Adventure recipes are plot archetypes commonly seen in TTRPG adventures and other stories — "Defeat the Monster", "Rescue the Captive", "Perform a Heist", and many more. Each recipe is a goal the heroes pursue, broken down into a ready-made list of steps and challenges.
Use these recipes to inspire ideas, help you prep adventures ahead of time, or improvise stories on the fly. Pick a recipe, add a setting and a few characters, and you have the skeleton of an adventure in minutes.
How to Use
- Establish a setting where the story takes place.
- Pick a recipe — the goal the heroes will pursue.
- Develop the idea — define the specific details of the goal, why the heroes want to achieve it, and what makes it difficult.
- Define 3 related locations and 3 characters the heroes might encounter along the way.
- Choose the steps. For a pre-made adventure, select 5 challenges from the recipe and decide what makes each one difficult. For an improvised story, let players pick the next step from the list as you go, and improvise scenes around overcoming it.
You can also combine two recipes (Defeat the Monster + Rescue the Captive = defeat the monster who has captured someone), chain them (use one recipe as a sub-goal of another), or flip them around and use a recipe as the antagonist's plan that the heroes must thwart.
The 20 Recipes
Each recipe comes with 12 steps you can pick and choose from:
- Defeat the Monster — track down a rampaging beast and find a way to stop it.
- Rescue the Captive — infiltrate the captors' stronghold and free the prisoner.
- Perform a Heist — case the target, assemble a crew, and steal the prize.
- Obtain an Artifact — journey to a remote site and claim a powerful relic.
- Capture an Outlaw — hunt a fugitive across the wilderness and bring them in.
- Destroy a Dangerous Target — slip behind enemy lines to take out a threat.
- Capture a Creature — track, trap, and safely transport an elusive beast.
- Commandeer a Vehicle — infiltrate, seize, and escape with a ship or machine.
- Retrieve a Stolen Item — chase down thieves and recover what they took.
- Sabotage a Dangerous Project — infiltrate a secret facility and shut it down.
- Escort Mission — guide someone safely through hostile territory.
- Escape from Captivity — plan and pull off a daring prison break.
- Defend a Place from an Invasion — fortify, rally, and hold the line.
- Seize a Fortified Location — scout, breach, and capture a stronghold.
- Defeat the Villain — unravel the villain's plan and bring them down.
- Do a Die Hard — retake a building seized by hostile forces from the inside.
- Escape a Dangerous Place — survive a catastrophe and get everyone out.
- Overthrow Oppressors — build a rebellion and topple those in power.
- Undertake an Expedition — explore unmapped, hostile territory and survive.
- Deal with a Natural Disaster — rescue survivors and outrun the destruction.
Works Great With
Adventure Recipes pairs perfectly with our other tools. Use Elements of Adventure to generate the settings, characters, and McGuffins that fill out your recipe, and the Adventure Writers' Room to develop the idea into a full one-shot adventure. They work with any roleplaying system.
Come join our Discord community to brainstorm adventures with us!
