Make a Tabletop Role-Playing Game Adventure in Ten Minutes

Here's a quick and easy method to come up with the outline for an adventure. It involves three steps.

1. Your Concept - Whatever the main image or idea you have in your head, the thing you want to base the adventure around.

2. A Plot Hook and Skeleton - Something to draw the players in and a basic plot structure of events and locales for them to follow.

3. Use of PC Elements - Be sure to include at least one small feature that caters directly to each of your player characters' strengths or character background.

How To Do Step 1: Brainstorm a whole bunch of crazy ideas or scenes. Keep them all as a list or a computer file to refer to later.
Example: Giant-Sized Lizardfolk and their pet dinosaurs.

How To Do Step 2: Look around your room or your house. Find the first thing that has its own plot already - a movie, a book, a pre-generated RPG adventure. Write down the basic elements of that plot in order to translate them into a plot of your adventure.
Example: Romeo and Juliet.
The Hook: The players get involved in a street brawl with members of a rival in-game faction (R&J Act 1: Scene 1).
The Plot: 1. The local NPC authority intervenes to stop the fighting and declares that further altercations will result in some severe punishment. (Act: Scene 1)
2. A ball or dance is held at the stronghold of the PC's rivals, which they must crash or infiltrate. (Act 1, Scene 4)
3. During the gathering, the PCs make contact with a woman within the rival faction who secretly allies herself with the PCs. (Act 1, Scene 5 and the famous 'balcony scene'.)

How To Do Step 3: Look at each player's character sheet and make a list of the game mechanic strengths from each. Make a seperate list of notes based on any background the player has for their character, with special attention to any names or people from the PC's past. Now pick one item out of your list for each PC and incorporate those items into your adventure.
Example: There are three PCs - one is a fighter with a high Strength, one is an assassin with a special ability to become invisible in shadows, one is a spellcaster.
Elements: 1) An obstacle that will require high Strength to overcome. 2) An opportunity to become invisible in shadow in order to aid the party. 3). An opportunity to use magic.

Incorporating the Elements: 1) The fighter will be most valuable during the initial altercation. He can also be valuable crashing the ball. Put a courtyard wall or a stout gate in the PC's way so that the fighter can either climb it or break the gate open.
2) To infiltrate the ball, give the assassin conveniently-placed shadows from which he can eliminate some sentries. Alternatively, give the assassin a shadowy spot from which he first views the PC's female ally and overhears a conversation that tips the assassin off to the fact that she secretly wants to aid the PCs.
3) Make the "Juliet" secret female ally a rival spellcaster.

Now, combine all the elements together. Using the examples from above, our new adventure looks something like this:

The Hook: A group of giant-sized lizardfolk and their pet dinosaurs have been terrorizing the PC's local town, a town where lizardfolk form an important part of some larger rival faction within the town government. The hook for the adventure has the PC's encounter some of the lizardfolk on the street, and the lizardfolk exchange insults with the PC's before attacking.

The First Scene - Street Brawl: The PC's fight a group of oversized lizardfolk and possibly a few of their attack dinos as well. After a certain number of rounds, the local constabulary arrive and put the fighting down, then declare that further fighting between the PC's faction and the lizardfolk will result in the death penalty for all those caught.

The Second Scene - Infiltrate the Luao: After the fight, the PC's either find clues on the bodies of the slain or learn from their allies that the leader of the lizardfolk will be attending a private luao at the lizardfolk stronghold. If the PC's can capture or assasinate him, the rewards will be great. They face a set of small obstacles to enter the stronghold: 1) How to disguise their presence. 2) Breaking into the gate or getting past the courtyard wall and avoiding or eliminating the sentires.

The Third Scene - The Chieftain's Daughter: Once inside the luao, the party's assassin encounters the daughter of the lizardfolk cheiftain. There are convenient shadows about, so he hides. Make sure the assasin player doesn't get the opportunity to simply attack or capture her (although that's certainly an option you could plan for) before she drops some clue that: a) she's a spellcaster and b) she's sympathetic to the PC's cause/faction. This gives them a choice - do they still carry out their original mission or do they seize this opportunity to gain an ally on the inside?

That should be enough for a decent game session, and all within 10-15 minutes. The rest is just hammering out the details: Maps of the street, courtyard and ballroom; statistics for the various NPcs, and so on.

Morality Check: Judging the Actions of Players

One of the hardest things to adjudicate in games is morality. It can be especially hard when players are playing anti-heroes who's actions are questionable but who's ultimate aims and results benefit everyone. I hope this article will help other GMs to better declare when certain acts are evil vs. good and why.

What is Good?

In order to make a ruling on an act which might be considered evil, we first need a good, practical working definition of good and evil. The most cut-and-dry definition of a good act is one that causes no deliberate harm or that accepts harm to oneself in order to prevent greater harm to others.

What is Evil?

Now that we know what good is, evil is simply its opposite: An evil act is one that intentionally causes harm for a perceived benefit. It doesn't matter how you justify the act. If you know going in that what you're about to do will hurt someone and benefit yourself in some way, even if the harm or the benefit is indirect, the act is still evil.

Selfishness vs. Altruism

Another way to think about the good-evil spectrum is to focus on a more utilitarian view of morality. Any act a person commits is, by nature, to some degree either selfish or altruistic. In this view of morality, the emphasis is on the motive for the act, not the act itself. Thus, it is possible to act in an altruistic way for selfish motives and still be committing evil - arguably a less severe form (more in keeping with something like a neutral evil alignment), but evil all the same. It is also possible for someone to commit selfish acts for altruistic motives. Most forms of legal punishment would fall into this category: the act itself seems violent or selfish, but the reasoning behind it is to encourage other criminals to think twice. This would be in keeping especially well with something like a lawful good or lawful neutral alignment.

