Dungeon Master's Guide

:. C ONSIDER THE IDEAL CLIMAX
-:-::e climactic ending of an adventure fulfills the promise
:all that came before. Although the climax must hinge
:;:: rhe successes and failures of the characters up to
·.::a moment, the Adventure Climax table can provide
~:: gges tions to help you shape the end of your adventure.
DVENTURE CLIMAX
dl2
Climax
The a"dventurers confront the main villain and a
group of minions in a bloody battle to the finish.
2 The adventurers chase the villain while dodging
obstacles designed to thwart them, leading to a final
confrontation in or outside the villain's refuge.
3 The actions of the adventurers or the villain result
in a cataclysmic event that the adventurers must
4
5
6
7
8
9
10
11
12
escape.
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.
The villain and two or three lieutenants perform
separate rites in a large room. The adventurers
must disrupt all the rites at the same time.
An ally betrays the adventurers as they're about to
achieve their goal. (Use this climax carefully, and
don't overuse it.)
A portal opens to another plane of existence.
Creatures on the other side spill out, forcing the
adventurers to close the portal and deal with the
villain at the same time.
Traps, hazards, or animated objects turn against
the adventurers while the main villain attacks.
The dungeon begins to collapse while the
adventurers face the main villain, who attempts to
escape in the chaos.
A threat more powerful than the adventurers
appears, destroys the main villain, and then turns
its attention on the characters.
The adventurers must choose whether to pursue
the fleeing main villain or save an N PC they care
about or a group of innocents.
The adventurers must discover the main villain's
secret weakness before they can hope to defeat that
villain .
6. PLAN E NCOUNTER S
.:..fter you've created the location and the overall story of
the adventure, it's time to plan out the encounters that
make up that adventure. In a location-based adventure,
most encounters are keyed to specific locations on
a map. For each room or wilderness area on the
adventure map, your key describes what's in that area:
its physical features, as well as any encounter that plays
out there. The adventure key turns a simple sketch
of numbered areas on graph paper into encounters
designed to entertain and intrigue your players.
See "Creating Encounters" later in this chapter for
guidance on crafting individual encounters.
EVENT-BASED ADVENTURES
In an event-based adventure, the focus is on what the
characters and villains do and what happens as a
result. The question of where those things happen is of
secondary importance.
Building an event-based adventure is more work than
building a location-based one, but the process can be
simplified by following a number of straightforward
steps. Several steps include tables from which you
can choose adventure elements or roll randomly for
inspiration. As with location-based adventures, you don't
necessarily have to follow these steps in order.
1. START WITH A VILLAIN
Putting care into creating your villain will pay off later,
since the villain plays such a pivotal role in advancing
the story. Use the Adventure Villains table in the
previous section to get started, and use the information
in chapter 4 to help flesh out the villain.
For example, your villain might be an undead creature
seeking to avenge a past imprisonment or injury. An
interesting aspect of an undead villain is that this past
injury might have occurred centuries ago, inspiring
revenge against the descendants of those that harmed
it. Imagine a vampire imprisoned by the members of a
religious order of knights, and who now seeks revenge
against the current members of that order.
2. DET E RMINE T HE VILLAIN'S ACTIONS
Once you have a villain, it's time to determine what
steps the villain takes to achieve its goals. Create a
timeline showing what the villain does and when,
assuming no interference from the adventurers.
Building on the previous example, you might decide
that your vampire villain murders several knights. By
slipping past locked doors in gaseous form, the vampire
is able to make the deaths appear natural at first, but
it soon becomes clear that a depraved killer is behind
the murders.
If you need additional inspiration, consider a few
different options for how the villain's actions unfold over
the course of the adventure.
EVENT-BASED VILLAIN ACTIONS
d6 Type of Actions d6
2
3
Big event
Crime spree
Growing
corruption
4
5
6
Type of Actions
One and done
Serial crimes
Step by step
Big Event. The villain's plans come to fruition during
a festival, an astrological event, a holy (or unholy) rite, a
royal wedding, the birth of a child, or some similar fixed
time. The villain's activities up to that point are geared
toward preparation for this event.
Crime Spree. The villain commits acts that become
bolder and more heinous over time. A killer might start
out by targeting the destitute in the city slums before
moving up to a massacre in the marketplace, increasing
the horror and the body count each time.
CHAPTER 3 I CREATTNG ADVENTURES
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