Adventure (role-playing games)

Overview[edit]

An adventure is a playable scenario in a tabletop role-playing game which a gamemaster^[a] leads the players and their characters through. Various types of designs exist, including linear adventures, where players need to progress through each predetermined scene in turn; and non-linear adventures, where each situation can lead in multiple directions. The former is more restrictive, but is easier to manage, whereas the latter is more open-ended but more demanding for the gamemaster. A series of adventures played in succession are collectively called a campaign.^[2] Adventures meant to be played alone, without a game group, are called solo adventures.^[3]


Adventures can be created by gamemasters, but are also released by game publishers in the form of modular, supplementary books for role-playing games, sometimes combined with additional game mechanics or background information on the game's setting.^[2][4] Pre-written adventure modules have the advantage of being easier to run for new gamemasters,^[5] especially linear ones.^[2] Still, it is most common for groups to play adventures they have made up themselves, and even when playing published adventures, it is common for alterations to be made.^[6]


"Dungeon crawl"-style adventures for combat-intensive games such as Dungeons & Dragons may allow or require large amounts of combat and little or no interaction with other characters outside of combat; storytelling-focused such as the World of Darkness series may focus on character interaction and provide little opportunity for combat.