The Question of Sincerity

One of the hardest calls to make is upon a character who was coerced into committing evil. I tend to be light-handed in such situations. If the player's character shows genuine remorse over the act, there's no need to declare some sort of morality shift. In the end, it's all about what the character feels. In general, evil characters feel indifferent toward giving aid and passionate about giving harm. Good characters, in general, feel the opposite - violence is seen as a grim duty, but giving aid is where the true glory lies. Good characters are all 'reluctant heroes,' those forced to use war, violence, and trickery to take down enemies who will not listen to reason or negotiation. Watch your players and see how their characters act when given honors and praise for slaying evil foes. Truly good characters will not feel they deserve a reward for the slaying, but rather a reward for saving the innocent.

Objective vs. Subjective Morality

Is the game universe you're running operating according to objective laws of reality that operate like the laws of nature? Or is it a universe where the universe is amoral, and it takes a group of other people to judge an individual's acts good or evil?

Most fantasy games occur in Medieval settings. During Medieval times, morality was seen as objective. The laws of morality were revealed by God to the leaders of the Church, who's duty it was to understand those laws and interpret them for the common folk. Murder, for example, was, by the nature of the act itself, evil. Hence, it took a special dispensation from the Pope to declare that killing a Muslim on a Crusade was God's will. After all, doing God's will was always, by its nature, good. In an objectively moral universe, a character who is forced by circumstance to commit evil acts repeatedly, no matter how good his intentions, will become evil. In such a setting it is vitally important to give characters an escape clause. During Medieval times, a man could confess his sins and receive absolution in order to save his soul from Hell. In other cultures, those tainted by evil engage in their own rituals in order to become acceptable members of society once again. Without the possibility of reform, life becomes hopeless. For we are all morally flawed creatures and we all commit, at the very least, tiny evil acts almost every day of our lives according to the view of objective morality.

A subjectively moral game universe is easier on players but harder for a GM. There's nothing implicitly wrong with genocide, rape, murder, theft, or deception. Indeed, there are examples of all of these in Nature. They are legitimate tactics for the survival of a species. Even within human societies, what constitutes an evil act can vary, because the definition of things like 'rape' or 'deception' can vary. There are places on Earth where kissing in public is seen as obscene. There are societies that thrive on lies of omission and do not consider them dishonorable.

In most post-industrial societies on Earth, subjective morality has grown more accepted. People have come to distrust authority figures, to look on their own leaders as more likely to be the most corrupt than those who follow them, to emphasize that laws can be written or enforced unjustly. Personal beliefs and moral codes dominate, and if my idea of right and wrong is different from yours, there is very little you can do about it. Indeed, society has come to discourage you from trying.

The Ends Justify The Means

This argument can be used by both good and evil-aligned characters. It is important for GMs to understand that this argument is therefore a flawed one as a defense of one's actions. A good hero might feel perfectly justified in slaughtering thousands of orcs in order to fell the black warlock who threatens the world with a reign of terror. Tell that to the orc race, or to the families of the orc warriors who were slain. An evil villain might use his power, influence or wealth to uplift an entire minority of poor, oppressed elves in order to form a loyal contingent that he can use to overthrow the rightful king. But try explaining that to the elf who has a roof over his head and three meals a day for the first time in his life. To say that a character - player or NPC - is ultimately good or evil because of what she achieved by the end of the adventure or campaign is bad GMing. Do not fall into the trap of this way of thinking.

Revenge

Do good characters seek revenge? Do evil characters ever NOT seek revenge? I would argue the answer to the first question is sometimes, the answer to the second question is never. Good characters are still flawed, imperfect characters. They are not saints. The impulse to return hate with hate and violence with violence is as natural as breathing. That doesn't make it the right or wrong thing to do. It's simply the way we've evolved to think. Some of the most compelling stories ever written were tales of vengeance, and revenge can certainly make for a heady theme to an adventure. But there is a difference between how a good character and an evil character seek revenge.

For those who are good, revenge is about justice. Honestly about justice. They are not trying to kill the villain or make him suffer. They are trying to capture the villain in order to bring him to trial, in order to allow the larger public to see the truth of what he has done. In some cases, a good character may be seeking to reform a villain who wronged her. 

 

For those who are evil, revenge is about personal satisfaction. They want the satisfaction of the kill, the suffering. They want those who wronged them at their mercy, begging for forgiveness or compassion. Evil characters want to make those who wronged them "pay" to them personally, not to some higher authority or larger society.

Generating Names for Characters and Places

Memorable, unique names are a tool you can use to help draw your players into the game world. They help the world seem more real and make characters more vivid. But when you're running a long campaign with a lot of characters, it can be hard to come up with original names at the drop of a hat. Here are the resources I often turn to when searching for a perfect name:

Babynames.com - A great search engine to come up with interesting names from almost any nationality, complete with a searchable database of name meanings.

Thesaurus - I use "The Synonym Finder" by J.I. Rodale. More than a simple thesaurus, it gives you some really obscure and archaic words for common adjectives. 

 

Other Languages - A great way to come up with an exotic sounding place is to use words or place names from other countries and languages. This works especially well if you take the original word and slightly modify it, either for easier spelling and pronunciation or to make it sound more evocative.

Paint Stores/Makeup Aisles - Think about it. Someone has to come up with new and interesting names for these thousands of shades of color. Why not borrow from some of that ingenuity and use those words to inspire you?

Formal Names Remixed - Be careful not to use the last names of people you know. Pick last names or company names more or less randomly from newspaper ads or the Internet until you come up with a handful of possibilities. Then play around with the various syllables, mixing and matching, until you come up with something you like.

Etymology - A basic understanding of word root meanings can be invaluable in coming up with truly original names for things.This is how J.R.R. Tolkien came up with the beautiful names for his characters and places. 

Hedge Flights: 50 Encounters in Arcadia, Part 2

Here is part two of my series on encounters you can drop into any Changeling game to provide beginning players with a unique back story adventure that details their escape from their Durance in Faerie.

