Recently I wrote about how you may find yourself in a position of needing to run an adventure on the spur of the moment; and gave the suggestion of using a place you're familiar with. This works great for those moments of impromptu adventuring. However, I received an inquiry about introducing other ways of starting an adventure. The person who asked was concerned about having an adventure that they felt was cliché.During the conversation I realized the person I was discussing the issue with is a newer game master (GM). I commend them working on ways of improving their game. The other part of this situation this newer GM was facing was a simple fact of also having a group of newer players. After their adventure was over they were heading back to their favorite tavern and waiting for the next adventure to come looking for them. This is a little different problem, but there are some similarities on how to deal with them.
In the previous article I wasn't advocating you develop a place where you always start the next adventure from. This can work if you have an adventuring group who have established themselves and a place as a base of operations. Even then, not all of their adventures need to, or should, start from the same location.
Using earlier adventures
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| Dagger from Damascus world |
When using a hook from an earlier adventure the party can take the lead in starting the adventure. They may be doing research on where they need to go, or what they need to create the item they want. If the fighter wants that big nasty sword, the wizard who can make it may desire a long lost tome as part of the payment. Now the fighter needs to get his companions in agreement to locate and retrieve the book.
Another hook is the wake of enemies the party has left behind them over the course of their adventures. The ship has left the planet behind. They feel safe because they defeated the evil overlord enslaving the people. A few month later it comes to light that a bounty has been placed on their heads. They are getting ambushed by every gray mercenary of the sector. But why? The overlord's daughter, the one who was off at finishing school on another planet. The only daughter the evil man was trying to protect from a life of crime by giving her every advantage to break free of the situation she was in. That was until she heard about how her father was killed by some group of space rogues.
Both of these examples provide an event that doesn't have to take place in the local tavern or guild hall. Members of the party have to go out and find the information. Or, while going from one location to another they're attacked and find the Zorillion is carrying their wanted poster.
Weaving in other locations
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| Ancient Bible |
In a recent adventure for my merchant/Machiavellian campaign (which I am putting together for a later article) the party was hired by a druid (here's a link to the druid's article) in the city to transport goods to a wizard in another town. He heard about the party because they have been trying to drum up business. The party was in the city when one member was approached by one of the green grocers at the market.
In earlier campaigns I have used bath houses to start adventures. This happened when the party was there cleaning up after being on the road for some time. Historically bath houses were known for being a place where business could be conducted in a safer environment because people couldn't bring in weapons easily.
I also played in a campaign which regularly had adventures in the middle of other adventures. The friend running this game was a great GM, and I think others can pull this off also with the proper planning. We would be working on the overarching adventure, battling a timeline to complete something before massive destruction would set in when a sideline adventure would pop up. These sideline adventures would be the usual plea for help to the great heroes. They would need to be addressed immediately and would always put our original timeline of the main adventure in jeopardy. They were fun because we were having to work against a clock and not just go in and win the battle.
Going back to Advanced Dungeons and Dragons, I remember one of the greatest treasure items to find was a treasure map. Yes, this is also a little cliché. The difference now is, when was the last time you or people in your gaming group found a treasure map? In fact, now that I have written these words I know where a treasure map is going to turn up in an upcoming adventure.
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| Spice market in Africa |
When working in a fantasy location you can use dreams and visions. When I say a fantasy location, this can be science fiction if this type of ability is allowed. One of the introductory adventures for Star Wars uses this type of information to help drive the characters forward to the next adventure.
Getting the party moving
For me the real part of starting the adventure in another location is to get the party started doing something. Don't allow them to sit around waiting for the adventure to come to them. I suggested to my young GM they might want to let the party sit in the tavern for a longer period of time just waiting for the nothing to happen. It could also get back to them how there was someone looking to hire them but another party of adventures took the job because they were out looking for work. A little competition can get people, even characters, up and moving.
I think there are a lot of interesting locations a party can start from. So tell us, of an interesting location you have had an adventure start from.
If you have any comments, questions, or critiques please leave a comment here or send an email to guildmastergaming@gmail.com.
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