SAVE THE CAT BEAT SHEET

ACT 1
Opening image
Start strong with an image that catapults your audience into the look and feel of your
story.

Theme stated
Establish the theme early on.

Set-up
Show your character in their old world. Let the audience know what the status quo is
for them, then hint at the adventure that follows. Establish all character who will factor
into your main story beats.

Catalyst
Sometimes called the inciting incident, the catalyst is the event that disrupts your
protagonist’s status quo. But they’re not ready to make the choice that catapults them
into the story just yet.

Debate
This is where the protagonist has doubts about setting out on their perilous journey.

Break into 2
Your protagonist overcomes their doubt and make a choice to set out on their
adventure. This is the choice that officially sets the plot in motion.

ACT 2
Bstory
The A story revolves around the choice your protagonist made as Act 1 breaks into Act
2. But another subplot ensues, commonly a love story.

Fun and games

The protagonist wields their new power and does cool stuff with it.

Midpoint
At some point, your protagonist will either get what they’re after or not. But there will
be consequences either way.

ACT 2B
Bad Guys Close In
The consequences tighten their grasp and throw the protagonist off balance. These
forces don’t necessarily have to be actual antagonists. It can also be fighting within
the protagonist’s circle.

All is Lost
Inevitable loss. This is usually a character, and classically the mentor. Whatever the
loss, it’s felt deeply because this item or person gave the protagonist their bearings.
Dark Night of the Soul
This is the direst circumstance your character reaches. At this point your protagonist
has lost hope.

Break into 3
This is where your protagonist claws around in the darkness, only to find or remember
something useful.

ACT 3
Finale
Armed with new tools and self-discoveries, the protagonist often synthesizes what
they’ve learned with values they’ve always had.

Final image
Along with the opening image, the final image creates the bookend that encapsulates
the journey. It should cement the theme of the film, as well as represent what
happened and changed over the course of this journey.

THE HERO’S JOURNEY

VOGLER
Departure
Ordinary world
Call to adventure
Refusal of the call
Meeting with the mentor
Crossing the first threshold
Initiation
Tests, allies, and enemies
Approach to the inmost cave
The ordeal
Reward
Return
The road back
The resurrection
Return with the elixir

CAMPBELL
Departure
The call to adventure
The hero begins in a situation of normality from which some information is received
that acts as a call to head off into the unknown.
Refusal of the call
Often when the call is given, the future hero first refuses to heed it. This may be from
a sense of duty or obligation, fear, insecurity, a sense of inadequacy, or any of a range
of reasons that work to hold he person in his current circumstances.

Supernatural aid
Once the hero has committed to the quest, consciously or unconsciously, their guide
and magical helper appears or becomes known. Often, this supernatural mentor will
present the hero with one or more talismans or artifacts that will aid them later in their
quest.

The crossing of the first threshold

This is the point where the hero crosses into the field of adventure, leaving the known
limits of their world and venturing into an unknown and dangerous realm where the
rules and limits are unknown.

Belly of the whale

The belly of the whale represents the final separation from the hero’s known world and
self. By entering this stage, the person shows a willingness to undergo a
metamorphosis. When first entering the stage, the hero may encounter a minor
danger or setback.

Initiation
The road of trials
The road of trials is a series of tests that the hero must undergo to begin the
transformation. Often the hero fails one or more of these tests, which often occur in
threes. Eventually, the hero will overcome these trials and move on to the next step.

The meeting with the goddess

This is where the hero gains items given to him that will help him in the future.

Woman as the temptress

In this step, the hero faces those temptations, often of a physical or pleasurable
nature, that may lead them to abandon or stray from their quest, which does not
necessarily have to be represented by a woman. A woman is a metaphor for the
physical or material temptations of life since the hero-knight was often tempted by
lust from his spiritual journey.

Atonement with the father

In this step, the hero must confront and be initiated by whatever holds the ultimate
power in their life. In many myths and stories, this is the father or a father figure who
has life and death power. This is the center point of the journey. All the previous steps
have been moving into this place, all that follow will move out from it. Although this
step is most frequently symbolized by an encounter with a male entity, it does not
have to be a male, just someone or something with incredible power.

Apotheosis
This is the point of realization in which a greater understanding is achieved. Armed
with this new knowledge and perception, the hero is resolved and ready for the more
difficult part of the adventure.

