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Shinizak
2009-08-16, 10:51 PM
Interesting adventures are what keep players coming back, and a repeated battle process works only once. Unfortunately I'm out of ideas any suggestions or past games you'd like to share (especially for low levels)

Kallisti
2009-08-16, 10:53 PM
You could buy/check out a module. They come with adventures that are very detailed and often even quite good.

I'd be more help if I knew more about your game (the flavor, where the players are now, etc.)...

Shinizak
2009-08-16, 11:03 PM
We have a rogue, a ranger, a cleric, a monk, and a druid all at level 1 and waiting to be played. I just need ideas for starting up the game (and then ideas for later on) so I'm not really looking for a "tell me what to do" thread, but more of a "what do you think is cool" thread.

evil-frosty
2009-08-16, 11:04 PM
You could change around the terrain to things more unusual. Change fluff on monsters, change there physical appearance (help them in combat somehow?). Use unusual monsters that the party hasnt faced yet. Weird motivations for the big bad guy could work too

Kallisti
2009-08-16, 11:17 PM
You could change around the terrain to things more unusual. Change fluff on monsters, change there physical appearance (help them in combat somehow?). Use unusual monsters that the party hasnt faced yet. Weird motivations for the big bad guy could work too

One game I was in, in a cavern we fought these weird mushroom things that no-one recognized, and it was awesome. Turns out they were re-fluffed mummies.

But it sounds like you're looking for plot hooks, just something to spark your imagination. At level one, they won't be able to take very much...

Hmmm.

Perhaps goblins, the iconic low-level monster, kidnapped a person from the village/town/generic podunk, and the PC's are out to rescue her. But--she's actually in league with the goblins, deceiving the villagers, because [insert plot here], and, because [plot], the PC's are inclined to be sympathetic towards them (they had good reasons to deceive the villagers: they had to do it because [plot]).

If you can't think of anything to put in as [plot], then I can probably make something up.

Sorry if the above sounds stupid. It's a little late for me to be writing Stream of Consciousness, while trying not to insert critical plot details because you want ideas, not instructions.

Usually, if my players are bored, I throw them for a loop. Adventures that have plot twists, clues they don't understand (yet), etc. If they're bored of hack-and-slash, then I give them a puzzle to solve, or a situation that hinges on their ability to roleplay their way out of a tight spot (At a wedding, for example...the wedding of an Orcish prince in a tribe of relatively civilized orcs...who are very touchy about manners...and then when somebody makes a mistake...)

Gan The Grey
2009-08-16, 11:27 PM
I'm always really big on the mindscrew-type stories.

Take for example the campaign I'm about to run. The party hails from a town that was entirely destroyed by marauding demons. No one knows exactly why the demons attacked, but there are rumors that the town leaders were charged long ago with protecting a piece of a very evil artifact. When the demons attacked, only the PCs survived, and were discovered and rescued by an angelic-type entity.

The angelic-type entity took them to its hidden citadel deep in the mountains, and told them it was out trying to collect the pieces of these evil artifacts to destroy them once and for all. The angel dude claims that humanity has been attempting to exploit the powerful evil energies associated with the artifacts for their own evil purposes....hence angel dude comes to collect and destroy them. As the PCs are indebted to this angel, they decide to further his cause by helping to find said artifact pieces.

Mindscrew - the angel is actually the BBEG. The PC were once leaders of the destroyed town, and yes, they were RESEARCHING their piece of the evil artifact, when the BBEG sent a horde of demons down on the town to take it from them. When the PCs foiled his plan (town still destroyed) he kidnapped their injured selfs and mindraped them to nothingness (back to level 1) and convinced them to work for and be faithful to him. With powerful illusions, he and his citadel appears to be angelic type beings. At lower levels, this isn't a problem, but the PCs will soon discover his ruse....

I got some of the ideas for this from GiTP forums. I see alot of potential for this story...

Kallisti
2009-08-16, 11:42 PM
I'm always really big on the mindscrew-type stories.

Take for example the campaign I'm about to run. The party hails from a town that was entirely destroyed by marauding demons. No one knows exactly why the demons attacked, but there are rumors that the town leaders were charged long ago with protecting a piece of a very evil artifact. When the demons attacked, only the PCs survived, and were discovered and rescued by an angelic-type entity.

The angelic-type entity took them to its hidden citadel deep in the mountains, and told them it was out trying to collect the pieces of these evil artifacts to destroy them once and for all. The angel dude claims that humanity has been attempting to exploit the powerful evil energies associated with the artifacts for their own evil purposes....hence angel dude comes to collect and destroy them. As the PCs are indebted to this angel, they decide to further his cause by helping to find said artifact pieces.