26. The Old Man of Stone Walls

The changeling hears the clicking of stone against stone in the distance, along with an elderly male voice singing. They come upon an old man in grey robes with grey hair carefully building up a fallen stone wall that weaves up and down through the Hedge into the distance. He agrees to help the changeling if the changeling helps him to work on the wall.

27. Wayland the Tinker

The changeling comes upon a small Medieval style blacksmith shop set into a grove within the Hedge. The blacksmith inside is a blacksmith wizened named Wayland. Wayland is bound by a geas to take any commission he is offered. A clever changeling can use this weakness to commission him to build them a way to the mortal world. Wayland always charges fairly for his work, but the changeling must agree to pay the fee before hearing what it is.

28. Tia Dalma's Lair

The changeling comes upon an area where the Hedge is made up of dense jungle and canals of black water. The air is hot and humid, and a mist lies amid the vine-laden trees. There are fireflies and hanging lanters dangling from the trees. A small rowboat rests on the shore. The changeling must row through the canals to proceed.

29. Werewolf Island

The path up ahead leads to a large expanse of dark water toward a black, forbidding island enshrouded in mist. There is a one-man rowboat pulled up on the shore. As the changeling gets nearer to the island, a full moon breaks out of the mist, and with it the changeling starts to hear a chorus of unearthly, eerie howling coming from the island. The clouds of mist that overhang the island shift, and from the new angle, the changeling sees the mist form the shape of a giant snarling wolf's head that seems to follow the changeling's every move. If the changeling tries to reverse course, the path back is gone and every direction just leads them closer to the island. The island is the home of a True Fae called the Wolf King, who keeps a pack of hunterheart changelings as his servants. They attack the phantom villages of terrified peasants that appear at random locations across the island, or the very real victims unlucky enough to trespass on the island, and drag the meat back to the Wolf King's castle.

Hunterheart Servant

Attributes: Intelligence 2, Wits 3, Resolve 2, Strength 3, Dexterity 3, Stamina 4, Presence 2, Manipulation 1, Composure 2

Skills: Investigation 2, Athletics 3, Brawl 3, Stealth 2, Survival 3, Animal Ken 2, Intimidation 3

Merits: Danger Sense, Direction Sense, Quick Healer

Willpower: 4

Initiative: 5

Defense: 3

Size:5

Speed: 11

Attack: Claws 2 (L), Fangs 1 (L)

Health: 9

Wyrd: 1

Contracts: Fang and Talon 2

The Wolf King

The Wolf King appears as a black-furred demonic looking werewolf with glowing red eyes wearing a silver crown, a red royal robe and bearing a silver scepter who's head is that of a wolf. He also possesses a silver-bladed sword with the strength and sharpness of steel.

Attributes: Intelligence 3, Wits 4, Resolve 5, Strength 5, Dexterity 5, Stamina 6, Presence 4, Manipulation 3, Composure 2

Skills: Occult 2, Athletics 5, Brawl 7 (Fangs and Claws), Stealth 3, Survival 5, Animal Ken (Wolves) 10, Intimidation 4

Merits: Danger Sense, Brawling Dodge, Harvest (Dream Flesh) 3, Hollow (Werewolf Island) 5, Iron Stamina, Quick Healer, Retainers (Hunterhearts) 4

Willpower: 7

Initiative: 7
Defense: 4

Speed: 15

Size: 5

Attack: Claws 3 (L) Fangs 2 (L) Sword 3 (L)**

Health: 11

Wyrd: 8

Contracts: Darkness 2, Dream 3, Fang and Talon (Wolves) 5, Mirror 3, Stone 4, Vainglory 1

Special Power: A bite from the Wolf King at midnight will transform a mortal creature into a Hunterheart changeling by the next moonrise and lock them into a Durance to the Wolf King. Uratha are immune to this effect. In order to cure the bitten individual, they must drink a potion made from wolfsbane before the allotted time has expired.

**: The sword deals aggravated damage to Uratha.

Suggested Bans: Repelled by wolfsbane or silver, must attack on sight anyone wearing a pentagram, must attempt to capture or kill females first, unable to transform when not exposed to moonlight, those with gypsy blood may negotiate with him freely.

30. The Well of the Morlocks

The changeling comes upon a deserted field filled with mushroom-shaped stone wells. The sound of rhythmic, grinding machinery can be heard echoing up from beneath them. The Hedge thorns grow so thickly around the field that the only way to continue is to climb down one of the wells, leading to unknown perils below.

31. Earthworm Tunnel

A ferocious storm comes ripping through the Hedge toward the changeling, who must flee before its wrath. The changeling takes shelter in a long, winding narrow tunnel that burrows deep into the earth, until the main cyclone of the storm stops directly over the entrance and threatens to suck the changeling out. Good for some dramatic scenes of holding onto a bare root for dear life.

33. The Martial Deer

The changeling comes upon an open meadow in which regiments of stags are apparently performing military drills, marching in unison and practicing battle maneuvers with their horns. You can either have the deer be hostile, arresting the changeling as a potential spy or you can have them neutral and willing to negotiate an escort.

34. The Mirror Universe

The changeling sees a door set into the Hedge they recognize as the door to their childhood bedroom. When they open it, they see into a complete replica of that bedroom, with everything just as they remember it being. Only something is subtly wrong. Perhaps there is already a sleeper in the bed, who happens to be the changeling's fetch. Perhaps the changeling's “parents” are really Hedge creatures, sent by their Keeper to retrieve them. Perhaps the entire room is an elaborate trap by a Hedge predator, and if the changeling dares to fall asleep in the bed, the bed tries to eat them. Or maybe it's none of those things, and falling asleep in the bed allows the changeling to wake up back in the mortal world, in the long-abandoned remains of their old home.

35. The Chamber of Virgins

The changeling stumbles upon a tower within the Hedge that is filled with beautiful, young virgins of the appropriate sex. They try and use their seductive wiles to entice the changeling to stay.

