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Random Plot Points
A little about me as a writer, I love daydreaming about adventure stories. I usually know the general set up and larger plot points but oftentimes struggle with the how, how do characters get from point A to point B.
So, I made a list of random challenges for my characters that I look at when I’m stuck.
Sharing in case helpful to others! (intended for adventure, sci-fi, fantasy stories)
- characters are delayed/blocked/experience a natural disaster (storm, fire, flood, avalanche, earthquake, epidemic, etc) (BONUS and forced to take a detour from the original path)
- character(s) is trapped (quick sand, fall through ice, in room filling with poison, on sinking ship, in a trash compactor on the Death Star, etc) (BONUS- fall into hidden room and discover something)
- characters go to a festival/ball/party/political summit (where inevitably it all goes wrong)
- character(s) overhears a secret (at bar, at party, from a whispered conversation below them in a stairway, etc)
- characters are attacked by an animal or mysterious force
- characters(s) caught in a mob/riot
- character wins/loses something in a bet
- character is brainwashed or possessed
- character is stranded/lost
- character is poisoned
- character succumbs to injury or illness
- characters are chased/ attacked by antagonists
- character is captured or arrested (and needs to be rescued)
- character is kidnapped and kidnappers make a demand for their release (financial ransom, exchange of information, prisoner exchange, etc)
- character(s) go undercover to retrieve information
- characters decide to steal something they need for their quest (weapon, magical object, money, information, etc). (BONUS- time for a well-planned heist!)
- characters need to protect/ retrieve/ destroy something
- characters uncover a network of spies (up to you if they’re unexpected allies or antagonists)
- characters discover hidden passageway, room, ruins etc that leads to an important clue
- characters forced to hide from someone/something
- characters need to escape
- characters lured into trap set by villain (BONUS if the villain doesn’t even care who wins but only goaded them to learn how a magical object works, the extent of heroes powers, emergency response system of a government, etc)
- characters set trap for villain (BONUS- use someone or something important as bait) (if in Act 2, they fail)
- characters reveal critical information to villain in disguise
- a character is mistaken for someone else (and then is wrongfully arrested, receives information not intended for them, etc)
- characters receive help (hitch a ride, get help hiding from captors, get help escaping somewhere, etc) from an unlikely new ally
- characters forced to team up with an unlikely ally/ morally grey character, etc
- characters learn something from simple library research (an oldie but a goodie)
- characters just literally just stumble upon or witness something important (secret weapon, secret society etc)
- characters uncover a secret map/ coded message on the back of an old unassuming document (time for a classic treasure hunt!)
- someone escapes from prison (an old villain or an old ally) that changes the quest
- someone is being blackmailed (or otherwise forced to act against the protagonists)
- someone is discredited (rumor, disinformation campaign etc)
- something stolen from your characters
- something (document, magical object, money) turns out to be fake
- OR, something unassuming turns out to have special powers or meaning
- something is hacked (defense system, infrastructure, bank, private records, etc)
- something critical is attacked (important bridge, port, bank/ financial system, safehouse, capitol building, character’s familial home, etc.)
- a computer virus is unleashed
- a biological weapon is unleashed
- a piece of information the characters believed was true, is false
- an ancient myth turns out to be true
- a secret is made public
- A law is changed or a vote on a critical piece of legislation loses/wins
- a political opponent wins an election/ a political ally loses an election
- character(s) help a passerby (from raiders, local tyrant, beast, mystical force, etc)
- characters “follow the money” and realize someone who was thought to be their ally is actually working for… (crime syndicate, villain, local tyrant etc)
