TEXT: 1
  AdditionAl MAteriAls: 
  Adventure ABC
  
  2
  T
  he Horizon system is a setting ready for 
  thousands of adventures. To fan the fla-
  mes of the GM’s imagination, here is a 
  random adventure generator.
  To create an adventure, draw five cards, which 
  will create the adventure outline. The suits of the 
  cards will determine the setting, scenery, identity 
  of the main opponent, and the reward the team 
  can expect. The values will determine the kind 
  of threat, the beginning, development, plot twist 
  and finale.
  Place the cards in a row. Check the suits first, 
  to create the background of the story. Then, check 
  the values of cards to create an outline of the sce-
  nario, from the introduction of the characters to 
  the denouement. Remember that the joker has no 
  value or suit - draw an extra card to determine 
  these, depending on how you want to use the jo-
  ker.
  1. The Suits:
  Adventure
  Background
  FirST SuiT: 
  The PlAce
  The first card describes in which part of the sys-
  tem the adventure is set. You can ignore this re-
  sult if your campaign focuses on a single planet
  of the system, and you dont want to force the
  team to travel.
   ♠: Ash. The adventure will be set on the slow-
  ly freezing Ash, among agents of Infinity, Inc. and
  brutal Syndicate thugs.
   ♥: Bariz. The action will be on Bariz with its
  flying cities, unspoiled nature and decadent nobles.
   ♦: Cor. The heroes will wade through the
  steamy, monster-haunted jungles of Cor.
   ♣: Space. The adventure will take place in
  space in the Horizon system - on a space station,
  in a lunar mine, on a space cruiser or in the as-
  teroid belt.
   Joker: Beyond Horizon. This time the char-
  acters will leave the Horizon system and travel
  among the stars!
  Second SuiT: 
  The Scenery
  The second card narrows down the exact place 
  of the scenario. This might be the first informa-
  tion youll give your players. The adventure will 
  start with a sentence like „Your ship just landed 
  in port,” „You’re sitting in a smoke-filled nightc-
  lub in a seedy district,” or „You’re cutting thro-
  ugh the jungle.”
   ♠: Good District. The adventure is set in one
  of Horizon’s metropolises  and the PCs are going 
  to see the pretty side of it. Ash will welcome them 
  with the luxury apartments of Infinity directors 
  orthe luxurious villas of Syndicate bosses. They’ll 
  visit the exclusive restaurants, art galleries or fly-
  ing cities of Barizian nobles, or the headquarters 
  of the high command in the old resorts of Cor. 
  They might even find themselves on board a lux-
  ury liner. This is the perfect setting for intrigues, 
  crime dramas or tales of vengeance where clev-
  erness and a silver tongue matter far more than 
  Shooting and Survival skills.
   ♥: Slums. The big cities of Horizon have a
  darker side: alleys avoided by honest citizens, 
  seedy dives, dirty, run down factories or devas-
  tated ruins where the lower classes try to survive 
  in horrible conditions. Ash will terrify the team 
  with cold, poverty and constant threat from ban-
  
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  The SuiTS: AdvenTure BAckground
  dits. Among the slums of Bariz they’ll see the suf-
  fering caused by the corrupt nobles. In camps of 
  Cor they’ll going to get hazed by veteran troopers, 
  while in a smoke-filled miners’ bar on the moon 
  of Dys they’ll learn what really bad beer tastes 
  like. This is a good setting for stories about de-
  fending the weak, or hunting a dangerous Horde 
  beast - but it’s also a good opportunity for an in-
  vestigation.
   ♦: Settlement. The adventure will take place
  in an isolated community, far away from any ma-
  jor towns. Such a settlement can be a railway sta-
  tion or a camp in the freezing ruins of Ash, a no-
  ble’s manor on the surface of Bariz, a guard post 
  or research station in the jungles of Cor, or any 
  kind of space station. The most obvious adven-
  tures will tell stories about the grim secrets of the 
  community and the depraved habits of its inhab-
  itants - but such a settlement can also be the goal 
  of a journey, a place to defend or at least evacuate.
   ♣: Wilderness. Here, the player charac-
  ters will face savage, untamed nature. On Ash, 
  the team will have to deal with the deadly cold, 
  biting the flesh and cutting to the bone. 
  While idyllic landscapes of Bariz might 
  look picturesque from a flying city, 
  you are still cut off from civiliza-
  tion when you crash out there. 
  Trying to survive in Cor’s jun-
  gles is certain death, while as-
  teroid belts, the surfaces of 
  moons, or starship cemetaries 
  are just waiting for fools who 
  will jump into a spacesuit and 
  brave the void. A typical scenar-
  io set in such place will be about 
  the exploration of the unknown, 
  but many adventures can also be 
  built around a trek through dan-
  gerous wastelands, a chase or a 
  search for missing people, technol-
  ogy or information.
