Adventure Design

“You are the [noun] in this [adjective] land, and you must save the [macguffin]!”

Quest Design

What is the Point?

Think about the point of the Quest in canon.

• Is it meant to help the player grow?
  • Does it reinforce or nurture their positive qualities?
  • Does it make them confront their negative aspects?
  • Does it shape their development towards a certain end?
• Is it meant to achieve an objective?
  • What is the point of this objective?
  • Who benefits, and who loses, if any? Why?
  • Why hasn’t someone else done it first?
  • What makes the player special that only they can do it?

Why Should the Player Care?

Out of character, we know to go with Quests because it’s part of the session. In-character, the players need some sort of reason. Remember: The session is about the player. Not an NPC. The Quest should be such that it doesn’t work if the player doesn’t pursue it.

• What draws them to do it?
• Or what prevents them from not doing it? What forces their hand?
• How do they learn of this quest and how to go about it at every step?

How does it Relate to Them?

The Quest should relate to the player in some way, thematic to some aspect of that character.

• Does it go off their motivations?
  • What does the player want, and will this give it to them?
  • Or does the player know what they don’t want, and this aids them in that?
  • Does it give them something else entirely, out of left field?
• Does it relate to their personality?
  • A popular one in practice with some backing in canon, does it challenge who they are as a person?
  • Or does it fill in less developed aspects to their character?
• Maybe it relates to their interests?
• Does it make them develop?
  • And not in a way covered by the first three?

Actual Structuring

We’ve talked about all the thought that goes into a quest, now let’s design one.

• There are five distinct zones, at the least. The player’s starting area with their house, the first, third, and fifth gates, and their seventh gate with their Denizen. Use this as a skeleton for planning.
  • Five room dungeon? The threshold, puzzle, conflict, setback, and climax.
  • Five act media. Shakespeare, Homestuck up to [S] Cascade, book series, television, anything that comes to mind. If nothing in media can truly be original, then anything and everything is up for grabs.
• Figure out how your NPCs fit into this.
  • If they don’t, consider scrapping them or consolidating their role into another NPC.
  • Consider what changes if a given NPC is removed, which can happen often given the chaotic nature of Sburb.
  • Figure out who is absolutely critical to the Quest. If they cannot be made non-essential, protect them fiercely.
• Figure out how the player fits into this.
  • If you can’t figure out what the player should do, how can they?
  • Is what they do fallible? Does it come with a hard failure state? A soft one that just makes others harder, or works in degrees? Or can they just keep trying till they get it?
  • Don’t try to anticipate everything a player can do. Create a central idea or frame from which you can improvise. Plan for obvious divergences, such as if a player chooses path A or path B.
  • How does the Denizen and their Choice come into play here, if they do at all?
• Partition the Quest.
  • Ask yourself, “What stops the player from circumventing the Quest’s steps in some way? Through the aid of their dream kingdom, or alternate timeline selves, through heavy use of time travel, or ridiculous amounts of alchemy?”
  • A Quest should not be something that is done with quickly. The completion of one’s Quest is one of the indicators that the session is closing towards the endgame.

What is a Quest, Actually?

Now that you have an idea of the flavor and in-character happenings of the Quest, let’s get deeper into it.

• What is the goal of the quest? More than one can apply here.
  • The self. Power, knowledge, change, etc.
  • Others. Another NPC, another player, someone from the player’s backstory.
  • Nature, or a force. Paradox Space, their aspect, something that clearly acts and can be acted upon, but doesn’t fit the two above.
  • An idea. Learning it, knowing it, discovering it, destroying it, saving it.
• Determine the method by which the Quest is done.
  • Break, Sneak, Parley, Trick, Navigate, Endure, Channel, Exploit, Find, Unlock, from the obstacle/puzzle design later in this document. Actions the player must take to progress on their Quest.
• Implement it within the structure of the Quest as in the Actual Structuring section. Give the Quest meat on its bones through smaller steps and subquests within the main Quest.
  • Consult Chapter 4: Skills and Gambits for more information on gambits.
  • Tailor to your player’s means and tastes.
  • Figure out how much XP, roughly, you want each step and such should be.
• Once you’ve finished drafting everything, keep it that way. Don’t set things in stone, lest you need to change it when the players inevitably derail some of your plans.
  • Avoid repetition in your quests; this is a tabletop game, not a videogame. Roleplay and freedom of action plays a greater role, and actually playing gets stale and repetitive more easily such that grinding like in the latter is something to be avoided if possible.
  • Remember to cut out extraneous checks, DCs, and NPCs when possible. If you feel something’s too short, you can improvise and add them on after; when all else is already planned out, adding to it is easier than removing.

