Mythic has a bunch of material for developing your games before you play, or even while you are. One of them is the Adventure Crafter, which helps you build up the plots of your games while giving you a framework. While I do have the full AC version, I tend to use the One Page version because it's quicker. I do plan to cover the full version in the future, but for this, I'll just keep it simple.
The 1P AC divides your adventure (Called a Turning Point) into 5 Plot Points. You can think of these as Acts 1-5 or even combine them. Plot Points are then organized by Themes: Action (combat, quick escapes, etc.), Tension (suspense and horror), Mystery (there's something unknown to solve), Social (requiring you to interact with others), and Personal (affecting one or more major characters).
After rolling a Theme, you roll on the table and get a single word. Combining the Them and the word then gives you what happens in that Plot Point. Of course, this leaves a lot of room for interpretation, and I'll admit to staring at the page more than once while being completely stuck. But you can then add to it by asking Fate Questions.
For this, I'll be using 1P AC to just create a few quick adventure ideas. I'll even shift the genre a few times to show the different options.
So let's get started with our first one:
I'll start with medieval fantasy (D&D and similar titles).
- Overall Theme: Tension.
Plot Point 1: Tension: Night.
PP 2: Action: Pursued.
PP 3: Personal: Personal (Oh, that helps a lot).
PP 4: Action: Damage.
PP 5: Mystery: Cryptic.
I feel like combining the first two into a single plot point.
(Q) Is the party being chased? (Very Unlikely) No.
(Description) Who is being chased? Loud, Official.
(Q) Is it male? (50/50) No, Random Event.
(Event) Create, Increase.
(Description) Who is doing the chasing? Dark, Disagreeable.
(Q) Is it human? (Likely) Yes.
Okay, here goes;
Late, one cool, foggy night, the party hears screaming and notices a woman running down the path. Throwing a glance behind her, she hides behind a tree but then vanishes. A few seconds later, a man wearing all black and holding a sword appears. Not seeing where the woman went, he approaches the party. If they don't offer information but stay pleasant, he takes off in a random direction.
A minute later, the woman reappears. Thanking the part, she mentions she works in the town keeping records. Discovering some information about mysterious disappearances, she found herself chased by the man they had scene. Now she's trying to understand the information and solve the mystery.
If the party helps, they learn one of those who vanished is close to one of them. Eventually the man in dark clothing returns with some friends and a fight breaks out.
If the party investigates more, they learn that the town has kept this terrible secret for some time. The question is, what secret has caused the man in dark to want to kill people?
Not bad for a first generated adventure.
Here's another.
This time, I'll go with Science Fiction. The characters are part of an exploration vessel.
Overall Theme: Social.
PP 1: Social: Rural.
PP 2: Action: Travel.
PP 3: Mystery: Explore.
PP 4: Social: Gathering.
PP 5: Tension: Death (Wow, no subtly there!)
(Q) Has the party encountered the village before? (Likely) No.
(Q) Are they friendly? (Very Likely) No.
(Q) Are they having a celebration? (Very Likely) X-No.
(Q) Do they know the party is there? (Likely) No.
(Description) What is the village like? Natural, Rotten.
The party is investigating life signs on a planet. Discovering a village in the middle of a massive graveyard, they observe that the people have built their homes into various massive graves made of mud and stone.
If the villagers notice the party, they give chase, with weapons drawn. The party then learns that the villagers believe in a balance of nature. For every birth, there must be a death. A bunch of babies have been born recently, so they see the party as the perfect sacrifice.
If the part escapes, the villagers will just find something else to sacrifice, even if it means invading another village.
What does the party do?
Wow, a little morbid, even by my standards, but I love giving players choices.
One more. Let's make this one a game set in the Pulp Era.
Overall Theme: Tension.
PP 1: Tension: Resource.
PP 2: Personal: Incapacitation.
PP 3: Social: Servant.
PP 4: Personal: Mundane.
PP 5: Tension: Conclusion.
So a suspense or horror story that starts with resources.
(Q) Is a lack of something involved? (Likely) Yes.
(Q) Is it medically related? (Very Likely) No.
(Detail) What is the Resource? Strange, Disagreeable.
The PC learns that a local pulp magazine that produces stories of mystery and horror has been robbed. No money has been stolen, but all of the paper and part of the machinery to print the magazines are missing.
While investigating, the PC is attacked and knocked out. Waking up in his apartment, he finds a note, saying to stay away because the perpetrators are heroes trying to return to city to normal without the 'trash magazines.'
If the PC continues to search for answers, he/she will feel eyes watching from every direction. Who is involved? How many people? And how far will they go to end these 'evil pieces of lit?'
There you go, three separate adventures from a few dice rolls. Next time, I'll try out the full version of the Adventure Crafter. However, I'm debating on only rolling 1 adventure and just adapting it to different genres because the full AC is over 30 pages long.
I'll decide by next time.