36. The Deadly Vines

The changeling notices something moving after him through the thorns. After they declare their reaction, the path ahead is blocked by supernaturally swift-growing vines that form a barrier. A man-sized plant pod comes lunging out of the Hedge at the changeling and opens up its teeth-lined petals with a predatory roar. It tries to grapple with the changeling using its mouth vines and drag the changeling into its pod to be devoured.

Killer Plant

Attributes: Intelligence 1, Wits 3, Resolve 2, Strength 4, Dexterity 5, Stamina 4, Presence 1, Manipulation 0, Composure 1

Skills: Brawl 4 (Grapples), Stealth 2 (+2 when attempting to hide in the Hedge), Survival 3, Intimidation 4

Merits: Ambidextrous, Fast Reflexes 2, Toxin Resistance

Willpower: 3

Initiative: 8

Speed: 15

Size: 7

Attack: Vines 3 (B)*, Mouth 3 (L) + 1 (L): Acid**

Health: 11

*: If the number of successes on an attack exceeds the changeling's Size rating, the changeling is sent flying through the air.

**: The mouth will completely envelop an average person in 2 rounds, and the digestive juices within the petals deal an additional point of lethal damage per round automatically.

37. The Key Maker

The changeling hears a grinding metal on metal sound. If they investigate, they discover a small, round stone hut with a single child-sized door. If they open it, inside is a gnome-like figure crouched over a foot-powered metal saw. The walls around the figure are literally covered with keys on hooks of all sizes and descriptions. The changeling can negotiate a deal with the key maker to receive a key that will unlock a gateway to the mortal world.

38. The Cobra Riddle

The changeling enters a part of the Hedge that looks like an Indian jungle. In the center of the path ahead is a man-sized, swaying black cobra. The cobra says that he has the ability to tell truth from falsehood. The changeling is allowed to make a single statement. If the statement is true, the cobra will bite the changeling's throat. If the statement is false, the cobra will bite the changeling's heart. The cobra is willing to give the changeling as much time as they need. The changeling always has the option to flee or outright attack, of course, but to solve the riddle, the changeling simply has to say something like “You will bite my heart.” This sets up a paradox, since it forces the cobra to either bite the heart, making it a true statement and therefore breaking his word, or bite the throat, making it a false statement with the same result.

39. Will O' The Wisp Swamp

The changeling enters a dark, festering black marshland with only starlight overhead. Strange, frightening sounds echo from the swamp around them. The path ahead branches, and neither choice looks very appealing – a dark tunnel formed by twisted trees and Spanish moss from which sets of small glowing eyes leer, or a rickety bridge over a stagnant pond with something slithering just beneath the surface. Then the changeling sees a third option – a distant, randomly bobbing light that might be a lantern. The light is utterly silent and too far away to make out clearly. But if the changeling goes to investigate the light, they loose the path. The light will sometimes be closer, but obscured by tree trunks, or so far away it's almost lost, but as long as the changeling follows it, the light will lead them farther and farther into the dark swamp until the changeling is hopelessly lost. At which point, feel free to introduce them to the full, horrific consequences of their foolish choice.

40 Swamps of Sadness

Another swampy scenario has the changeling enter a black, muddy bog with no dry path ahead and a dreary, leaden sky. The changeling simply has to wade through the muck to continue onward. The muck will grow deeper the farther they journey, and as it does, announce that the changeling is starting to feel overwhelmed by feelings of guilt for having run away, despair at ever getting out, helplessness, and weakness. They should begin having to make Willpower rolls to perform actions, like climbing a tree to look around or changing direction. Moving forward, deeper into the swamp, is always an option, but the deeper they go, the harder it is to do anything but keep walking and sinking. Some suggested modifiers:

Waist-deep: Willpower rolls to perform drastic actions, such as using Contracts or running. No dice pool penalties.

Chest-deep: Willpower rolls to perform notable actions, such as speaking or attempting to use a skill. -2 dice pool penalties.

Neck-deep: Willpower rolls to perform any actions other than walking forward. -3 dice pool penalties.

41. The Ice Jungle

The changeling enters an area of the Hedge where the air is cold enough to see their breath, yet the plant life looks like that of a tropical jungle. Feel free to play up the strangeness of it – arctic monkeys, translucent ice snakes with blue eyes, streams and waterfalls made of frozen ice and icicles dripping from the palm trees.

42. The Rainbow Serpent

The changeling enters an area where the Hedge is made of a maze of red, ancient stone and the soil is dry and red beneath them. They can hear the breathing of some enormous creature, and eventually come upon the slumbering body of an absolutely gargantuan serpent. The serpent's hide is gorgeous, a shimmering living kaleidoscope of scales. The eyes, when they open, will constantly change color as well. After asking the changeling, politely, who they are and what their business is, the serpent will offer to help. The way home, the serpent claims, is simple. The changeling must walk into its mouth.

43. The Sphinx Gate

Taking a page from The Neverending Story, have the changeling come upon the exit to the Hedge, but it is guarded by two great stone sphinx statues. As the changeling walks forward, the eyes start to open and glow with a deadly looking brilliance. Unless the changeling makes a dead run for home, the sphinxes fire bolts of fire that deal some horrific amount of damage and hurl the changeling back into the Hedge.

44. The Blizzard Owls

While walking through a wintery section of the Hedge, the changeling is forced to cross over an ice bridge. In the middle of the bridge, the ice suddenly gives way. If the changeling doesn't react in time to leap to the other side, they begin to fall into an abyss with no apparent bottom. In the midst of the fall, a group of owls dressed in the armor of knights swoop toward the changeling. They're the ones who set up the weakness in the bridge in order to coerce victims into making pledges with them. They agree to save the changeling from an apparently eternal fall in exchange for something they think the changeling could obtain for them.

