Today, we're going to be looking inside Wizard of the Coast's Dungeons and Dragons, Dungeon Master's Guide by lead designers Mike Mearls and Jeremy Crawford, published in 2014. This is the version everyone has come to know and is the most popular at the time of this writing. Today, though, we going to be looking more specifically at Chapter 3: Creating Adventures.
In chapter three, the book goes on to tell you about the elements of a great adventure. It describes a credible threat, familiar tropes with clever twists, and surprises. Because I'm more into tables and using my random generator, I'm going to skip over to Adventure Types.
Location-Based Adventures, according to the book, "...can be broken down into a number of steps. Each step provides tables from which you can select the basic elements of your adventure. Alternatively, roll on the tables and see how the random results inspire you."
I do like rolling, and I do like random results, so the first table we come to is Dungeon Goals. The book has a list of goals you could choose from. My generator chose: "Parley with a villain in the dungeon." There is a lot to unpack here. Who is this villain? Where is the dungeon located? What was the dungeon before the villain took it over? Is there some sort of history behind the dungeon? Why parley with this foul person?
The villain my generator chose is an "aberration bent on corruption or domination." That's pretty straight forward. There are many aberrations from many different sources. Here are three I can think of off the top of my head: Shadow Horror, Gray Slaad, and Mind Flayer. Mind Flayers are always fun. We'll explore how the aberration is going to manage its corruption or domination next week, but for now, we'll focus on the adventure.
How do we start this adventure? The book lists several options to use, but we'll go with: "The adventurers find a map on a dead body. In addition to the map setting up the adventure, the adventure's villain wants the map."
Oh! Interesting... So, because the villain wants the map, there is probably an element on the map that will help with its goal.
Of course, sometimes it helps if you know the climax of the adventure; getting from the start of the adventure to the end always helps in organizing your thoughts. Everything in between can be sorted out as we go.
The book lists twelve different options on the Climax table. Randomly, we get: "The adventurers race to the site where the villain is bringing a master plan to its conclusion, arriving just as that plan is about to be completed."
Putting it all together, so far:
A mind flayer is bent on corruption, but it needs the map to do so. This is the map the PCs found on the dead body of an elf, probably a former acquaintance or adventurer of the PCs. This is a recipe for a major battle at the end of the adventure, but instead of going all out murder-hobo on the flayer, perhaps the PCs know it, and instead choose to parley with it. And then it's a race to the site. The PCs to need to stop the villain by making it see the errors of its ways. The villain needs to complete its master plan or corruption or domination. As the PCs arrive at the site, they witness that plan about to be completed.
Not a bad start to this adventure. Wow! How do the PCs know the mind flayer that they would rather speak to it, than destroy the evil fiend? Maybe there is something in the characters' backgrounds you could use.
Chapter three of the Dungeon Master's Guide goes on to adventure complications, and creating encounters, but at the moment, I'm more focused on the heart of the adventure.
Next week, we'll take a look at Chapter 4: Creating Nonplayer Characters; more specifically, the Villain.
I hope you've enjoyed this entry, and until next time.
Thanks for reading.
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