   Joker: Cut Off. This adventure sees
  the team isolated in a small, claus-
  trophobic space. The heroes can be
  stuck in a small repair station
  during a terrible snow storm on
  Ash, the secluded residence of an eccentric aris-
  tocrat from Bariz, or a small research station on 
  Cor, attacked by waves of Horde beasts. And 
  when they’re trapped on a damaged spaceship, 
  where life-support systems will break down in a 
  few hours, they’ll remember that in space no one 
  will hear you scream. This is a perfect setting for 
  horror, or at least a murder mystery.
  Third SuiT: 
  The oPPonenT
  The suit of this card will determine the identi-
  ty of the main opponent. Sometimes the entire 
  adventure will be about a constant struggle with 
  his vile intrigue. At other times, she will appear 
  only at the very end, for the heroes to fight her 
  evil. In any case, determining the identity of the 
  opponent is the first task the heroes will face.
   ♠: Brute. Such a villain is a very direct threat:
  you need to defeat him in combat. This could be 
  a Horde beast haunting the area, which the PCs 
  need to blast with their plasma weapons, or a 
  powerful guardian patrolling the ruins the 
  heroes need to explore. A brute could be 
  a tattooed Syndicate boss, a nimble 
  fencing champion, a heavily ar-
  mored mercenary captain, an in-
  sane cyborg  or a powerful space 
  cruiser. She could be even a tele-
  path, using her powers to boost 
  her combat skills. The basic 
  conflict isabout  locating the en-
  emy and defeating him, or per-
  haps fleeing.
   ♥: Schemer. This enemy
  wants to trick the heroes, rather 
  than massacre them. He or she 
  makes complex plans intended 
  to give them power, money, suc-
  cess, or vengeance. This might 
  encompass a seductive manag-
  er trying to manipulate an en-
  tire branch of a corporation, 
  a sneaky serial killer, a gang 
  leader, an ambitious, sneaky 
  and impoverished noble heir-
  
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  AddiTionAl MATeriAlS: AdvenTure ABc
  ess, or the leader of a mysterious cult 
  of dark gods. Often, the schemer’s 
  identity is unknown, and some-
  times the team treats him like an 
  ally. Psionicists are often found 
  in this category, when they’re 
  using their strange powers to 
  meddle in their victims’ minds, 
  change their memories and 
  force them to commit deeds 
  against their nature. To 
  defeat 
  the 
  schemer, 
  you need to decipher 
  their plots first.
   ♦: 
  Mogul.
  Here, the problem 
  is not discovering 
  the identity of the 
  villain, but con-
  fronting him. The 
  mogul’s strength is 
  his immense wealth: he 
  surrounds himself with faithful 
  bodyguards ready to lay down their 
  lives for him, she might hide herself in the pent-
  house apartment of a fortified skyscraper, or on 
  the deck of a private star frigate. A mogul has the 
  most advanced toys, an entire foundation of tele-
  paths, and an army of lawyers ready to take any 
  case to court. A mogul can be a corrupt Barizian 
  baron, a heartless corporate agent getting rich on 
  human suffering, the leader of a Syndicate clan, a 
  sadistic Colonel and so on. If he or she has access 
  to black magic, she can use it to control servants: 
  an army of enslaved agents or Horde beasts. At 
  the first sight the mogul seems untouchable; 
  to defeat him, you need to cut him off from his 
  seemingly infinite wealth.
   ♣: Group/None. Life isn’t always simple, and
  not every adventure is about a conflict with a sin-
  gle villain. Sometimes the problems of the PCs 
  will be the effect of many people interacting with 
  each other and with them: a group of conspira-
  tors, a local community secretly worshipping the 
  dark gods, or a group which is completely clue-
  less about the effects of their activities. Examples 
  might be scientists investigating an ancient arti-
  fact which brings madness, or a gang of spoiled 
  youths unaware that their ritual is in fact a 
  monster-summoning spell. Sometimes the 
  heroes will have to face the environment 
  itself: save people who have suffered in 
  a natural disaster, cross the Horde-in-
  fested jungle to deliver a message, or 
  evacuate a mining station before 
  it’s hit by a giant meteor.
   Joker: Dark Gods. The evil
  deities are constantly present,
  and their vile, complex in-
  trigues are like webs, en-
  tangling the entire Hori-
  zon system. This time the 
  heroes will face the agents 
  of one of the Enemy, and 
  will have a chance to 
  thwart the plans of the in-
  comprehensible enemies of 
  mankind. Remember that a 
  single team will never be able 
  to defeat a god, but it can stop one of the 
  dark power’s many plans.
  FourTh SuiT: 
  The ProBlem
  Often the central problem of the adventure is 
  related to the motivation of the main oppo-
  nent: the heroes have to stop the villain from 
  completing his nefarious plans. Occasionally, 
  the heroes have to face the effects of an unso-
  lved problem - for instance, defeating a monster 
  summoned by cultists.
   ♠: Revenge. Before the adventure started,
  someone got hurt - and now he wants revenge. 