45. The Homing Candle

The changeling enters an open air festival/bazaar within the Hedge. A brightly colored banner declares it to be “Devali.” The theme of the bazaar is light. Any changeling kiths and seemings that have something to do with light are represented here: firefly Skitterskulks, bioluminescent Swimmerskins, Fireheart or Levinquick Elementals, Bright Ones, Moonborn or Palewraith Darklings, Flamesirens, Polychormatic or Telluric Fairest. The changeling is approached by a furtive, shady-looking Fireheart who looks like a living candelabra dressed in a long trenchcoat. He acts like a street drug dealer, with numerous glances around to make sure no one notices him. But what he offers the changeling is something called a “homing candle.” The changeling can purchase it for an appropriate price – some Glamour, some goblin fruit, a pledge or some other, more intangible debt to be paid.

Homing Candle

This is a trifle token that contains four uses. It appears to be a 3x5 inch black beeswax candle. If a changeling lights the candle, either through mundane means or by spending a point of Glamour, the candle will transport them to whatever location they consider 'home.' The candle does not distinguish between 'place of residence' or 'place of origin.' Whatever the individual considers 'home' to be within their own heart acts as the guide for the candle. Depending on the changeling's distance from the destination, the trip can be instantaneous or may take hours. If the candle is dropped or lost en route, the changeling reappears in a random location that is entirely up to the Storyteller.

47. The Trainman

The changeling comes across a 19^th century gaslight-era train station. The station is manned, complete with a ticket counter, clock and list of scheduled arrivals and departures. The changeling can ask the gnome behind the ticket counter for a ticket and can literally ride the night train out of the Hedge.

48. The Black Knight

The changeling's path reaches an ornately carved white wooden bridge which is guarded by a tall, imposing figure in black plate armor, armed with a broadsword. The figure is the guardian of the bridge, and is sworn to prevent anyone from attempting to cross. The knight will be unmoved by persuasion and bribes, and is immune to the influence of Contracts. He will attack anyone attempting to step onto the bridge, but if the changeling challenges the knight for the right to cross the bridge, the knight is honor-bound to accept and provide the challenger with armor and weapons equal to his own.

Use the stats for swords and archaic armor as given on page 170 of World of Darkness.

The Black Knight

Attributes: Intelligence 2, Wits 3, Resolve 3, Strength 4, Dexterity 2*, Stamina 3, Presence 2, Manipulation 2, Composure 4

Skills: Crafts (Blacksmith) 2, Medicine 1, Occult 1, Athletics 2, Brawl 2, Drive (Horseriding) 3, Weaponry (Swords) 4, Animal Ken (Horses) 2, Intimidation 2

Merits: Disarm, Language (Latin/Old English) 2/3

Willpower: 7

Initiative: 6

Speed: 11*

Size: 5

Attack: (Sword): 3 (L)

Armor: 3/2

Defense: 2*

Health: 8

Wyrd: 3

*: These stats are given for the knight out of armor. Because of the heaviness of full plate, any rolls or stats with Dexterity as a factor have a die penalty of -3.

The Black Knight has no access to Contracts, but cannot be the target of any Contracts.

49. Odin's Tree

The changeling comes upon a gargantuan ash tree. The trunk is 50 feet wide and the tree stretches upward to some 200 feet. It is daylight on one side of the tree and night on the other. Similarly, the changeling can move through all four seasons depending on which side of the tree they stand on. The tree is draped with ancient-looking blood-stained rope and covered in Nordic runes. If the changeling is of the occult bent, you might consider having them roll to realize the function of the tree – anyone who can survive tying themselves to it for a night and a day will gain oracular abilities.

   

50 The Fetch as the Guardian to The Mortal World

A possible variation to the use of fetches in Changeling, have each changeling's fetch able to sense how close to the mortal world their counterpart is, and so when the changeling crawls, bloody and exhausted out of the Hedge and back into the mortal world, they have one more challenge to face. They must slay their fetch to re-earn their rightful place in their home world.

Hedge Flights: 50 Encounters in Arcadia, Part 1

System: New World of Darkness
Game: Changeling: The Lost

Part of fleshing out a character in Changeling: The Lost is deciding what a changeling's Durance was like, as well as their escape. I prefer to begin my Changeling games by having players roleplay through their escape back to the mortal world. But it can be a challenge to make such a prelude interesting. Here, then, are fifty sample scenes that you can drop into a character's prelude to make their trip back from Arcadia more memorable.

1. Ring Around the Rosie

The changeling walks into a field of small lavender and yellow flowers that stretches over softly rolling hills from horizon to horizon. As they stride into the meadow, have them notice what looks like snow falling from the sky. But the air is warm, and so they realize that it is not snow, but ash. In the center of the meadow is a clear space where a great mound of the ash has built up. Growing out of the top of the ash pile, the changeling watches a single red rose slowly open it's petals as if in stop-motion photography, the blossom glowing with a radiant red light.

The closer the changeling gets to the rose, the more ill he starts to feel. He begins to suffer the symptoms of the beubonic plague or Black Death. These include headache, fever, nausea. Then large, painful swellings appear on the neck, under the arms or inner thighs. They then turn black, split open and begin to ooze puss and blood. Black bruise-like patches begin to appear over exposed skin as well as they begin to bleed internally, and his every breath becomes fetid and utterly revolting. You might want to consult the rules for illness found on pg. 176 of the World of Darkness core book.

The field is a puzzle. One of the concepts I invented for Changeling is that every dead end in the Hedge is also a doorway. You only need to figure out the key to unlock the door. In this case, it is a riddle. The changeling is faced with a literal interpretation of the old nursery rhyme “Ring Around the Rosie”. To solve it before they die, they have to stuff the flowers (posies) into their pockets and walk around the mound three times, then deliberately fall over. They will fall straight into the mortal world and find themselves cured.

2. Harvest Time

The changeling crosses a border in the Hedge and enters a beautiful garden, complete with sculpted bushes, fountains, and paved stone paths. Feel free to add wild and fantastical embellishments to the plants – purple twisted thorns, glowing toadstools, flowers that tinkle like tiny silver bells. The only rather odd or sinister thing about the garden is that it is utterly silent. Not so much as a bird or insect can be heard. As the changeling makes their way through the garden, they hears the sounds of frantic footsteps and another changeling bursts out of a nearby stand of bushes, bearing horrible, bloody wounds.

