Adventure Sketches
One of the hardest things for me when GMing a role-playing game is trying to come up u p with a decent adventure. I want something that I can put together in a few short hours, a day at most, and that we can all a ll have fun with. Usually, once I have a plot, I have no problem coming up with w ith the rest of the adventure, but coming up with a fun plot that hasn't been played out hundreds of times already can be pretty challenging when one has been playing for uite a few years. I as!ed other people on the Internet to send me their ideas on some adventure s!etches. "ot necessarily full blown adventures, but at least a basic plot to get started. #ere is what I've received so far.
$rom% &hris &halfant cchalfan(elmail.cc.purdue.edu) *++ years ago, the greatest grea test roguepirate that ever lived, obert ogers, sailed the seas. It is said that he was the son of the ric!ster ric!ster god /aacris and that the god favored him in his voyages. vo yages. Once he was as!ed by b y his uncle, 0ngbard Mountainsmith, god of the 1warves to recover a wonderful gem lost in very distant land. o aid ogers, 0ngbard gave to him the 2arthcutter, a ship that sailed on land and sea. 3hen 2arthcutter sails, it travels ten times the speed of the fastest ship. It cuts furrows in the earth behind it li!e an enormous en ormous plow but is slowed by hard-pac!ed earth. It cannot sail through mountains. ogers too! the 2arthcutter and co mpleted the uest for the god but bu t !ept the ship and continued his piracy. #e even founded a ma4or port city, 5ava. &ertain 2arth 2lemental 6ords serving 0ngbard thought this ship to be a sacrilege and a travesty. hey conspired to send many powerful 2arth 2lementals after ogers and his ship in order to 7sin!7 it and end this abomination. One day they at last cornered the 2arthcutter in a Mountain 8alley 8alley and ripped a great hole in her side. 0ma9ingly, the ship began to ta! e on earth and sin!: ogers managed to escape but most of his crew were drug underground and crushed by vengeful 2arth 2lementals. ogers returned home and retired a rich man. #is son too! over ruling 5ava and the piracy that filled its treasury) when he d ied. "ow the nephew of the current ruler of 5ava has discovered the location of the wrec! of the 2arthcutter. #e has hired a dwarven priest of 0ngbard to accompany him to the site and raise and repair the great ship. #e 4ust needs muscle to defend him and the priest from possible 2lemental attac!s and to help him 7dive7 on the wrec!age and recover it. 0fter traveling to the site, the ;&'s will be as!ed to don special helmets with long breathing hoses hoo!ed up to a hand-pump. One ;& will have to wor! the pump to supply his companions with air. hen, hen, 5argrahd, the ;riest, will cast a Geomancy spell on the 7divers7 which will decrease their 2arth /uoyancy and allow them to sin! under the earth and search for the 2arthcutter's wrec!age. Note wrec!age. Note to GM's : Explain this effect in a strange, pseudo-scientific pseudo-scientific matter, matter, bringing density and buoyancy into your argument. Also describe hat it feels li!e to descend under the surface of the earth li!e you could "sim" underground. Ma!e the players feel that their characters ill be crushed by the pressure or suffocate from from lac! of air at any moment. 0fter diving for a while, the ;&'s will locate the wrec!. 6et them wor! for a while to ma!e them tired and then hit them with a few powerful 2arth 2lementals. I recommend !illing off the 1warven priest to put fear into them.
