Greetings once more. It’s finally Friday, so in celebration, I’ll post an example of Adventure Creation from Light and Honor with the new random tables.

First, I roll 1d6 to determine which Clan the story principally involves. I get a 1, so the story is principally about the Void Clan. I also have to determine a secondary Clan, however, so I roll again and get a 2; Mountain Clan.

Now that I have my clans determined, I roll a d6 for each Clan to determine the major acting NPC’s. A 3 for Void gives me Umeda Tatsokashi, a rich and clever samurai detective who plays the part of a crippled old fool. Another 2 for Mountain gives me Tachibana Morokatsu, an enormous samurai bodyguard who favors philosophy over combat.

Although a plot is already beginning to be shaped in my mind, I finish by rolling to determine a location that is involved in the story. After randomly determining whether the location is “Civilized” or “Wild”, I roll one last d6 to determine the nature of our story’s setting. A 4 throws me a curveball: A Remote Village.

Some of the plot hooks the Remote Village offers include someone hiding in the village, taxes, and whether Clan boundaries have shifted over the village although the villagers don’t realize it.

I immediately rule out the Clan boundary hook, because we’re dealing with Void Clan which is the Imperial Clan. No honorable family would take land from the Emperor, although few would cede him land as well.

Originally, I was keen on the idea of Morokatsu’s bodyguard nature to suggest that the Mountain Clan were sending emissaries to meet with the Void Clan for something, but although the Remote Village doesn’t render that impossible, it presents a more fitting opportunity: we already know that Morokatsu is reluctant to fight, and that Tatsokashi is an investigator. Since the village hints that someone may be hiding there, the first definitive element of the plot flashes to my mind:

Morokatsu has fled from his duty and is hiding in our Remote Village. Tatsokashi has been ordered to track him down.

There are two ways to develop the plot from here:

We could have a political plot focused primarily on negotiating with Morokatsu, in which case we have to come up with a good reason for him to want to stay there. If Tatsokashi can simply track him down and order his arrest, then there is no plot.

Morokatsu is hiding near the remote village, but not in it. In this case, I roll 1d6 on the Wild locations table to determine that he is hiding in (rolls a 3) the Bay of Shimmering Waters! There’s a large lake in the center of the Void Clan’s territory, so this could fit. Additionally, I read about the Bay of Shimmering Waters and realize that the treacherous cliffs and small shrines along its edges could make for an interesting scene.

So at this point, I have to decide whether I want to have the adventure focused on the physical skills of the samurai (tracking Morokatsu and then perhaps fighting him along the cliff’s edge), or whether I want to have it focus on the players’ negotiating skills. Both of these adventures could be incredibly interesting with a little bit of thought.

Because it’s been a long week and I’m tired, I don’t want to come up with a moral dilemma. Fortunately, there’s a list of those for me to choose from as well, and there’s a perfect one although it requires me to change my plot a little bit.

A disease ravages the countryside. It is possible the disease is of Darkness [evil corruption that turns men into monsters], but by no means certain. Is it right to kill the population to ensure that corruption doesn’t spread?

What if Morokatsu has discovered that a disease is spreading among the people of the village, and Tatsokashi has been sent to not only arrest Morokatsu but also to determine the fate of the village? If we give the players a head start of, say, two nights and the intervening day on Tatsokashi, it could be up to them to set the stage for Tatsokashi’s decision regarding the fate of the village and the fate of Morokatsu. Let’s re-tabulate:

Morokatsu has fled his duty and is hiding in a remote village. The people are becoming sick, and word is spreading. Tatsokashi, who appears to be a fool, is ordered to travel to the village and determine whether the disease is Corruptive, as well as to apprehend Morokatsu, who has grown to love the people of the village (and they support him). The players have a head start on Tatsokashi and they arrive at the village first. Morokatsu is stubborn and believes that the people are not corrupted, but that Tatsokashi is not clever enough to realize this. He is willing to fight to defend the village. Tatsokashi will interpret Morokatsu’s willingness to fight him to be a sign that he is Corrupted, and so will order the village purged if Morokatsu decides to fight. If Tatsokashi dies and is unable to make his report, the village will surely be purged. It’s up to the players to decide whether they think the people of the village (and Morokatsu) are corrupted, and convince Morokatsu to stand down [in which case he will likely be executed for failing his duty to his lord] so that Tatsokashi can reach a fair decision. If Morokatsu stands down he will be killed, but Tatsokashi will investigate and decide that the disease is not of Darkness. Morokatsu’s death will spare the innocent town.

A skillful gamemaster can take this and run with it. We have two characters in direct opposition to one another, and the players can choose to take either character’s side. Both characters are stubborn, and it will take skillful negotiating to get either to yield.

I’d love to hear what you can do with the more physically focused plot! Post your reply in the comments below.