Rescue Mission

Adventure Design Guide

Dancing Lights Press

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Copyright 2019 Berin Kinsman. All Rights Reserved. Adventure Design Guide and
respective trade dress are © and ™ 2019 Berin Kinsman. This is a work of fiction. Any
similarity with people or events, past or present, is purely coincidental and unintentional
except for any people and events presented in historical context.
This is version 1.0 of this document.
Contents
Welcome to Adventure Design.......................................................................1
How to Use This Book...................................................................................................... 2
The Three Pillars Approach.......................................................................................... 2
The Three Canons Account............................................................................................ 3
The Three Act Structure................................................................................................. 4
Rescue Mission....................................................................................................5
Story Elements................................................................................................................... 5
Character Elements.......................................................................................................... 7
Worldbuilding Elements.............................................................................................. 10
Act I – The Beginning......................................................................................13
Establish the Status Quo.............................................................................................. 14
Reveal the Inciting Incident........................................................................................ 16
Issue the Call to Adventure......................................................................................... 18
Act I Scenes & Beats....................................................................................................... 18
Act II – The Middle...........................................................................................20
Rising Action..................................................................................................................... 21
Reach a Turning Point................................................................................................... 22
Things Go Downhill....................................................................................................... 22
Create a Moment of Doubt.......................................................................................... 22
Act II Scenes & Beats..................................................................................................... 23
Act III – The End...............................................................................................25
Create a Moment of Atonement................................................................................25
Unleash the Finale.......................................................................................................... 26
Wrap Up Loose Ends..................................................................................................... 27
Act III Scenes & Beats.................................................................................................... 28
Finishing Up.......................................................................................................29
Update the Character Canon......................................................................................29
Update the Worldbuilding Canon.............................................................................29
Update the Story Canon............................................................................................... 29
Rescue Mission Beat Sheet...........................................................................30
Act I – The Beginning.................................................................................................... 30
Act II – The Middle......................................................................................................... 30
Act III – The End.............................................................................................................. 30
 Welcome to Adventure Design

Rescue Mission: Adventure Design Guide will help gamemasters to

create and prepare search and recovery adventures for your favorite role-
playing game. This book acts as a “beat sheet”, a tool used by writers to
outline and plan pivotal elements of a story. It allows them to know where
they’re going, gather the research and information they need, and ensure
that everything ultimately holds together and makes sense.
This series was created specifically with tabletop role-playing games in
mind. It’s designed to work with any setting, genre, or rules system. All you
need to do is apply the context provided by your player characters, the
game world, and your own adventure ideas. Plug in appropriate encounters
and challenges, create the villains, monsters, and non-player characters
you’ll need, and you’re ready to play.

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This book contains the following:
• Rescue Mission: An overview of this type of adventure, what makes it
fun, and ways it can be used again and again to create interesting and
unique experiences for your players. Once you embrace these basic
elements, the rest of the adventure flows from there.
• Act I – The Beginning: The elements needed at the start of your
adventure, how to structure the opening act, and advice on
establishing the adventure goal. It’s where the player characters learn
what’s going on and agree to get involved.
• Act II – The Middle: Elements that define the center of the adventure,
structuring the second act, and advice on pursuing the adventure goal.
It’s where the characters do most of their exploring, investigating, and
other actions necessary to achieving the goal.
• Act III – The End: Creating the elements for the last segment of the
adventure, providing structure for the finale, and advice on completing
the adventure goal. It’s where the player characters will confront the
villain, achieve what they set out to do, and earn their rewards.
• Finishing Up: This section shows how to take what happened during
the adventure-as-played and use it as a source for new plot hooks,
character development, and ongoing worldbuilding. Add to your
campaign’s canon and leverage the momentum you’ve established.

How to Use This Book

Read through Rescue Mission: Adventure Design Guide once
entirely to become familiar with its contents and main concepts. After that
you can go through section-by-section to plan and craft your adventure.
Refer back to any section as needed to be sure you’ve covered everything.

The Three Pillars Approach

The Three Pillars Approach to adventure design places equal weight
on story, character, and worldbuilding. Too much reliance on just one or
two and the whole structure falls down. These three elements feed into one
another to create a context that enriches and enhances the overall
experience of the adventure you create.

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Story Elements
The plot has to be appropriate for the player characters. It should
make use of their backgrounds, interests, and personalities as much as
possible. The challenges you create need to play to their abilities so
everyone has something meaningful to do. There should be story elements
that tie into the worldbuilding details that make this setting unique. The
goal is to craft a story that is uniquely tailored to your campaign.

Character Elements
Player character backgrounds should draw from the lore of the setting,
connecting them to the game world. Each character should be appropriate
to the adventure, either because their abilities make them useful to
achieving the goal, or their back story, personal objectives, and vested
interests mean that the outcome of the story will affect them. They need to
have skin in the game, for one reason or another.

Worldbuilding Elements
While worldbuilding can be a fun activity by itself, every setting
element that you choose to use in an adventure ought to serve a purpose. It
should inform the events of the story, and explain who stands to gain or
lose based on the outcome of events. The worldbuilding should provide
fodder for player character back stories in a way that will make the
information matter in your adventures. The setting should always be there
to provide context for the other elements, and not overpower them.

The Three Canons Account

If you’re not familiar with the term, when something is canon or
canonical it means that it’s recognized as official. The Three Canons
Account doesn’t consider any adventure-as-written to be canon for your
campaign. Only what takes place in the adventure-as-played is official.
There are, as the name implies, three separate types of canonical
information that you will need to take into account when planning
adventures. This will help you to keep track of what happens during play.

Story Canon
These are events-as-played that affect this adventure, and could have
an impact on future adventures. Did the player characters kill that
particular monster, or did it run away? If it fled, could it come back in a

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future adventure? If the character’s didn’t talk to a certain non-player
character, then they don’t know a bit of information that could be useful
later. Whether or not the player characters accomplished the adventure
goal could have consequences that affect future storylines.

