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Comedy
Theme
This adventure is fun for fun's sake. Its basic purpose is to provide humorous entertainment with a minimum
of actual danger or tragedy.

Protect Endangered NPC(s)

Goal
One or more NPCs are in danger, and the characters must protect them. They might be doing this for a reward,
or because one or more of the NPCs is a friend or relative of the character. You need to decide what the
characters are protecting the NPCs from. The NPC might be a wealthy or powerful person being sought by
assassins or kidnappers. The NPC might be a whole village of peasants who are being terrorized by a bandit
chieftan.

Mistaken Identity
Story Hook
The hero could be mistaken by one villain for another villain involved in the master plot. This has good comic
potential if the hero and missing villain are in fact so similar that no one can tell them apart. (This is even more
fun if they turn out to be long-lost twins.)

Series of Villains
Plot
This is a very dramatic plot, and very well-suited to oriental campaigns. In it, the heroes have undertaken a
quest, usually the finding and defeat of the Master Villain. They may have to travel to his citadel, or head off in
another direction to find some artifact capable of defeating him, or run away from pursuing villains until they
can figure out what's going on. All along their route, they are set upon by villains -- each villain has a name and
distinct personality, and each encounter is life-or-death for the heroes and villains; the villain never escapes to
safety if the tide turns against him, he fights unto death.

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.

Under the Ground

General Setting
In this variety of adventure, the heroes descend into vast cavern networks beneath the earth's crust. There, they
can encounter bizarre races and primitive tribes, hitherto-unknown monsters and strange landscapes.

Military Encampment
Specific Setting I
This is best used in an episode involving warfare; it could be the good-guy army's encampment, from which the
heroes launch their adventures, or the villains' encampment, in which case the heroes might have to sneak in
on a mission or escape from it if they're captured.

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.

Organizer
Master Villain
This Master Villain is the head of the local criminal syndicate -- the Thieve's Guild or slaver ring, for instance.
He's cold-hearted and unsympathetic, and human life means nothing to him. He employs assassins and
musclemen against the heroes, and can only be reasoned with when it's going to profit him more to cooperate
with the heroes than kill them.

Corrupted Hero
Minor Villain I
This villain was once a hero, possibly one known to the players. He was seduced by the dark side of the dungeon
master. Because of his own weakness, or of a curse, he has become a villain, a pawn of the Master Villain.

Lovable Rogue
Minor Villain II
This character is like the Master Villain of the same name, except that he has no minions of his own and serves
at someone else's bidding. However, he's very independent, not always working in his employer's best interests;
he often makes fun of the Master Villain's pretensions and may suffer that villain's retaliation because of it.

Government Observer
Ally/Neutral
For some reason, the heroes' ruler wants one of his own people accompanying them. Whatever the reason, the
heroes are now stuck with a haughty, self-important royal observer, an expert in (probably) military tactics or
espionage. He continually offers unwanted advice and tends to get the heroes into trouble by pulling rank
whenever he's not satisfied.

Nocturnal Predator
Monster Encounter

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This is a classic monster encounter; the arrival of a hungry carnivore in the middle of the night. Usually, this
attack happens to heroes camping between villages or out in the deep wilderness; a wild animal, attracted by
food odors (from the heroes' campfire or from the heroes themselves) sneaks in for a bite.

Mean Drunk
Character Encounter
The Mean Drunk works much like the Belligerent Soldier except that he's not as tough, is of course drunk, and
is usually accompanied by other Mean Drunks.

Tomb Deathtraps
Deathtrap
Another classic type of trap is the sort of triggered trap left behind in abandoned tombs, ruins, and catacombs.
Here, a hero who touches the wrong step, floor tile, wall brick, torch bracket, mounted gemstone, or other
device will trigger some sort of ancient trap designed to kill tomb-robbers and intruders.

Special Terrain
Chase
You can make any chase more memorable by having it take place in a setting to which it is utterly unsuited. For
instance, horse chases are fine and dramatic when they take place through the forest, out in the open plains, or
along a road -- but they become diabolical when they take place inside the Royal Palace or in dangerous,
labrynthine, treacherous catacombs.

Comet's Progress
Omen/Prophesy
Events during the adventure may be enlivened by a large and menacing comet which appears in the night sky
for several days during the scenario; the locals take it for an omen of doom. The comet may be the result of
magic being used by the Master Villain, or the comet's appearance can pertain to an old legend involving the
Master Villain.

Love
Secret Weakness
The Master Villain possesses the "weakness" of genuine affection or love -- probably for some NPC, though it
could be very intriguing if the object of his affections is a player-character. The heroes can then defeat the
villain by holding his loved one hostage, or proving that his loved one will be seriously harmed, betrayed, or
killed if the villain keeps up with his activity.

No Lawbreaking
Special Condition
For some reason, at one point in the story, the heroes cannot allow themselves to break the law -- even when it
would help them greatly to do so. For instance, the heroes may be asking for the help of a king whose word is
law and whose power is immense. When they arrive for their audience, an emissary of the Master Villain is
making a similar plea for help. If the heroes attack and kill that emissary, they will lose any chance at the king's
help -- in fact, he may order their execution.

Ally Quandry
Moral Quandry
You set up the situation so that the heroes have a good chance at defeating the Master Villain if they get the aid
of two specific individuals, probably experts in fields relating to the villains' activities. But the two experts hate
one another and refuse to work together, even if it costs them their world.

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 the 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.

Based upon tables from the Dungeon Master's Design Kit by TSR, Inc.

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