  Usually the avenger is the main villain - this way 
  the players will understand his motives, and the 
  story will be about a growing spiral of hatred. The 
  main theme of the conflict will be stopping the 
  vendetta, but the heroes can also help the avenger 
  or even take revenge themselves. Finally, the team 
  can be involved in a conflict between two rival 
  factions and try to solve it peacefully, while one 
  (or both) factions try either to persuade the PCs 
  to take their side - or eliminate them. You can 
  
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  The SuiTS: AdvenTure BAckground
  avenge your own suffering (real or imaginary), 
  the loss of your honor, or the deaths of your rela-
  tives, loved ones, or spiritual guides.
   ♥: Passion. The characters of this tale are
  driven by a heartfelt passion, whether love or 
  hate. The villain will do whatever it takes to win 
  his beloved or destroy the object of his hostility. 
  The heroes can also protect their children, space-
  ship or home planet. The problem for the heroes 
  is often a conflict between passion and duty: the 
  hero must decide whether to kill his hated foe 
  or perhaps allow the lovers to unite despite their 
  harsh, aristocratic parents – or follow orders.
   ♦: Ambition. The main problem in this ad-
  venture is caused by a sense of self-worth. Per-
  haps someone wants to prove at any cost that 
  they deserve more than they have, and gain pow-
  er, wealth or fame by any means neces-
  sary. Or perhaps the team will struggle 
  to fight a problem too big for them, 
  or be motivated by greed for riches, 
  new technology or social status. The 
  threat the PCs will face can also be 
  caused by excessive ambition: the 
  result of a dark ritual which was 
  supposed to elevate a warlock to 
  supreme power, or a political in-
  trigue gone too far. Adventures 
  based on ambition can also be 
  about a friendly rivalry or fear of 
  public embarassment.
   ♣: Necessity. Some things
  simply can’t be avoided. It’s the 
  duty of Cor soldiers to shoot 
  crawlers, and the mob will al-
  ways extort protection money. 
  Some people are born and raised 
  according to a strict code, others 
  are trapped by circumstances. A vil-
  lain following the rule of necessity 
  is convinced that he has no choice: 
  if he doesn’t use black magic, he’ll 
  never get what he deserves, or if he 
  avoids breaking the law, he will die a 
  poor man. Perhaps he’s being black-
  mailed, forced to obtain the cure for 
  a fatal disease, or is simply insane. 
  Often the heroes have no choice - when the air-
  lock of a run-down space station breaks down, a 
  false accusation forces them to fight for their hon-
  or, or a deadly disease makes them search for an 
  experimental medicine. Sometimes, the events 
  haven’t happened yet, and the heroes can fight 
  against their destiny.
   Joker: Mistake. Someone got it all wrong! The
  villain isn’t truly evil, once you get to know him,
  or those young aristocrats aren’t worshipping the
  Two-Faced Lord, but preparing for the carnival!
  The discovery of a past mistake might rekindle
  a bloody conflict, while a current mistake might
  lead to a comedy of errors. Mistakes in assessing
  the situation often have dramatic consequences:
  imagine the bosses of feuding families negotiat-
  ing a ceasefire  when someone confuses reach-
  ing for a hankerchief with an attempt to draw a
  weapon. If the PCs confuse a dark wizard with 
  an eccentric scientist, they can become want-
  ed murderers or even unwitting pawns of a 
  villain wanting to summon the Devourer of 
  Worlds.
  FiFTh SuiT: 
  The rewArd
  A successful team can count on a re-
  ward. Its exact value should reflect the 
  adventure’s mood, especially the dif-
  ficulty of completing the mission and 
  the experience of the characters.
   ♠: Technology. After defeating the
  villain, the team will gain a new piece of 
  experimental technology. It can be taken 
  off the body of a defeated foe, or awarded 
  by a grateful employer.
   ♥: Relationship. This scenario will
  improve a relationship with an NPC. The 
  group will gain a grateful ally or a regular em-
  ployer - or maybe one of the heroes will meet the 
  love of his life?
   ♦: Money. Good work means good pay-
  ment. This time the bank accounts of 
  characters will gain a few extra Eagles.
   ♣: Fame. The heroes will attract the
  media’s attention, and all that brings:  in-
  
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  AddiTionAl MATeriAlS: AdvenTure ABc
  vitations to parties, medals, lecture opportunities 
  or other expressions of public gratitude.
   Joker: Knowledge. During the adventure, the
  heroes will gather some important information,
  which will come in helpful in the future, or reveal
  some mysteries from a PC’s past.
  2. card Value:
  The Adventure Plot
  FirST VAlue: 
  The ThreAT
  The Horizon system is a dangerous place: a tan-
  gled web of the intertwined influences of gangs, 
  corporations, noble families, and dark gods - 
  and the player characters. The first card will de-
  termine which one of these problems is the star-
  ting point for the adventure. If your campaign 
  has a consistent theme, for instance a fight with 
  the Horde or struggles between noble families, 
  you can ignore this result.
