Styles

These frameworks for building your adventure include some basic elements to get you started outlining an adventure. Slot ideas from the threats section (page 43) into this structure, then customize as you see fit.

Dungeon Crawl

Number of Sessions 3–4

Exploration Scenes 1 long voyage to reach the dungeon; 3 voyages through long, trapped hallways or mazes; 1 secure cave or other staging area; 2 secret passages or rooms

Combat Encounters 2 trivial, 4 low, 6 moderate, 6 severe. Many encounters can be bypassed through secret routes.

Roleplaying Encounters 4 conversations with dungeon creatures; 1 negotiation to establish a truce Encounter Tropes Cramped quarters, short lines of sight, and poor lighting conditions, with occasional vaulted chambers and flooded crypts. Traps and puzzles.

Gritty Adventure

Number of Sessions 5–7

Exploration Scenes 1 long voyage, plagued by attacks; 2–3 voyages through urban environments; 1 prison break, heist, or other test of skill

Combat Encounters 2 trivial, 4 low, 7 moderate, 8 severe; possibly 1 extreme. Foes are often other humanoids.

Roleplaying Encounters 2 battles of wits, 2 chances to bypass opponents with deception or threats, 2 opportunities to gather information and rumors Encounter Tropes Stakes are often more personal, such as the PCs clearing their names from a false accusation or being paid to eliminate a problem. Betrayal, ambushes, and other duplicity. Town fires, weather conditions, unfriendly crowds. The Pathfinder Critical Hit Deck is particularly appropriate.

High Adventure

Number of Sessions 6–8

Exploration Scenes 2 long voyages, often by sea or air, punctuated with combat; 1 trapped dungeon, tournament, or other test of skill

Combat Encounters 16 moderate, 8 severe. Avoid low- and trivial-threat battles.

Roleplaying Encounters 2 battles of wits; 4 conversations with bizarre creatures Encounter Tropes Unique environments and terrain for dynamic battles. Swinging from balconies on curtains, fighting atop high wires, racing chariots, and so on. Use difficult terrain sparingly, coupled with creative ways to get around it. Large groups of low-level troops the PCs can defeat with ease.

Horror

Number of Sessions 1–2

Exploration Scenes 1 short voyage on foot; 2–4 creepy areas to investigate, like haunted mansions or dark forests

Combat Encounters 2 moderate, 1 severe, possibly 1 extreme. Avoid trivial- and low-threat encounters, except as moments of relief in a longer adventure. Extreme-threat encounters against overwhelming foes are excellent in horror one-shots.

ADVENTURE PRESENTATION

When you’re writing up your own adventure, you don’t need to go into the same level of detail you’d see in a published adventure. You might be able to get by with just an outline, some bullet points for each NPC, a breakdown of encounters, and a few rough maps. Or maybe for your style of running games, you prefer to have some text written about each scene, or even particular lines of dialogue. If you’re creating your first adventure, it can be good to write out a little more than you need. Just keep in mind that things might change in play. If you prepared more than you actually used, that’s normal! Detailing NPCs or locations in particular can be useful, especially if they’re going to appear again. But in many of these cases, you’ll add details at the table and can jot down those notes for later.

RUNNING YOUR OWN ADVENTURE

It’s often easier to run an adventure you made yourself, but that’s not true for everybody. If you notice as you run your adventure that your notes don’t have enough for you to go on, you can be more thorough next time. And if something ended up inconsistent, there’s nothing wrong with telling your players you want to revise something you previously said. Because this is your own creation, it’s closer to your heart. If the adventure doesn’t go well, it can sting. Sometimes this is because of random chance, sometimes due to unforeseen decisions, and occasionally because you made a mistake. Those are all normal parts of the game! One of the things you’ll internalize the more you run games is that you’re a part of the creative process and don’t need to be perfect.