The XP Question

But What is XP?

A player in any given tier will want to start off with CR 1, moving onto CR 2 as they get the hang of things. As they alchemize gear of their current tier, they’ll be ready for CR 3, though they’ll want all of it ready before tackling CR 4.

When designing an encounter, just add the CR of all its participants:

• Encounter has two CR 1 Imps? It’s a CR 2 encounter.
• Throwing a CR 2 Ogre and a CR 1 Imp? It’s a CR 3 encounter.
• Three CR 2 Ogres? It’s a CR 6 encounter and you should probably ask yourself if there’s a more stylish way your player might be destroyed.

A monster from one tier higher counts as twice its CR, while a monster one tier lower counts as half its CR.

• Do you hate your player? They’re Tier 1? Throw eight Tier 0 CR 1 imps at them, this would be a CR 4 encounter.
• Do you also hate your player? They’re Tier 2? A single Tier 3 CR 2 Acheron would also be a CR 4 encounter for them.

The thresholds for what constitutes a fight of some CR depends on the number of players and NPCs on the player’s side. If there are multiple players, or if the player has any NPCs with them, the CR thresholds must be multiplied by the number of actors to get an accurate reading.

• Encounter is one T1 player against one CR 2 Ogre? It’s a CR 2 encounter.
• Say there’s two players against that CR 2 Ogre? It’s a CR 1 encounter.
• Three CR 2 Ogres? Like above, it’d be CR 6 and you should probably ask John Google to delete your player from existence, but against two players this would just be CR 3.
• Three CR 2 Ogres against three players? It’s a CR 2 encounter.

Experience is based on the encounter’s CR, so the player should be getting the same EXP for a given CR no matter how many players there are. Grist is based on a per-monster drop, but assuming your players are splitting it evenly, it works out to be the same grist based on the encounter’s CR too.

• One player against two CR 2 Ogres? It’s CR 4. If they survive, it’ll be 100 EXP, 50 T1 grist, and 100 BG.
• Four players against eight CR 2 Ogres? Still CR 4. Still 100 EXP. The party’s total will be 200 T1 grist and 400 BG, but assuming an even split, it still works out to be 50 T1 and 100 BG each.
  • Developer’s Note (3/26/26): Personally I’d just throw two adversaries at them. Controlling eight Ogres becomes a right mess to run.

On that note, there are a few places where the CR system gets shaky, so proceed with caution:

• A monster one tier higher counts as twice its CR. Therefore, a T3 party of four players would have a CR 4 encounter with one T4 adversary, in theory. Results may vary.
• T3 party of three players against four Acherons. Against one player it’d be CR 8, against three players it’d be CR… 2.67ish. You might want to just replace one Acheron with a CR 3 to round it up to an even CR 3.
• Any encounter where the party isn’t all the same tier (how did this happen?).

Developer’s Note (3/26/26): No easy ways around those pain points. Pathfinder tackles the first point by being incredibly regimented, which RPGStuck is not. The second point is a sacrifice made to make CR easy to use for solo player encounters, which is the majority (or, honestly, all) of RPGStuck. And I have never heard of a tabletop that solved the third point, at least, nothing as combat-crunchy as RPGStuck, I imagine systems like Blades doesn’t need to be pinpoint and systems like Call of Cthulhu don’t care.

This is a baseline, in the fashion that you can throw gambits at a player regardless of their skill set. You can and should tailor more difficult gambits to their intended player’s strengths, but you no longer need to be as constantly mindful of each player’s specific build for the easier DCs.

For reference, here are the DCs.

• DC 10 (Easy)
• DC 15 (Medium)
• DC 20 (Hard)
• DC 25 (Extreme)

What counts as minor, decent, or notable? Let’s segue into the next topic.

Rewards as Tools

A basic concept in psychology is positive reinforcement, where a desirable reaction to a behavior increases the frequency of that behavior. How does this relate to RPGStuck, and to tabletop gaming as a whole?

Reward players when they complete plans of action, or milestones, or exceptional bouts of roleplay. More specifically, reward the ones of which you want to see more. Players will then seek to do more of this to get more XP, and the feedback loop grows. In this way, you can cultivate the sort of playstyles you want to see in your sessions.

Milestone Leveling

Milestone leveling is a concept by which the players don’t level up based on XP gained, but by reaching certain accomplishments or completing certain works. This has the advantage of acting as a framework by which a session’s quests and arcs can be planned out, but the disadvantage that you will have to either be able to make judgment calls on what counts as a milestone, have planned out your session to a great detail such that you can assign milestones, or realistically a mix of both.