The ultimate boon

The ultimate boon is the achievement of the goal of the quest. It is what the hero went
on the journey to get. All the previous steps serve to prepare and purify the hero for
this step since in many myths the boon is something transcendent like the elixir of life
itself, or a plant that supplies immortality, or the holy grail.

Return
Refusal of the return
Having found bliss and enlightenment in the other world, the hero may not want to
return to the ordinary world to bestow the boon onto their fellow beings.

The magic flight

Sometimes the hero must escape with the boon if it is something that the gods have
been jealously guarding. It can be just as adventurous and dangerous returning from
the journey as it was to go on it.

Rescue from without

Just as the hero may need guides and assistants to set out on the quest, often they
must have powerful guides and rescuers to bring them back to everyday life,
especially if the hero has been wounded or weakened by the experience.

The crossing of the return threshold

The returning hero, to complete his adventure, must survive the impact of the world.
The goal of the return is to retain the wisdom gained on the quest and to integrate it
into society.

Master of the two worlds

For a human hero, it may mean achieving a balance between the material and
spiritual. The person has become comfortable and competent in both the inner and
outer worlds.

Freedom to live
In this step, mastery leads to freedom from the fear of death, which in turn is the
freedom to live. This is sometimes referred to as living in the moment, neither
anticipating the future nor regretting the past.

FREYTAG’S PYRAMID
A formula for tragedy

INTRODUCTION
The status quo is established; an inciting incident occurs.

RISE, OR RISING ACTION

The protagonist actively pursues their goal. The stakes heighten.

CLIMAX
A point of no return, from which the protagonist can no longer go back to the status
quo.

RETURN, OR FALL
In the aftermath of the climax, tension builds, and the story heads inevitably towards.
CATASTROPHE
The protagonist is brought to their lowest point. Their greatest fears have come true.

THREE ACT STRUCTURE

ACT 1: SETUP
Exposition
The status quo or ordinary world is established.

Inciting incident
An event that sets the story in motion.

Plot point one

The protagonist decides to tackle the challenge head-on. They cross the threshold,
and the story is now truly moving.

ACT 2: CONFRONTATION
Risin action
The story’s true stakes become clear: our hero grows familiar with her new world and
has her first encounter with some enemies and allies.

Midpoint
An event that upends the protagonist’s mission.

Plot point two

In the wake of the disorienting midpoint, the protagonist is tested and fails. Their
ability to succeed is now in doubt.

ACT 3: RESOLUTION
Pre climax
The night is darkest before dawn. The protagonist must pull herself together and
choose between decisive action and failure.

Climax
They face off against her antagonist one last time. Will they prevail?

Denouement
All loose ends are tied up. The reader discovers the consequences of the climax. A
new status quo is established.

DAN HARMON’S STORY CIRCLE

A CHARACTER IS IN A ZONE OF COMFORT
This is the establishment of the status quo
BUT THEY WANT SOMETHING
This want could be something long-standing and brought to the fore by an inciting
incident.

THEY ENTER AN UNFAMILIAR SITUATION

The protagonist must do something new in their pursuit of the thing they want.

ADAPT TO IT
Faced with some challenges, they struggle then begin to succeed.

GET WHAT THEY WANTED

Usually a false victory

PAY A HEAVY PRICE FOR IT

They realize that what they wanted wasn’t what they needed.

THEN RETURN TO THEIR FAMILIAR SITUATION

Armed with a new truth

HAVING CHANGED
For better or worse.

FICHTEAN CURVE
RISING ACTION

INCITING INCIDENT

FIRST CRISIS

SECOND CRISIS

THIRD CRISIS

FOURTH CRISIS

CLIMAX

FALLING ACTION

SEVEN-POINT STORY STRUCTURE

THE HOOK
Draw readers in by explaining the protagonist’s current situation. Their state of being
at the beginning of the novel should be in direct contrast to what it will be at the end
of the novel.

PLOT POINT 1
Whether it’s a person, an idea, an inciting incident, or something else, there should be
a call to adventure of sorts that sets the narrative and character development in
motion.

PINCH POINT 1
Things can’t be all sunshine and roses for your protagonist. Something should go
wrong here that applies pressure to the main character, forcing them to step up and
solve the problem.

MIDPOINT
A turning point wherein the main character changes from a passive force to an active
force in the story. Whatever the narrative’s main conflict is, the protagonist decides to
start meeting it head-on.

