Adventure Design Checklist

Since I write most of my own adventures, instead of running prefab material, people sometimes ask me how I go about it. Without really meaning to, over the years I've developed a pretty straightforward process where I work through a checklist of ideas; by the time I get to the end of the list, I've usually got a scenario that's fleshed out enough to run without any hassles. Below is what I do; it may work for you, it may not. That's none of my business. It does, however, work for me.

Adventure Design Checklist

This is my checklist for designing an adventure:

• What is the character’s goal in the adventure?
• Are the characters meant to kill something? 
• Stop something from happening?
• Obtain information?
• Explore a location?
• Obtain an item?
• Note: you don’t really need to figure out how the goal must be achieved–that’s on the players
• What locations are likely to be visited in the adventure?
• Make a list of places the characters are likely to go in this session
• What NPCs are likely to show up?
• Make a list of NPCs they might meet over the course of the session
• What events might happen?
• Are there any “set pieces” you want to detail in advance?
• You might been to invent a few events to push things along or put on pressure if they players spin their tires for too long
• Is there any mood or atmosphere you want to establish with an event?
• Do you want to use any events that foreshadow events to come?
• Is there any cool loot?
• What above-the-ordinary items might they uncover?

Locations

These are the things I keep in mind while designing an adventure location whether I’m thinking generally of a whole building or site and when zooming in on specific rooms or chambers

• Basic set dressing
• Purpose of room or area
• Furniture
• Decorations
• Sensory details
• Cleanliness
• Temperature
• Important and/or hidden items
• Are their people in this room?
• Any strange or noteworthy objects?
• Exits
• Where does this place lead to?
• What comes next after visiting this location?
• Hidden doors or hiding spots?

NPCs

I make notes on each important NPC in an adventure in this format:

• Basic abilities
• What can this person do?
• How good are they at fighting?
• Do they have any magical or special ability?
• What do they know?
• Depending on the system, this is the stuff you might need to stat up ahead of time
• Appearance
• Basic description of physical appearance
• Clothing
• One noteworthy physical characteristic
• Personality
• General note on their basic demeanor (secretive, jovial, angry, etc.)
• One noteworthy quirk that stands out
• Motive
• Most NPCs only really need one strong motive that they are laser-focused on
• Flaw
• Tragic flaw or exploitable weakness

Events

Things that could happen outside of the players’ control–the world moves around the characters whether they want it to or not

• NPC encounter
• Potential ally or enemy?
• Chance encounters
• Trading for information or a necessary item
• Fight
• If you know what fights are likely, you can get your stats organized ahead of time
• Also, it’s not a bad idea to have a few fights lined up to move things along if they dither 
• (Guards or other patrols are especially good for this aka “Orcs attack!”)
• Foreshadowing
• Is there anything you want to hint at that is coming later in the adventure?
• You can use fortune telling, omens, symbolism, etc. to establish future tangents
• Pressure
• Anything that makes the players feel like they need to act now or get the show on the road
• Anything that puts them in mind of a ticking clock
• Or indications that if they don’t make a move, things will get worse or harder down the road

Loot

What stuff might they pick up on the way to their goal? I think of this broadly, not just in terms of physical items

• “Magic” items
• Equipment that bolsters their abilities
• Or is at least better than their current gear
• Keep in mind what they have, what they need, and what they want
• (These are very different categories in practice)
• If you anticipate the adventure being dangerous, seeding a few one-use healing items is a great idea
• Information
• Knowledge that helps them make better decisions is a kind of loot!
• It could be where the thing they want is, an enemy’s weakness, the answer to a mystery that has been vexing them, the location of a shortcut, etc.
• Allies
• Allies are tools that can be leveraged for direct aid, information, guidance, healing, etc.
• Keep in mind what their allies will be willing to do and what they won’t
• Not every ally will stand by your side in combat
• Also, the characters will need to put in work to maintain those relationships
• Or at least be able to offer the ally something in return for their aid
• New abilities
• Occasionally, rarely I’d say, an adventure might even offer new abilities outside the scope of the usual “advancement” rules