Character Canon
Most roleplayers are familiar with this concept. What happened to the
player character during the course of the adventure? Character canon
includes injuries they’ve suffered, the items they’ve acquired, and the
consumable goods they’ve used. It extends to documenting their back
story, charting progress on personal goals, and taking note of personal
preferences discovered over the course of play.

Worldbuilding Canon
Setting elements become canon when they appear or are referred to
during play. This gives you the freedom to change and adapt things as the
campaign unfolds. Track what has been clearly established. Note the things
that have changed as a result of character actions and plot lines. Use the
possibilities of the evolving canon to inform backgrounds for new
characters and to create plot hooks for future adventures.

The Three Act Structure

Every story needs a beginning, a middle, and an end. Understanding
the basic structure of an adventure will help you to develop it. Having
established beats doesn’t force your players into taking specific actions or
rob them of the ability to make their own choices. Nor does it allow the
adventure to become an endless rambling sandbox that requires extensive
preparation on your part. You can focus on developing the elements that
are absolutely essential to crafting a satisfying adventure.
While the three-act structure is a time-honored institution, some
people are understandably suspicious about using it for a role-playing
game. It can seem constraining or feel formulaic. Use it as a baseline and
learn to craft fulfilling and coherent adventures with it. Then you can begin
to play around with your own variations and understand how and when to
break the ancient rules of basic storytelling.

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 Rescue Mission

The player characters have to save an important

non-player character from the clutches of a
dangerous villain.

In a rescue mission adventure, the player characters will be called

upon to locate and save an important non-player character. It might be
someone important to the setting, like a member of a royal family, a
popular celebrity, or a beloved figure in the community. The kidnap victim
could be a close friend or part of the player characters’ family. During the
course of the adventure, they will have to go out into the adversary’s turf
and face the villain on their own terms. By the end, they should be able to
save the victim and bring them back home to safety.

Story Elements
This type of adventure is fun because it allows you to focus on the both
physical challenges and character relationships. There has to be an
emotional connection between the player characters and the kidnap victim.
This makes the stakes feel genuinely important, and creates a sense of
urgency for the players. Every minute that passes increases the possibility
that something bad could happen to the victim.
It opens up possibilities for the player characters to visit new places,
and gain a different perspective on the villain. To pull off the daring rescue
mission, they will need to enter the villain’s world. This means seeing the
places their adversary is familiar with, learning how they live, and facing
their allies, friends, and possibly even their family members. It gives them
context as to why the villain became a villain, which ought to tie into the
plot in terms of explaining why the kidnapped the victim.
There are worldbuilding opportunities centered around designing the
villain’s world, allowing you to develop those elements necessary for this
type of plot. Where the villain is hiding out should contrast with the type of
environment the player characters live in. There are also the places the
characters will need to travel through in order to reach when the victim is

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being held. While some elements should feel familiar and relatable, so the
player characters can at least partially understand the villain and their
motivation, most should be uncomfortable enough to make them feel that
they’re at a disadvantage.
All of the story elements required to make the adventure possible are
automatically part of your story canon. The whole setup wouldn’t work if
these events didn’t happen and the player characters weren’t in a position
to be drawn into them. From this point forward only what happens in the
adventure-as-played will be considered part of your canon.

The Adventure Goal

The adventure goal is what the player characters need to accomplish
in order to successfully complete the adventure. How they do it is up to
them, so the players still have agency. In a rescue mission adventure, the
objective is for them to save a non-player character, or possible a group of
them, from the clutches of a dangerous villain. That might mean stopping
the villain to eliminate any ongoing threat. It might also mean sneaking
them out of the situation and helping them get to a place where they
victims will be safe.

The Stakes
An adventure’s stakes include both the potential rewards and likely
complications that could arise based on how the story plays out. It isn’t
always as simple as the player characters getting something good when
they succeed, or having something bad happen to them if they fail.
Rewards will sometimes come with a cost. Complications can have an
unexpected silver lining.
Rewards
In a rescue mission story, the most common rewards are a sense of
accomplishment and praise from other people. The player characters saved
someone’s life! Your game system of choice will have its own rules for
character advancement, awarded for their efforts during the adventure.
Depending upon the genre and setting, there may be treasure found along
the way, or a reward for bringing the victim home safely as well.
Complications
The types of difficulties that can arise from a rescue adventure include
the social pressure to save someone that is important to either the player

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characters, the community they live in, or both. If they fail, they’ll carry the
guilt and the social stigma of people the people that didn’t bring the victim
home. They will also need to deal with entering strange and hostile
territory, and the awareness that the villain holds almost every advantage.
While these are story-based complications, they should also be used as a
basis for worldbuilding and character development. The impact of the
victim being taken will affect how the world sees the player characters, and
how they see themselves. This in turn lead to new plot hooks, personal
goals for the player characters, and new areas of the setting to be fleshed
out and explored.

Story-Based Challenges
Challenges keep the player characters from achieving the adventure
goal too quickly. For a rescue mission adventure, the obstacles that arise
directly from the plot include the need to do things in ways that won’t
result in the villain hurting the hostage. This means stealth, secrecy, and
possibly doing things to appease the adversary. Keep in mind the inherent
difficulties of the overall campaign, including any open meta-plot issues
and recurring antagonists. Tie individual player character backgrounds and
personal goals in as well, connecting them to both the victim and the
villain, so the adventure feels custom-built for these characters.

Character Elements
A rescue adventure let you focus on the player characters’ ability to
stay calm under pressure, and their emotional needs. The core of this type
of adventure is action, but it’s driven by relationships. It’s about how the
player characters connect to both the victim and the villain. Those
elements can be incorporated into subplots to make it a more personalized
roleplaying experience.
It opens up possibilities for the player characters to use social skills
like diplomacy and persuasion. They will have to negotiate for the safety of
someone they care about, while masking their contempt for an antagonist
that has all of the leverage. If those types of abilities are their strong suit,
they’ll have a chance to shine. As the adventure goes on, of course, the
challenges will increase in difficulty. When a character doesn’t excel at
those things, they will be given other opportunities to contribute. It’s still
an action-oriented adventure.

