Dungeons & Dragons Adventure / One-Shot Outlining Process

These are the questions that will form the bulleted lists of information, used in the last step of filling in the D&D adventure template.

1. The main threat/the villain
2. Outline scenes
3. Grab the attention
4. List the locations (and their challenges)
5. List the NPCs
6. List the mysteries
7. Cross filling lists
8. Filling blank scenes, cross filling, repeat

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1. The main threat/the villain

Usually this is where you start. You have some idea of a monster, or a villain, or an evil organization that has kidnapped someone, or a dangerous force (like a flood) that will form the final confrontation. If you have a lot of detail in mind, write it down. If not, write what you know. Simply put: who is the bad guy, and what does he do?

2. Outline scenes

Make a bulleted list with all the scenes you already know are going to be in the adventure. If there are blanks in between, make sure the blanks are visible. You need a list that you can fill in. Important: add the challenge next to the location. So if there’s going to be combat, name the scene and add ‘(combat)’ to it. It could also be a puzzle, a skill challenge, a minigame you’ve designed, anything. Just briefly mention it so you can see the flow of the adventure. Think of this as a basic plot outline, as long as you leave room for players to solve things in their own way.

3. Grab the attention

Think of a strong opening, and don’t let it drag. Think out of the box. Create a brief scene that grabs the attention:

• a. start with a (short) combat (a bar brawl can be enough)
• b. start by showing the ‘end’ of the last adventure (Indiana Jones-intro)
• c. a murder
• d. a civillian screams for help

4. List the locations (and their challenges)

With all the information you’ve gathered so far, create a list of locations that the characters might encounter. The first scene is a given. You also know there’s a final confrontation of some sort. Any scenes you thought of in the outline, most likely have a location attached to them. And if you have ideas for cool locations, but no scenes yet attached to them, add them now.

5. List the NPCs

Again, using what you already know, list the NPCs, including the villain(s).

6. List the mysteries

Everything you know as the DM that the players don’t, is a potential mystery for them to discover. If the villain is unknown, that’s a mystery. If an NPC has something to hide, that counts. If the dungeon actually is a mass grave of a long lost civilization, put it on the list. Any bit of information that is slightly interesting that the players don’t know, add it.

7. Cross filling lists

Check whether any item on the list is lacking information. If you have a location, but no NPC for it, think whether you might need to add it. When you have a mystery but there’s no possible way for the players to discover it, think of one or several ways the players could discover it, like an NPC or location.

8. Filling blank scenes, cross filling, repeat

If you still have blanks in your scene outline with nothing attached to them, now is the time to start filling those in. What happens before or after this blank scene? What would make sense? For example: you know your players are in a dungeon, but the final confrontation takes place somehwere else, and you’ve placed a blank scene in between. This blank scene needs to function as a transition between those two scenes. Will the players head back the same way they came? Will they teleport? Is the final confrontation a combat, or did the previous scene contain combat? Because it might not be a good idea to pack too many combat scenario’s together. Whenever you enter a detail, check whether it has all the required elements (NPCs, locations, et cetera) and repeat until you are comfortable with all the information.

EXAMPLE:

After ten minutes or so, you should have a list like this. Keep repeating the process until it is fully filled in (and the durtion of this, depends on the extent of your adventure / one-shot).

MAIN THREAT/VILLAIN
Village is being tormented by a swamp creature that kidnapped a girl. Sorcerer created this creature. The girl was to marry the son of the vassal (nearby city) and that would help the village immensely, but now this political relationship might fall apart. And the vassal is already

SCENES OUTLINED
○ Intro: finishing up a dungeon (skill challenge)
○ (blank)
○ Mini-boss: swamp creature (combat)
○ (blank) (puzzle?)
○ Boss: the sorcerer that created the creature (combat)

LOCATIONS
○ Intro dungeon
○ (blank)
○ Swamp
○ (puzzle location?)
○ (Final arena, somewhere near swamp)

NPCs
○ Patron
○ Vassal

MYSTERIES
Sorcerer works for another village who want their maiden to marry the vassal’s son.