Involving the Characters
Once you've chosen an adventure seed-a villain, a
m ission, or a general hook- you need to figure out what
gets the player characters involved in the adventure. T he
a ns wer could be as s imple as a guildmaster or othe r
authority sending them on a mission, but it's generally
good to hook t he c haracters in personally. What motiva-
tion do they have to thwart the villain?
T he best answers to this question stem either from
the adventurers' personalities, ideals, a nd histories, or
from their guild affiliations. The characters might have
a common reason to fight the villain (especially if they
all belong to the same guild or have been adventuring
together for a while), or they might all oppose the villain
for different reasons.
For example, say your villain is a group of Gruul an-
archs raiding in a densely populated area. A Boros char-
acter might be assigned to protect innocent bystanders,
or might just happen to be in the area and leap to the
defense of the innocents. An lzzet character might be
trying to make sure that an Iziet laboratory in the area
isn't damaged or its secrets looted. A Dimir spy might
leap at t he opportunity to steal some lzzet secrets when
the laboratory comes under attack.126 CllAP11R 1 ICRI !IN<. '[>Vl~TUJH<\
The Cross Purposes table can help you involve the
characters in an adventure by suggesting ways that a
villain's activities might directly conflict with the player
characters' goals or interests.CROSS PURPOSES
dlO The Villain's Activities ...
... directly t arget one or more characters. The ad-
vent ure begins when characters are attacked by the
villain's agents.
2 ... threaten a character's contact or bond.
3 ... challenge a character's ideal or exploit a flaw.
The character might hear rumors of this activity,
spurring them into action.
4 ... open an opportunity for a character to pursue a
personal goal.s
6
7
89
10... compete with a character's guild. A guild
authority might order the character to rectify th e
situation.
... threaten guild members or property.
... conflict with guild goals.
... open an opportunity for a guild to pursue its
own agenda.
... catch the characters between fighting forces.. .. cause an accident or catastrophe that t raps the
characters.