Rolling Adventures

Quickly create the parameters of interesting adventures. Comprising a number of charts for different aspects. But you’ll have to fill in the gaps.

This is designed to be quick and simple way of generating small one-shot adventures suitable as filler for the “5–8 adventures per level” campaign guidance. You could weave the rolled adventure into your current campaign arc (if you have one), but you don’t have to.

Instructions

Grab one each of d4–d20 dice. Roll all at once. Starting with the nearest die, consult the charts below until you have enough inspiration. Skip or re-roll any die you don’t feel inspired by. Not every adventure needs all items.

d4	Adversary
1	Enemy
2	Environment
3	Creature
4	Ally

d6	Success Promises a Reward
1	Items, magical or mundane
2	Ongoing access to resources or services
3	Knowledge
4	Location
5	Relationship
6	Plot Development

d8	Adversary Motivation
1	Sloth — avoidance of effort
2	Greed — accumulation of value
3	Gluttony — consumption of value, for the experience
4	Lust — desire of unobtainable
5	Pride — seeks adulation, or protects reputation
6	Envy — desire of what others have
7	Wrath — anger at violation of standards
8	Roll twice

d10	Plot Complication
1	Allies have conflicting plans
2	The reward is cursed, trapped, inconvenient
3	Time is of the essence
4	Adversary not whom or what they seem
5	Revelation, change of priorities
6	Side mission with conflicting goal
7	Betrayal
8	You weren’t expected to succeed
9	Third parties are on the scene
10	Roll twice

d00	Failure means Consequences / Stakes
10	Adversary becomes a stronger, returning villain
20	Loss/destruction of an important resource
30	Summoning of new evils/dangers/competition
40	Alliance of different adversaries is forged
50	An alliance of favourable forces is broken
60	Campaign location becomes a less safe place
70	A valued resource is no longer available
80	A bad reputation
90	A serious obligation, with little reward
00	Roll twice

d12	Location
1	Wilderness hills
2	Wilderness forest
3	Wilderness swamp
4	Natural caverns
5	Ruins
6	Dungeons or sewers
7	On the road somewhere
8	Civilised settlement
9	Friendly safe place (keep, tavern, etc)
10	On a boat (river, sea, lake)
11	Island or coastal
12	Roll twice

d20	Adventure Trope
1	Escape
2	Rescue
3	Survive a gauntlet
4	Defend a target
5	Obtain an item
6	Kill an enemy
7	Pacify a conflict
8	Solve a mystery
9	Map or scout a territory
10	Find a location
11	Win a race
12	Pursuit
13	Gather resources
14	Survive waves of attacks
15	Everyone loves an escort quest
16	Break & enter
17	Go hunting (explore, track, kill)
18	Secure a location, capture the flag
19	Clear a location/region, totally
20	Roll twice