   2: The Little People. The ordinary citizens of
  the Horizon system have their own problems -
  and this time the party will be right in the mid-
  dle of them. This adventure could be about riots
  caused by racial or economical conflict, a church-
  sponsored persecution of cyborgs, a crime of pas-
  sion, the defense of a residential block or pacify-
  ing striking workers and eliminating their leader.
  The party may have to protect people being evac-
  uated from the endangered area, or try to muster
  the district to take on out-of-control gangs.
   3-4: Organized Crime. This story takes place
  in the underworld of organized crime. The he-
  roes can meet ordinary gang members or Syndi-
  cate daimyos, take part in a massive illegal scam,
  smuggle stolen works of art on the boss’ private
  yacht, conduct a massive vendetta or protect their
  family from ancient feuds. The stakes of this game
  will be not only wealth  but also honor, reputation
  and the prestige of gangs.
  Note: If the adventure is set on Bariz, treat this 
  card as a King (Elite). If its set on Cor treat it as a 
  Jack (Army).
   5-7: Dark Gods. Even though Nemezis of-
  fers many different kinds of adventures, the main
  thread is fighting the reawakened gods. This
  is the case in this adventure: the party will face
  a dark cult, a single warlock or a monstrosity
  straight from the dark heart of Nemezis. The he-
  roes will have to gun down the monstrous hordes,
  or search for the source of the insanity sweeping
  more and more districts of the city. The heroes
  will have a chance to thwart the plans of pow-
  ers conspiring against mankind,  and understand
  why humans cooperate with the Enemy.
   8-9: Corporations. The ruthlessness and
  greed of corporations in the Horizon  system -
  particularly Infinity - matches that of organized
  crime. This time the PCs will fight for influence,
  profit, money, shares, sources of important min-
  erals, prototypes of new products and registered
  
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  cArd vAlue:The AdvenTure PloT
  trademarks. The opponents will be heartless 
  managers, looking for any opportunity to win 
  over rival departments, faceless enforcers in grey 
  suits, and low-level corporate drones. The stakes 
  in this game are profits  and nothing else.
   10: The Law. The heroes will have to deal with
  officers of the law - either help them in their dif-
  ficult duties, or try to avoid the relentless (but of-
  ten corrupt) cops. The group will face heavily ar-
  mored anti-terrorist squads, clever detectives,
  experienced sergeants, attractive vice agents, psy-
  chic investigators  or criminals trying to escape
  justice. The central problem is related to justice
  and its conflict with the letter of the law.
   Jack: The Army. The military has the most in-
  fluence on Cor, but that doesn’t mean the army
  isn’t present on other worlds. Heroes can be sim-
  ple soldiers, trying to disintegrate Horde mon-
  sters or avoid being eaten by them. They can also
  investigate a case against an officer, recruit vol-
  unteers, find supplies, look for comrades listed
  as MIA or test a new weapon. The scenario will
  probably be about how much violence is justified,
  and the conflict between a soulless military bu-
  reaucracy and a living, feeling soldier.
   Queen: Scientists. The adventure revolves
  around scientific research -
  legal, forbidden, gone wrong
  or horribly right. The story
  will take place in sterile lab-
  oratories, secret institutes or
  on a scientific expedition.
  The heroes will have to de-
  nounce a fraud, stop a vile
  experiment, test the new-
  est technology or to fight
  the results of failed experi-
  ments: a runaway monster,
  a supercharged psionicist, or
  a rogue AI. They could stop
  the theft of priceless data - or
  steal it themselves. And ad-
  ditionally they could catch a
  glimpse of the secret of im-
  mortality, or examine the
  ethical boundaries of sci-
  ence.
   King: The Elite. The party will encounter the
  people on the covers of tabloids: nobles, politi-
  cians, sportspeople and other members of the so-
  cial elite. The heroes will become pawns in the
  game of ambition, where the stakes are power and
  fame - they might conduct an investigation into
  a high-profile murder, protect a mogul, frame a
  leader of the opposition, try to find dirt on a ce-
  lebrity, or represent a noble in a duel or a deadly
  race. They’ll have an unique opportunity to im-
  prove their own station by cutting themselves a
  bigger slice of the cake. Among the omnipresent
  corruption, decadence and lies, the key question
  is who has the right to rule and what they must
  pay for it.
   Ace: Madman. While the dark gods seem to
  revel in bringing insanity to humans, it can also
  result from misapplied psionics, trauma, vari-
  ous neurological factors or overdosing on phar-
  maceuticals. This adventure will force the party
  to visit the abyss of madness and stop a degen-
  erate murderer, track down a psychopathic tele-
  path, cover up an outburst of insanity in a noble
  family, or confront an insane military officer. This
  scenario will be focused on the horror of insan-
  ity, or the thin line between sanity and madness.
  
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  AddiTionAl MATeriAlS: AdvenTure ABc
   Joker: Class Struggle. Two environments are
  conflicted! Draw two cards, discarding any other
  jokers: these two groups are in conflict with each
  other. For instance, the heroes have to prevent a
  clash between the army and pacifist demonsta-
  tors, kidnap scientists for the Syndicate, take part
  in negotiations between a noble family and In-
  finity, or investigate whether a chain of macabre
  murders have been committed by a madman or a
  priest of the dark gods.