PINCH POINT 2
The second pinch point involves another blow to the protagonist, things go even more
awry than they did during the first pinch point. This might involve the passing of a
mentor, the failure of a plan, the reveal of a traitor.

PLOT POINT 2
After the calamity of the Pinch point 2, the protagonist learns, that they’ve had the
key to solving the conflict the whole time.

RESOLUTION
The story’s primary conflict is resolved, and the character goes through the final bit of
development necessary to transform them from who they were at the start of the
novel.

SEVEN BASIC PLOTS

META-PLOT
Anticipation stage
The hero is called to the adventure to come.

Dream stage
The adventure begins, the hero has some success, and has an illusion of invincibility.

Frustration stage
The hero has his first confrontation with the enemy, and the illusion of invincibility is
lost.
Nightmare stage
The climax of the plot, where hope is apparently lost.

Resolution
The hero overcomes his burden against the odds.

The rule of three

The third event in a series of events becomes the final trigger for something important
to happen.

OVERCOMING THE MONSTER

The protagonist sets out to defeat an antagonistic force that threatens the protagonist
and/or protagonist’s homeland. (Perseus, Theseus, Beowulf, Dracula, Seven Samurai,
James Bond, Harry Potter, Star Wars)

RAGS TO RICHES
The poor protagonist acquires power, wealth, and/or a mate, loses it all and gains it
back, growing as a person as a result. (Cinderella, Aladdin, David Copperfield)

THE QUEST
The protagonist and companions set out to acquire an important object or to get to a
location. They face temptations and other obstacles along the way. (The Iliad, The
Lord of the Rings, The Divine Comedy, The Aeneid, Raiders of the Lost Ark)

VOYAGE AND RETURN

The protagonist goes to a strange land and, after overcoming the threats it poses or
learning important lessons unique to that location, returns with experience. (Odyssey,
Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland, Orpheus, The Hobbit, The Rime of the Ancient
Mariner, The Lion King, back to the Future, Gulliver’s Travels, Peter Pan)

COMEDY
Light and humorous character with a happy or cheerful ending; a dramatic work in
which the central motif is the triumph over adverse circumstance, resulting in a
successful or happy conclusion. The conflict becomes more and more confusing but is
at last made plain in a single clarifying event. (Aulularia, A Midsummer Night’s Dream,
The Taming of the Shrew, Bridget Jone’s Diary, The Big Lebowski)

TRAGEDY
The protagonist is a hero with a major character flaw or great mistake which is
ultimately their undoing. The protagonist’s unfortunate end evokes pity at their folly
and the fall of a fundamentally good character. (Anna Karenina, Citizen Kane,
Macbeth, Madame Bovary, Oedipus Rex, The Picture of Dorian Gray, Romeo and Juliet,
Hamilton, The Great Gatsby, Hamlet)

REBIRTH
An event forces the main character to change their ways and often become a better
individual. (Crime and Punishment, The Frog Prince, Beauty and the Beast, A
Christmas Carol, Groundhog Day)
 THE BIG LIST OF RPG PLOTS
ANY OLD PORT IN A STORM
The PCs are seeking shelter from the elements or some other threat and come across
a place to hole up. They find that they have stumbled across something dangerous,
secret, or supernatural, and must then deal with it in order to enjoy a little rest.
Common Twists & Themes: The shelter holds the cause of the threat the PCs were
trying to avoid. The shelter houses a Hidden Base (q.v.). The PCs must not only
struggle for shelter, they must struggle to survive. The place is a legitimate shelter of
some kind, but the PCs are not welcome, and must win hearts or minds to earn their
bed for the night.

BETTER LATE THAN NEVER

Some bad guys have arrived and done some bad guy things. The PCs were none the
wiser. The bad guys have now made good their escape, and the PCs have caught wind
of it in time to chase them down before they make it back to their lair, their home
nation, behind enemy lines, etc.
Common Twists & Themes: The bad guys escaped by stealing a conveyance that
the PCs know better than they do. The bad guys duck down a metaphorical (or literal)
side-road, trying to hide or blend into an environment (often one hostile to the PCs). If
the bad guys cross the adventure's "finish line" (cross the county line, make the warp
jump, etc.) there's no way to pursue them beyond it.

