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ondonaflash
2009-04-29, 07:32 PM
I like reading other people's plot hooks, and I like to share my own, so I thought it might be cool for DMs to post their favorite plot hooks here, to share with others, Of course if you're going to post you should be aware that other people might use these ideas in their game.

A few I pulled from Myth-Weave's Generator that I like with a few modifications are:

"An assassin hired to kill you has fallen in love with your party's paladin. At first she expresses this love by sending him small trinkets, and little gifts, but as time goes on you start receiving gifts in the oddest of places, new weapons left in his hands while he sleeps... in dungeons... despite the watch you posted, magical arrows are delivered in the backs of enemies who attempt to ambush you... it becomes disturbingly apparent that the Assassin is following and watching you."

"A letter in a language none of the party members can read has been found pinned to your bedroll after resting. The words appear to be written in blood."

This one is my own:

"A tower of legend, said to appear every millenia or so has erupted from the sands of a nearby desert. The legends tell of heroes who explored the tower and found great wealth and power, but the legends also tell of those who have died, horribly, entering the tower with trepidation you look around and find... a perfectly ordinary and completely uninhabited tower..."

evil-frosty
2009-04-29, 08:01 PM
I like the classics for instance goblin horde is threatening the village and some cult is assassinating people trying to rez a god i like those kind because they are good. Though i hate where an old man comes to you in a tavern and asks you for help, though this can be made interesting.

For instance I am in a game my dad is running, the party is hanging around in our tavern and this old sea-faring captain dude comes in and says he has some information about some slavers we busted earlier but never finished off so as he is telling us yuan-ti come and try to kill him. Very fun battle. WE managed to keep him alive even though he only had 5 hits, sorta of a miracle seeing fireballs were being thrown around like no tomorrow.

Calinero
2009-04-29, 08:55 PM
I've been meaning to begin a game with a typical "goblins are nearby, help us kill them" plot, but then twist it in a move inspired by me reading the Goblins webcomic. The goblins are actually good, and the person who hired you is a corrupt official in the town who wants their land. The party accidentally kills some of their elderly/children, and has to deal with the wrath of a very angry goblin shaman.

RavKal
2009-04-29, 09:10 PM
In my current campaign the group is part of a mercenary group which has been hired to take out orcs so that the main country doesn't have to fight a two-front war.

Later in the game (which uses time travel for funzies) the group is going to be on their way to a meeting of the nation's leaders, when a train (which has been buried underground) breaks out of the earth, flies through the air, and crashes into the building containing all the world leaders, exploding on impact. The group will find an illusion of the BBEG (who they thought they had stopped) laughing as the fires burn.

Thane of Fife
2009-04-29, 09:18 PM
I like reading other people's plot hooks, and I like to share my own, so I thought it might be cool for DMs to post their favorite plot hooks here, to share with others, Of course if you're going to post you should be aware that other people might use these ideas in their game.

Perhaps check out Strolen's Citadel (http://www.strolen.com/)? It's pretty much a repository for these sorts of things.

Saph
2009-04-29, 09:21 PM
For a starting level 1 adventure I usually use the 'mercenary' plot hook. Your characters need money and XP, so you go looking for jobs.

It's simple, effective, and puts the initiative in the hands of the players, rather than having them sit around waiting for something to happen.

- Saph

Theodoriph
2009-04-29, 09:29 PM
You're in a bar. Captain Hook walks up to you and says:

"Arr, Peter, have I got a plot for ye!"

Graymayre
2009-04-29, 09:52 PM
-A slew of viscious murders have gripped the normally calm city of [insert]. The style of death changes with every killing, as does the suspect. Yet, those charged with the crime always appear to be a close friend or family member of the most recently deceased.

-During the day, the coastal city of [insert] appears like any other. However, at night, fog rolls into ensnare the town. Mysterious runes, that only appear in moonlight, cover every inch of the city-scape; and horrid creatures squeeze out of the darkest corners during this forboding twilight.

-Once per month, like clockwork, plague ships have been coming to the city of [insert] for food and water. It is always given to them, but some more irreputable sources claim that there is something else being stored in the crates that are taken away.