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 There are worldbuilding opportunities centered around where the
victim comes from and what their background is, allowing you to develop
the setting elements that also factor into the player characters’ back
stories. It establishes why the victim is important, and the reasons why
there are connections between the characters. This sort of worldbuilding
creates opportunities for interesting non-player characters, new
adversaries, and even future player characters.
Elements required to make the adventure possible become part of
their character canon. If they weren’t in this particular place at the right
moment, lacked certain abilities, or didn’t have some background element
the adventure wouldn’t work. From this point forward what happens in the
adventure-as-played will be added to their back story and considered part
of their ongoing canon.

Player Characters
Player Characters are the protagonists of the story. In a rescue
mission adventure, they need to be able to credible locate and extract one
or more victims of kidnapping. This requires a degree of social skill, stealth,
and combat readiness. If they lack those abilities, you can compensate by
having a non-player character fill the roles the player characters aren’t
suited for. Placing responsibility for either the negotiations, the search, or
the fighting into the hands of a non-player character can work, but that
could force the player characters into a supporting role within their own
story. There has to be a reason why they aren’t focused on the mission as a
whole, like having them brought in to be part of a larger, coordinated effort
being staged by an organization.
Combat-centric player characters in a rescue adventure will have to
do battle with guards. This will be in the service of getting into and out of
secure locations, as well as protecting the victim. A player character that is
magic-centric or power-centric will be useful for persuasion,
misdirection, and protection. For skill-centric player characters, they will
need to be able to investigate, track, and break into facilities that
undoubtedly have locks, traps, and other mechanical security measures.

Adversaries
Adversaries are the antagonists in the story, including the monsters,
villains, and other opponents the player characters will face. Their motives

8
and methods for interfering will vary, but their purpose in the adventure is
to prevent the player characters from achieving the adventure goal.
The antagonists in this type of adventure need to be tough as well as
clever. Combat-centric adversaries will need to be a credible threat to the
hostage, as well as any force that makes a rescue attempt. Their entire plan,
after all, is predicated on threats of violence. An adversary that is magic-
centric or power-centric will have abilities that center on imprisonment
and self-defense. They might have some spell that threatens to deliver a
particularly gruesome death to the hostage. For skill-centric adversaries,
they will need to be intimidating, making their threats credible. They also
need to have a hideout that’s been well thought out, so that it offers
adequate security to keep people from getting in or out.

Non-Player Characters
Non-Player Characters includes everyone else in the story. This
covers important resource characters, friends and allies, and nameless
extras. Knowing the roles you’ll need to fill can help you to target your
preparation for the adventure.
Within a rescue adventure you will find non-player characters are the
victims, and the people who care about the victims. They’re the ones who
will ask the player character for help, but will also hold them accountable if
things go wrong. Combat-centric non-player characters in a hostage-
based adventure will be available for support in large fights or set pieces.
They could also supply weapons and armor, or provide distractions to draw
the villain’s attention away from the PCs. A non-player character that is
magic-centric or power-centric will be able to give the player characters
some temporary protection, either via magical armor, disguises, or
invisibility. They should be able to cast spells that the PC’s can’t, as needed
to complete the plan. For skill-centric non-player characters, they will
need to fill the gaps in the PC’s abilities, offering information, negotiation,
and security-breaching talents. It’s best when they can advise, rather than
participate, so the player characters retain the spotlight.

Character-Based Challenges
These challenges center on the player character’s needs, desires, and
personal goals. They distract them from the adventure goal by dividing
their priorities. For a rescue mission adventure, the obstacles that arise
directly from the character elements can include dealing with upset non-

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player characters. They want their loved ones back, and want to know why
the player characters aren’t moving more quickly. They’’ll blame the player
characters if things go wrong. All of which adds layers of stress to an
already difficult situation. When you tailor these sorts of challenges to the
player characters’ existing relationships, the adventure will feel as if it was
designed just for them.

Worldbuilding Elements
A rescue mission adventure requires the setting to have places where
the villain will be safe and secure, and areas where the victim isn’t. It’s
difficult to kidnap someone without vulnerability and opportunity on one
side, and a defensible place to keep the hostages on the other.. If your game
world already has those features, use them, and take this chance to flesh
them out a bit more. When there is no ready-made solution, your
worldbuilding efforts will need to be focused on these contrasting types of
locations and cultural or political situations as part of your preparation.
If a player character’s background suggests a suitable location, use it.
This can be something from a previous adventure, or an unseen part of the
setting mentioned in their back story. This not only helps to develop the
game world, but connects the character directly to the story. Have the
villain holed up in some past adversary’s lair, or inside of a community or
country that’s for some reason hostile toward the player characters.
Tie existing worldbuilding into the rescue adventure as well. Use the
terrain, the cultures that live there, and monsters known to be in the area.
Build the reasons the victim or victims were chosen around past events,
based on revenge or perceived offenses against the villain’s cultural,
political, or religious beliefs. Connect the story to the setting in meaningful
ways, so it doesn’t feel as if you’ve just dropped events into a random spot
on the map.
Every setting element required to make the adventure possible is
automatically part of your worldbuilding canon. The premise wouldn’t
work if the location, the history, and the broad possibilities inherent in
your worldbuilding didn’t support them. From this point forward what
happens in the adventure-as-played will be added to your growing canon.

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Preceding Events
An important part of worldbuilding is creating the history of the
setting. For a rescue mission adventure, it needs to be established why the
villain takes a hostage. It’s always a reaction to something that’s already
happened. This could be personal, cultural, political, or religious. They are
lashing out, striking back, or demonstrating that they have power. This can
build upon the existing lore of the region, or add new information. How the
local population feels about it, and what sorts of potential obstacles will
already exist, can stem from events that have happened in the world’s past.

