I just wanted to share, what I consider to be, the best adventure/story writing reference book ever. It’s called the Dungeon Master’s Design Kit from way back in 1988.
It’s comprised of 3 short (30+ page) books:
- ) Book I: Adventure Design
- ) Book II: Forms Book
- ) Book III: Adventure Cookbook
However, it’s the third book that is worth its weight in gold. It delves into a crazy amount of possible plots and themes, characters and villains, settings and locations, traps and chases, goals and motivations… it’s just so jam-packed with foundational ideas that even if you have a developed story, you’ll most likely find something that you’ve never thought of to help flesh it out further.
Here are some excerpts from the book…
How it Works
If you’re ever caught in a situation where you have to come up with an adventure on very short notice, or where the adventure you’re working on is just not coming together, the Adventure Cookbook can help…
Themes…
Espionage
Espionage adventures are active, grim scenarios involving spying and perhaps other cloak-and-dagger deeds such as assassination or rescue.
Characteristics : Characters are presented with a task and must devise an intricate and clever plan to accomplish the task. Other characteristics include grim, efficient enemies, betrayal, and many stealth-related encounters. Thieves, assassins and rangers are especially useful.
Ground Rules : The task often calls for a minimum of bloodshed — i.e., the more people the characters kill, the less successful the mission…
Cruel Tricks and Complications…
Heroes Must Work With Villain
If they have to work for the villain, it’s due to some hold he has over them — probably, he’s kidnapped one of their NPCs and will kill this person if his demands aren’t met. Put the heroes through an encounter where they have to do something they are loathe to do, such as sack and pillage a temple, before they have the opportunity to retrieve their friend…
Traps…
Coliseum
If it’s appropriate, you can have the heroes captured by the local authorities — particularly when they’re in an exotic land, lost world, or whatever — and have them armed with gladiatorial gear and dropped into a coliseum for the entertainment of the locals. (Note that this works much better with fighting- type heroes than spellcasters…)
Secret Weaknesses…
Love
The Master Villain possesses the “weakness” of genuine affection or love — probably for some NPC, though it could be very intriguing if the object of his affections is a player-character. The heroes can then defeat the villain by holding his loved one hostage, or proving that his loved one will be seriously harmed, betrayed, or killed if the villain keeps up with his activity…
Special Conditions…
Coping with a Curse
The curse might be making the hero progressively uglier, might be draining out his life-force (he’s losing experience which will be returned if he succeeds), might be making him progressively insane. Each day, as he sees his reflection in a mirror or pond or fountain, he’ll know himself to be less than he used to be…
Long story short, if you’re working on a plot for a story and want to keep the player motivated, and on their toes, this book has you covered. It’s geared towards D&D adventures, but it’s about story ideas at its heart.
You can find a free PDF copy online without any effort whatsoever, but I encourage you to purchase the $5 copy from DriveThru RPG if you find it worthy. I used to own a copy of this book, but the fellow I lent it to never returned it. Yeah, it’s so good that unassuming people turn into thieving jerks over it. 