Plots in a Pinch

Sometimes, you need a compelling hook and challenge for a session or one shot. But you don’t want a one-dimensional adventure. You want something with bite.

Use these 3 charts to create a unique adventure based around the kind of challenge you want the players to have.

Examples: If you want a combat-focused challenge where the players need to use their intelligence and the challenge has a magical property, you can choose Combat from the primary challenge chart, Clever/Intelligent from the secondary challenge chart, and Magic from the tertiary challenge chart. This gives you: Players must find a way to overcome a powerful warlord that cannot be killed by normal means who can constantly disguise theirself (themself? Themselve? Unsure).

If you wanted an adventure around a deity with a dash of survival and some more deity drama, you could pick Deity Drama, Survival, Deity Drama, which would be: Players learn the secret of a missing god that can thrive in circumstances and they have the faithful trying to deny it.

This provides a quick plot, but the why is up to the DM.

Contributors from the Gollicking:

u/RexiconJesse, u/Mimir-ion, & u/Fortuan

 

Primary challenge:

Combat	A powerful warlord
Clever/Intelligent	A grandmaster of a strategy game
Magic	An intellect dissolving cloud
Environmental	A shortage of necessary resources
Society/City	A powerful and dangerous political change is occurring
Survival	An inhospitable area
Social	An affluent socialite with dirt on important people
Beyond Your Station	A tyrannical ruler
Beyond Your Control	An elemental power
Beyond Your Understanding	The spawn of an extradimensional deity
War	An army of mercenaries
Religion	A false bishop
Political	A Spymaster
Flora	A Tree of Life
Sentience	An intelligent, brain-eating group of people
Dragon	Ancient Dragon
Deity Drama	A missing god
Undead	A rogue Reaper
Prophecy	A “The End is Nigh” Oracle
Family Drama	A close loved one of a PC
Visions from a Dream	A dream has shown a PC what will happen
Non-Combat	A constantly watched law enforcement official
Backstory	An important person in a PCs backstory

 

 

Secondary challenge:

Combat	That
Clever/Intelligent	That cannot be killed/resolved by normal means
Magic	That nullifies magic or reflects spells back at the caster
Environmental	That is in an environment hostile to the characters
Society/City	That wants fewer prisoners
Survival	That can thrive in circumstances and environments no one else can
Social	That has something that can shift the balance of power
Beyond Your Station	That is the key to toppling an empire
Beyond Your Control	That can never be completely stopped
Beyond Your Understanding	That has gained power from an experience beyond the veil of space and time
War	That will get what it seeks one way or another
Religion	That seizes faithful souls
Political	That makes people disappear
Flora	That regrows endlessly
Sentience	That expands a network of thralls
Dragon	That rules under threat of sheer power
Deity Drama	That lost control of their domain
Undead	That wants a less chaotic world
Prophecy	That faith will see succeed
Family Drama	That has influential ties to a PCs family
Visions from a Dream	That shows terrible events happening simultaneously in different locations
Non-Combat	That has a dedicated group of people at their beck and call
Backstory	That is tied directly to a key event in a PCs backstory

 

Tertiary challenge: 

Combat	Has unmatched equipment or resources
Clever/Intelligent	Cannot be solved/defeated by intellect alone
Magic	Can constantly disguise or hide itself
Environmental	Is changing the environment to better suit its needs
Society/City	During a local election
Survival	The weather is inhospitable
Social	Is surrounded by nosy people
Beyond Your Station	No one in authority believes you
Beyond Your Control	Is on a short timetable you cannot slow
Beyond Your Understanding	Is pulling another dimension into an unstable union with this one
War	Is regenerating its ranks quicker than they can be destroyed
Religion	Is seen as a messiah by a multitude of people
Political	Has spies everywhere
Flora	Has nature on its side.
Sentience	Hides behind the veil of society
Dragon	Owns the royal hierarchy and government in place
Deity Drama	Has the faithful trying to deny it
Undead	Sends kills to Purgatory
Prophecy	The McGuffin needed to succeed is unknown
Family Drama	Is guilt tripping a PC to do what they want done
Visions from a Dream	PC(s) lose something every time they deviate from the vision
Non-Combat	Challenges a character to a test of skill
Backstory	Drastically changes a character’s understanding about something from their past

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Related posts:

• Interactive Backstory Session
• Cult: Nal’s Hand, on behalf of Neira, Goddess of Illusion (CN, Trickery)
• The Character/Player Knowledge Paradox (and what you do about it)