Making an Adventure Site Part 2: Encounters and Keys

  This is the second post in the lead-up to the second annual Adventure Site Contest. As I write my own Fog Valley Retreat entry. In the first post I covered concept and map. Now that I have the basic idea, I’m looking at the practical running stuff…there’s going to be random encounters, so I need those, there’s an “order of battle” aspect/reaction to the Inevitable Player Murder Sprees, and finally there’s a room-by-room key. It’s all very traditional, but there’s nothing wrong with the standard format, and you should definitely think about why you’re diverting away from the standard format if you find yourself doing so.
  I build my monster rosters first in these things, ideally with no more than 3-4 “standard” monsters and a “boss” or two for something of this scale. The first issue came with this being an OSRIC/AD&D-aimed module…my idea for assassin vines falls apart, because the old-school assassin vines I’m most familiar with are B/X and S&W creations, respectively, there’s nothing in AD&D…but there are bloodthorns, which are similar aggressive viney plants, and even nastier than assassin vines. On the other hand, full-up ghosts are brutal for level 5-8, even going up to 6 as a floor they’re a little unkind in multiples. Spectres fill in the same thematic niche and are a little less brutal to encounter, so I’ll instead use those…
  Meaning in the end this foggy elven shrine has bloodthorns, spectres, and elf-clerics as the “basic” thematic encounters, with a cockatrice running around as the curveball. The other three statblocks are for unique critters, the “boss” of the site a high-level elf cleric, the “target” of the site a fighter/MU refugee, and finally the angelic protector of the site who activates if either of the other two are slain. She’s a reskinned pit fiend, insanely difficult to fight at the level floor, but as a huge creature the physical geography of the site blocks her from being able to enter large sections of the complex, that can be either used tactically in fighting her or strategically in running the hell away.
  To this mixture of monsters to fight we can then add traps. This isn’t the kind of location that has pits or arrow traps, but taking advantage of the elfy nature of the retreat I do like a magical rune that casts Sleep and a nasty poison that inflicts ghoul-like paralysis, both nonlethal but very dangerous to non-elves while being ignored mostly by the usual inhabitants of the location. You can see how taking into account physical geography and race-specific abilities enhances the interest of the site and gives a lot of variety. This is why generic/universal and “theater of the mind” are both absolute poison for module design, I don’t mind a submission with a different system or a simple map, but HAVING a system and HAVING a map is vital.
  Some weird or discordant bits add spice to an adventure, but it’s easy to overdo it. My nasty little idea of a cockatrice running around in the fog is fun, but it needs some thought. Acolytes and the high priest can be familiar with the little bugger and aren’t in danger, but this is a spot that welcomes in (evil) refugees, so I need a mechanism to defend a visitor…thus, I invent a stone egg, a little egg which makes you be avoided by the cockatrice, the refugee has one on him. This also gives the idea of a wonderful bit of treasure/trap, perhaps there are incubated little cockatrice eggs in one location that are easy to drop and/or hatch if not kept warm. Keep them intact, you have a valuable thing to sell. Accidentally break one, you have a baby cockatrice (a chickatwice) running around in the fog or in your backpack. Lovely. Because petrification is such a nasty left hook, I do want to telegraph the danger…ambiguously, in the case of a statue of a fleeing victim at the entrance of the retreat, and more obviously in the chance to stub your toe on a stone mouse or something. This is all fun but that’s the only thing I’m adding off-theme.
  Other things we have are a couple locations, one a choir chamber and one a harpsichord room, that allow for loud music to echo throughout the area. There are a couple uses for this, both as an obvious place to attract attention, always useful in a heist or assassination, but I’ll also put in a chamber full of dancing spectres that will subside with different music. Give that dance chamber a pair of huge, fragile, and very very valuable crystal chandeliers and you’ve got a wonderful theft subplot. The entire location has over 150k in treasure, but it’s a nightmare to extract.
  Keying is remarkably easy once the story and inhabitants of a location are worked out. I’m trying something a little cute with symbols for fog status of a given room, but it can be mentioned in descriptions too. Thinking through the in-universe purpose of a given location suggests the key in most cases, like how the secret doors work as escapes…probably how refugees return to the world after swearing homage to the god of the retreat, there’s hidden escape backpacks with supplies and coins in them, the doors are covered by bloodthorns though…let’s give the high priest a scroll of Speak With Plants to make sense. Details just all work out if you know the main environment.
  I have at this point (August 15th) basically finished the first draft of the adventure site. It’s a page for the map and three pages of writing. If I was pushing the submission deadline (January 1st, 2025) I’d print it, spellcheck/grammar check, and then ship, but because I do have time, I’m going to do the third part of the adventure design, in many ways the most important…I’ve got it on my map and we’re going to get to playtest.
  I hope the players enjoy the chickatwice. 

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