"A typical "episode" of my campaign is a series of events arranged in the order I expect them to unfold. It all starts with me remembering the events of previous sessions and fixating on something as the focus of the upcoming session. The focus might be a player character, an important NPC, a location, a big event, or some combination thereof."
-Chris Perkins

I'm going to continue to delve into world building using the excellent tools provided in Fantasy Craft. This month, though, I talk about adventure building in FC. I don't believe any campaign world becomes real until players start rampaging through it. Adventures are the heart and soul of any campaign setting.

Why I Enjoy Adventure Creation in Fantasy Craft

I look forward to creating Fantasy Craft adventures. I did not look forward to making Pathfinder adventures and even 4E got to be a chore once the newness wore off.

From D&D 3.0 forward as well as Pathfinder, the PC who doesn't have the right amount of gear or innate qualities will be behind the power curve for his level. FC, however, doesn't assume a standard number of encounters and a standard mix of treasure for each level the PCs earn. With FC, I don't have to record treasure on an Excel spreadsheet anymore to track the math and the players don't have to scroll through a list of magic items to play the game. Many PCs don't even have magic items beyond some one-shot elixirs they buy before each adventure!

The game also recommends writing the game into scenes (like a TV show) rather than encounters which works well for me. The GM considers what might happen in the adventure and/or what the NPC that stars in the adventure will do and builds three to five scenes around the idea. A combat encounter could be part of a scene, but combat is only one of many options well-detailed in the rules.

The story layout of Star Trek and Firefly serve as great examples for structuring a FC adventure. Strip out the tech and you can pretty much take any action/drama/investigative TV show and turn it into a FC adventure.

Of course, the PCs have a huge list of character abilities so there is a learning curve for new players. FC has a lot of details to make the game seem "realistic" and to present many, many options. You can even play a dragon (drake) or treant (rootwalker) at 1st level and own an inn by 2nd level (two PCs went in together to buy one after their first adventure).

Once I finish writing a FC adventure I'm usually very jazzed to play it. I have the rough skeleton of an adventure that plays like a great sci-fi TV show in my head. I just need to get the combo director-actors (players) together and start filming!

Crafting an Adventure

I'm going to write this section side by side with the next Fantasy Craft adventure I'm creating for my home campaign set in Kruvil, the world of Prismatic Steel (also being detailed in this column, yes I like to stay busy). This new adventure will be the third one I've created using FC.

I've been reading 77 Shadow Street by Dean Koontz, one of the best haunted house (and end of the world) books I've read. It rates up there with Stephen King's The Shining. I'm going to allow the fear and flavor of Koontz's Pendleton building to flavor the Tannery, my own FC haunted house.

I turn to page 327 of my PDF of FC and the section Adventure Building. I open the template I created with my first adventure. I'll go through each section of the template as I build the adventure.

1) Important Notes

This section is normally the same. I note that characters collect income from Panache when the adventure starts. I remind myself to hand out an action die to a worthy player every 20-30 minutes (I get one also). I also remind myself to think of an instant reward or two (usually free Reputation) and I'll also note that in the relevant scene below. Finally, I record my starting action dice. I receive a number of action dice at the start of each game session equal to the number of player characters present + twice the adventure's Menace (which I record below).

I also award the player characters 3 bonus action dice as a group (anyone can use) for their Subplot idea of the magic stagecoach (see Story Seed below). They will need all of them.

Here's how the section looks when I'm done:

• Characters collect income from Panache
• Action die to player (and GM): every 20ó30 minutes
• Instant reward in scene (I'll record the scene number)
• GM action dice: 15
• Bonus player character action dice for Subplot: 3

2) Story Seed

The inbred cannibal freaks of the Tannery need to be taken out, their buildings broken down so no stone rests on another, and the ground salted to remove the taint of their evil so that travelers from Anbegriffon are protected and the adventurers can recover a magical stagecoach buried in the ruins beneath the Tannery.

This story seed incorporates a Subplot of the players' devising. Subplots (page 379 of FC) are an optional rule whereby the players come up with something they think is cool (a scheme they want to accomplish is normal) and the GM adds it into the game. Standard practice in most RPGs, but FC quantifies it. Each player (including the GM) can add ideas to the suggested Subplot and if the GM likes an idea he or she can give the player one bonus Action Die, the currency of adventure in FC.

The player characters in this case want a traveling ride from which they can sell ill-gotten goods, ride in style, and intimidate the unwashed and maybe even the washed masses. I like the entire idea and I stashed this particular stagecoach under the Tannery because the Tannery is a Bad Place. The magic from the stagecoach leaked out, mixing with a dark faerie ring (tainted magic mushrooms), tainting the dim inbred locals but also filling them with dangerous power. Sounds like great fun.

3) PC Motivations

This adventure is almost completely PC driven. Some PCs represent law and order (such as it is) in the city of Anbegriffon and the inbred cannibals' existence offends them. The whole group wants the magical stagecoach. This adventure is all about the player characters. I just have to show up and run it!

4) Menace

Described on pages 334-335, Menace refines the level of danger in the adventure. I've always warned the players that the Tannery is Menace V (Death-Defying) which is why their motivation above is so important. They could lose characters on this adventure and I want them going in because they want to, not just because I created an adventure and they feel compelled to go.

Menace V is extremely deadly. The Threat level of encounters increases by 4, all scenes are Dramatic (so Standard NPCs can spend GM action dice to inflict crits), and encounters range from Serious to Extreme danger.

One part I don't like about how FC is organized is that Serious to Extreme encounters aren't defined in the Menace section. I have to flip back to pages 243-244 to see the XP range of monsters I'll be using. A Serious threat is 121-160 XP and an extreme threat is over 161 XP.

Here's this section, completely filled out for this adventure:

Menace V (DEATH-DEFYING)

After this, your party will want to buy new loincloths and invest in some dye to get back to their original hair color.

• Threat Level: 8 (4 for average PC level +4)
• Dramatic Scenes: All
  • The GM may spend any number of action dice on NPC die rolls and when healing NPCs (see page 365).
  • Standard adversaries may activate critical successes and hits.
  • Player characters may not Cheat Death (see page 384).
• Encounters: Serious (121 to 161 XP) to Extreme (over 161 XP)

Next Month

Continuing to create this Fantasy Craft adventure with details on the next section: adversaries and other NPCs.

"We are rainbows in the dark" (Color Road saying),
Charlie