“...run...RUN! It's...harvest...time!” he will croak out before a steel beak slashes through the Hedge behind him and stabs him through the heart from the back. He is yanked back, screaming, into the bushes.

Players who try to escape from the garden will have to contend with its harvesters – giant ostrich or dodo-like birds made entirely of metal, like some sort of murderous lawn ornaments come to life. Their feet run on springs, their calls sound like the slicing of a scythe and their beaks are actually the blades of sickles.

Stats for Harvesters:

Attributes: Intelligence 1, Wits 2, Resolve 5, Strength 3, Dexterity 3, Stamina 5, Charisma 0, Manipulation 0, Composure 0

Skills: Athletics 2, Brawl 3, Stealth 1

Willpower: 5

Initiative: 3

Defense: 2

Speed: 11 (Size 5)

Weapons/Attack: Scythe Beak: 2 (L) Dice Pool: 6

Health (Structure): 10

Because they're made of metal, the Harvesters also have a Durability rating of 3.

3. The Labyrinth of Razors

The changeling enters a section of the Hedge where the thorns look as if they're made of prisms, crystal, or finely cut glass. Dappled light shines down brilliantly from some undefined source. The thorns are razor sharp to the touch, and grow slowly shut behind the changeling as they enter, sealing off that exit. The path ahead follows the pattern of a classic English garden labyrinth through the glittering thorns. The only problem is that the floor of the path is made of a single, continuous razor thin line of glass. This forces the changeling to literally walk on the edge of a knife, probably horribly wounding their feet in the process. The only alternative is to try to clamber along by the thorns, which will hurt even worse.

4. The Cave Bear King

The changeling enters a series of low caves where the air is close, warm and musty. It smells like some sort of huge animal, and the caves are lit by primitive torches. Neolithic style paintings cover the walls. At the center of the caves is the huge throne of the Cave Bear King. Think of Conan the Barbarian as a giant, bronzed hulking muscular figure seated on a throne of bone and animal hide, his head covered by a dark hood to the neck, with a pair of bloody antlers rising up like a crown. His eyes glow a baleful red and never blink. He wears a necklace of bear claws. There is also a curious doorway or tunnel of rough stone, angled upward at a gentle slope. This would seem to be a way out, but wedged in the doorway is a massive stone gear with an axle in the center of it for someone to push with. The changeling is challenged by the Cave Bear King, who will demand a test to allow the changeling to leave. He will push the wheel and the changeling must run ahead , keeping ahead of the crushing wheel as the slope grows ever steeper and then slick with the blood of past victims, making it harder and harder for them to climb.

5. The Raven of Nevermore

The Hedge grows darker than a thicket at midnight until the changeling looses all sense of bearing. They then notice a faint, cold light shining above them. If they try to just blindly walk toward it, they barely avoid falling into empty space. Nothing – literally nothing – exists in this area except where the cold light shines. There are a series of these lights, and they form a sort of bridge of solid ground to another exit. However, guarding his roost in the middle of the cavern is an immense black figure with the head of a raven and fingers that end in huge black talons. He looks like a literal living onyx statue. He never speaks, but silently demands some sort of payment for passage. If the player chose a kith that would be appropriate as any sort of prey for a bird, especially something to do with insects, the raven-man will spread his wings and swoop down to try to capture the changeling to add to his 'collection' instead.

Raven of Nevermore

Attributes: Intelligence 2, Wits 3, Resolve 3, Strength 4, Dexterity 5, Stamina 3, Presence 5, Manipulation 0, Composure 6

Skills: Athletics (Flying) 4, Brawl (Talons, Beak) 2, Stealth 5, Intimidation 5

Willpower: 9

Initiative: 11

Defense: 3

Speed: 15 (Size 6)

Attack: Talons 2 (L), Beak 2 (L), Dice Pool: 9

Health: 9

Wyrd: 5

Merits: Direction Sense, Giant

Contracts: Smoke 3, Darkness 5, Elements (Air, Darkness) 5, Fang and Talon (Raven) 5

Suggested Bans: Those who can recite 'The Raven' by Edgar Allen Poe are allowed to pass freely through his realm, bright blinding light forces him to retreat.

6. When the Clock Strikes the Right Time

This scene is plagiarized from a scene out of “The Last Unicorn,” but it works well for a Changeling game. The changeling comes across an ancient, huge grandfather's clock with all sorts of morbid, gothic carvings on it. A giggling skeleton is crouched on the top of the clock,. His job is keeping it wound properly. Perhaps he's even another changeling slave with his own Keeper. This scene can be a bit tricky, to get the changeling to follow along the appropriate line of conversation. But for Storytellers who love to play up their NPC characters, the laughing skeleton can be great fun.

Step 1: The Offer – Have the skeleton make some obvious comment that tips off the player to the fact that it knows what they are and what they really want – a way home. Something like “I know what you are, I know what you want. But I don't think I'm going to give it to you!” (Said in a mocking sing-song followed by more hysterical laughter). Players who ask the skeleton what's so funny are just setting themselves up for this sort of line. Another adaptation taken directly from the film is “C'mon, (laughter) ask me how to find the way out. Even the True Fae don't know the secret way. But I do!”

Step 2: The Bait – If, or hopefully when the changeling asks the skeleton to tell them what he knows, he refuses and gets obvious, wild mirth out of doing so. More appropriate lines from the film:

“Say please.” Followed by “No.”

or

“Oh, it's so NICE to have someone to play with!”

or

“Try me tomorrow! Maybe I'll tell you tomorrow!”

If the changeling makes some mention about time or being in a hurry, you can also use the line: “I have time! I have time enough for BOTH of us!”