BLACKMAIL
Usually through trickery (but sometimes by digging into the PCs' past), an antagonist
has something to hold over the heads of the PCs and make them jump. This could be
any kind of threat from physical to social, but it depends on the villain having
something - even if it's information - that others don't have. Now, he is pulling the
strings of the PCs, telling them to do things they don't want to. The PCs must end the
cycle of blackmail, deprive the villain of his edge, and keep him temporarily satisfied
while doing it.
Common Twists & Themes: The adventure hook involves the PCs doing the villain a
good turn, which allows him to take advantage of them (very cynical!). To succeed,
the PCs must contact other folks that are also being used. The PCs aren't the victims
at all, but somebody they care about/are charged to protect, is.

BREAKING AND ENTERING

Mission goal: enter the dangerous place and retrieve the vital dingus or valuable
person. Overcome the area's defences to do so.
Common Twists & Themes: The goal is not to extract a thing, but to destroy a thing
or interfere with a process (kill the force-screen generator, assassinate the evil king,
stop the spell from being cast, wreck the invasion plans, close the portal). The goal
has moved. The goal is information, which must be broadcast or otherwise released
from the area as soon as it is found. The job must be done without alerting anyone.
The PCs don't know the place is dangerous. The PCs must replace the thing with
another thing.
CAPTURE THE FLAG
The PCs must secure a military target for the good guys. There are bad guys there
that prefer not to be secured. The fundamental tactical scenario.
Common Twists & Themes: The PCs must assemble and/or train a force to do the
job with them. The PCs are working with flawed intelligence and the target zone isn't
as described. The PCs must coordinate their own efforts with an ally group (possibly
putting aside rivalries to do so). The target zone includes a population of innocent
people, fragile goods, or some other precious thing that mustn't be harmed in the
crossfire.

CLEARING THE HEX

There is a place where bad things live. The PCs must make it safe for nice people,
systematically clearing it of danger.
Common Twists & Themes: The bad things can't be beaten with direct conflict. The
PCs must learn more about them to solve the problem. The Haunted House. The Alien
Infestation. The Wild Forest.

DELVER'S DELIGHT
The PCs are treasure-hunters, who have caught wind of a treasure-laden ruin. They go
to explore it and must deal with its supernatural denizens to win the treasure and get
out alive.
Common Twists & Themes: The treasure itself is something dangerous. The
treasure isn't in a ruin, but in a wilderness or even hidden somewhere "civilized." The
treasure is someone else's rightful property. The treasure turns out to have a will of its
own.

DON'T EAT THE PURPLE ONES

The PCs are stranded in a strange place, and must survive by finding food and shelter,
and then worry about getting back home.
Common Twists & Themes: The PCs must survive only for a short period of time,
until help arrives, the ship and/or radio is repaired, or some such thing (in "repair"
scenarios, sometimes the PCs must discover some fact about the local environment
that will make such repairs possible).

ELEMENTARY, MY DEAR WATSON

A crime or atrocity has been committed; the PCs must solve it. They must interview
witnesses (and prevent them from being killed), gather clues (and prevent them from
being stolen or ruined). They must then assemble proof to deliver to the authorities or
serve as personal ministers of justice.
Common Twists & Themes: The PCs are working to clear an innocent already
accused (possibly themselves). The PCs must work alongside a special investigator or
are otherwise saddled with an unwanted ally. Midway through the adventure, the PCs
are "taken off the case" - their invitation/authority to pursue the matter is closed
(often the result of political manoeuvring by an antagonist). The climax is a courtroom
scene or other arena of judgment. The scale is highly variable for this type of
adventure, from a small-town murder to a planetwide pollution scandal.
ESCORT SERVICE
The PCs have a valuable object or person, which needs to be taken to a safe place or
to its rightful owner, etc. They must undertake a dangerous journey in which one or
more factions (and chance and misfortune) try to deprive them of the thing in their
care.
Common Twists & Themes: The thing or person is troublesome and tries to escape
or sidetrack the PCs. The destination has been destroyed or suborned by the enemy,
and the PCs must take upon themselves the job that either the destination or their
charge was meant to do when it got there. The person is a person trying a political
defection. Safe arrival at the destination doesn't end the story; the PCs must then
bargain with their charge as their token (exchanging money for a hostage, for
instance). The PCs must protect the target without the target knowing about it.

GOOD HOUSEKEEPING
The PCs are placed in charge of a large operation (a trading company, a feudal barony,
the CIA) and must, despite lack of experience in such things, make it work and thrive.
Common Twists & Themes: The PCs are brought in because something big is about
to happen, and the Old Guard wants a chance to escape. The peasants, neighbours,
employees, etcetera resent the PCs, because their method of inheritance looks
outwardly bad, and everybody loved the old boss.