Essential Locations
The types of locations that are required for a rescue adventure include
a place for the kidnapping to happen, somewhere for the villain to stash the
victim, and any interesting or difficult terrain between the two. If those
already exist within your setting, you simply need to adapt them or expand
upon them to make them fit with the needs of the story. Places that are
implied by the needs of a rescue adventure may extend to a victim’s home,
the headquarters of an institution supporting either the victim, the villain,
or both, and facilities used by what passes for law enforcement. Should you
need to develop those locations, you know where your worldbuilding
efforts will need to be focused.

Overall Tone
While this is an element that can be reflected in the way the story and
characters are presented, it’s the worldbuilding that supports and
reinforces it. A rescue mission adventure with a dramatic tone will have
more serious emotional beats. It’s not necessarily tragic or grim, but the
characters and situations can carry notes of sadness, suffering, or fear. By
contrast, a comedic tone in a hostage will focus on humor, with situations
set up to provoke laughter.
You can have both dramatic and comedic moments within one
adventure. Overall, though, it will favor one over the other. For example,
the dramatic rescue adventure might be mostly intense due to the credible
threats to the victim’s safety, but have some scenes or encounters where
the villain made a foolish mistake that provides the player characters with
an opening, resulting in a good laugh. If it is mostly comedic, it can still
contain elements of serious drama when the player characters run the risk
of injury or death.

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 When a rescue mission adventure has a light tone it isn’t necessarily
comedic, but the rewards will tend to be higher than the potential
complications. The stakes overall won’t be as high. Things will tend to skew
toward the success of the player characters, allowing them to play to their
strengths. These types of adventures carrying a dark tone have higher
stakes, with complications far outweighing any potential rewards.
Challenges won’t always play to the characters’ strengths, making failure a
constant possibility. That doesn’t mean that it can’t be comedic, but it will
be black comedy.
Within the same adventure you can have light and dark moments. It
will tend to lean more toward one of the other overall, though. For instance,
a light rescue adventure might put the emphasis on the player characters
nailing the action sequences, but still have darker scenes or encounters
where they’re reminded that the victim is still in danger. A rescue
adventure that centers on a darker tone can stick mainly to hitting the
player characters over the head with the stakes, but offer lighter moments
where they are shown hope for success in their mission.
You can pair elements of drama/comedy and light/dark, of course. In a
rescue mission adventure, a light drama would have action sequences with
lower difficulty and less permanent stakes, which a dark drama could
crank up the challenges and make other elements of the setting hinge on
how things turn out; fail and nations go to war, for example.
A light comedy would mean that there’s a slim chance the villain will
actually harm the victim. The antagonist might not be particularly
competent, or the cause they’re fighting for is patently ridiculous. A dark
comedy may still lean into the absurd, but the violence and potential for all
manner of harm is very real. When combined with the tone established by
the events of the story and the personalities of the player characters, this
becomes another opportunity to make your adventure unique.

Setting-Based Challenges
Think about the worldbuilding elements in your setting that could
both support and hinder a rescue mission adventure. You already have an
idea of the elements required to make the story work. What if those
elements were removed? Are there things within the canonical setting that
conflict with what’s necessary for a hostage-centric adventure to play out?
Those are potential challenges for the player characters to overcome.

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 Act I – The Beginning

There are certain this that need to happen at the start of a rescue
mission adventure. The status quo is established, showing the current
state of the characters and what relevant events are taking place within the
setting. An inciting incident takes place, creating the adventure goal.
Finally, the call to adventure is issued, where the player characters choose
to pursue that goal.

Story Canon
This is where you begin to introduce the foundational elements of your
story canon. The adventure goal of saving the hostage is presented, the
stakes are established, and what the story-based obstacles will be should at
least be hinted at. The information necessary to begin the adventure is
officially part of your campaign history.

Character Canon
The player characters who will take part in this rescue mission are
introduced. If the antagonists don’t appear yet, the inciting incident will at
least hint at their existence. Non-player characters will be there to help the
player characters find their way. Character-based challenges like
negotiation, stealth, and combat prowess can be used to demonstrate what
the player characters can do. This allows them to build up their confidence
before facing more difficult obstacles in the second act..

Worldbuilding Canon
Any events leading up to the inciting incident have to be introduced,
either through in-play action or exposition. Locations that will be
important to the rescue will appear, be named as destinations for the
second act, or at least have their existence hinted at. The tone of the setting
will be established, or reinforced if this isn’t the first adventure of the
campaign. Some setting-based challenges can be used to allow the player
characters to become familiar with worldbuilding elements that will
become important to the story later, like the cultural, political, or religious
situation that motivates the villain, or the reasons why that particular

13
person was abducted. There ought to be ramifications to the crime that
cause ripples throughout the setting.

Establish the Status Quo

The adventure begins by showing what “normal” looks like. It will
introduce the characters, introduce the setting, and introduce the
theme. The player characters are doing whatever it is they do. If they have
professions, hobbies, or other interests, they could be doing those things.
When they’re full-time adventurers, you might start them off having an
easy encounter to show that this is what their life is like.
Establishing the status quo also means demonstrating what goes on in
the setting on an ordinary day. This can help to establish the stakes later
on. For a rescue mission adventure, it might mean presenting how the
victim lives, and why they’re an important supporting character to both the
setting and the player characters. It could set up the events that drive the
villain to take a hostage, and provide context for what they expect to get
out of doing it.