Step 3: The Change of Heart – This is the crucial part. Amid all the taunting, laughing and half promises you give the player, be attentive for some mention of something the changeling could use to barter with. Ideally it's something the changeling mentions or reveals casually, so that the opportunity sounds natural. It's best if you tie it to some sort of vice that a once-living person might have had. In the film, Shmendric the magician barters with an empty wine glass, which implies gluttony. Other possible objects to barter might include: gambling, cards or dice (greed), a portrait, piece of artwork, or mirror (envy/pride), books of naughty literature (lust), cigars (gluttony), anything that might serve as a bed or a chair or the ability to fashion such an object – a coffin would be most appropriate (sloth), some sort of club-like weapon (wrath, works especially well if the skeleton is, in fact, a fellow changeling still trapped in his Durance).

Step 4: The Bargain

When you notice something that would work for barter, have the skeleton fixate on it. Make it clear he's salivating for it and would most likely do anything the changeling wants to get it. Any savvy player will then propose a deal for the secret way out of the Hedge, and the exchange can be made.

Final Step: The Secret Revealed

The way out of the Hedge is through the clock. It's an old gateway the changeling can use to get back to the mortal world.

One last appropriate line from the film, adapted:

“To reach the mortal world, you have to walk through time. A clock isn't time, it's just numbers and springs. Pay it no mind, just walk on through.”

For reference and your own inspiration, here's the scene this is drawn from in the movie.

7. The Wicked Carousel

The changeling hears what sounds like calliope music from up ahead. It feels like night has fallen, and a full moon rises. He steps into a clearing in the Hedge that looks as if it's mid-autumn, with twisted dark bare trees and swirls of autumn leaves about.

Directly ahead is a carousel made of black, wrought steel. Players who know classical music can be told the song the calliope is playing is “The Danse Macabre” by Saint-Saens. The horses carved for this macabre carousel are made to look like skeletons.

If the changeling decides to ride the carousel, allow them to do so. But as soon as they get off again, they are wracked by an overwhelming pain. The carousel will age anyone who rides it by one year for each full revolution. Alternatively, if someone rides the carousel backwards, they will get younger by the same amount.

The controls for the carousel are located in the central hub, but unless the changeling has dots in Crafts, they should get only a chance roll to succeed on correctly operating the machinery. Even with Crafts, it's unlikely in a modern-day Changeling game that a given character would have any prior knowledge about how to operate an old-style carousel, which should be reflected in at least a -2 dice pool penalty.

8. The Unicorn

The changeling encounters a magnificent male unicorn with ivory skin, powerful muscles, a shimmering white mane, a gold horn, the works. The unicorn offers to guide the changeling back to the mortal world...for a price. Perhaps the unicorn wants a mortal child of his own to be the Keeper of. Perhaps the unicorn is a rebel of Faerie, working to free changelings from their Keepers. Or perhaps the unicorn appears to be an ally on the surface but has more sinister motivations.

9. The Crossroads of Doubt

The changeling comes to a place in the Hedge where the path forks in many different directions. The Hedge is wildly overgrown here, so the paths all seem like dark tunnels of foliage. As the changeling starts down one of the paths, they hear one or several disembodied voices all urging them not to take it. The voices all offer contradicting advice about which path to take, calling each other liars, promising the changeling will die horribly if the changeling listens to the wrong advice, and so on. Asking the voices for advice only makes the situation worse, the contradictions more wild. If you like, you can make this a riddle where one voice always lies and one voice always tells the truth.

10. The Hall of Doors

The Hedge starts to close in on itself until it forms a loose tunnel or hallway. As the changeling continues walking, he starts to see a wild menagerie of doors all woven into the surrounding Hedge. The doors come in all shapes, sizes and styles. Perhaps the doors lead to different places and times. Perhaps the doors are all locked and the changeling has to find the right key to unlock a specific door.

11. The Path of Dream and Memory

In The Wizard of Oz, Dorothy returns to Kansas by focusing on thoughts of home. Have the changeling enter a particularly ominous section of the Hedge and give them clues that focusing on what they remember of their former human lives will be their only salvation. Maybe there are long lost childhood items strewn about the thorns, and the changeling recognizes one as theirs. The more they focus on it and the happy memories it embodies, the brighter and clearer the path forward becomes. The more they focus on their current surroundings, the darker and more treacherous the path becomes. Play up the dream-like qualities of childhood memories with ghostly visions of favorite child haunts or the echoes of children's laughter, or maybe even the changeling's mortal mother calling them home for dinner. Or perhaps, like Dorothy, the Hedge is all just a dream that the changeling can work to wake up from.

12. The White Queen's Sledge

Inspired by The Lion, The Witch, and the Wardrobe by C.S. Lewis. The changeling is tramping through a snow-covered area of the Hedge and hears distant carriage bells approaching. Eventually an elaborate white sleigh comes into view, being pulled by a team of horse-sized goats. The sleigh can be either occupied or empty. Yet another opportunity to introduce the player to the Pledges system of Changeling, bargaining for a way home.

13. Willy Wonka's Boat

The boat from the original movie, not the Tim Burton remake. The changeling comes upon a ferry boat propelled by a water wheel at its stern. If they get into the boat, it begins to move down a crooken waterway amid the thorns, gaining speed rapidly until it's impossible for the changeling to get out without risking serious injury. The boat enters a Hedge tunnel and the changeling is subjected to nightmarish visions. Depending on how the player reacts, you can invent some innocuous trigger to get the boat to stop, at which point the boat will emerge from the tunnel at a normal, slow speed and appear to be in a completely different environment from the one it was in when the changeling bordered, or on a canal in the mortal world.

14. Shelob's Lair

This makes a great perilous Hedge encounter. The changeling is moving through an area of the Hedge where the thorns grow black as pitch and the light starts to fade. Up ahead is a long dark tunnel, and if the changeling enters, they immediately become lost in a maze of identical tunnels covered in cobwebs. Corpses of other changelings hang wrapped in silk from the ceiling, and if the changeling isn't careful, they become trapped in sticky webbing themselves, until the huge Hedge spider arrives to claim its newest victim. The spider can be either a True Fae or simply a denizen of the Hedge.