HELP IS ON THE WAY

A person (church group, nation, galaxy) is in a hazardous situation they can't survive
without rescue. The PCs are on the job. In some scenarios, the hook is as simple as a
distant yell or crackly distress signal.
Common Twists & Themes: The victim(s) is (are) a hostage, or under siege from
enemy forces, and the PCs must deal with the captors or break the siege. There is a
danger that any rescue attempts will strand the rescuers in the same soup as the
rescues, compounding the problem. The rescues aren't people, but animals, robots, or
something else. The "victim" doesn't realize that he needs rescuing; he thinks he's
doing something reasonable and/or safe. The threat isn't villain-oriented at all; it's a
natural disaster, nuclear meltdown, or disease outbreak. The rescues can't leave;
something immobile and vital must be tended to or dealt with at the adventure
location. The PCs begin as part of the rescues and must escape and gather forces or
resources to bring back and proceed as above.
Hidden Base
The PCs, while traveling or exploring, come across a hornet's nest of bad guys,
preparing for Big Badness. They must either find some way to get word to the good
guys, or sneak in and disable the place themselves, or a combination of both.
Common Twists & Themes: The PCs must figure out how to use local resources in
order to defend themselves or have a chance against the inhabitants.

HOW MUCH FOR JUST THE DINGUS?

Within a defined area, something important and valuable exists. The PCs (or their
employers) want it, but so do one or more other groups. The ones that get it will be
the ones that can outthink and outrace the others, deal best with the natives of the
area, and learn the most about their target. Each competing group has its own agenda
and resources.
Common Twists & Themes: The natives require the competing factions to gather
before them as pals to state their cases. The valuable thing was en route somewhere
when its conveyance or courier wrecked or vanished.

I BEG YOUR PARDON?

The PCs are minding their own business when they are attacked or threatened. They
don't know why. They must solve the mystery of their attacker's motives, and in the
meantime fend off more attacks. They must put two and two together to deal with the
problem.
Common Twists & Themes: The PCs have something that the bad guys want - but
they don't necessarily realize it. The bad guys are out for revenge for a dead
compatriot from a previous adventure. The bad guys have mistaken the PCs for
somebody else.

LONG OR SHORT FORK WHEN DINING ON ELF?

The PCs are a diplomatic vanguard, trying to open up (or shore up) either political or
trade relations with a strange culture. All they have to do is manage for a day or so
among the strange customs without offending anybody . . . and what information they
have is both incomplete and dangerously misleading.
Common Twists & Themes: The PCs were chosen by somebody who knew they
weren't prepared for it - an NPC trying to sabotage the works (pinning this villain might
be necessary to avert disaster).

LOOK, DON'T TOUCH

The PCs are working surveillance - spying on a person, gathering information on a
beast in the wild, scouting a new sector. Regardless of the scale, the primary conflict
(at least at the start) is the rule that they are only to watch, listen and learn. They are
not to make contact or let themselves be known.
Common Twists & Themes: The target gets itself in trouble and the PCs must decide
whether to break the no-contact rule in order to mount a rescue.

MANHUNT
Someone is gone: they've run away, gotten lost, or simply haven't called home in a
while. Somebody misses them or needs them returned. The PCs are called in to find
them and bring them back.
Common Twists & Themes: The target has been kidnapped (possibly to specifically
lure the PCs). The target is dangerous and escaped from a facility designed to protect
the public. The target is valuable and escaped from a place designed to keep him safe,
cozy, and conveniently handy. The target has a reason for leaving that the PCs will
sympathize with. The target has stumbled across another adventure (either as
protagonist or victim), which the PCs must then undertake themselves. The missing
"person" is an entire expedition or pilgrimage of some kind. The target isn't a runaway
or missing/lost - they're just someone that the PCs have been hired to track down
(possibly under false pretences).
MISSING MEMORIES
One or more of the PCs wakes up with no memory of the recent past, and now they
find themselves in some kind of trouble they don't understand. The PCs must find the
reason for the memory lapse and solve any problems they uncover in the meantime.
Common Twists & Themes: The forgetful PCs voluntarily suppressed or erased the
memories, and they find themselves undoing their own work.