Introduce the Characters

Provide each player character with a “spotlight moment” to establish
who they are and what their role in the campaign is. Give them a task that
shows off their most prominent abilities. Consider a challenge that
foreshadows something they’ll need to do later in the adventure. For
example, in a rescue adventure you may have them tracking something or
someone, picking lock and overcoming traps, or bargaining with a non-
player character to gain something they want.
Adversaries may not appear in the first act, but their presence should
at least be hinted at. For a rescue mission adventure you might have news
or rumors about the event that triggers the kidnapping. It could be a failed
crime on their part, a political coup, or a schism within a religious group.
There might be problems around a culture, or a clash between any sort of
incompatible ideologies, one of which the villain is an adherent of. The
player characters might not know who is responsible for what’s going on,
or what they will need to face, but the existence of some antagonist should
be clear early on.
Well-known non-player characters might appear early in the story to
offer advice, help with equipment, and generally help to get the player

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characters pointed in the right direction. One of these might be the victim.
Having the player characters interact with the victim not long before the e
kidnapping is a way of establishing connection and yes, laying on a bit of
guilt. Some NPCs that will appear later might be mentioned, or their
existence established indirectly. If the PCs know that they have to visit a jail
where one of the villain’s henchmen is locked up, for example, it implies the
existence of a jailer and some type of law enforcement agents.

Introduce the Setting

There are a few reasons to establish what “normal” looks like in the
setting. The first is to show what is possible, so that the exploits of the
player characters and their adversaries seem credible. Anything that will
happen on a large scale in the second and third acts should be
demonstrated on a smaller scale here.
The second is to help establish the stakes. By showing something of the
setting prior to the inciting incident, you can more effectively show what
has changed. The player characters will better understand what is to be
gained or lost during the adventure, and why the adventure goal of saving
the victim from the villain’s clutches is so important not just to them but to
the world they live in.
Finally, establishing things that are going to be relevant to the
adventure later is targeted worldbuilding. You can focus on creating the
elements that will allow the player characters to conduct the rescue
mission, their adversaries to kidnap and detain the victim, and to support
the entire concept of the villain’s motivations. This will include not only
locations, but types of characters and historical situations that flow into
the existence of this adventure’s inciting incident.

Introduce the Theme

The adventure’s theme is what it’s actually about. It can be a single
idea, like “friendship”, or a conflict between two ideas like “good versus
evil”. When you have a theme, you can create encounters and plot points
that reinforce the idea.
A common theme is rescue mission adventures is a clash between two
different ideologies. You can demonstrate that by establishing what the
player characters value and believe, and creating the villain to hold the
exact opposite views. It becomes good versus evil, law versus chaos, clan
versus clan, one religious sect versus another, a political party versus their

15
chief rival. This type of adventure tends to keep things simple, so the player
characters are clearly right, and the villain is most obviously wrong.
This is just an example, of course. Using a different theme can
drastically alter an adventure, and is one way to gave the basic structure of
a rescue mission story replayability by changing the meaning and types of
elements that you want to emphasize.
The thematic statement is what you, as the gamemaster, are trying to
say through the work. In the theme of directly opposed ideologies, you
might want to express why the villain’s world view and the actions that
spring from it are specifically bad, and why the player characters’ outlook
is inherently superior if not clearly the best. Again, it’s simple so you can
focus on the action, but it’s effective because it creates opportunities for
character development and worldbuilding.
Every character, both player characters and supporting characters,
could have their own thematic concept. They have their own point of view
about the theme, that can be expressed through their personalities and
actions. One character might be good because it results in greater personal
happiness and world peace, for example. Another could be good because
they fear divine or even social punishment for non-compliance.
Having a theme can help you to design interesting encounters. It can
help you to give non-player characters some depth by having them
represent a point of view. The theme can also allow players to round out
their characters by providing them with a specific idea or concept to focus
on, and letting them work out what the character’s thoughts would be
based on their background and adventuring experiences.

Reveal the Inciting Incident

This is the moment when things go wrong. The inciting incident is the
event that sets off the adventure and draws the players characters into it.
Something that no one expected or planned for goes down. This is where
you need to establish the adventure goal and present the stakes. For a
rescue mission adventure, this is when the player characters learn that the
victim has been kidnapped.

Establish the Adventure Goal

To put it simply, how do you know when the adventure is over? What is
the one clear objective that the player characters have to accomplish? In a

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rescue mission adventure, this is when the victim is clearly out of danger.
Either the villain is no longer a threat, or the hostage has been removed
from the situation and taken to a place of safety.
This means that the goal has to align with the promise of the game.
What are the players expecting? If it’s action and combat, then the
adventure goal has to reflect a situation that’s going to require a lot of
fighting. If it’s mystery, or intrigue, or a lot of roleplaying and character
development, then the goal should make it clear that there will be ample
opportunities for those things.
Having a goal isn’t railroading the player characters. There’s a
difference between understanding what they need to accomplish and
forcing them into one specific course of action to accomplish it. They
should be free to make their own plans and solve the problems inherent in
the adventure goal using their own ideas.

Present the Stakes

The player characters need to be presented with what’s at stake. There
are two parts to this. The first are the consequences: what will happen if
the victim isn’t rescued and adventure goal has not been fulfilled? How will
it affect the player characters, the non-player characters they care about,
and their personal goals if the villain wins? What will become of the
hostage if no one steps up to save them?
That’s the stick. The second part, the rewards, is the carrot. What will
the player characters gain if they accept the rescue mission? How will they
personally benefit from accomplishing the adventure goal and saving the
life of a non-player character? When they know what’s in it for them,
they’re more likely to answer the call to adventure.
The stakes of your rescue mission have to connect to the wants and
needs of the player characters. If they’re not feeling any sort of potential
loss, they’re not going to care. The same if the rewards dangled in front of
them aren’t useful or appealing. This is where you can make this type of
adventure feel like it was designed just for them, and not a set of generic
encounters that anyone could play through.
For a rescue adventure, the stakes are often nothing more than saving
a life, or through inaction being responsible for a death. The complications
that arise from not saving a hostage could have cultural, political, or
religious consequences that impact the setting, which in turn will directly

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and indirectly have an effect on the player characters. What they stand to
get from successfully implementing a rescue are good will, the trust of the
community, and freedom to continue adventuring without an excess of
unwanted scrutiny and criticism.

Issue the Call to Adventure

At the end of the first act the player characters should accept the call
to adventure. This means they understand the stakes and are willing to
pursue the goal. If you have established all of the points clearly, this should
be a given. The reason this is important is that while most players will go
along with things because they just want to play, others will insist on things
making sense. It has to be “in character” for their character, the risks
involved need to seem worthwhile, and it all has to hold together in the
context of the genre and the setting.