If the ;&'s succeed, the nephew will pay them well. In fact, he will offer them a new 4ob on his ne
$avor within a $avor within a $avor... $rom% &hris &halfant cchalfan(elmail.cc.purdue.edu) he ;&s owe a favor to a crimelord or a !ing or someone of eual power. his 8I; as!s the ;&s to steal something of value from a powerful "ecromancer or maybe he wants them to !ill the "ecromancer). he "ecromancer catches the ;&s in the act in such a way that he has them at his mercy. On a whim, he decides that he will spare their lives if they do him a favor... It seems that &edric! /arnard, 6ord and leader of the =nights of the >phere an order of ;aladins) has 4ust died. #is body is to lie in state during the time of mourning at his castle. 6ord /arnard was a military genius and a great warrior. he "ecromancer feels that the 6ord's remains would ma!e a powerful undead soldier. #e sends the ;&s to steal the remains from the =nights of the >phere. Of course the ;&s are captured by the =nights and held at sword-point. 5ust before they are to be slain, a priest arrives with an ancient scroll. It seems that the ;&s are 7destined7 to recover the #oly Gauntlet of Garvin which is said to be held by the savages of $oria in the &old 3astes of the "orth. It is not surprising that, once again, the ; &s are captured. 0nd, once more, their captors have a 4ob for them. 0 cruel GM would !eep this going until the ;layers go insane. ;ersonally, I thin! it would be cool if one of the final missions is to steal something from the 8I; who started this mess, thereby returning balance to the universe.
1ave #ughes nhughes(dash.com) he party is in a tavern or something, when guards storm and !noc! the party out have a fight if you want to, but have more guards storm in afterwards.) hey wa!e up in a c ell with a note on the door 7?ou have been found guilty of magic use, we must purify you. -he insert cult)7 the door opens easily and into a dungeon the ritual of purification begins.) /ac!ground% his is li!e a >panish inuisition thing. 0 cult is slowly ta!ing over the land and their scapegoat is 7magic.7 his includes any use of magic items, being a demihuman or nonhuman, or surprise:) being a mage or a priest. he cult is headed by a pretty powerful mage trying to wipe out all competition, get all the items, you !now. emember though, all his followers believe in this no mag ic, and they don't !now that he's a mage.
"o: It &ouldn't /e 0 8ampire: 3e're "ot #igh 2nough 6evel: ;o
cum shughe@+(checlaba.scu.edu.au) >cene% 1ar! avenlofty type of countryside. Gothic and >cary: oooh. ime% 2arly morning, sun 4ust risen or 4ust about to.
#oo!% ;layers see smo!e from a campfire over the nehe will say that he has never really gotten over it and so spends a great deal of time morning her loss in the crypt. 0fter lunch it should be getting on towards sunset when the lad y will offer ta!e the party down to the &?; to see her father. It should be about this time that party members will start saying that the guy must be a vampire. Others will probably tell them that's nonsense. 0nyway, if they follow her down into the crypt they will be ambushed by loyal followers of the vampire who will over power the party and drag them off with no euipment. "aturally the party will brea! out and loo! for their stuff. #ave them en ter the &?; and see their stuff in a pile at the base of a big &O$$I". It should be really playing on their nerves about now that the big guy who is to reward them is a vampire. 3hen the players go for their stuff the &O$$I" opens and a dead guy sits up very slowly it isn't dar! yet) and begins to get out of his &O$$I". >ince it is still during daylight hours the vampire is without power and moves really slowly. here should be enough time for the party to get their stuff and start out of there. 5ust as the party is up the stairs they will see the sun set. "ow sit bac! an d watch them run li!e buggery::: hahahaha. If they don't show them the vampire and have him attac! them until they do go running away. I thin! it important to note however that since as the 1M you have purposefully placed the characters in conflict with a vampire that they can't hope to defeat, allow them to get away with only the most minor of cuts and scrapes. his little adventure will, however show the party to not ta!e anything for granted. li!e the fact that 4ust because they cant beat something doesn't mean you wont throw it at them). In fact the party I 1M is always cautious when entering battle or challenging someone even when they are Bth level or so they are cautious about being too egotistical in a peasant village, because they 4ust never !now..... 2arl #arrison harrison(comsys.net) &lub >leepy 3illow he characters find an Inn that has * shapeshifted demons running around in it as the cleaning 7ladies7 they give the characters a good time only to !ill them at the end 1avid #awley vlad(golden.org) ?ou start the ;&'s off wa!ing up and everything loo!s normal. 0nything after this point is up to the 1M. he plot is that a high level MU has acuired an hour glass from ;iers 0nothony's /earing an #our Glass "ovel) and has used it to ma!e a parallel timeline, thus changing the alignments of everyone e
