One of my big takeaways from the release of Spelljammer: Adventures in Spaaaaace (there’s a misprint in the books and on the slipcase where Spaaaaace is missing four of its a’s, I don’t know what to tell you) is that while bounty-hunting adventures are great in a lot of settings, they’re even better here, maybe with a killer intro theme and soundtrack. Or starring a guy in full plate with a tool-belt of magic weapons. (Let me recommend this paladin subclass for that dude.)
The point of this is, I want to work my way up to writing a DM’s Guild supplement for bounty-hunting stories at some point. Editor’s Note: The writer says “writing a DM’s Guild supplement someday!” about a distressing number of things that are not yet completed manuscripts. F*cksake, get it together.
Format
The thing about bounty-hunting adventures is that the core is so straightforward (target, pursue, punchy fighty, acquire) that a big twist in the middle is even more obligatory. Now, to be clear, a twist that changes up or complicates the goal in the middle of the story is good for any procedural story, whether that’s a police investigation, a heist, or dungeon-bashing. You’re either replacing the end goal, or shoving a new goal between where you are now and the end goal. In the latter case, the verb of that goal is (as often as possible) different from the verb of the main goal, because it needs to shift the action in some way.
In this post I’m offering a collection of Targets, Locations, and Twists. We’ll see how it all goes.
Target
“Why are we after this guy (other than the money)” is going to come up for most players in most bounty hunts, all the more if your players care about maintaining at least a veneer of heroism. “Because murder” and “because the guy owes me money” are probably your top two by volume, so the individual identity matters more than the crime in those common cases.
What I’m doing to handle that is assuming that the reason the bounty sponsor gives you is either murder or money, and if those aren’t right you find it out in the Twist. But you know, this is just inspiration fodder, not rules mechanics!
| d10 | Target |
| 1 | A demon has possessed a cult leader, and the client wants them dead but only while the demon is in control |
| 2 | A bard with a cursed mandolin: it can leave people hollowed out once he finishes playing |
| 3 | A former elite palace guard (champion) who knows the secrets of powerful people |
| 4 | A mage with a lot of mortal enemies in higher academia |
| 5 | A noble in line to inherit an estate that has a lot of complicated legal or mystical baggage |
| 6 | A chimera that has additional powers granted to it by Demogorgon |
| 7 | A spy whose gambling debts have made them a serious security weakness |
| 8 | A veteran whose romantic exploits offended a monarch |
| 9 | A scout who stole a hat of disguise from a much more powerful adventurer |
| 10 | A priest whose commands in battle led to atrocities being committed |
Location
This is either a location you have to pass through to get to your target, gather information about the target’s destination, or enter the target’s lair (for people unaware of the bounty, mainly).
| d10 | Location |
| 1 | A labyrinthine series of canyons in a mountain range, badlands, or ruined city. The target is isolated but very well hidden, and is more able to ambush the bounty hunters. |
| 2 | Holy ground: shedding blood here makes very bad things happen, or the target is protected by innocents convinced that the target seeks to repent. |
| 3 | A foundry for iron, steel, or magical metals. Pursuit or combat within a foundry is dangerous because of triphammers, molten metal, and other large-scale hazards, as well as metal-workers objecting to their work being interrupted. |
| 4 | A war zone: a castle under siege, a field being bombarded by evokers or artificers, a city in process of being sacked. The location is likely more dangerous than the target. |
| 5 | A pleasure-barge that plies the calm waters of the rivers, lakes, or coast. Social mores and a large number of innocent bystanders encourage social solutions over violent ones… but violent ones too often become necessary. |
| 6 | A pit fighting arena: collateral damage likely draws a violent response from hardened warriors, or a gladiator has information but only yields it if bested in combat. |
| 7 | A planar gate: the target has fled through it to another plane, and the bounty hunters need to break the seal that the target placed on the gate. |
| 8 | A gambling den: the crime syndicate that owns it won’t hand the target over without a 50% cut of the bounty or a tough fight. |
| 9 | A ruined city: its crumbling walls and towers are a significant danger; the target has a way to calm the monsters, but the bounty hunters don’t. (Or the reverse, if the job is to bring the target in alive.) |
| 10 | A prison or prison-ship: the bounty hunters need information from a prisoner. Things rapidly get out of hand. |
The Twist
It isn’t really even that your adventure should have only one setback, reveal, or alignment of goals – just probably a main one that you’re building toward.
There is such a thing as too many twists, though. Comic books can be really bad about this because they have so few pages to get their story beats in, while also leaving you with a new cliffhanger so you just have to buy the next issue… sometimes it works, sometimes it’s shaking up the stakes and status quo before you’ve even gotten what you wanted out of the last one.
| d10 | The Twist |
| 1 | The target rescues the bounty hunters from a dangerous situation, making it emotionally difficult to capture them. |
| 2 | The bounty hunters uncover conclusive proof that a different person is responsible for the crime that the target has been accused of. |
| 3 | The target reveals that their crime was justified or necessary, for reasons that appeal strongly to the bounty hunters. |
| 4 | A rival bounty hunting team is also on the job. Their client wants the target dead, while the PC bounty hunters need the target alive. |
| 5 | The client is revealed to be a fey, fiend, or genie rather than a mortal, and their desire to see the target dead is bad for everyone. |
| 6 | The target knows secrets related to the bounty hunters’ personal goals, outside the scope of this job. |
| 7 | The bounty hunters discover that the target is cutting a deal with a crime syndicate, arcane cabal, fiend, or dragon. They need to throw caution to the wind to collect the target before that deal makes a fight unwinnable or meaningless. |
| 8 | A shapeshifting ally of the target leads the bounty hunters on a chase in the wrong direction. |
| 9 | The weather or terrain shift sharply in the target’s favor: tides of battle shift, a ship lists to one side, a fire erupts between the bounty hunters and the target, rain or fog obscure the direction of the target’s escape. |
| 10 | A vehicle the bounty hunters need to continue pursuit is badly damaged and needs emergency repairs. |
I haven’t charted out how all of these ideas come together, to make sure they can play together nicely. That’s the next step in turning this collection into a finished work – as well as culling my weaker ideas, adding in stronger ideas, and talking more about structure with worked examples.
I hope you’ve enjoyed this collection! If you enjoy my work here, consider becoming a Patreon backer.
You can now buy Under the Seas of Vodari in PDF!
Under the Seas of Vodari is a 300-page book that provides 5E/Fifth Edition material for both gamemasters and players to dive into a world full of action and adventure set beneath the waves of Vodari or your own campaign world. This book is a follow-up to The Seas of Vodari, a setting book filled with swashbuckling action and magical adventure. Dive into your first adventure today!
This kind of adventure generation procedure is always helpful, especially for those on-the-fly sessions or one-shots. So this is getting bookmarked for later reference. Also, more please.
I also really like that at least some of the complications don’t make the target sympathetic to the hunters. That kind of twist is the one I reach for the most and I often have trouble thinking up alternatives.
I am really glad you like this! Bulking up the targets, locations, and twists – and adding tables for the clients – is the next step for this. I think I also want a hefty section on secondary goals and personal arcs, because I think personal stories that distract the protags from, or conflict with, the current mission are a huge part of why Cowboy Bebop and The Mandalorian work.
I very much agree that the personal arcs and goals would add fun story conflict and nuance. If I might suggest, a small table connected to each of the PHB backgrounds would be a great place to start on something like that, especially if it could be presented as a nested table where a player could roll on the entire collection of arcs or just the ones connected to their background.