BookTenTiger
He / Him
Hi all! A while back I experimented with designing a "fractal adventure", a sort of Mad Libs-style adventure template which I filled in with the features and traits of a group of adventurers. It was neat! Well, I'm back at it again, and this time my goal is to present it in an actually readable way.
This whole premise is built on the idea of "shoot your monks." That is, because monks can deflect missiles, and that's cool, you should have enemies shoot them. I'm combining this with the idea to "charm your fighters," in that I believe players do actually want you to target their characters' weaknesses, as long as it's in a way that makes sense in the adventure and world. It's fun to be cool, but it's also fun to overcome challenges.
With that in mind, I've created a big template for an adventure (very, very loosely) based on the Sunless Citadel. There's a town, and a nearby dungeon, and wilderness in between. There are rival organizations and an impending threat from the dungeon. There are helpful NPC's and secretly bad guy NPCs.
But instead of coming up with all that stuff now, I instead pull species, classes, themes, resistances, vulnerabilities, etc etc etc from the characters themselves.
Now I'm not currently running a campaign, so I've created four adventurers I'd expect to see in a typical group: a warrior, a sneak, a healer, and an arcanist. I'm going to be using them to create my adventure. Let's say this is the first adventure (after a Session 0), and so these are just basic 1st-level Characters. Who do we have here?
The Characters
I created each character on Dndbeyond, and also on Hero Forge. I rolled random Ideals, Bonds, and Flaws. I created a spreadsheet to keep track of their various features and traits.
Armond DeMontan
Mountain Dwarf Soldier / Ranger
Armond DeMontan served as a soldier in a unit of dwarves sent into the underdark to hunt undead. He is a total military dude, believing the law to be the only thing keeping this world from succumbing to chaos (and undeath). His unit disbanded when their commander was eaten by a ghoul, and now he's looking to take his skills out into the greater world.
Features and Traits:
Bella Gull
Half-Elf Sailor / Rogue
Bella grew up on dwarven merchant ships, and though she is a skilled sailor she's always found ways to get others to do the dirty work. Bella much prefers collecting and telling great stories. When her last merchant ship cheated her out of a large payment, she swore to earn her own fortune through adventure and, perhaps, a bit of chicanery!
Features and Traits:
Corva Cloudsong
Aasimar Far Traveler / Tempest Cleric
Corva was raised in distant mountains so tall they reach the celestial realms. She was trained in divine battle by cloud giants, but became disenchanted with her strict, isolated, xenophobic community. One day she decided to wander, and though she sometimes finds it a challenge to fit in amongst those who cannot speak the language of storms, she is learning so much from this world below.
Features and Traits:
Durv Dabbler
Goblin Criminal / Artificer
Durv was recruited at a young age into a criminal organization, where his boss recognized his intelligence and interest in... interesting culinary arts. Durv dabbled in a little of everything, from simple pick-pocketing to forging documents to tinkering with devices. But one of his experiments went wrong, and the explosion killed a few members of the gang, along with Durv's best friend. Rather than face his consequences, he turned tail and ran! He's still running, though learning a lot more about cooking, tinkering, and alchemy along the way.
Features and Traits:
Next...
Next I will be taking all these features and traits and applying them randomly to all the blanks in my adventure template! We will start by creating The Town in which our adventure begins!
This whole premise is built on the idea of "shoot your monks." That is, because monks can deflect missiles, and that's cool, you should have enemies shoot them. I'm combining this with the idea to "charm your fighters," in that I believe players do actually want you to target their characters' weaknesses, as long as it's in a way that makes sense in the adventure and world. It's fun to be cool, but it's also fun to overcome challenges.
With that in mind, I've created a big template for an adventure (very, very loosely) based on the Sunless Citadel. There's a town, and a nearby dungeon, and wilderness in between. There are rival organizations and an impending threat from the dungeon. There are helpful NPC's and secretly bad guy NPCs.
But instead of coming up with all that stuff now, I instead pull species, classes, themes, resistances, vulnerabilities, etc etc etc from the characters themselves.
Now I'm not currently running a campaign, so I've created four adventurers I'd expect to see in a typical group: a warrior, a sneak, a healer, and an arcanist. I'm going to be using them to create my adventure. Let's say this is the first adventure (after a Session 0), and so these are just basic 1st-level Characters. Who do we have here?
The Characters
I created each character on Dndbeyond, and also on Hero Forge. I rolled random Ideals, Bonds, and Flaws. I created a spreadsheet to keep track of their various features and traits.
Armond DeMontan
Mountain Dwarf Soldier / Ranger
Armond DeMontan served as a soldier in a unit of dwarves sent into the underdark to hunt undead. He is a total military dude, believing the law to be the only thing keeping this world from succumbing to chaos (and undeath). His unit disbanded when their commander was eaten by a ghoul, and now he's looking to take his skills out into the greater world.
