Smuggling offers many opportunities for adventure, while keeping adventures well within the sword and sorcery parameters of low stakes, high action - alternatively, low world stakes but high personal stakes.
Adventurers are constantly operating outside the law. There are continual challenges and near perpetual threat and combat may well be viewed in this context as a fail state. Multiple parts to each operation, leave scope for variety of opposition, challenge and setting/terrain. Wether the campaign is set in a pseudo-medieval, modern or sci-fi setting, these things still apply.
I came up with the following potential adventures and made it into a random table, so I can roll up a twist for any given adventure. Ideally, I would set out the normal situation, the plan of the smuggling operation, and then roll to see why it doesn't go to plan.
These adventure seeds should be used alongside my Types of Shoreline post.
Roll 1d12
1. A straightforward smuggle; no untoward developments.
2. the goods are not what they seem they are (on a d6) 1 - more valuable; 2 - magical; 3 - magical and aligned with an evil power int he world; 4 - of special interrest to the Churhc/most powerful religious body; 5 - of special interest to local secular powers; 6 - of special interest to the ruling national government.
3. The gods were initially stolen and the former owners are making extensive efforts to get them back.
5. Betrayal; a member of the ganag has betrayed the smuggling gang to a rival.
6. Tip-off; someone has tipped of local law enforcement, who are expecting the shipment. Are they waiting when the contraband arrives, or do they sit back until a better 'net' is in place? Will they expect to be bribed?
7. Rivals undercut; a rival smuggling operation has already delivered similar contraband at a lower price and demand has dried up. Find new buyers.
8. Local robbers attempt to take the contraband by force.
9. Local Lord wants a cut in return for turning a blind eye.
10. A dragon hears about the cntraband and decides to take it for itself.
11. Journey becomes a general adventure: Storm, mist, becalmed, mysterious island, haunted hulk, etc.
12. Haunted goods; the contraband itself is haunted in some way.
