Continuity

You should also decide whether the
adventure needs to fit into (or kick off)
a campaign, or if it is just a “one-shot.”
In a campaign, each adventure has
to follow naturally from the last one,
and leave room for future adventures.
It also has to take the PCs into
account. If they are famous – or noto-
rious – certain NPCs should recognize
them. The adventurers should recog-
nize some of the NPCs, too, and possi-
bly some of the locations in the adven-
ture. Most importantly, the adventure
should not render the PCs unplayable
no matter what the players do . . .
because the whole point of a cam-
paign is to keep playing the same
characters!
In a one-shot adventure, however,
you have no continuity to worry
about. Future play balance is not an
issue, and neither is character sur-
vival. You can experiment with certain
death, transcendence to godhood, and
other extreme outcomes without the
risk of destroying a campaign.