  Second VAlue: 
  The hook
  The value of the second card determines how 
  the characters will get in trouble.
   2: A Mistake. The characters accidentally
  stumble into the adventure by pure chance. May-
  be someone confuses them with someone else:
  the mortal enemies of a local gang boss, a res-
  cue group sent to find lost scientists, the heirs to
  a massive fortune, or ruthless mercenaries. Or
  maybe it’s the heroes that fail to assess the situa-
  tion correctly – they went into the wrong bar,
  or confused a local crazy hobo with an ec-
  centric guru, reportedly able to awaken
  psionic gifts in people.
   3-4: Pit Stop. The party reach-
  es a place where something’s
  already going on, and there’s
  no possibility of escape. For
  instance the space station the
  characters visit is overrun by terror-
  ists, the owner of the hotel they stay in
  is a cultist of the Devourer, or an an-
  noying journalist is really a murderer
  working for the Syndicate.
   5-7: “I have a job for you...” Per-
  haps the easiest way to begin an ad-
  venture: someone approaches the he-
  roes, claiming that his village/city/
  planet is in great danger, and offering a
  reward. Or the party is forced into a limo,
  which drives them to the headquarters of
  a bald gentleman stroking a white cat, who
  mentions something about them owing
  him a favor.
   8-9: A Helping Hand. This is similar to the
  previous example  only without a payment or oth-
  er bonuses. This time someone friendly  a relative,
  an ally met during the previous adventure, a bar-
  tender from the local watering hole or a pet  finds
  himself in trouble, and only the PCs can save him.
   10: Accidental Discovery. One of the heroes
  accidentally discovers some interesting informa-
  tion. Perhaps a hero overhears a group of rogue
  mercs planning an expedition into Horde territo-
  ry on Cor, or a gang planning a major heist. One
  of the heroes can also be attacked, discover an old
  hologram containing a call for help in the mem-
  ory of an old robot, or perhaps during a soiree in
  Infinity Tower he spots an old enemy - or former
  love of his life - in the crowd.
   Jack: Shadows of the Past. The past always
  follows us, and we can’t free ourselves from its
  influence. This time the scenario is all about the
  consequences of the heroes’ earlier adventures:
  it can refer to a previous scenario, or someone’s
  background. If none of the players has described
  the past of his character, so much the better: an
  adventure like this will give you an op-
  portunity to fill in the blanks.
   Queen: Deepest Desires. The
  hook is connected to the wants and
  needs of one of the heroes. They
  might draw the entire team in trou-
  ble to clear the good name of their
  love, their own honor or of their 
  family. Or maybe they hear about 
  the opportunity to  obtain a valu-
  able work of art, the only exist-
  ing copy of a book rescued from 
  Earth, or a unique, prototype 
  cyborg implant allowing you to 
  play video games while driving 
  the car.
   King: Orders. The heroes
  receive a direct order to take care
  of a problem. It might come from a 
  nobleman owning the PC’s base of oper-
  ation, or obeying a ruthless mob boss 
  might turn out to be the only way 
  to save their lives. Or maybe one of 
  
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  cArd vAlue:The AdvenTure PloT
  Cor’s Generals will send an agent to make the he-
  roes an offer they can’t refuse?
   Ace: In Media Res. The team reaches the
  entrance to a deserted bunker, pursued by the
  Horde. They try to find the last rescue capsule on
  a star liner under assault. They lie down on the
  edge of the roof, anxiously observing their target’s
  bodyguards - or they’re just about to deliver a
  passionate speech before the court, while the cor-
  rupt judge furrows his brow. Regardless, play out
  the action scene first, and later, when you calm
  down, let the players sort out how did they get
  into this mess.
   Joker: The Will of the Dark Powers. The team
  has meddled with plans of a dark god, so it tries
  to deal with them once and for all. Maybe it ter-
  rifies them with nightmares, summons its agents
  or monsters to attack them - or maybe its servants
  arrange matters so that the players are considered
  cultists!
  Third VAlue: 
  The Genre
  The actual plot development depends chiefly on 
  the genre of the adventure. Each genre has each 
  own way of presenting and solving the main is-
  sue. In some adventures the characters will have 
  to wade through the black blood of Horde mon-
  strosities, in others they will have to use their 
  smarts, while others yet will test their psychic 
  health to its limits.
   2: Journey. There are multiple obstacles be-
  tween the party and their ultimate goal. Such a
  simple plot can lead the team to forgotten ruins,
  a lost research station or a secret Syndicate base.
  Before you plan the obstacles, look at the players’
  character sheets - a good adventure of this sort
  should be varied and contain obstacles giving all
  the characters a chance to display their skills, or
  the team specialists will be the only ones able to
  solve the problem. Remember also that a steep
  cliff is often a more deadly opponent than a horde
  of crawler: players are more likely to invest in
  Fighting than Climbing.
