Chapter 2:

Adventures

No matter how you construct your campaign, adventures remain the heart of the action; adventures are the way player characters interact with and shape the world. The player characters might build mighty empires, take the first steps toward divine ascension, and wield legendary artifacts, but if they don’t have adventures that stimulate and entertain the campaign is doomed.

This chapter assumes that you are already familiar with the basics of adventure design. As a reminder, a good adventure:

Begins with a hook—something that piques a player’s curiosity,

Unfolds like a novel or short story, plunging the characters into an ongoing web of activities,

Tests the skills of both player and character,

Contains plenty of excitement, especially at the beginning and the end, and

Changes the world, perhaps only in a small way, but always in a discernible way.

This chapter considers some difficulties you are likely to encounter when designing adventures for high-level characters (and the veteran players who run them).

Table of Contents