Features and Traits:
Name | Identity | Ideal | Bond | Flaw | Proficiencies | Languages | Saving Throws | Features & Traits |
Armond DeMontan | Mountain Dwarf | Greater Good. Our lot is to lay down our lives in defense of others. (Good) | Those who fight beside me are those worth dying for. | I obey the law, even if the law causes misery. | Brewer's Supplies | Dwarvish | Strength | Favored Enemy: Undead |
Soldier | Dice Set | Undercommon | Dexterity | Natural Explorer: Underdark | ||||
Ranger | Land Vehicles | Darkvision | ||||||
Athletics | Dwarven Resilience (Poison) | |||||||
Intimidation | Stonecunning | |||||||
Perception | Military Rank (command people) | |||||||
Stealth | ||||||||
Survival |
Bella Gull
Half-Elf Sailor / Rogue
Bella grew up on dwarven merchant ships, and though she is a skilled sailor she's always found ways to get others to do the dirty work. Bella much prefers collecting and telling great stories. When her last merchant ship cheated her out of a large payment, she swore to earn her own fortune through adventure and, perhaps, a bit of chicanery!
Features and Traits:
Name | Identity | Ideal | Bond | Flaw | Proficiencies | Languages | Saving Throws | Features & Traits |
Bella Gull | Half-Elf | People. I’m committed to my crewmates, not to ideals. (Neutral) | I was cheated out of my fair share of the profits, and I want to get my due. | I’ll say anything to avoid having to do extra work. | Navigator's Tools | Dwarvish | Dexterity | Expertise (Performance) |
Sailor | Thieve's Tools | Elvish | Intelligence | Expertise (Persuasion) | ||||
Rogue | Water Vehicles | Thieve's Cant | Sneak Attack | |||||
Acrobatics | Darkvision | |||||||
Athletics | Fey Ancestry (vs Charm, Sleep) | |||||||
History | Ship's Passage (free passage) | |||||||
Insight | ||||||||
Perception | ||||||||
Performance | ||||||||
Persuasion | ||||||||
Stealth |
Corva Cloudsong
Aasimar Far Traveler / Tempest Cleric
Corva was raised in distant mountains so tall they reach the celestial realms. She was trained in divine battle by cloud giants, but became disenchanted with her strict, isolated, xenophobic community. One day she decided to wander, and though she sometimes finds it a challenge to fit in amongst those who cannot speak the language of storms, she is learning so much from this world below.
Features and Traits:
Name | Identity | Ideal | Bond | Flaw | Proficiencies | Languages | Saving Throws | Features & Traits | Cantrips | 1st Level Spells |
Corva Cloudsong | Aasimar | Open. I have much to learn from the kindly folk I meet along my way. (Good) | I’m fascinated by the beauty and wonder of this new land. | I don’t take kindly to some of the actions and motivations of the people of this land, because these folk are different from me. | Longhorn | Celestial | Wisdom | Cantrips | Guidance | Bless |
Far Traveler | Insight | Giant | Charisma | 1st Level Spells | Light | Fog Cloud | ||||
Cleric | Medicine | Wrath of the Storm (thunder damage nearby attacker) | Thaumaturgy | Guiding Bolt | ||||||
Perception | Healing Hands | Word of Radiance | Healing Word | |||||||
Religion | Darkvision | Shield of Faith | ||||||||
Celestial Resistance (necrotic and radiant) | Thunderwave | |||||||||
All Eyes on You (gain attention from people) |
Durv Dabbler
Goblin Criminal / Artificer
Durv was recruited at a young age into a criminal organization, where his boss recognized his intelligence and interest in... interesting culinary arts. Durv dabbled in a little of everything, from simple pick-pocketing to forging documents to tinkering with devices. But one of his experiments went wrong, and the explosion killed a few members of the gang, along with Durv's best friend. Rather than face his consequences, he turned tail and ran! He's still running, though learning a lot more about cooking, tinkering, and alchemy along the way.
Features and Traits:
Name | Identity | Ideal | Bond | Flaw | Proficiencies | Languages | Saving Throws | Features & Traits | Cantrips | 1st Level Spells |
Durv Dabbler | Goblin | People. I’m loyal to my friends, not to any ideals, and everyone else can take a trip down the Styx for all I care. (Neutral) | Someone I loved died because of a mistake I made. That will never happen again. | I turn tail and run when things look bad. | Cook's Utensils | Goblin | Constitution | Cantrips | Acid Splash | Catapult |
Criminal | Dragonchess Set | Intelligence | 1st Level Spells | Mage Hand | Disguise Self | |||||
Artificer | Forgery Kit | Magical Tinkering | ||||||||
Thieve's Tools | Darkvision | |||||||||
Tinker's Tools | Fury of the Small (bonus dmg vs medium +) | |||||||||
Nimble Escape (disengage or hide as bonus action) | ||||||||||
Criminal Contact (reliable & trustworthy contact) |
Next...
Next I will be taking all these features and traits and applying them randomly to all the blanks in my adventure template! We will start by creating The Town in which our adventure begins!