Roleplaying Encounters 2 conversations with doubtful authority figures, 1 opportunity to gather information and rumors, 1 revelation of a horrible truth Encounter Tropes Surprising and jarring encounters, making it hard for the PCs to feel safe. Encounters that feel overwhelming, even when they’re not. Retreat is often the right option (include a reasonable way for the PCs to escape).

Intrigue

Number of Sessions 2–3

Exploration Scenes 1 long voyage, often by land or sea; 3–4 competitions, performances, or other test of skill; 1–2 infiltrations or escapes

Combat Encounters 2 trivial, 2 low, 4 moderate, 1 severe. Severe-threat encounters should be reserved for major reveals of the ongoing intrigue—an ally is revealed to be a foe, a schemer is exposed and must call on his guard, and so on.

Roleplaying Encounters 2–3 battles of wits; 2 political or courtroom scenes; 1 conversation with a cryptic source; 2 opportunities to gather information and rumors Encounter Tropes Urban environments, including fights atop runaway carriages, around (and atop) banquet tables, and running over rooftops. Ambushes in apparently safe social settings. Assassination attempts.

Military Adventure

Number of Sessions 2–3

Exploration Scenes 1 long march and 2–3 short marches, or a tour of the defenses for a siege; 2–3 trapped enemy campsites and secret spy redoubts

Combat Encounters 4 low, 4 moderate, 1 severe. Most combat encounters should be made up of 2–4 foes, typically humanoid soldiers with a range of capabilities.

Roleplaying Encounters 1–2 skill challenges to convince neutral parties to become allies or raise troops’ morale Encounter Tropes Fortified battlegrounds, with moats, walls, defensive towers, and siege weapons. Victory conditions that are goal or deadline oriented—holding a gate for 10 minutes while reserves rush to defend it, setting fire to an enemy catapult, rescuing prisoners, and so on.

Mystery

Number of Sessions 2–3

Exploration Scenes 2–3 trapped rooms, concealed hideouts, or other tests of skill; 2 puzzles or investigations

Combat Encounters 2 trivial, 4 low, 6 moderate, 6 severe. Solving the mystery uncovers an advantage over the most powerful foe.

Roleplaying Encounters 1 battles of wits, 1 conversation with a bizarre creature, 1 opportunity to gather information and rumors, 1 gathering to reveal the answer to the mystery Encounter Tropes Encounters come naturally during investigations or upon discovering some element of the mystery. Multiple clues can send PCs to the same locations; if the mystery stalls, some creature that doesn’t want the PCs to solve the mystery can attack to move the plot forward.

Planar Adventure

Number of Sessions 6–8

Exploration Scenes 3–4 long voyages through different planes, often by gate, spells, or planar vessel, punctuated by combat; 1–2 scouting a demiplane, planar city or fortress, or other planar stronghold

Combat Encounters 12 moderate, 12 severe. Avoid trivial- and low-threat encounters, except as set dressing to introduce a new plane.

Roleplaying Encounters 6 conversations with bizarre creatures, including some with alien ways of thinking; 2 opportunities to gather information and rumors Encounter Tropes Fights showcasing otherworldly environs— on the sides of glaciers, in limitless oceans, on chunks of rock floating along rivers of lava, atop bottomless pits, or on the chains of 100-foot-tall gates.

Romantic Adventure

Number of Sessions 4–6 Exploration Scenes 1 tour of a kingdom or other central locale;

1 adventure into the wilds on a hunting trip or bandit hunt; 1 tournament to prove a PC’s love or worth Combat Encounters 3 low, 6 moderate, 3 severe. Emphasize emotional stakes and battles that end with the loss of honor or pride, not life.

Roleplaying Encounters 2 battles of wits, 1 grand ball, 1 entreaty before a ruler, 2 scenes of relaxation or carousing with unexpected import Encounter Tropes Duels—social or combat—against romantic rivals. PCs and their foes fight only for a purpose or cause. Savvy enemies have strong connections to the PCs.