   3-4: Horror. The Horizon system is haunted
  by the presence of gods and infested with cultists,
  which makes it a perfect backdrop for horror ad-
  ventures. In role-playing games, fear derives from 
  ignorance and feelings of helplessness: the char-
  acters must feel threatened, not knowing what’s 
  trying to take their lives or how to defeat it. Good 
  horror should be surrounded by an atmosphere 
  amplifying these feelings: mist, darkness, myste-
  rious noises and grotesque vistas, or claustropho-
  bic, narrow spaces.
   5-7: Investigation. An unknown perpetrator
  has committed a great crime. This time the he-
  roes have to discover which of the people with
  the necessary motive, opportunity, and predispo-
  sition have done the deed. There should be a fair-
  ly large group of suspects and a number of clues
  - some being simple red herrings, others pointing
  to the guilty party. Remember - gathering the in-
  formation shouldn’t be a serious challenge (that’s
  why heroes have Notice, Investigate and Street-
  wise skills). The problem is figuring out where to
  look for the clues or how to interpret them when
  you finally find them.
  
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  AddiTionAl MATeriAlS: AdvenTure ABc
   8-9: The Hunt. The party must eliminate a
  threat, which is either hidden or actively evading
  the group. The heroes can hunt down a vile war-
  lock, a psychopath on the run from a maximum
  security prison, a shred, or the rebellious daugh-
  ter of an Infinity executive running away with
  a Syndicate soldier. This kind of adventure will
  probably make use of Streetwise or Tracking, and
  you will probably use the chase rules. The hunt is
  different from the investigation in that the former
  is about identifying the enemy, the latter about
  capturing them.
   10: The Heist. To succeed in this adventure,
  the heroes are forced to break the law. Justice is
  often blind, and sometimes it serves the villains!
  The team will have to plan the crime and then set
  it in motion. Perhaps they will have to break into
  a heavily-guarded residence and steal a necklace
  with a cursed jewel straight off the neck of a pam-
  pered  Barizian noble’s daughter. Or maybe they
  will assassinate a corrupt police chief
  who secretly worships the De-
  vourer, while avoiding contact
  with his subordinates. In such
  an adventure, the players’ cre-
  ativity is more important
  than their dice rolls: when
  preparing the adven-
  ture, remember that the
  plan most likely to suc-
  ceed should be one that
  takes into account the
  PCs’ best skills - a group
  of expert climbers will use
  windows and rooftops.
   Jack: Protection. The
  team is responsible for
  saving someone or some-
  thing: maybe they’ll de-
  fend a fort against attack by
  the Horde, escort the two-
  year-old son of a famous sci-
  entist to his dad’s new
  workplace, transport
  a cargo of unstable
  chemical substances
  or food for a marine
  division. Whatever the object the PCs are protect-
  ing, there always is someone who wants to steal or 
  destroy it. In combat, the players must remember 
  that the stakes aren’t just their own survival, so 
  they’ll need a good plan. The GM needs a good 
  idea of the attackers’ goals, and familiarity with 
  the area of the adventure, so that both sides can 
  use it to their advantage.
   Queen: Romance. Love stories don’t agree
  with all groups - some players aren’t comfortable
  with roleplaying romance, others find it very en-
  joyable. The romance doesn’t have to involve the
  heros directly: maybe they have to assist a friend
  in winning someone’s heart, or protect a young
  couple from the wrath of their families. A good
  romance contains a few canonical elements: a
  quarrel between lovers, a tragic mistake, or a mis-
  understanding about a loss or break-up - but a
  romantic plot rarely stands on its own. Draw an-
  other card, to contrast the romantic subplot with
  another genre, which will provide an 
  interesting backdrop - and involve 
  the players who aren’t romanti-
  cally involved.
   King: Intrigue. The he-
  roes are involved in a web
  of lies and deceit. The goal
  of intrigue is giving some-
  thing value different than
  in reality, for instance get-
  ting in the Dean’s good grac-
  es, framing innocents, sav-
  ing the guilty from justice
  or selling contaminated 
  drugs. This plot is similar 
  to an investigation: the he-
  roes have to discover the 
  truth, and then prove it. 
  The real difficulty is not dis-
  covering who the villain is, 
  but convincing people that 
  he is the real source of evil. 
  The characters will have to 
  use Persuasion, Intimida-
  tion, Streetwise  and  per-
  haps Taunt, if they pub-
  licly confront the bad 
  
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  cArd vAlue:The AdvenTure PloT
  guy with a sharp tongue. Also, Lockpicking and 
  Stealth will be necessary to gather the evidence.
   Ace: Drama. You can’t always tell the good
  guys and the bad guys apart. The drama genre fo-
  cuses on human motivations rather than the sit-
  uation around them, and requires the characters
  to take sides in a serious conflict. This adventure
  will test their values: will they help the starving
  inhabitants of wind-swept Ashite ruins to at-
  tack a supply train, or will they warn the rightful
  owners about the ambush? Will they reach out a
  friendly hand to an enemy in trouble? Will they
  help an heiress of the Gray Wolf clan to escape
  with a young Black Dragon, or will they save in-
  nocent people from the gang war that would en-
  sue? Sometimes it’s possible to find a compromise
  that will keep everyone reasonably happy. At oth-
  er times, every choice has negative consequences
  - then drama will become tragedy.
