Part of the Developing Game Masters Series.

Welcome. This is the first part of what will hopefully be many articles aimed at helping new and developing Game Masters learn their craft. As always, this is not the only way to do things. What works best for you as a GM and your players may differ and that’s cool. If it’s more fun to do things a different way, go for it.

Linear Adventures are most often useful for one-shot adventures. They’re great for trying out a new game or system to see if the group would like it. They can sometimes be created with pregenerated characters (made by the GM specifically for the adventure instead of the players making their own.) Linear adventures are also useful in a variety of situations because they are usually low prep and easiest for players to jump right into the action. We also encourage new writers to use this method when publishing their first adventure because it is the easiest style to follow.

The downsides to linear adventures for new Dungeon/Game Masters is that they can be a bit railroad-y. (In other words the players may feel there is only one correct choice according to the story and their character’s choices do not matter.) There is also the quantum ogre dilemma where the encounter that was planned in the adventure was going to be there no matter what the players choose to do. (There is supposed to be an encounter with an Ogre in Room 2-B but the characters chose Room 2-A and surprise! There’s the Ogre. The characters could have run 10 miles up the road and theoretically that same Ogre would show up.)

Generally speaking a lot of players don’t like getting steamrolled by the plot wagon. Veteran DM/GMs can get around this issue by moving some encounters around, adding some Non Player Characters, or maybe just throwing the written adventure over their shoulder and asking the players, “Okay. What do you want to do?” The adventure is still on the floor over in the corner if the GM needs to steal characters and stuff for later.

Enough of the what. Where’s the How-To?

It’s simple enough story structure to create. If you’ve ever taken a high school level writing class or run a basic dungeon in a fantasy game, you’ve likely already seen this story structure in play. Let’s walk through a quick example of a basic linear fantasy adventure and try to incorporate the three pillars of fantasy RPGs- Combat, Roleplay, and Exploration. (*I’ll go over the three pillars in another article.)

Introduction: The characters are hanging out at the inn or some other place where they congregate. The players take turn introducing their characters if they’re all new to one another. Usually some sort of relationship amongst them is established if there wasn’t already. Pre-written characters often have to be introduced at this point, otherwise it might have been a Session Zero thing. (*More on Session Zero in another article.)  
*Please Note: This is not meant to be a real, serious adventure. It’s just a quick example of what could be done.

Encounter 1: The messenger with arrows in his back.
The characters all meet at the tavern. A messenger suddenly bursts in the door with a scroll case in his hands looking for one of the players. He has three arrows in his back, each covered in thick, black poison. His minutes are numbered, but he had to deliver the map and the message to one of the player characters.

It seems a particularly vicious band of goblins has taken up residence in an old, abandoned fort on the old trail north of town. The best course of action would be for the characters to go root out the goblins and encourage them to go elsewhere.

If additional encouragement is needed, characters in the tavern might stress that there are only a handful of town guard, and the sheriff isn’t capable of taking on a band of goblins. The mayor could even post a reward for driving the goblins off. There are also rumors of treasure buried under the old fort, but no one has ever managed to find it.

The characters might ask around a bit more about the goblins, the fort, and might study the map before leaving town. Try to keep shopping for provisions and long conversations with NPCs to a minimum at this stage. If the PCs are dawdling too much, a trio of goblins might attack one of the farms on the north edge of town to drive the point home that action needs to be taken.

Encounter 2: The road to the fort.

The trail is rarely used any more except by loggers and hunters for the most part. The fort is about a day and a half from town on the old trail. Parts of the trail are barely visible from lack of use. The trail can be heavily overgrown, and it is possible to wander off or get lost if there are no experienced woodsy types in the group. There could also be an encounter with wild animals or weather if time permits. At the end of the day, the group will have to camp or continue in the dark (chances of getting lost are great) as well as exhaustion by the time they reach the fort and a potential battle with the goblins.

Encounter 2.5: Forest Goblin Scouts.

A party of five goblin sneaks has caught wind of the group as they find their way up the trail. (Stat block would go here.) The Sneaks will run if they lose more than half their number or are mostly at half health.
The group could be taken prisoner by the goblins at this juncture, depending.

Encounter 3: The Forgotten Fort.

The goblins have made their nest in the abandoned fort. They have managed to repair the stone walls and guard towers. The only sensible way in or out is the front gate which is flanked on both sides by manned guard towers. There are two dozen goblins total along with the shaman and the chief. (The goblins’ numbers may need to be adjusted depending on the size/strength of the group. Some games have more serious combat rules than others.) Their main focus is on the front side of the fort. None of the goblins go anywhere near the back of the fort.

The PCs may risk persuading their way into an audience with the chief. The goblins’ primary concern is having a fairly stable place in which to live. They aren’t openly hostile to other Kin, but they are poor and will do whatever it takes to survive and protect their small tribe. They have worked as mercenaries in the past, hence their bad reputation. They were recently rousted from their tribal village by gnolls. (Setup for another adventure if needed.)

Obviously, if negotiations fail or if the group chooses stealth or violence (Stat block for the Sneaks, Wall Archers, Shaman, and Chief go here.)

There would be a map included with the adventure for the fort and surrounding area.

Encounter 4: The rest of the fort.

The group can treat this as a 5 room dungeon crawl. Obviously the main hall and two surrounding chambers were taken up by the goblins. The back of the fort is occupied by a huge, big nasty beast that tolerates the goblins because they feed it. The secret stairs behind an old book case in the seneschal’s quarters lead to a room with a lethal booby trap and three chests, one of which is also trapped. The loot can be determined by the GM.

Encounter 5: The Return Home.

The group goes back to town and informs the townspeople of the results of their efforts. Maybe the goblins join the community. If the PCs wiped out the tribe, they can collect the mayor’s reward. Really the end of this adventure depends a great deal on the group’s actions.
Reward experience as per the game system rules if these are recurring characters as part of the campaign.

Not all linear adventures need be this open ended. Some lead to other adventures. Others are just quick one-offs for an evening of fun. I try to keep them within 3-5 encounters.

If you are a new DM/GM and would like some help or know someone who needs a little guidance, please contact me via email or on social media. I try to get back to people within 24 hours whenever possible.

There will be other articles in this series that include Session Zero, how to handle traps, setting up towns, villages, etc and lots of other GM tidbits.

Thank you for being here today with me. I appreciate you. Please embrace the things that bring you the most joy.