The Boondollar Question

That’s a Question?

Through normal play, a player can expect to pick up a few followers, a fraymotif or two, and some spending money for shenanigans, solely with the boondollars they gain from leveling up. A great deal of what a player would spend boondollars on is elucidated on in Housebuilding, where followers and other services are located.

Everything a player needs to progress in power with grist, namely alchemy, can be substituted with boondollars. In this way, the enterprising, determined player could pull off a pacifist run, no longer shackled to needing to slay underlings for grist. In practice, however, they will be strapped for resources compared to their less scrupulous coplayers.

Boondollars act as a supplement; you will no longer feel as though you MUST provide fights for grist even if the situation does not call for it. Any “paper loss of grist” players supposedly might incur that would preclude their acquisition of alchemy upgrades can be made up by buying equivalent items with boondollars. In this way, you are free to run a session how you wish, without being bound by a combat/grist quota.

If you wish to reward players more boondollars, you are recommended to tie it to events such that the process of getting these boondollars would give them XP. You can then multiply the XP reward by 10 in order to get the boondollar reward. SMs who have read Housebuilding may note that the same 10:1 conversion exists for boondollars and build grist. This is deliberate.

Exploration

The Open World

Exploration, more than any other, needs a wide, detailed world to explore because this is the main draw. Getting to a place isn’t a means to an end, the place is the end, and the journey there is the means.

When running an exploratory section, break it down by the following.

• Where are they going, and how important is it that they do?
• How long will it take to get there?
  • Are there consequences for not making it in time? Or benefits if they get there early?
  • Any methods of transportation or other speedier methods than walking available?
• Are there multiple ways to get there?
  • Is there any way by which a way can be blocked off?
  • Or the way is blocked off to start with, but that can change?
• Is there a way to fail to get there?
  • And what happens if they do?
  • Can they still progress at all if they do?
    • And if not, what then?

Characters with high Intelligence or Wisdom and their associated skills may have an easier time solving challenges or navigating the wilderness, though many skills have a use somewhere. The only odd duck out here is Charisma.

You may want to check Chapter 4: Skills and Gambits, as exploration of an area is prime for a gambit.

Where’s the Meat?

Ask yourself what the point of an exploratory section is. Is it downtime between scenes of high action? Just another part of the adventure? What do you have in mind? As an aside, if you don’t really have anything in mind, treat it as a transitory scene and skip it.

• Roleplay. The plot arc can occasionally meander and take its time. Stop to smell the flowers, attract a songbird, check to count the number of branches on a tree.
• Gambits. Gambits let the player take exploration into their own hands, by setting the exploration of the region as a goal.
• The Walk and Talk trope. This one combines filling out transitory exposition and giving the player exposition. Alternatively, instead of exposition, it can be a simple conversation to deepen a player’s relationship with another player or an NPC.
  • It helps serve a downtime function while still advancing the plot in some way.
• Random events. There are hundreds of lists of random events out there, on the Internet. Pick the ones that make sense for your session.

Stealth

Cardboard Boxes

Stealth is a fairly easy concept to grasp, from a very young age; don’t get caught. Adding onto that, misdirection, lies, and escaping accountability are parts of the roguish archetype with which the sneaky types are associated.

When running stealthy sections, ask yourself the following.

• Why does the player need to sneak about instead of moving in the open?
  • Does it benefit the player or their goals if they keep their hand hidden?
• What are the consequences of getting caught?
  • And who is doing the catching?
  • Can the player talk, fight, or run out of the consequences?
  • And can they try again if they do?

Characters with high Dexterity will, for obvious reasons, have a much better time sneaking around. However, unlike Exploration, Diplomacy, or Combat, stealth has a bit less room in which degrees of success/failure and improvisation can be done. It’s still certainly possible, but needs a bit more creativity than say, combat.

You may want to check Chapter 4: Skills and Gambits, as a gambit can abstract infiltrating or obfuscating on a large scale, beyond a solitary check to fool a single guard.

Even if Nailed Down…

Stealthy players also have a tendency to be kleptomaniacal, and not without reason; if they’re not going to be caught, or if the opposing side deserves it in some way, why not take as they please? Certainly an inventory load won’t stop them when they can throw everything in their sylladex.

If an item exists and is within reach, the player will probably try to take it. Don’t put anything near them that you don’t want them to have; experience has shown not only will players go to extreme lengths to take something they shouldn’t have, they tend to get disproportionately upset if denied said item.