Accepting the Call

It’s assumed that the stakes will be enough to get the player characters
to answer the call. The adventure is in line with the promise of the setting
and genre, and therefore meets the players’ expectations. It’s relevant to
the individual player characters somehow, either due to their connection to
the villain or the victim. The adventure feels like it’s part of their story, not
a generic series of encounters that they’ve been dropped into.

Rejecting the Call

This is where we always pause and take a moment to acknowledge that
it could happen. Someone will say something about not understanding why
their character would do this. If you’ve set things up properly, and done
your best to connect each character to the adventure, it shouldn’t happen.
Hopefully the other players will help to talk them into it. Through a non-
player character you can remind them of the stakes, and what they
personally stand to gain and lose. Mention their morals and ethics, their
standing and reputation within the setting, whatever is on the line.

Act I Scenes & Beats

In a novel or screenplay, this setup could take up one-quarter to one-
third of the whole story. For an adventure, you’re looking at 1 to 3 scenes
minimum. You can establish all of the important points at once, or spread
things out to give them more detail and attention.

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 Establish the Status Quo – Show what the world look like before the
inciting incident of the kidnapping. Introduce the characters, the setting,
and the theme of the adventures. This can be one scene for each character,
a single scene with the player characters together, or part of one big
introduction scene.
Reveal the Inciting Incident – A non-player character is taken
hostage and that forces the player characters to respond. Introduce the
adventure goal and the stakes. This can be separate scenes for each player
character, giving them a reason to come together. It can be an interruption
of the “status quo” scene.
Issue the Call to Adventure – The player characters will hopefully
accept the rescue mission, based on the established stakes. This can be a
separate scene, after the characters have had a chance to regroup, talk
things over, and make some decisions. It might be a continuation of the
inciting incident scene, when there’s no doubt as to their involvement.

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 Act II – The Middle

Most of the action occurs in the middle of the adventure. Challenges

will become increasingly more difficult until the midpoint as a result of
rising action. The player characters will reach a turning point where
something changes, and things no longer happen predictably. From there
things go downhill as the adversary gains the upper hand and the
challenges no longer play to the player characters’ strengths. All of this
leads to a moment of doubt as to whether the adventure goal can be
achieved as the second act comes to a close.

Story Canon
The second act in your rescue mission adventure is where the
elements of your story canon introduced in the first act will get used. The
player characters will be reminded of what’s at stake. If the adventure goal
wasn’t entirely clear somehow, or parts of it didn’t make complete sense,
all will be revealed here. Story-based obstacles will present themselves
regularly to slow down the characters’ progress. The campaign history
established in the first act can be built upon and be used as the player
characters to help them get to where they’re going, and better grasp the
villain’s motivations for taking a hostage.

Character Canon
The player characters will all get to use their signature abilities and
show off the things they’re good at. If the main adversary hasn’t appeared
yet, they’ll show up by the midpoint of this act. Non-player characters will
have various parts to play, but as the act goes on those they will appear less
frequently. Toward the end of the act the player characters will be called
upon to do things they aren’t as good at, providing a difference sort of
challenge. This allows them to build up their confidence before facing the
main adversary in the third act.

Worldbuilding Canon
The player characters will get the opportunity to explore locations
important to the rescue adventure. Places named or hinted at in the first

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act will appear and be fleshed out a bit more. The tone of the setting
established earlier will be reinforced and expanded upon. Setting-based
challenges can be used so player characters can increase their familiarity
with worldbuilding elements important to the story, like the villain’s
ideology and why the victim is important to the future of the setting.

Rising Action
This section of the adventure is where roughly half of the encounters
will be. These are the fun bits where the player characters get to run wild.
It will contain several scenes, as many as you feel are necessary to
challenge the characters, establish essential plot points, and introduce
major non-player characters. Here is where the tracking, traveling, and
planning will happen in a rescue mission adventure, with plenty of
opportunity for fight scenes against the villains henchmen as well.

The Fun Bits

Things will be relatively easy for the player characters throughout the
early part of Act II. They’ll face exactly what they expect to find on a rescue
mission and will be prepared. The obstacles they encounter will play to
their strengths, meaning that every player character will have an
opportunity to show off. You can combine player character challenges into
scenes, or provide each character with at least one scene that showcases
their signature abilities.
For rescue mission adventure, that means they will start off in familiar
territory. This section will include some relatively easy investigation to
determine where the victim has been taken, so the player characters can
begin their journey there. Gathering resources won’t be a problem,
because they’ll be around people who support the rescue mission. Anyone
they need to fight will be low-level lackey intended to slow the player
characters down so the true villain can make a clean getaway.
Whatever the player characters have to face, they’re likely to succeed.
The difficulty will start off a bit below their ability level, and increase
slightly with every subsequent encounter. This makes the adventure
exciting, action-packed, and put an emphasis on just having fun. By the end
of this section they should be facing challenges that are fully worthy of
their abilities.

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Reach a Turning Point
About midway through the second act, something happens that makes
the adventure more difficult. This is one pivotal scene. This is an
unexpected twist that the player characters could not have reasonably
planner for. In a rescue mission adventure this often means that the player
characters have moved into territory controlled by the antagonist. He
villain has the home field advantage. It also means that the villain has
stepped up their plans to repel the player characters, and is now sending
their forces directly at them in an effort to end to their rescue attempt.

Things Go Downhill
From this point though the end of the second act, the obstacles that the
player characters face will be more difficult. They’ve reach the hard part.
This section comprises a little less than half of the scenes and encounters
in the adventure. They will begin to run out of resources. The challenges
that arise don’t require their best abilities, but skills and talents that
they’re not necessarily as good at. These encounters should be tailored to
the player characters based on their opportunities for development. Things
won’t be harder than they can handle, but it will seem far more challenging
than it is because they can’t fall back on the abilities they’re most
comfortable with.

