The First Threshold

The First Threshold is where everything changes. In Japanese style RPG video game, this is generally where the story ceases to be so obviously on rails, or where you get your first vehicle to explore the world.

The Threshold is the first major challenge, the initiation into the campaign.

==The First Adventure ==

This is the first major adventure of the campaign. Until this point, much of what has happened has been in reaction. The characters are answering or refusing calls, the characters are running from danger or the consequences of refusing a call, and in general they are on the defensive.

The First adventure is the point at which the players have a moment to take the offensive and point their characters towards the goal line and start working towards the prize.

=== Major Objective===

What is the immediate goal of the adventure?

Roll for the Objective
 * 1) Information
 * 2) Vital Ally
 * 3) Vital item
 * 4) Leverage
 * 5) Location
 * 6) Training
 * 7) Escape
 * 8) Survival
 * 9) Remove Villain
 * 10) Clear Name

=== Major Purpose===

How will the adventure bring the characters closer to the campaign objective? This section does not have a random roll and should be decided by the Game Master based upon the ultimate goal of the campaign and the Major Objective of the adventure itself.

=== Major Opposition===

What stands in the heroes' way of completing the adventure? The mentor's quest is the first Threshold, and as a result the first Threshold Guardian should be the final obstacle of the First Adventure.

Type of Threshold Guardian will determine a large part of the opposition for this segment of the adventure.

Threshold Guardian/Mentor: The Trainer

The Threshold Guardian/Mentor is the Trainer, the character who will train the player characters through the challenge that he or she gives them. This character is not an enemy, but an ally that is bringing the characters to a new level that they need to reach in order to complete their final mission.

Threshold Guardian/Shadow: The Taunting Villain or Sub-Villain

There are two types of Threshold Guardian/Shadow characters: The Taunting Villain and Sub-Villain. The Taunting Villain is the Major Villain as a sub-boss. The Players may succeed to a certain extent, such as by delaying the villain or by surviving long enough to draw out authorities or unwanted attention. The purpose of such an encounter is to point out how outmatched the characters are by the villain. The Sub-Villain, is a lieutenant of the Major Villain and should be difficult enough to show the characters how scary the Major Villain must be.

Threshold Guardian/Ally: The Unconvinced Newcomer

The Unconvinced Newcomer is an essential ally, somebody that the characters need on their side in order to complete the Campaign Mission. The Purpose of the mission is to then convince the Unconvinced Newcomer to join their cause through the successful completion of the Major Objective.

Threshold Guardian/Trickster: The Sphinx

The Sphinx is a character designed to test the player by tricking and confusing them. The passing of the Threshold in this case is in deciphering the confusing messages of the Guardian. Such as guardian will NEVER lie, but will be obtuse and oblique and indirect in their hints and answers. This character is here to make certain that only people of the proper caliber continue to the next stage of the quest.

Opposition
Once it is clear what type of guardian the Characters will be facing, then the Game Master can establish what kind of opposition will appear. The type of Threshold guardian will in part dictate a certain amount of the opposition, but this is easily combined with the general opposition of the adventure. An Unconvinced Newcomer will need something to persuade them either of the Player Character's competence or of the worthiness of the cause- but to gain such proof could require the players to overcome any of the opposition listed below. Han Solo was an Unconvinced Newcomer that Luke and Obi-Won Kenobi needed to leave Tatooine. Han Solo needed proof that their cause would be of benefit to him, which transformed a persuasive challenge into an economic one that Luke solved by selling his speeder. Combining the standard opposition of the character type with another opposition type will make adventures more interesting and varied.

Roll for Opposition
 * 1) Bureaucratic
 * 2) Persuasive
 * 3) Military
 * 4) Force
 * 5) Deception
 * 6) Political
 * 7) Legal
 * 8) Special Power
 * 9) Social
 * 10) Geographic

=== Complicator===

How can the end of the adventure raise the stakes for the characters? Roll for Complicator
 * 1) The characters come to the Villain's attention
 * 2) The characters make an enemy
 * 3) The characters transform an enemy into a lifelong nemesis
 * 4) The characters discover an additional requirement to finish the campaign mission
 * 5) The characters discover an additional time element that reduces available time
 * 6) The characters lose a vital ally, item, or other element necessary for the Campaign Mission
 * 7) The characters discover an additional limiting condition acting against them- such as a law, or distance, or similar
 * 8) The characters discover a potentially disastrous consequence to completing a major element of the campaign mission
 * 9) The characters discover that they must make a major sacrifice of some sort in order to complete that stage of the campaign mission
 * 10) The characters discover that they need to improve their skills significantly in order to finish the campaign mission