Today, we'll be covering the third paragraph of the adventure plot "Lost Highway" in the book "Eureka: 501 Adventure Plots to Inspire Game Masters" by the authors of GnomeStew.com. It's a part of the "Recovery of a Lost One" dramatic situation located in the science fiction genre. In this article, I'm going to be reskinning this sci-fi adventure plot to fit the D&D 5e fantasy gaming system.
So far in this adventure design series, we focused on the first two paragraphs, reskinning them to fit a fantasy setting. First, we transformed the discovery of a mysterious AI into the uncovering of a magical scroll guarded by a faceless demon-like being, accessed through an elven wizard named Almon Wildoak.
In the second paragraph, we reinterpreted the AI’s origin (a human testing an experimental interface), to now present as the demon’s revelation that it is actually a human trapped in a mystical realm. This realm was vividly described as a deceptive yet beautiful world filled with danger and strange creatures, setting the stage for the party’s deeper involvement in helping the entity recover its lost body.
This week, we'll focus on the third paragraph, which states: "Tracking down the personal information given by the process, the PCs find records of an engineer with the correct personal information, birth date, and line of work. They’ll also find records of an accident involving the experiment that left an engineer permanently comatose."
This is where the PCs will, more than likely, go on the grand quest of discovering who this "human vessel" might be, why he was whisked away to this realm, and how the PCs might be able to help him.
We already know the "why" of his appearance in this realm: the human was experimenting with unknown magic. And he might even give the PCs some information to start them on their way. Perhaps, the entity reveals where he originally appeared, a mystical tower to the north, to which he'll gladly lead them.
Of course, on their way to the tower, there will be chaos and mayhem that could take them on side quests and battles. Just an aside, Eureka has many more plots that could be used for these side quests adding to your growing campaign.
At the tower, they could find scrolls and etchings with the human's personal information, birth place, and his profession. They could also find a scroll that explains how the human, now in demon form, could have used the magic incorrectly, which trapped him in this realm.
The PCs would have to figure out a way to help the human get back to his vessel, while also try to get back home.
Now, that we have a basis of the third paragraph for "Lost Highway", let me explain about the creatures the PCs could encounter on the way to the tower. Here is something that I've held true in my heart for a very long time: make hybrid creatures so that the players don't get bored with encounters.
In one of my adventures, I crossbred a Nightmare with a Unicorn, both found in the Dungeons & Dragons Monster Manual, designed by Christopher Perkins, and published in 2014. It was easy to do. And you have to keep the players guessing.
And then I discovered Shadowdark, written and design by Kelsey Dionne, and published in 2023. In Shadowdark, Kelsey says something that I've always had in my heart when running adventures, "Make It Weird. Adventurers fear the unknown. Keep monsters unfamiliar by adding mutations to them. Mutations can inspire new abilities or attacks. For example, you might decide a spider with wings can fly a near distance."
She has a whole table on mutations that you can add to existing monsters. It's great!
Next week, I will tackle the fourth paragraph of "Lost Highway," and continue this gruesome science-fiction by tailoring it to the fantasy genre of D&D 5e. If you're interested in follow along on this adventure design, I'll be posting one of these every Monday. Until then, keep adventuring.
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