The Hard Part

For a rescue mission this means a number of things. The easy-to-locate
information has already been acquired, so the player characters will need
to dig a bit further to find the exact location of the hostage. Familiar
territory has been crossed, and now things get complicated because their
adversary controls, or at least has knowledge of, the locations they need to
move through. The resources that were readily available are harder to
come by, if not impossible to get. There’s also the looming threat that the
villain could hurt the hostage if they player characters aren’t careful.

Create a Moment of Doubt

At this point in the adventure, the worst case scenario happens.
Whatever could bring the whole rescue to a grinding halt takes place here
in one brutal scene. The player characters get captures, or the villain takes
the victim and moves them to a new, unknown location. In rescue mission
adventure, this typically means that the player characters are in a hostile

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place, low on resources, and essentially have to start over from scratch.
This should lead to a transformation in both the tone of the adventure and
the attitudes of the player characters.
This will be the hardest encounter in the entire adventure. It has to be
even more difficult than the finale, because in the end the player characters
need to be able to win. There will be a way to get out of danger, in the event
that they’re unable to rescue the victim or defeat the villain. If the player
characters do win, it should be a close call, or possibly a matter of luck.
They will need to pull out any resources they’ve been holding in reserve for
the finale, and use them earlier than they anticipated.

Transformation
The net effect of the moment of doubt should be that the player
characters feel uncertain about whether or not they can achieve the
adventure goal. The reason to do this is to make their eventual victory feel
even more special. By the end of the adventure they should feel that they
overcame all of the challenges thrown at them, and be proud of what they
accomplished. That emotional surge starts right here.
Clearly the player characters’ original plan is no longer going to work.
For a rescue mission adventure, this means that they don’t know where the
victim currently is, or how they’re going to be able to defeat the villain. It
might be that they have to focus on their own survival, because the
antagonist’s forces are coming after them with everything they’ve got. The
player characters will need to regroup, come up with a new plan, or simply
face the fact that they’re going to have to wing it. Once they’ve accept this
shift in the status quo of the adventure and are ready to press on, this
middle section of the adventure is over and it’s time for Act III.

Act II Scenes & Beats

Rising Action – The encounters start off easy but become increasingly
more difficult. They cater to the player characters’ best abilities and ease of
access to resources. There are several scenes, and this is the largest section
of the rescue mission.
Reach a Turning Point – Something changes that makes achieving the
adventure goal more difficult. The territory is now controlled by the
antagonists. The main villain is aware of the player characters and is

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actively working against them. This is one scene that shifts the tone of the
entire rescue mission.
Things Go Downhill – The encounters are no longer based on the
player characters’ best abilities. Resources are in short supply and there’s
no one around to help the player characters. The villain is winning. At
several scenes this is the second-largest section of the adventure.
Create a Moment of Doubt – The player characters should begin to
wonder whether they will be able to complete the story goal. The villain
takes the victim and moves to an unknown location, negating any progress
the player characters have made so far. They realize that their initial plan is
not working and need to regroup. This is one scene.

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 Act III – The End

At the end of the rescue mission the promise of everything that has
happened so far will be fulfilled. There will be a moment of atonement to
balance out the moment of doubt at the end of the second act. From there
the gamemaster can unleash the finale, allowing the player characters to
deal with the main adversary and achieve the story goal. All that’s left then
is to wrap up loose ends and the adventure is over.

Story Canon
The final act has to tie up all of the events from the first two, clearly.
Nothing new should be introduced. It’s where the player characters at last
have the opportunity to achieve the story goal and defeat the main
antagonist. The end of the rescue mission has to be about closure, so that
the story feels complete in a way that’s satisfying to the players.

Character Canon
This is also where the player characters get to apply everything they’ve
learned over the course of the adventure. Information, allies, and resources
that have been gathered need to be useful to them. If they’ve stumbled in
any way, this is where they can prove themselves and get a bit of
redemption. The way events wrap up here needs to be consistent with the
way each character has been played in the first two acts.

Worldbuilding Canon
Nothing new about the setting should be introduced in the final act.
What happens should relate to important things about the world that the
player characters have learned over the course of the rescue mission. If
elements of the setting are important to the finale, these should be
highlighted so that your worldbuilding efforts pay off in a meaningful way.

Create a Moment of Atonement

As a mirror to the moment of doubt at the end of the second act, this
should begin with the player characters pulling themselves together.
Provide them with a chance to regroup. If the rescue mission were a film,

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this is where the montage would go. They gather whatever allies they may
have, revise their plans, collect all available resources, and get ready to
make their final pushed to save the victim and defeat the villain. All told, it
shouldn’t take more than one to three short scenes.

A Chance to Regroup
Another purpose for the moment of atonement is to give the players a
chance to breathe. The moment of doubt was no doubt intense. This is
where non-player characters give them pep talks and remind them of
what’s at stake. It’s a chance to look back and remember why these player
characters are the stars of the adventure. It’s the quiet before the storm,
where everyone can rest, recover a bit, and think about what they’re going
to do next.
For a rescue mission adventure this could mean that the player
characters stop and assess the resources and capabilities they still have. It
might mean reviewing the information for clues as to where the villain has
gone. Everything ought to be there, they just need to think out it and put it
all together. They can salvage the operation.

Unleash the Finale

This can be one giant scene, or broken up into two or three smaller,
more manageable encounters. Either way, it’s the beginning of the end.
There are two parts to the finale proper. The player characters will need to
confront the villain, their main adversary in the adventure, to hold them
accountable for what they’ve done. In a rescue mission adventure that
usually means stopping them before they can kill the victim. They will also
complete the adventure goal, freeing the victim. They can do these things
together, or in separate scenes.

