Some parents have asked for more ideas on how to come up with good stories for their Dungeon Adventure sessions. It doesn’t need to be a shakespearean tragedy. A simple story works the best and is based on a few common plots. Here are the ones I use over and over.

Rescue someone – Your favorite pet/friend/princess has been captured and you need to save them! There are lots of variations to choose from, but my daughter gets the most motivated whenever we’re saving someone’s baby. Recover something – A crucial artifact has been stolen or needs to be recovered in order to make everything ok. These plots always remind me of the original King’s Quest where Sir Graham had to recover a magic mirror, shield, and treasure chest. Kill the Beast – A dragon/monster has been ravaging the locals and you need to take him down. Whenever I use this plot I let the players join forces with an adventurer they find along the way who’s also heading for the beast. Escape – You start out trapped in a dungeon and have to escape. Two of my favorite RPG’s of all time, Baldur’s Gate II and Planescape: Torment, start out with this plot mechanism and it’s a nice change of pace from the other plots.