good. 2veryone is affected e"20=? 2#::) he 1M !nows that the villain created this timeline for the sole purpose of getting rid of the good guys in your original game and hopefully ma!ing things easier for him to do his dirty wor!. 2arl . "etwal 2arl.."etwal-@(tc.umn.edu) his is one that a friend of mine hit me with. Our party went on what we assumed was a standard 73e're the #eroes #e's the 8ampire 6et's bust up his castle mission.7 3e went through the mission fighting all the enemies and traps. It was your basic ro mp through a castle to fight it's lord in climatic battle. 3e fought everything and defeated the castle's lord. we figured we had won and that we were ready for the necenario% $ind C &rowns for ;elis the Mage. #e says that they are of utmost importance to him, being part of his family's heirloom. #e says they were stolen from him by a master "in4a, who lives in an underground cave. ;elis says he can't go for himself cause he has duties in the city. ;lot% he &rowns are not ;elis'. he owner of the &rowns is the Master hief >hownuff. ;elis wants them because each one gives a specific ability. he Golden &rown ma!es the character gain an Intelligence and >trength point. he >ilver &rown ma!es the character to gain a 3isdom and &harisma point, 0llowing him to be more powerful in the field of magic. > hownuff will try to tell the ;&s the real story that the &rowns were a gift to him by a grateful man who he rescued from a burning building. #e also tells you how he befriended the #obgoblins. #e found their cave and needed a place to stay, but when he got there he found that they were being attac!ed by a group of Ogres. #e helped the hobgoblins because he hates Ogres. 0fter !illing a lot Ogres with his speed and agility, he was !noc!ed unconscious and wo!e up in the =ing's bed. #e was than!ed by all of them for helping. hey offered for him to stay and live with them he agreed because he wanted a place to live anyway. >o after a while him and the =ing became good friends and have been ever since, even though that humans and hobgoblins rarely get along. he !ing told >hownuff that he accepted him cause he seemed to be a good ally. 3hile everything is going on, ;elis has summoned a >teel >tal!er to follow the ;&s as they defeat the enemies on the way and to finish the 4ob if they don't.
>etting% 0 cave dug nicely w reinforced metallic walls. eward% 1
If the ;&s !ill the =ing andor >hownuff and give ;elis the &rowns they will have to fight the >teel >tal!er and ;elis if win go to D.
2
If the ;&s believe >hownuff then help him !ill ;elis they gain alliance from he =ing and >hownuff, @,+++ G;s, and A potions of life.
3
Get the &rowns and D,+++ G;s to divide as they please.
$rom% $eensdecorni he ;&'s are wandering in a dungeon that they found when they somehow >tep on falls floor, pulled lever, stepped on pressure plate, etc.) fall into a chute. 0s they fall down they should notice a hissing sound. he chute ends and they land on a giant li9ard, which instantly falls dead. 0s they loo! around the see a wea! loo!ing man in the corner If the ;&'s decide to attac! him for no reason, then twenty other li9ards come from the side walls, which raise and then lower to let the li9ards through...) If the party tal!s to him he tells about a secret that he'll tal! about if they save him. On e
Give it to the man they will get A+++gp and a few gems that sell for A++gp each, as well as a fire wand with D+ charges.
2
If they !eep it they find they can't use it and the man "ow !nown by his true identity...0 dragon:) attac!s them with more sigh) li9ards.
3
If they sell it, the man dragon) attac!s them with again) li9ards for a bac!up.
3ell, that is it for now. hese adventure s!etches should demonstrate what I am loo!ing for. If you are interested in submitting an adventure s!etch, send it to 4seeley(aros.net with the word 0182"U2 in the sub4ect line.