   Joker: War. The Horizon system is current-
  ly at peace - except for the war with the Horde -
  but an armed conflict between humans can break
  out at any moment. It doesn’t have to encompass
  entire planets or major factions: the heroes can
  get involved in a struggle between crime or no-
  ble families, a private war between megacorpo-
  rations about access to uranium ore, or a cam-
  paign against pirates. What matters is that blood
  has been spilled and no one can stay neutral - you
  have to fight or spy for one of the sides. During
  such an adventure you’ll probably need the mass
  battle rules and some ideas for an exciting back-
  drop for skirmishes with the enemy.
  FourTh VAlue: 
  PloT TwiST!
  An adventure where everything goes just as pre-
  dicted at the beginning is boring. You need an 
  exciting plot twist, which should happen just 
  when the players have determined the kind of 
  problem and the identity of their opponent.
   2: Disaster. The activities of the villain or the
  heroes will result in a catastrophe - serious dam-
  age to the entire area -  an earthquake happens,
  the river overflows, or the terraformers start to
  malfunction. Or even worse,  the inhabitants of
  the district fall ill with a weird disease, cyborgi-
  zations cause madness, and insects rain from the 
  sky. From now on, as well as fighting the villains, 
  the heroes have to deal with this terrible event 
  and protect ordinary people from it.
   3-4: A Change of Scenery. This simple plot
  twist will lead the plot into new scenery: an un-
  masked plotter leaves for his village manor, the
  trail of the kidnapped victims leads to ruins, or
  a gangster hides in the canals, planning to get to
  the spaceport and off the planet. This shift allows
  new characters to move into the spotlight - in the
  jungle the marine can replace the detective to in-
  vestigate matters in the military camp.
   5-7: A Change of Genre. When this plot twist
  occurs, , the kind of adventure changes. When the
  investigation ends, the guilty party escapes  and a
  hunt begins. During the journey, the heroes are
  overwhelmed by a feeling of terror, or a teenaged
  runaway joins them, and they must protect her.
  Before the characters manage to expose an in-
  trigue, a war breaks out. You can select any genre
  fitting the current plot of the adventure, or try a
  surprising random combination.
   8-9: Change of Villain. The current opponent
  turns out to be just a front for the real foe: the
  gang works for a corrupt CEO, a serial killer at-
  tacks because his mind has been taken over by a
  warlock, the monsters have been summoned by
  political conspirators. The heroes need to deter-
  mine how to defeat the new heavy!
   10: Helplessness. When push comes to shove,
  the team discovers that it can’t shove back – they
  are helpless. For now; there is a technology, per-
  son, or circumstance which they can use to defeat
  their opponent. And so, the group must search
  the slums for a brilliant scientist that has fallen in
  with bad company and convince him to finish an
  experiment he started years ago. Or maybe invite
  a conniving ambassador to the only place on the
  planet where he can be arrested and sent back to
  his home system, while riots break out through-
  out the entire city.
   Jack: Mystery. Thanks to the events of the ad-
  venture, the heroes discover a secret which will
  change their outlook on past events. A wanted se-
  rial killer turns out to be an avenger eliminating
  
  12
  AddiTionAl MATeriAlS: AdvenTure ABc
  cultists. Helpless members of a pacifist commu-
  nity are revealed as the producers of a dangerous 
  drug. Or perhaps the mystery throws some light 
  on the history of the setting or the characters: a 
  runaway psionic murderer reveals to the defeated 
  hero that he’s his father.
   Queen: Role Reversal. The initial assumptions
  of the heroes turn out to be false, and they realise
  they have been helping the wrong side all along!
  Their allies turn out to be villains, and the heavies
  - innocent victims of the flim-flammed team. The
  characters don’t just have to deal with the primary
  problem, but also clear up all the confusion and
  restore any damage they have done.
   King: Far Reaching Consequences. The party
  has to stop for a while and think about the con-
  sequences of their actions. Eliminating a wick-
  ed aristocrat can cause political chaos, and stop-
  ping cruel experiments can slow down research
  into the weaknesses of the Horde. If no-one ex-
  cept the heroes knows that they’re doing the right
  thing, the characters must struggle to clear their
  good name. Regardless, the group has either to
  step back and leave the situation alone, or prepare
  to cause serious changes in the region or in their
  own lives.
   Ace: A Dramatic Choice. The Horizon system
  is a good backdrop for dramatic challenges, and
  sometimes it’s good to confront the players with a
  difficult dilemma which will alter the future plots
  of adventures. When two enemies escape in op-
  posite directions, you need to decide which one
  needs to be pursued  and prepare for the con-
  sequences of the other one escaping. When the
  characters find enough evidence that the leader
  of a psionic foundation is a black magician, they
  need to decide whether its better to make this
  public or eliminate him quietly. You can either
  work out two different paths of consequences, or
  draw two plot twists, and decide that depending
  on the actions of the group the adventure will go
  in one of these directions.