Confront the Antagonist

For a rescue mission adventure, the main adversary could either be
with the victim in the same room, where they can use them as a human
shield or bargaining chip, or very close by. The player characters may need
to go through the antagonist first in order to to get to save the victim.
If the victim is in location separate from the villain, the player
characters may be able to sneak in, overpower some guards, and get the
hostage to safety. After that’s been done they have the choice to go after the
villain, or be satisfied that the plot has been foiled. A lot of this depends on

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how powerful they perceive the villain to be, and what sort of condition
the player characters are in as far as injuries and resources are concerned.
It should also align with what their best abilities are. If they’re combat-
centric characters, then by all means you need a big fight scene with the
villain to wrap things up. If the player characters are inclined toward
stealth and subterfuge, sneaking in and out undetected right under the
villain’s nose will be the most satisfying conclusion.

Complete the Adventure Goal

This is where the story is more or less complete. In the first act the
player characters answered the call to save the victim. In the second act,
they pursued the villain and did what they had to in order to locate where
the victim was being held. This is it. One important scene. Even if the
antagonist gets away, the player characters have rescued the important
non-player characters and foiled the villain’s scheme.

Wrap Up Loose Ends

After the adventure goal has been completed, you can take a few
scenes to handle any unresolved issues. Most of the loose ends from the
first two acts should be tied up, although you can leave a few things open
for sequels and spin-off adventures. The player characters will have a
chance to return home and deliver the victim to safety, collect their
rewards and complications, and reset things back to the established
baseline normal.

Return
In a rescue mission adventure, the player characters will go back to
their normal lives after the adventure goal has been completed. Their life
may have changed as the result of the preceding events, and now they will
have to readjust. This could mean that people trust them, laud them as
heroes, and shower them with praise and gifts for saving a beloved non-
player character from the hands of a despicable villain. It could also mean
they’re held responsible for anything that went wrong, especially if the
victim was injured in the rescue attempt, or the player characters failed to
save them.

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Rewards and Complications
Every game system has its own method of character advancement, so
we won’t address that here. Each player should review their character’s
personal goals, to see if the adventure has put them closer to achieving
them, or further away. Relationships with non-player characters could be
affected by the things they’ve done. There could also be financial and legal
complications, if the victim had connections to some cultural, political, or
religious organization heavily invested in their well-being.

Reset
Based on what has happened during the adventure, you will need to
reset the status quo. Things could go back to normal, as if nothing ever
happened. There might be changes, based on how events changed public
perception of the thematic ideologies of the victim and the villain. In a
rescue mission adventure, you will need to account for the health of the
victim after they’ve been rescued, and the whereabouts of the villain (if
they’re still alive). The impact the events of the mission may have had on
the characters and the setting can be minimal, or create lasting changes
that can serve as plot hooks for future adventures.

Act III Scenes & Beats

Create a Moment of Atonement – The player characters are given
some breathing room to regroup and renew their commitment to achieving
the adventure goal, rescuing the victim, and defeating the villain. This is
one to three short scenes.
Unleash the Finale – The main antagonist will be defeated, and the
adventure goal will finally be achieved. The player characters return the
victim to a place of safety. The main plot is resolved. This can be one big
scene, or a series of one to three smaller scenes.
Wrap Up Loose Ends – Outstanding plot threads are tied up. The
villain’s plot is shown to be conclusively foiled. The player characters
return home, they get their rewards and deal with any lingering
complications, and the status quo of the world is reset.

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 Finishing Up

After the adventure is over you will have to perform a bit of campaign
maintenance. Players will update the character canon to reflect changes
and advances. The gamemaster will update the worldbuilding canon to
add new elements to the setting that have been created or altered during
play. Everyone will need to update the story canon, as the events of the
adventures have officially happened and are now part of the campaign lore.

Update the Character Canon

Everything that happened is now part of each player character’s back
story. They performed those deeds, met and formed relationships with the
non-player characters, and honed their abilities. In addition to any
character advancement in terms of abilities, they will need to update
information on their personal goals, their relationships, and possibly even
their outlook on life. Adventures can change the way characters are played.

Update the Worldbuilding Canon

During the course of the adventure you may have added new details to
the setting that didn’t exist before. Some elements that hadn’t yet been
seen in the game may have been altered from what you have in your notes.
Events may have altered parts of the setting. All of that needs to be updated
because it’s not part of your campaign’s worldbuilding canon.

Update the Story Canon

This story is now officially part of your campaign history. Whether the
characters achieve the adventure goal or fail spectacularly, these events
have happened. The ramifications will resonate, creating plot hooks and
possibilities for spin-offs and sequels to deal with loose ends and explain
new elements that popped upon along the way. For rescue adventure, this
could mean a change in peoples’ attitude toward the player characters. The
adherents to the villain’s ideology might be demoralized or emboldened,
depending on how things turned out.

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 Rescue Mission Beat Sheet

Act I – The Beginning

The PCs learn that a non-player character has been kidnapped.
Establish the Status Quo – Show what the world look like before the
inciting incident. Introduce the characters, the setting, and the theme.
Reveal the Inciting Incident – Something changes that forces the
player characters to respond. Introduce the adventure goal and the stakes.
Issue the Call to Adventure – The player characters will hopefully
accept the adventure, based on the established stakes.

Act II – The Middle

The player characters mount a rescue mission to save the NPC.
Rising Action – The encounters start off easy but become increasingly
more difficult. They cater to the player characters’ abilities and resources.
Reach a Turning Point – Something makes achieving the adventure
goal more difficult. The main villain is aware of the player characters.
Things Go Downhill – Encounters get easier, but they are no longer
based on the player characters’ best abilities. Resources are in short supply.
Create a Moment of Doubt – The player characters should begin to
wonder whether they will be able to complete the story goal.

Act III – The End

The victim is rescued and the villain is defeated.
Create a Moment of Atonement – The player characters regroup and
renew their commitment to achieving the story goal.
Unleash the Finale – The main antagonist will be defeated, and the
adventure goal will finally be achieved. The main plot is resolved.
Wrap Up Loose Ends – The player characters return home, get their
rewards, deal with any lingering complications, and the status quo is reset.

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