Adventure Generation 4

Some general suggestions:

Think of the characters like a Medieval superhero group with a Rock & Roll band lifestyle and personalities. 

The character group should have an actual stated purpose that fits into the setting.  Characters should be automatically “hooked” into adventures by virtue of that charter.  Of course, that charter can be changed over time.

Each session should have a goal for the character group.  The Ref should also have a goal, which may or may not be the same. 

Name all of the main villains and significant henchmen.  Give them big, splashy, over-the-top personalities. 

Use unique settings (environment, building, natural features) and use unique creatures wherever possible.

Pace adventures like a comic book, movie, or cartoon.  Set high stakes for big fights.

Avoid overly complex adventure backstory (or having no backstory), an overly complex plot (requiring railroading to move forward), and arbitrary ethical/moral choices (forced by the plot and not the characters).

Avoid skill checks for clues, travel, or diplomacy and such that are crucial to the adventure continuing.  Failure should make the task harder, but the adventure should continue.

Avoid using traps that do not come with a warning or some foreshadowing. Announce the trap to create dread.  Traps should create a complication that must be dealt with either to find, to keep from going off, or to deal with after it’s gone off.   

Don’t make every encounter outside of a tavern or bazaar necessarily a fight (especially in a dungeon).

Settings should be designed not for the point of characters acquiring treasure or XP, but rather for enhancing reputation, gaining allies and enemies, and, most importantly, creating memorable adventures. 

The rules should be “bendable” to take some of the arbitrariness out of the random rolls, but each “fudge” should come with consequences for the characters.

[Okay, I apologize for these posts.  Seemed like a good idea at the time to type this stuff up and post them.  All I did was take away time from working on the Cyber-Pulp Setting.  I'm off Monday.  I've got a mixed bag of Artifacts posts coming up.]