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)
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