MOST PECULIAR, MOMMA

Something both bad and inexplicable is happening (racial tension is being fired up in
town, all the power is out, the beer supply is drained, it's snowing in July, Voyager still
has fans, hordes of aliens are eating all the cheese), and a lot of people are very
troubled by it. The PCs must track the phenomenon to its source and stop it.
Common Twists & Themes: The PCs are somehow unwittingly responsible for the
whole thing. What seems to be a problem of one nature (technological, personal,
biological, chemical, magical, political, etc) is actually a problem of an alternate one.

NO ONE HAS SOILED THE BRIDGE

The PCs are assigned to guard a single vital spot (anything from a mountain pass to a
solar system) from impending or possible attack. They must plan their defensive
strategy, set up watches, set traps, and so on, and then deal with the enemy when it
arrives.
Common Twists & Themes: The intelligence the PCs was given turns out to be
faulty, but acting on the new information could result in greater danger - but so could
not acting on it, and the PCs must choose or create a compromise. The PCs learn that
the enemy has good and sympathetic reason for wanting to destroy the protected
spot.

NOT IN KANSAS
The PCs are minding their own business and find themselves transported to a strange
place. They must figure out where they are, why they are there and how to escape.
Common Twists & Themes: They were brought there specifically to help someone in
trouble. They were brought there by accident, as a by-product of something strange
and secret. Some of the PCs' enemies were transported along with them (or
separately), and now they have a new battleground, and innocents to convince which
guys are the good guys.

OUNCES OF PREVENTION
A villain or organization is getting ready to do something bad, and the PCs have
received a tip-off of some sort. They must investigate to find out more about the
caper, and then act to prevent it.
Common Twists & Themes: The initial tip-off was a red herring meant to distract the
PCs from the actual caper. There are two simultaneous Bad Things on the way, and no
apparent way to both of them - how to choose?
PANDORA'S BOX
Somebody has tinkered with Things Man Ought Not, or opened a portal to the Mean
People Dimension, cracked a wall at the state prison, or summoned an ancient
Babylonian god into a penthouse. Before the PCs can even think of confronting the
source of the trouble, they must deal with the waves of trouble already released by it:
monsters, old foes out for vengeance, curious aliens who think
cars/citizens/McDonald's hamburgers resemble food, and so forth.
Common Twists & Themes: The PCs can't simply take the released badness to the
mat; they have to collect it and shove it back into the source before it the adventure
can really end. The PCs are drawn in to the source and must solve problems on the
other side before returning to this one. A secret book, code, or other rare element is
necessary to plug the breach (maybe just the fellow who opened it). A close cousin to
this plot is the basic "somebody has travelled into the past and messed with our
reality" story.

QUEST FOR THE SPARKLY HOOZITS

Somebody needs a dingus (to fulfil a prophecy, heal the monarch, prevent a war, cure
a disease, or what have you). The PCs must find a dingus. Often an old dingus, a
mysterious dingus, and a powerful dingus. The PCs must learn more about it to track it
down, and then deal with taking it from wherever it is.
Common Twists & Themes: The dingus is incomplete when found (one of the most
irritating and un-fun plot twists in the universe). Somebody already owns it (or
recently stole it, sometimes with legitimate claim or cause). The dingus is information,
or an idea, or a substance, not a specific dingus. The PCs must "go undercover" or
otherwise infiltrate a group or society, gaining the dingus by guile or stealth.

RECENT RUINS
A town, castle, starship, outpost, or other civilized construct is lying in ruins. Very
recently, it was just dandy. The PCs must enter the ruins, explore them, and find out
what happened.
Common Twists & Themes: Whatever ruined the ruins (including mean people,
weird radiation, monsters, a new race, ghosts) is still a threat; the PCs must save the
day. The inhabitants destroyed themselves. The "ruins" are a derelict ship or
spaceship, recently discovered. The "ruin" is a ghost town, stumbled across as the PCs
travel - but the map says the town is alive and well.

RUNNING THE GAUNTLET

The PCs must travel through a hazardous area, and get through without being killed,
robbed, humiliated, debased, diseased, or educated by whatever is there. The troubles
they encounter are rarely personal in nature - the place itself is the "villain" of the
adventure.
Common Twists & Themes: The place isn't dangerous at all, and the various
"dangers" are actually attempts to communicate with the party by some agent or
another.
SAFARI
The PCs are on a hunting expedition, to capture or kill and elusive and prized creature.
They must deal with its environment, its own ability to evade them, and possibly its
ability to fight them.
Common Twists & Themes: The creature is immune to their devices and weapons.
There are other people actively protecting the creature. The creature's lair allows the
PCs to stumble onto another adventure.