Glimbur
2009-04-29, 10:25 PM
"I need a volunteer to be the nephew. You? Alright, your uncle died recently. You're coming in to town to inherit his estate. The rest of you can be townsfolk or his sisters or younger brothers. His uncle had some daughters... anyone want to be them? Alright, you've all got families. Now, pursue your goal. If you haven't picked one, I suggest getting married off."

Might be unusual for a 3.5 adventure, but completely reasonable for Wuthering Heights.

chiasaur11
2009-04-29, 11:08 PM
An Ork has a pie you want.

Kill him and take the pie.

A classic if there ever was one.

Archpaladin Zousha
2009-04-29, 11:22 PM
In my current campaign, the PCs come from very disparate backgrounds, and all were magically transported to a collection of demiplanes where a sport called The Games has been going on for generations. The PCs are new players in The Games, and only by satisfying the challenges of the inscrutible Masters who control the Games can they figure out the mysteries behind their conscription, and hopefully find a way to escape.

Oracle_Hunter
2009-04-29, 11:58 PM
I've been using this one to kick off campaigns lately:
[Town Leader] has sent out a call for adventurers to take care of raids by [monster]. But when you get to [Town] you see that there's a lot more going on than that.
Mainly 'cause it works for parties that are assembled for generic mercenary/adventuring purposes - and because it puts the PCs in one place they can get to know and have sustained relationships with NPCs.

But really, you can't beat the classic "OMG! [important person] has been kidnapped by [BBEG]! Are you a bad enough dude (http://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/Main/BadDudes) to rescue the [title]?" :smallbiggrin:

The_JJ
2009-04-30, 12:11 AM
I must say that I like the 'caravan needs escort' hook. The potencial is boundless, really. Attacked by bandits, romance the pretty gypsie girls, each new toown on the stop is a new adventure. It lets the PC's have a constant stable of well defined NPC's around them at all times to grow to care about and save, which they always like, but also lets you take them on a tour of new and intresting places whenever they get antsy.

ondonaflash
2009-04-30, 03:19 AM
I don't know, all these plot hooks seem rather tame...

What if rather than, say, the PCs hired on to escort the caravan...

"The PCs spend the night at a cross-roads in. When they awaken they find that they are crammed with dozens of other people, in cages traveling the road. They are devoid of weapons and armor, wearing only cheap woolen clothing. They recognize the leader of the caravan as a patron from the Inn the night before."

Do they attempt to break out right where they are? make a run for it at the next town? Lead a rebellion against their captors? Who can say?

-or-

"The PCs are weary from the road, having traveled a long distance. They stop to rest at the next town, only to become aware of a disturbing silence. Searching the town they find nothing. No corpses, no livestock, no tracks. What they do find is food in midst of preparation, tools lying in fields with traces of dew on them, and harnesses and crops in the middle of town. Should they decide to travel from the village they find three others along the road in an identical state."

Myou
2009-04-30, 04:27 AM
One of the three lords (lord A) of the city has been killed, displeasure at the new democratic system that he forced through from one of the other two lords (B&C) (who planned to pass their posts on to their sons) and mafia assassins are rumoured to be behind it, but no-one can prove anything. What's more, the don is standing for election to replace the killed lord - and standing unopposed, since no-one dares run against him.

I'm currently using that.

Also, a few twists I want to throw in;

The lord who vocally opposed the new system (B) is innocent, the lord who welcomed it with open arms (C) when (A) introduced it is in fact the culprit, as his son secretly joined the mob and the mob and the lord have been working together to eliminate the three-leader system and rule together.

The mob are actually being manipulated however, by a Dread Necromancer who wants them to destabilise the city and leave in vulnerable so that he can attack and destroy it, supplying him with a fresh army of corpses (some very high level too) and allowing him to plunder the valauble resouces and magic items there. He then plans on marching on the the next city, and so on.

The sorcerer is actually the big bad from the previous arc, who was then too tough to beat but was caught in an explosion. He's also straight out of a PCs backstory.

Since I'm away from my notes and can't recall all the names, I hope that wasn't too confusing.

Satyr
2009-04-30, 04:50 AM
When I create plot, it is normally setting-specifc, not character specifc. The microlelvel of the character plot derives pretty easily from the macro level of the overall setting events, and frankly, the setting as a whole is generally more important than a bunch of individuals, even when these individuals are player characters.

