House Rules and Habits- The First Adventure

Creating the first adventure in a new Victoriana campaign is a very daunting task to me, and I imagine most Gamemasters feel the same way. There is no momentum, no clue how the new Player Characters are going to mesh, no obvious starting point and that’s just the start of the headache.

Fortunately, the slate isn’t completely blank. The Skills, Talents, Assets, Privileges, and Complications the players give their characters tell the Gamemaster how the players want to solve their problems and what sorts of problems they want to encounter. A brief examination of the character sheet can inspire themes, obstacles, locations, and starting points of the adventure.

Most obviously, players want to solve problems utilizing their PC’s highest skills. They paid the points at character creation so they want to use those skills the most. Take the hint and make those skills important in the first adventure. This is even more important and helpful to GMs formulating the first adventure if the skill doesn’t come up very often. When the players max out the Legal Matters and Accounting skills that should lead to more interesting and specific investigations. Is the mysterious money that keeps arriving in the mail embezzled from the crime boss? Does anyone know when would be the easiest time to free a friend from police custody?

Similarly, Talents like Eidetic Memory and Drink like a Fish suggest alternative problem-solving methods.

Assets can be very helpful because they give the GM resources that the PC’s care about. For example, if a PC takes the Shop or Barge Asset, the GM has a starting location for the adventure. They are all on the barge when something strange swims past. The butcher next door to the PC’s shop thinks’ his assistant is acting suspicious.
The same goes for Privileges. If a PC takes the Gang Member Privilege, the lucky GM has an entire criminal gang in play. What rumor did they hear? What is the rival gang up to? What strange danger stalks their territory? This doesn’t mean the Gamemaster should endanger these resources in the first adventure. They should be integrated into the story, not negated. That’s important to keep in mind.

Building an adventure around PC Complications requires a bit more care and tact. You don’t want their flaws to be pulled up again and again in the first adventure, but you can add flavor by putting a few specific obstacles tailored to these qualities. Phobias work nicely this way. If a PC is afraid of dogs, throw in a watchdog, or task them with tracking down a lost dog. Other Complications such as Rebel, Watched, or Theological Debate set up antagonists which could be behind the inciting incident starting the adventure. The office of a heretical publisher of religious tracts has been ransacked, or the police have a fellow member of the rebellion trapped on a rooftop.

Finally and most helpfully, every PC starts with Contacts, people they know who are willing to help out on occasion. These are fantastically useful for planning a starting adventure. If a Contact comes to their PC for help, the player is already invested and excited to see their GM use an NPC they made.

A canny GM could make an adventure by picking two or three of these elements inspired by the PCs and seeing what evolves out of mixing them together. Best of all, the PCs have both a personal attachment to the problem and the pertinent skill to solve it.