Chained Adventures: The easiest way to create a continuing series of adventures is to find ways to
connect two or more of them. Chained adventures don’t require continuing
plots, just some kind of superficial relationship that can lead the player
characters from one adventure to another. Usually, it is not important how or where the
player characters enter the chain, as one adventure’s outcome rarely impacts on
another.
The links can be clues that point the group in the right direction, such as
maps showing another adventure’s location or statements from NPCs who have
information to impart. A link between two adventures can be purely incidental.
Perhaps the site of one adventure just happens to be close by or the group stumbles
upon an adventure while traveling on another errand. Here’s an example of how
three otherwise unrelated adventures might be linked in a chain:
· · A fabled magical sword (perhaps a holy sword) lies in an extra-dimensional
labyrinth filled with deadly traps, puzzles, and ever-vigilant guardians. The
labyrinth can be entered only at certain times, and then only by heroes who know
the secrets of the portal. If the PCs find their way in, they battle their way
into the heart of the labyrinth using steel and reasoning to claim the sword.
· · The home of a semi-retired wizard has recently been burglarized. The thieves
made a colossal mess, smashing and looting everything. Several valuable magical
items have obviously been stolen, but the place is in such disarray that the
wizard isn’t exactly sure what has been taken and what is lost in the current
mess. If the PCs investigate, they discover that a rival wizard employed a gang of
dopplegangers to infiltrate the house and strip it. The rival took the magical
items and the dopplegangers got the money and jewels.
· · Two noble families are conducting a feud in a remote mountain valley.
Commoners who let themselves get involved often disappear, and even those who lie low
often suffer due to the incessant raids the families conduct against each other.
The situation flares into a full-scale war when the PCs arrive in the valley,
as each family concludes that the party has arrived to help the other side.
Each adventure can be superficially linked to the other two as follows:
· · The entrance to the labyrinth is not far from the town where the burglary took
place. If the player characters enter town, they hear plenty of rumors and
speculation about the crime. Even if they don’t enter the town, groups of would-be
detectives harass the party because they are suspicious strangers.
The sword is an intelligent weapon and expresses a desire to slay an evil
creature living nearby. The creature is a vampire masquerading as the head of one
of the warring families.
· · One of the items stolen from the wizard’s home is a map of the area
surrounding the town; the thieves took it because it radiated magic. When examined with a
true seeing spell, the location of the labyrinth’s entrance is revealed along
with clues to opening the portal.
Among the papers scattered around the wizard’s library are two sets of
letters, one from each of the warring families. Both groups wish to purchase the
magical map.
· · Members of one of the warring families tell the PCs about a legendary magical
weapon whose appearance in town is reputed to signal the downfall of the
opposing family.
A search of either family’s headquarters reveals several copies of letters
drafted to t he wizard. Both families also have received letters reporting the map’s theft.
An adventure chain has the advantage of allowing players considerable freedom
of action. They can ignore the hooks that link the adventures together or
follow them up as suits their fancy. The freedom goes a long way toward making the
players feel as though they are the masters of their characters’ fates. Because
the adventure’s plots are not intertwined in any serious fashion, the DM need
not take steps to force the group back into the story line.
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