How to come up with adventure ideas
Sometimes you run out of ideas and need to come up with something new.
Below are some ideas to help.
Brainstorm Campaign Ideas
Steal shamelessly from media
The obvious: think of cool movies, books and video games you have seen.Ask the PCs for their ideas.
Image Searches
Do a Google search of images in the genre. I particularly like doing this for fantasy.
Here are some examples after less than five minutes of searching. Each of these would be an awesome part of a DnD or Pathfinder campaign.
Look at the image, then think of what situations would cause to exist. I particularly like the one of the girl and the dragon. Why are they friends. Is she hiding him? Is the dragon hiding her? Is the girl a PC or an NPC? If an NPC how long before they find that the girl is tied to the dragon.
Look at history
An underused well is history. There are so many things that happened in the past that are interesting enough, then add a little bit of supernatural and you can do anything.
I am about to run a mini-campaign about two dangerous lions in 1898 who potentially killed over 100 people. The story is so over the top that it actually became a move staring Val Kilmer. The story is so fantastic that it doesn't even need much embellishment.
Think of one very interesting NPC
NPCs drive your story. They determine the drama and what is available/against the PCs. Think of some very interesting NPCs then create an adventure around them. This is particularly effective if you have the NPCs repeat from week to week.
Change Adventure Type
The same ideas above can also work for adventures. But since adventures work in a smaller scale you also can try to brainstorm based on adventure format. Just like in music there are really only a few rythmns that are just used in various combinations to form an infinite number of songs; there are really only a few adventure types.
Most GMs only use two or three of these in their campaigns because they know how to do it well. Try branching out and do something different.
Pick a format and see how you can frame it in your campaign.
Investigation and mystery solving
Social interactions (confrontational, persuasive, leadership)
Exploration, discovery, and the unknown
Political situations, dealing with leaders and rulers
“High Action” (chases, bar fights, etc.)
Combat (many small fights, “boss” battles, mass combat)
Infiltration and stealth action
Being heroes vs. being mercenaries vs. being duty-bound
Capers, heists, and other “crime” elements
Having a home base vs. campaign on the road
Interacting with history and historical elements
Responsibility, accountability, repercussions for their actions
Fame, glory, notoriety, acknowledgement
Lone-wolf action vs. team dynamics
Any sort of favorite enemies or the use of a theme enemy
Taken from http://www.rpgalchemy.com/alchemists-guide-to-campaign-design-phase-one/
This is another good list that comes with twists.
http://www222.pair.com/sjohn/blueroom/plots.htm
