the Shadowfell

Impactful Problem: This adventure is a classic example of the weak introduction to real threat most adventures suffer from.  Some weak hooks bring the characters to the town (finding a missing person, exploring a ruin for cash and investigating rumours of a death cult).  The real problem (a cult of Orcus trying to re-open a rift to the shadowfell) is only a rumour presented to the players if they go around asking questions to the right NPC’s after the first 5 encounters.  While 5 encounters might not seem like a big deal, remember that the average D&D encounter lasts about  an hour and some D&D groups only meet once a week for 3-4 hours of play.  Which means it will likely be the second or third session before the players have a significant reason to finish the adventure and even then it’s only a rumour.  The tangible proof of the truth isn’t revealed until the very last encounter (seven to nine four-hour game sessions).

Interesting Choices: This adventure is terrible at directing the players towards their goals.  Specifically there are two points where the players must ask the right questions to have the information revealed to them. There is only one action the players can take to succeed in this adventure.

Unique Rewards: Again, the players gain nothing special if they finish the quest.  Just some Quest XP and some gold.

Challenging Hurdles:  This is where D&D excels.  The actual encounters within the adventure are quite good, but without an overarching impactful problem that affects the characters directly and clear rewards that cannot be gained except through completion of this adventure their is nothing ensuring that your players won’t just walk away when they hit the 8th encounter or so (just before they reach second level and will susceptible to a total party kill).

Adventure Critique: Thunderspire Labrynth

Impactful Problem: A series of four mini-adventures that are linked together by discoveries made in the previous.  It’s not until the fourth section that a plan to start a cult of Vecna is revealed.  It’s this chained discovery that kills a sense of purpose in adventures like this.  The adventure starts with an entirely forgettable quest (like Investigating the Bloodreavers, Slave Rescue, a Trade Mission or an open Call to Adventure in the dungeon) that gives only xp and gold to the characters (something they can get from any adventure) and momentum forward is dependant on the players discovering information (usually through a series of rolls or question asking).

Mike Shea over at slyflourish.com also recommends that you introduce the main villain earlier because, “I failed to do so when I ran this adventure and by the time my players faced him, they couldn’t even remember his name.”

Interesting Choices:  Again, without a clear overriding problem the solution is the same as any other D&D adventure.  Go to the specified location and smash things.

Unique Rewards: Xp and gold only. Nothing special.

Challenging Hurdles:  Completely linear dungeon crawl in four parts.  If the Cult of Vecna was a clear threat at the start the hurdles presented would be an excellent example as each lead is a small dungeon that results in information leading to the next.

Sample Adventure: Trade Route Disruption

Impactful Problem:  The trade routes into and out of the area have been disrupted by recent goblin tribe activity.  The impact on the town is that the import of resources into the town has stopped production at the mine, jeopardizing the stability of the entire town.  The impact on the players is that they cannot buy or sell items valued higher than 50 gp.

Interesting Choices:  Go to the goblins and kill them all.  Attempt a diplomatic solution with the goblins.  Establish an alternate trade route with a foreign kingdom in a more dangerous part of the world. Not exactly complex dilemas, but here are three choices that will lead the players down different paths in the campaign.

Unique Rewards:  The owner of the mine (an elderly ex-adventurer himself) offers the heroes a unique magic sword if they can find a way to resolve the problem.  As the problem could mean the death of his entire lively-hood he is willing to part with the powerful magic item, rather than face complete bankruptcy just before retirement.  The trade consortium offers the heroes 500gp for clearing the route to the city within the Kingdom and 1500gp if they can clear a new route into the neighbouring kingdom, plus a 10% discount on all good bought within the town.  The town cleric offers the heroes free lodging within the city and a unique magic item if they can resolve the dispute without spilling goblin blood (the goblin tribe can not be entirely wiped out, some combat is acceptable).  Each of the unique magical items within the adventure are custom items not found in any other book.

Challenging Hurdles:  The goblin warrens are a single level dungeon with 10 encounters.  Every time the PC’s attempts to transport the chemical resources they will be attacked by a band of goblin raiders.  The resources are required once a month.  Each time the PC’s attempt this the goblins use an escalating method to prevent travel (increase the encounter level by 1 every attempt).  The goblins are disrupting trade because the chemical resource used in the mine leaks into their water supply and makes them sick, killing the young and the old within their tribe.  Believing the town is trying to poison them on purpose they view anyone from the town as a hostile enemy.  The PC’s can convince the mine owners to stop using the chemical and instead use a more expensive magical solution if the second trade route is opened, which will increase the value of the ore because it can be shipped to two potential buyers.  The second trade route can be cleared if the PC’s can navigate the twistwood forest (a series of dangerous traps) and destroy a lair of dangerous creatures.

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Published April 19, 2010 at 7:56 pm

Tags: Creating Adventures, DIY Adventures, RPG Story Building