For the larger plot, I normally take lesser known episodes from history and adjust them to the specific setting. The current events in one of my campaigns are for example based on the iconoclasm uprises in the Byzantine Empire, where the players slowly move between the fronts of the conflict.

Athaniar
2009-04-30, 05:02 AM
:roy:Gather 10 Vermiform Appendices from Goblin Mooks.
:roy:Good work! Now talk to Bob, who is standing right behind me.
:elan:Good work! Now gather 15 Lateral Incisors from Goblin Henchmen.

Nah, just kidding. My favorite kinds of plot hooks are most often the real epic ones, those involving ancient empires, imprisoned gods, demonic invasions, and such.

Oracle_Hunter
2009-04-30, 07:20 AM
I don't know, all these plot hooks seem rather tame...
Oh, I thought you wanted our favorite (read: most reliable) plot hooks. If you wanted the most awesome plot hooks...

"The party has been assembled by the agents of the King to go to the domain of the BBEG and kill him once and for all. However, each PC has a secret motivation for wanting to go on this quest - and those motivations may conflict. Oh, and one of the PCs - secretly a traitor."

Myou
2009-04-30, 09:52 AM
Oh, I thought you wanted our favorite (read: most reliable) plot hooks. If you wanted the most awesome plot hooks...

"The party has been assembled by the agents of the King to go to the domain of the BBEG and kill him once and for all. However, each PC has a secret motivation for wanting to go on this quest - and those motivations may conflict. Oh, and one of the PCs - secretly a traitor."

That's not a great plot hook if you want your PCs to trust eachother and work together. It's pretty likely to lead to inter-party conflict, unless you tell the traitor PC exactly how to run his characer, which makes it no fun.

But if you want inter-party conflict that sounds good. :3

stupidmonkey
2009-04-30, 11:30 AM
One of my players helped start the best in our old group...
I hadn't had time to come up with a new adventure due to work and so my group was killing time just outside town resting up.
When the Ranger trapped a squirrel in a snare, my room mate's character used a ventriliquist spell to make the squirrel "give" a prophecy regarding a lost secret and treasure yadda yadda yadda at a nearby abandoned mine.

I ran with that and faked my way through a four level dungeon (flipping the monster manual to random pages works rather well sometimes). It was the oddest adventure we had had i nawhile, but it was fun. And the squirrel (whom they thought was holy and carried around the entire time) somehow ascended to godhood just for laughs. 2 of the players even converted to worshipping it.

Dienekes
2009-04-30, 12:04 PM
Pretty basic one, that I'm surprised no one has said yet (sorry if I missed it)

Each player lives in a city, knowing each other is optional. City is invaded by orcs, or elves, or dwarves, or whatever army you want.

I like this because it can be played differently for each level of gamers. Low levelers try to survive, and band together creating a resistance, or escape from the city. Or get out of the good ole slave pits. Mid levelers can carry out missions to deter parts of the army like attacking the caravans and maybe going on an assassination mission. High levelers can directly try and stop the army.

Oracle_Hunter
2009-04-30, 01:47 PM
That's not a great plot hook if you want your PCs to trust eachother and work together. It's pretty likely to lead to inter-party conflict, unless you tell the traitor PC exactly how to run his characer, which makes it no fun.

But if you want inter-party conflict that sounds good. :3
Feh, trust needs to be earned - this is for times when you really want your PCs to sweat out some RP; if everyone knows the other PC has some sort of secret agenda then they are all going to get to know each other very well :smallamused:

Thajocoth
2009-04-30, 02:15 PM
I've only run one campaign thus far. What I did was:

PCs enter an inn separately. They might not know one another yet. Everyone who passes this inn stays here because it's exactly one day's travel on the path from a big city. The innkeeper is a Goblin and guarding the door are a pair of Orcs. Roll initiative and enter the inn in the the order you rolled, describing your character, and have a seat somewhere.

They do that...

Ok, now a pair of Human Paladins from the nearby city kick the door in. One is holding and tosses forward the head of one of the inn's guards. She starts making demands to interrogate everyone in the inn.

During banter between Paladins and Innkeeper, it's made clear that the Paladins have no intention of leaving survivors, so the innkeeper finally tosses a Molotov at them, doing some fire damage and yells for assistance. To protect themselves, the PCs have to join together and fight this threat. The innkeeper then asks the players to go to the nearby city and ask them what that attack was all about, as the city's paladins have been helping to protect this inn for three generations.