SCORE ONE FOR THE HOME TEAM

The PCs are participants in a race, contest, tournament, scavenger hunt or other
voluntary bit of sport. They must win.
Common Twists & Themes: The other contestants are less honest, and the PCs must
overcome their attempts to win dishonestly. The PCs are competing for a deeper
purpose than victory, such as to keep another contestant safe, or spy on one, or just
to get into the place where the event goes down. The PCs don't wish to win; they just
wish to prevent the villain from winning. The event is a deliberate test of the PCs
abilities (for entry into an organization, for example). The event becomes more deadly
than it's supposed to.

STALAG 23
The PCs are imprisoned, and must engineer an escape, overcoming any guards,
automatic measures, and geographic isolation their prison imposes on them.
Common Twists & Themes: Something has happened in the outside world and the
prison security has fallen lax because of it. The PCs have been hired to "test" the
prison - they aren't normal inmates. Other prisoners decide to blow the whistle for
spite or revenge. The PCs are undercover to spy on a prisoner but are then mistaken
for real inmates and kept incarcerated. The PCs must escape on a tight schedule to
get to another adventure outside the walls.

TAKE US TO MEMPHIS AND DON'T SLOW DOWN

The PCs are on board a populated conveyance (East Indiaman, Cruise Ship, Ferry,
Sleeper Starship), when it is hijacked. The PCs must act while the normals sit and
twiddle.
Common Twists & Themes: The "hijackers" are government agents pulling a
complicated caper, forcing the PCs to choose sides. The hijackers don't realize there is
a secondary danger that must be dealt with, and any attempt to convince them is
viewed as a trick. The normals are unhelpful or even hostile to the PCs because they
think the PCs are just making matters worse.

TROUBLEMAKERS
A bad guy (or a group of them, or multiple parties) is kicking up a ruckus, upsetting
the neighbours, poisoning the reservoirs, or otherwise causing trouble. The PCs have
to go where the trouble is, locate the bad guys, and stop the party.
Common Twists & Themes: The PCs must not harm the perpetrator(s); they must be
bagged alive and well. The bad guys have prepared something dangerous and hidden
as "insurance" if they are captured. The "bad guy" is a monster or dangerous animal
(or an intelligent creature that everybody thinks is a monster or animal). The "bad
guy" is a respected public figure, superior officer, or someone else abusing their
authority, and the PCs might meet hostility from normally-helpful quarters who don't
accept that the bad guy is bad. A balance of power perpetuates the trouble, and the
PCs must choose sides to tip the balance and fix things. The "trouble" is diplomatic or
political, and the PCs must make peace, not war.

UNCHARTED WATERS
The PCs are explorers, and their goal is to enter an unknown territory and scope it out.
Naturally, the job isn't just going to be surveying and drawing sketches of local fauna;
something is there, something fascinating and threatening.
Common Twists & Themes: Either the place itself is threatening (in which case the
PCs must both play National Geographic and simultaneously try to escape with their
skin, sanity, and credit rating) or the place itself is very valuable and wonderful, and
something else there is keen on making sure the PCs don't let anyone else know.
Other potential conflicts involve damage to the PCs' conveyance or communication
equipment, in which case this becomes Don't Eat the Purple Ones.

WE'RE ON THE OUTSIDE LOOKING IN

Any of the basic plots in this list can be reengineered with the PCs on the outside of it.
Either the PCs are accompanying other characters in the midst of such a plot (often
being called on to defend the plot from the outside, as it were), or they are minding
their own business when the others involved in the plot show up, and must pick sides
or simply resist. For instance, with Any Old Port in The Storm, the PCs could already be
enjoying (or native to) the shelter when a strange group arrives. If the "the PCs are
unwelcome" variant is employed, then perhaps the PCs will be the only voice of reason
to still the religious fervour, racial prejudice, anti-monster sentiment, or whatever else
is the source of conflict.
Common Twists & Themes: The PCs find themselves on the receiving end of the
adventure. Take any of the plots here and reverse them, placing the PCs in the
position where NPCs (often the villain, fugitive, etcetera) normally are. Instead of
hunting, they must be hunted. Instead of fixing, they must avoid getting "fixed"
themselves (ow). Alternately, leave a classic plot intact but turn the twists upside
down, making them twistier (or refreshingly un twisty).