Diplomacy

Casting Call

Diplomacy needs a fleshed out cast of characters with which the player can conduct conversation. Whether to lie to them, scare them, or sway them, the player needs someone on which their actions can be done. Role-playing and choosing one’s words carefully

In addition to everything asked when the NPC was first created, consider the following when running a diplomatic section.

• What does the player want from it?
• Is there a reason for the other side to be opposed?
• Do their words and actions reveal more about the character?
  • If so, or if not, is it deliberate?

Charisma is the stat of choice for diplomacy, for obvious reasons. Experience shows that this is the one where dice and numbers tend to be waved over the most in favor of satisfying roleplay.

You may want to check Chapter 4: Skills and Gambits, as social encounters were one of the primary drivers behind the formation of the gambit system.

Combat

Resiste et Mords

Combat comes to RPGStuck easily, given its wargaming roots. And as such, it is easily prone to defaulting to combat for everything.

Therefore, consider the following when planning or running combat sections.

• When should you do it?
  • Is it a means to an end or the end itself?
  • Have all other means been exhausted, or is this the option that’s best for the player?
    • A strife can be an alternative to other means. One doesn’t need to be sneaky with no witnesses, if there is no one left to witness. Or perhaps the player wishes to intimidate an opposing party through a duel or some display of strength.
  • Have any other actions taken by the player before this strife coming back to affect it in some way?
• When should you not do it?
  • Filler. Filling in empty space with a fight purely to take up space is unimaginative, and makes it that much easier for the player to be sick of combat.
    • If a strife is fun, then run it by all means. Just keep in mind that consistent fun is one of the hardest things for an SM to do, in any game.
    • As the only consequence for every failed action. Not every failed check should spring a fight. Some, like failed Stealth checks, might not make sense with anything but a fight.
    • In moderation, strifes are fine. If every dungeon and every gauntlet ends with a strife, it gets predictable.
  • As the first response to an obstacle. Strife is a means to an end, in the majority of cases. Consider if there are alternate methods for the player to get what they want.

As for how to go about it, follow the guidelines below.

• Consider what the point of the strife is, then weigh the player’s options to achieving that goal.
  • If the player has an objective to complete, the strife can be secondary to completing said objective.
    • If the player simply needs to go through an area, Dashing through the gauntlet is often a viable option, even on the combat map.
  • Fleeing and being captured are two popular alternatives, though experience shows players rarely flee.
  • Certain types of monsters like Glaciers and Casters buck the trend of normal strifes, the former encouraging the player to circumvent the strife and the latter able to deny the player a strife entirely.
• Figure out encounter ranges. Typically, the strife will start when one side both perceives them and is able to attack them. For players and monsters both, this is when their farthest range action is available to use, or when they can open fire.
• Use the environment. Ranged monsters will want cover, burrowers want solid ground, flyers air, and aquatic water. Monsters with good stealth will hide from the player, those with area of effect abilities will want to use it to full effect.
  • A given object might serve as cover for a monster. Or for the player. Overturned tables, doors, etc.
  • Ledges, spiked walls, and the like are perfect for movement shenanigans.
  • Think vertically. This one becomes incredibly important if/when the player god tiers and has permanent flight.
• Theater of the mind, or describing a strife purely through text and the like, is simple enough to use for small strifes. Anything involving several monsters, or those with complex abilities, or multiple players will want a strife map to track everything.

Murderhoboism

Murderhobos are a type of character with little backstory or personality, that exist mainly to fight and kill to level up to facilitate further fighting and killing without much other purpose or nuance. Understandably, this should be avoided at all costs.

If you end up with such a player, throw them challenges where combat is not an option. Make them think outside the box.

• An exception is if you, the SM, enjoy holding strifes, in which case the player’s constant seeking of strifes probably isn’t a problem to you.

Also, be wary of turning players into murderhobos over time. If they are given no outlets by which progress is made except combat, they will logically turn to it as the best and/or only way to continue.

Challenges

This one is straightforward; if the player has to start a strife, it’s under this. Note that not every strife needs to end in death for one side.

Consider the area in which the strife takes place. The player will almost never be in an isolated, flat vacuum. Consider the following common elements of a map.

• Difficult terrain.
  • Solid impediments. Caltrops, viper pit, snow, ice.
  • Liquid. Water is the obvious one.
  • Gas. Poison gas, obscuring fog, a really bad stench.
• Light levels.
  • Dim light and darkness.
  • Ridiculously bright, blinding light.
• Cover.
  • Half and three-quarters cover for AC and Reflex.
  • Destructible cover to be torn down if needed.
• Interactable objects.
  • Consult the Obstacle/Puzzle Design section further down this document.