Here are some suggestions for powers the spider possesses:

Webbing: The spider's sticky webbing requires a Strength of 4 or higher to break free without a weapon. It severely inhibits movement, rendering all Dexterity dice pools into chance die rolls without the use of a Contract to enhance it.

Stinger: The spider's stinger deals as much damage as a spear or a short sword, and delivers a sedative poison. The changeling gets one Resolve+Stamina roll to remain conscious per round, and each round the poison isn't treated, they take a cumulative -1 penalty to the roll.

Contracts: If the spider is one of the True Fae, possible contracts could include Smoke, Darkness, Fang and Talon (Spiders), or Fleeting Autumn.

15. The Thorn Bush

Inspired by the rose bush from The Rats of NIMH, the Hedge completely blocks out the sky above, taking on the aspect of a labyrinth in which the light is dim and ever-shifting, like twilight. Random flickers of colored light pocket its depths, and if you want to make things more suspenseful for the player, include a hungry human-sized rat warrior with a cape, armed with a serrated spear to attack and chase after the changeling. Use the stats for a brairwolf as given on page. 275 of Changeling. Substitute Weaponry (Spear) for Brawl.

16. Do Not Open Until Halloween

The changeling comes upon a tall set of double doors made of violet wood. A massive canine head knocker rests in the middle of the doors as a locked seal. It continously utters the phrase “Do not open until Halloween,” in a ghoulish, growling voice. It stares blankly ahead, and does not respond as a sentient being. The idea behind the door comes from the legend of Tam Lin, where the Faerie ride out into the mortal world on Halloween. The changeling must convince the door somehow that it is, in fact, Halloween. This may be an opportunity to introduce the idea of time flowing differently in the Hedge, so that it really will be Halloween night when the changeling emerges in the mortal world.

17. Circus Goblin Market

The changeling comes upon a large clearing in the Hedge that is filled with all the buildings and paraphernalia of a big top circus. But this circus is actually a goblin market, and the goblins will want to turn the changeling into part of the show – trapping them in the Hall of Freaks, forcing them into a highwire trapeze act, having them ride a nightmare through a ring of fire or face off against a Hedge lion in a cage with only a chair and a Hedgespun whip for defense.

18. The Hop Scotch Riddle

The changeling comes upon what looks like a young girl playing hopscotch with herself and singing a children's song or nursery rhyme. She ignores any attempts to speak to her. If the changeling tries to cross the hopscotch clearing by any means other than playing the game and singing the song, the thorns of the Hedge attack and strike the changeling back to the place from where they entered.

19. The Frozen Waterfall

The Hedge appears to be made of brittle frost crystals. Up ahead the path ends at a turbulent-looking pool being fed by a tall waterfall. But the pool and the waterfall are all made of solid ice. The ice moves exactly like water, only four times slower.

20. Little Red Riding Hood

The changeling encounters a walking, talking handsome wolf dressed in the clothing of a Victorian gentleman. This creature is actually a Nappera-Bo (See Changeling: The Lost pg. 276).

21. The Witch With the Bone Fence

The changeling comes upon a small stone cottage with what looks like a picket fence and a gate out front, except that the fence and gate are made from the bones of children. Inside the house is the Bone Witch, a True Fae who lures mortals in with promises of a good night's rest and a hot meal and then kills them to add more bones to her collection.

Bone Witch

Attributes: Intelligence 6, Wits 4, Resolve 2, Strength 3, Dexterity 3, Stamina 3, Charisma 4, Manipulation 4, Composure 4

Skills: Crafts (Cooking, Herbs, Potions) 6, Medicine (Herbal, Potions) 5, Occult 5, Athletics 3, Stealth 3, Empathy 3, Intimidation 4, Persuasion 5, Subterfuge 5

Merits: Eidetic Memory, Holistic Awareness, Hollow 2

Willpower: 6

Initiative: 7

Defense: 3
Size: 5
Speed: 11

Health: 8

Wyrd: 6

Contracts: Darkness 5, Elements (Bone) 3, Eternal Autumn 2, Fleeting Autumn 2, Vainglory 1

Suggested Bans: Cannot harm someone with the fur of a black cat, is repelled by soap or salt, the prick of a needle will put her to sleep, can be slain by a bone-handled knife.

22. The Path of the Secret Word

The changeling notices that the path ahead is shattered into a patchwork of stone sections, each with a letter carved into it. Those who wish to cross the path are presented with a riddle, and must spell out the correct answer using the stones. If they guess wrong, the stone collapses beneath their feet and threatens to plunge them into a cavern far below.

23. The Leap of Faith

The changeling comes across a huge chasm in the path ahead. There is no apparent way across, but they can see the mortal world through the briars on the other side. A stone lion's head justs out slightly across the canyon. Written on the top of the lion's head are the words: This Way Home and an arrow pointing across the chasm. The changeling must step into apparent mid-air, and will find a camouflaged bridge supports them as they walk across to freedom.

24. The Iron Horse

The changeling finds the path ahead blocked by a gushing waterfall of liquid fire. Standing facing the waterfall is a solid iron horse. The horse tells the changeling that what he seeks is just on the other side of the fire. It tells them to mount its back and to trust it. If the changeling does, the iron horse slowly carries them safely through the fire unharmed. This encounter works best if you play up the visceral details of the slow walk through the fire – the growing heat, the sizzling of the fire across the horse's neck and head, etc.

25. The Cave of Wonders

The changeling finds a vast treasure house of unimaginable wealth in the midst of the Hedge. On the other side is the exit to the mortal world. If the changeling touches any of the treasure, dire consequences ensue. Perhaps all the treasure changes to fire, turns into flesh-eating golden insects, or slowly starts to change the changeling into gold herself. 

Stay tuned for the last 25 encounter ideas!