Myou
2009-04-30, 04:11 PM
Feh, trust needs to be earned - this is for times when you really want your PCs to sweat out some RP; if everyone knows the other PC has some sort of secret agenda then they are all going to get to know each other very well :smallamused:

You and I run very different games. xD

And yet, the idea intrigues me. :o
Maybe I'll do some sort of mini-campaign.

ondonaflash
2009-04-30, 04:43 PM
When I create plot, it is normally setting-specifc, not character specifc. The microlelvel of the character plot derives pretty easily from the macro level of the overall setting events, and frankly, the setting as a whole is generally more important than a bunch of individuals, even when these individuals are player characters.

For the larger plot, I normally take lesser known episodes from history and adjust them to the specific setting. The current events in one of my campaigns are for example based on the iconoclasm uprises in the Byzantine Empire, where the players slowly move between the fronts of the conflict.

Okay for Global scale Plots: This one is less of a hook and more of a campaign in and of itself but...

"The time of prophecy has arrived, two beings must do battle to determine the fate of the world, your party has been chosen by powers divine to protect and guide one of the champions to the field where they are destined to do battle."

Its a bit cliched but you can add all sorts of personal angles to it.

Here's one I tailored to my own party, our cleric is a worshiper of the god of disasters, our paladin is a paladin of freedom:

"The god of disasters is displeased, he feels he is not properly respected. He orders his cleric to go into the next town and warn of a disaster, offering protection to those who tithe in his name. To those who do not, death shall be their reward."

Totally Guy
2009-04-30, 05:12 PM
I like to take the hatch plot from Lost.

There is a dungeon, and inside there is someone that carries out some task every so many days to prevent some event from occurring.

With the arrival of the party the balance is changed as the steward of this mechanism wants to interact with the invaders. Motives for this character can be totally flexible.

In D&D this plot was about tomb in which a lich was regenerating and a paladin killed it over and over.

I WoD this plot was about a secret bunker that housed a secret room in which a vampire was sustained in torpor by her manipulative vampire brother, but he'd long since died a final death. The steward character used this secret responsibility to justify his vampiric actions as part of a greater good. Then he gave this responsibility to a neonate that needed to find justification for his own evil deeds, as a gift.

Gnorman
2009-04-30, 05:41 PM
I'm a big fan of plot hooks involving Aberrations or Fey. Neither of them get used nearly enough - not exactly standard fantasy fare.

The Mindflayers of Thoon are practically a campaign unto themselves.

I started one campaign by having children mysteriously drained of blood and left in a town square overnight, and then the town lord (a paladin) has his own son go missing. He's hoping to prevent the same fate, so he hires the PCs to investigate the murders.

Turns out it's a bunch of sadistic redcaps drinking the children's blood.

I kind of disturbed the party fighter. He was expecting something a little more... comfortable. It was fun. He really wanted to kill those redcaps.

Choco
2009-04-30, 05:51 PM
An easy one sure to get any PC's attention:

Either on their travels or perhaps at the very beginning of the campaign, the PC's discover that the world is dying, falling apart, or will soon be destroyed by <insert person, god, event, etc. here>, either way the end is in fact VERY near. Now what are ya gonna do about it?

SuperFish
2009-04-30, 07:25 PM
An insane idea I've had stuck in my mind for a while is to recreate the plot of Perfect Cherry Blossom (http://http://touhou.wikia.com/wiki/Perfect_Cherry_Blossom), seventh game of the Touhou shooting series, into a series of adventures, up to and including both Extra stages.

Probably never going to happen, though.

Oracle_Hunter
2009-04-30, 07:26 PM
You and I run very different games. xD

And yet, the idea intrigues me. :o
Maybe I'll do some sort of mini-campaign.
Full disclosure: this is the plot hook for the Indie Game: The Mountain Witch (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Mountain_Witch)

It is a lot of fun, since you don't even know your Secret Motivation when you're making your character - the DM hands them out blind at the start of the game; he doesn't know your Secret Motivation either :smallbiggrin:

But you could totally use it in any system. If the players know "the rules" beforehand, it usually turns out well.