Plot Generator List

This list is extremely simple, but has been helpful for me with play testing none the less. After watching so many episodes of MOTU, I noticed some plot tendencies. Although, there have been many different variations on them, certain themes have popped up over and over. What was that old saying though, about how Shakespeare only used a handful of plots? And every story written since has used some variation of those? So, here you go. You'll have to inject some creativity into it, but at least you'll have a starting point, which I think can often be the hardest part of GMing, especially if you're new to the craft.

PLOT LIST (d10)

1. Kidnapping: One of the heroes, or a friend of the heroes, has been kidnapped by a villain and must be rescued. The fate of all of Eternia could be at stake!

2. Mysterious danger from space threatens Eternia. An evil force from space? Or, just some misunderstanding? Something with the Cosmic Enforcers? You decide. The heroes must intervene to save the planet.

3. Powerful Item in the hands of evil. Something has gone missing! Or, stolen! And, who has it? Skeletor or one of his minions! Was it one of Man-at-arms inventions? Or, an ancient artifact? The heroes must get it back before things get out of hand.

4. A new leader prepares for war! One of the races of Eternia has a new leader (roll on the races chart if you want) and that leader is prepared to start a war! For power? For revenge? The heroes must intervene and stop it before it starts.

5. Quest for Granymere. The ancient dragon Granymere has once again awoken from a long deep slumber. He has a quest that only the heroes can fulfill. To another dimension? To the far side of Eternia?

6. A civilization in peril. One of the races of Eternia faces imminent danger (roll on the races table if you want). The heroes must save the day. Is it a natural disaster? Did Skeletor cause some unforeseen problem through one of his plans? Is it a newly unleashed monster?

7. Experiment gone awry. One of the scientists of Eternia (Man at Arms and Modulock come to mind) has conducted an experiment and it did not go as planned (or, did it?) and now there's a danger in the mix. The heroes must stop it.

8. Uncovered ancient civilization. Robots or an ancient spirit, or something else, has been unearthed and now threatens the land. The heroes must rise to the challenge. (The MOTU episodes with Melaktha, the royal archeologist, come to mind) (S2, E66 is one. He was also in the first season).

9. Evil from another dimension. Something is coming through the gate and the heroes must stop it, or find out what it needs/wants. Did Skeletor unleash it? Is it something that shows up only every thousand years, or something? From Trolla? Or, wherever Clawful is from? Or from Etheria (Horde)?

10. A couple of those above... roll a couple times and mix up the plots!

I've found that coming up with 3-4 "scenes" once I have a plot has been helpful. For example, I once rolled 5, Quest for Granymere. Then, I rolled on the Villain selector list (to come later) and rolled Webstor. Very quickly, I decided that long ago Granymere had entrusted the Ignan (fire people race) to guard a crystal that can control dragons. He didn't want to go after it himself because the crystal could be used against him. The crystal was stolen by Webstor, who was trying to take it to some mountain to create an army of dragons to take over Eternia, under his control. Here were the scenes I made:

1. The Ignan, ignorant to the destruction they caused, were searching villages and burning them to the ground. The heroes had to intervene and communicate with the Ignan or stop them, or be creative, near the Whispering Swamp. Somehow, through this, they found out that Webstor had the crystal (talking with the Ignan, describing a "spider" human? Or, to a villager who saw it? Or, there's lots of options). So, they know where to go next... to Cave Mountain (I made that place up) where there's tons of dragons.

2. Cave Mountain. Dragons attack the heroes as they approach. There are great battle possibilities here. (We ended up having some heroes in a wind raider, others could fly, and had an epic battle at the base of the mountain).

3. Webstor flees. Webstor, now that he knows the heroes are after him, decides to flee to his pre set up trap... the Swamp Maze where he's friendly with all the spiders there. This can be a fairly simple maze, or more complex, whatever you want it to be. But, there could be some spider encounters or a web trap, or something... all leading to a final confrontation with Webstor who could have any number of spider minions depending on how big the party of heroes is and how tough you want it to be.

In the end, the heroes recover the crystal, return it to Granymere, who's grateful (but, not too grateful! It is Granymere, after all). So, that should give you some idea of where you might go, or some ideas. I will have some Eternia monster random lists, as well as some other helpful GM lists, in the future.

Happy gaming.