Little D&D: Don't Push the Button!
This adventure probably ranks among the sillier ideas I've tried when it comes to putting together kid-focused adventurers. The genesis for it was simple. I found myself wondering, one day, how likely it would be that my kids would push a button if I told them not to. That quickly grew into, "I wonder how long it would take a bunch of adventurers to push a button if I told them not to!" From the improv antics this quest involved to the silly "Evil Fluffy Kitten" enemy at its end, I think this was a really fun little adventure!
Centuries ago, a terrible beast plagued the lands. Unable to defeat it outright, the heroes of the time sealed it inside a pocket dimension using a portal crafted by a powerful wizard.
Once the portal was completed, however, the heroes decided to be cheap and tried to haggle their way out of paying the wizard’s full fee. Angered by the insolence, the wizard came up with a unique punishment for the cheapskate heroes:
He created a special, unmovable button that anyone could use to free the trapped monster at any time. All it would take was one push and the monster would be free of its dimensional prison.
Realizing they couldn’t leave the portal unguarded, they resolved to take turns defending the button and the portal. With time other adventurers joined in and with time an entire town grew up around the portal. The village of Portal Town.
The Player Characters (PCs) have stopped for a rest in Portal Town. As is customary for all visitors, they PCs have been asked to take a shift guarding the button for a few days.
All they need to do is make sure NOBODY PUSHES THE BUTTON.
The Button
Unfortunately for the PCs, the universe seems bent on pushing the button today. Their guard shift will also happen to include the worst streak of bad luck they’ve ever experienced. One thing after another will happen, threatening to push the button if the PCs don’t intervene. The Game Master (GM) can roll a D6 to choose a “button threat” from the table below.
1 | A young boy comes through, offering to sell the PCs apples he has in a basket. He trips and falls, sending his apples flying. It looks like one of the apples is going to hit the button! |
2 | A bird flies overhead and poops. The droppings look as though they’re going to hit the button! |
3 | A dance troupe sets up their practice in front of the portal. Midway through a very complicated dance, one of them trips and stumbles. They’re on a crash course for the button! |
4 | The PCs hear a loud booming sound. They look up into the sky and see a meteorite crashing toward the ground, straight toward the button! |
5 | A little baby chick comes trotting out “peeping” around the area near the button. It gets closer and closer until it suddenly hops into the air and tries to land on the button. |
6 | Two wizards start up a magical snowball fight. Snowballs are being tossed everywhere nilly willy! They’re getting pretty close to the button. |
If the PCs can stop five different button threats, their shift will end and the village leader will thank them with a reward. If, for any reason, the button gets pushed…
The Beast
The GM can read the following:
A loud crackling sound snaps through the air. Clouds fill the sky above, dimming the sun like a solar eclipse. Energy starts to spin inside the stone portal, creating a ring of magical power that opens into a bright doorway. Smoke seeps out of the portal like fog, choking your lungs and burning your eyes. A shape emerges from the glowing magical ring - small, white, and… fluffy?
The PCs will discover that the terrible beast appears to be your run of the mill cat! Anyone who tries to interact with the cat, however, will discover that its reputation as a monster of legend is true. It is actually incredibly powerful, and will attack the second anything provokes it. The GM should choose a monster of their preference to serve as the basis for the Beast Cat.
Conclusion
If the PCs can prevent the button from being pushed, the village leader will pay them a reward for their efforts. The leader will do the same if the Beast Cat is freed and they’re able to defeat it.
Should the Beast Cat be freed and defeat the PCs? The village leader can still reward them, but their attitude toward the party should be much more bitter.
Ex: You wake up to find the town in ruins! The cat is nowhere to be found. The village leader, seeing that you’re conscious approaches you, a bitter look on their face. They drop a pouch of coins at your feet. “I suppose you tried,” they say. “Thanks for nothing!”