Legend of Zelda Style Adventure Creation

Looking at the Legend of Zelda series, a game master can see an excellent model for building individual adventures. I call this model: the temple system, after the name that most of the individual levels in the Legend of Zelda series. The whole system can be described quickly with the following map, derived from the common traits of most of the temples that Link must traverse in the Legend of Zelda Series.

Templesystem.png Temple System
By examining this map, a game master can quickly see how to lay out any adventure, whether a standard dungeon crawl such of the Legend of Zelda temples, or a political meeting at the UN assembly, or a dinner party between Vampire Princes, or a car chase adventure through the abandoned streets of old Chicago (or current Chicago depending upon the game)- all without any difficulty.

The map makes the Temple System look as though it is designed just for dungeon crawls, but the rooms that the map displays are in fact nothing more than events, moments in the plot designed to move the story (and the player characters if they are skillful enough) towards the final resolution.

The Call to Adventure
The Temple System begins with the Call to Adventure, as any Adventure must. The players must have the chance to Refuse the Call, or else the adventure is not fair. This chance does not have to be spelled out. If Godzilla attacked New York while the player characters were visiting, they can refuse the call and simply hide in their hotel- or they can answer the call by trying to do something. This is also a chance for the players to buy gear and get ready for the adventure.

The Refusal of the Call
Unlike a Campaign, the Refusal of the Call comes before the meeting with the Mentor. In a self-contained adventure, the mentor is a series of hints within the adventure itself rather than a guiding figure (although it may be if necessary). This is because if the story is part of a campaign, the characters will already have a mentor, and if the adventure is simply a self-contained moment in time for the characters, then a full mentor isn't necessary. If the players refuse the call, then as with a campaign, they must deal with the consequences of the refusal. However, if the call is a weak call, using the Temple System, the Game Master can simply create a new adventure for the players to hurl their characters at as they choose.

The Mentor
The Mentor, in a self-contained adventure, is the initial information given to the heroes. This may be a scrawled warning on a wall that becomes relevant only much later. This may be an interactive computer A.I., that answers questions as best it can given its damaged state. It may be telepathic sigils on the walls that connect the heroes to the wise man in town when touched (as in one the Legend of Zeld games). The important point is to give the player characters enough information to get through, but no enough to be obvious. It is important, however, to be more obvious than you would like to- because what seems obvious to somebody in possession of all the facts is often very mysterious to somebody with almost none of the facts.

The First Threshold
The first third or so of the adventure should be the First Threshold- an is analogous to the Mentor's quest in a Campaign. This is a series of puzzles, challenges, and so forth that will give the player characters the power (or item, or key, or knowledge, or influence etc...) necessary to address the rest of their mission. A person cannot become a doctor without a medical degree. Once they have that degree they have a host of options if they wish to continue studying and specialize. The would be doctor cannot start by specializing however. This is premise of the first threshold. a series of challenges to show the players the way the game is played in this dungeon, while at the same time rewarding them with access to the rest of the adventure.

The Second Threshold
The Second Threshold is presented (and only presented) immediately after the first threshold. The player characters should be unable to cross the second threshold until they deal with a series of challenges that provide them, upon completion, with the ability to address the second threshold.

Tests, Allies, Enemies and Trials
These challenges are known as Tests, Allies, Enemies and Trials. Each of these names applies to a type of general challenge that should be included in each adventure. A Test is a challenge that must be addressed by skill and intelligence. Allies are challenges are completed to gain allies- usually by sacrificing something on the potential ally's behalf. Enemies are challenges that can only be passed by defeating an enemy in some sort of direct contest. Trials are challenges that must be survived and endured rather than solved of defeated. By including each of these and intermingling them, a good Game Master can make an adventure that is complex and appears to have taken a great deal of planning and preparation.

The innermost Cave
By completing the challenges in Tests, Allies, Enemies and Trials; the Player Characters pass the Second Threshold and gain access to the Innermost Cave. The Innermost Cave will be the final challenge and it will require everything that the Player Characters have acquired up to this point. The final conflict should be prepared to include a turn around, that will put the players at a disadvantage. The information of the mentor is often the answer to how to deal with the reversal, but it may be something from one of the challenges or even something from another adventure if this is part of an ongoing campaign. The point is not to use the same thing every time. It is important to play the reversal carefully. If every opponent fights with some level of creativity, then it will not be surprising when the final boss does as well.

The Reward and the Road Back
Passing through the Innermost Cave, the player receive their Reward.

An optional component (don't use it every time) is The Road Back, Indiana Jones style- a desperate flight from a giant rolling boulder, or a race from a collapsing grail temple, or a race through caverns in a mine cart. In other words: a final chase scene to the exit. It can be great fun, but don't use it every time.