   Joker: Time Travel. Not literally, of course -
  but during this adventure the players will be able
  to roleplay an episode using alternative charac-
  ters living in the past, or their own heroes living
  ages ago. Perhaps their main characters are read-
  ing the captain’s log from a mysterious wreck, or 
  investigating the first harbingers of the Horde in-
  vasion - they then can play the characters who 
  played important roles in those scenarios. Per-
  haps an important event in the scenario will re-
  mind them of important events from their own 
  past: hand them their character sheets and re-
  mind them what it was like to be a Novice.
  FiFTh VAlue: 
  The climAx
  The final scene should be a memorable conclu-
  sion to the team’s efforts, and a reward for their 
  determined struggle to achieve their goals.
   2: Escape. Perhaps the hardest task for any
  GM is convincing the party that they should run
  away. In this case, it’s the only chance they have
  of saving their lives. Of course, they don’t always
  have to retreat from the overwhelming enemy
  forces - the climax of the adventure can be escap-
  ing from an exploding space station, a crumbling
  corporate tower, or a jungle canyon flooded by a
  massive wave.
   3-4: Disclosure. The identity of the current
  opponent is revealed. If the characters didn’t al-
  ready know who he was, in the final scene the vil-
  lain reveals his face. If they had some suspicions,
  the climax confirms the identity of the evildoer:
  in this scene, he’ll try to escape or confess. Maybe
  the heroes are the only ones to see his true face.
   5-7: Combat. The most common, but also the
  most eagerly awaited, climax is fighting a power-
  ful opponent: a Wild Card troubling the main he-
  roes, or a large army of Extras. When the heroes’
  plasma blasters cool down, all problems have
  been solved.
   8-9: Chase. The guilty party can’t take it any
  more, and tries to escape. The heroes have to
  catch him, driving a motorbike through the nar-
  row streets of a flying city on Bariz, fighting a
  blizzard on Ash, or sailing a canoe through rap-
  ids on Cor. Of course, when they will reach him,
  they’ll have to fight, but the main conflict is based
  around the chase.
   10: Duel of Wills. The opponent doesn’t want
  to draw his weapon, or the heroes cant simply end
  
  13
  cArd vAlue:The AdvenTure PloT
  his life. They need to convince him to turn back 
  from the wide road of sin, or that bloody ven-
  geance won’t solve his problems. Or at least frame 
  him, or force him to blurt out his evil plan while 
  the commissioner hides behind the curtain or in 
  front of the key stakeholders.
   Jack: A Race Against Time. The heroes have
  to perform a dramatic task in a given time. The
  time factor is a countdown on the bomb hidden
  in the sewers under Infinity Tower, or maybe they
  need to complete the mission before the Horde
  arrives. Or a cultist will end a dark ritual and un-
  leash a horrible evil, or maybe a serial killer will
  lose his patience and murder the teenage hos-
  tage. Either way, the characters need to hurry and
  quickly dispatch any random encounters.
   Queen: Rescue. The adventure will end
  when the heroes will save someone or some-
  thing. Maybe they will rescue the hostages
  or victims of inhuman experiments from
  Infinity Tower. Or perhaps they need to
  recover a beautiful painting or the last
  bottle of a rare wine. This time the he-
  roes don’t need to hurry, but they need a
  good plan, since the safety of the rescuee is
  at stake.
   King: Here Comes The Cavalry. When ev-
  erything seems lost: the enemies are about to
  crush the heroes, the only way out crumbles, or
  everyone’s overcome with a weird disease, the
  cavalry appears. This scene is the shortest
  kind of finale, boiling down to the mo-
  ment the rescuers appear - but if well run
  it can guarantee a transformation from
  despair to elation.
   Ace: „Amazing! No-One in the 
  Entire System has Seen this Before!”
  Draw another card for the climax
  and give it an amazing, larg-
  er than life feel. A chase
  might use prototype tele-
  portation devices, the
  PCs unmask the crim-
  inal at the Whitehall
  heiress’ engagement
  party, or the final
  combat is fought in
  the ruins of Cor’s largest bridge. Most of the time 
  these are just special effects, but if they’re flashy 
  enough, the players will remember them for a 
  long time.
   Joker: To Be Continued... Draw another card
  for the climax, but arrange things so that the play-
  ers won’t be able to bring the adventure to a com-
  plete end. The dishonest manager will be fired by
  the corporation but avoid imprisonment, one of
  the gang leaders will survive, or the team will re-
  cover a mysterious ancient artifact with unknown
  properties. This way the players will understand
  that the story isn’t over yet, and the adventure will
  have a solid sequel.
  
SOURCE: textdata/thevault/Savage Worlds System (SWADE) [multi]/Nemezis/Savage Worlds - Nemezis - Adventure ABC.pdf