Mindscrew - the angel is actually the BBEG. The PC were once leaders of the destroyed town, and yes, they were RESEARCHING their piece of the evil artifact, when the BBEG sent a horde of demons down on the town to take it from them. When the PCs foiled his plan (town still destroyed) he kidnapped their injured selfs and mindraped them to nothingness (back to level 1) and convinced them to work for and be faithful to him. With powerful illusions, he and his citadel appears to be angelic type beings. At lower levels, this isn't a problem, but the PCs will soon discover his ruse....

I got some of the ideas for this from GiTP forums. I see alot of potential for this story...

It would make a freakin' awesome campaign, and I like it, but the OP wanted a little help with an adventure, not a campaign.

On the other hand, it's awesome, so for all I know he'll just steal that.

Gan The Grey
2009-08-17, 12:08 AM
Like Kallisti was saying, refluffing monsters is awesome. Take the Lathered Goblins, for example. They emerge from their tunnels covered from head to toe in a viscous black sap. They use no weapons, instead attacking with fingers that have been chewed down to the bone. The stench of them is nauseating, so much so that even other goblins avoid them completely. When they attack, they sling the black sap on their victims, temporarily paralyzing the weakest.

What are they? Ghasts. Refluffed. Your party will never know what hit them.

I also LOVE monsters that cause temporary insanity. You can do all sortsa fun stuff with them. Create yourself a tiny creature, say a rabbit, whose mating call causes insanity in other creatures. Have one burrow into a town and watch as the town randomly goes temporarily crazy. Then, once the party has found and dispatched said rabbit, Knowledge(nature) to discover that they HATE people, and would never live near them unless driven from their territory by something more nasty.

And what's scarier than a rabbit that causes insanity? DUN Dun dun!

Kallisti
2009-08-17, 12:14 AM
On the subject of temporary insanity, I once gave my players a powerful magic item. But I gave it to them in a special way--it was buried in an orchard. And, unbeknownst to the players, the magical leakage from this item had altered the fruit trees in the area. The chemical content of the apples now included lysergic acid. My players ate the apples and got LSD highs, and it was a lot of fun to watch. Then, because I felt like being cruel, the goblins waiting in the trees attacked. The players had a lot of fun fighting lowly goblins...while impaired by an LSD high. I left the mechanics of the high largely up to my players' ability to roleplay, and the results were made of win.

Harperfan7
2009-08-17, 02:53 AM
I keep a list of adventure ideas saved on word.

Pcs are hired to hunt down some bandits who turn out to be freedom fighters. When they return to town, an evil aristocrat and cleric of tyranny place a bounty on the pcs for siding with the bandits.

Evil aristocrats hunt people (usually beggars) from their hunting lodge in the wilderness.

Hidden shrine to a powerful outsider awakens upon approach and offers to reward PC(s) if they complete a task.

As a reward, a thief forges a deed for a vacant house in a city. Once the PC(s) move in, they find a letter (or something) which lets on to a mystery. Once solved, they can give the house to its rightful owner, keep it for themselves, or sell it.

X hires the PC(s) to acquire Y for a reward.

When the PC(s) are in trouble, an NPC appears and helps them out in return for a favor to be collected later.

A group of X are doing bad things and Y hires the PC(s) to find them, stop them in the act, track them back to where they came from, and wipe them out or bring them back to justice.

Something is not quite right about a thorp out in the wilderness. The outer buildings have all been burnt down. The inhabitants are extremely xenophobic, and they all belong to a cult. (Most of the buildings, including the burnt ones, have secret hatches leading down to a cave that runs under the thorp, which is where they cage people they have captured to be used as sacrifices or sold to slavery)

In a city, there is a mansion whose owner recently died. In their will, they stated that the inheritors had to pass a test to receive their inheritance. The test is that they all have to be locked in the mansion until someone finds the inheritance, and whoever finds it wins it. The PC(s) are invited to participate. As people start to disappear/show up dead, questions start to arise. Is there an assassin amongst us? Is the mansion haunted? Is there really any treasure, or is this just an elaborate trap?

PC(s) receive a message in their dreams while they sleep. The messenger tasks them to delve into a sinking (temple?) in a swamp to stop a tribe of savages who have stolen focus crystals from their pedestals. The messenger wants these crystals returned to their pedestals. The catch is that these savages have attached the crystals to staves and use them against the PC(s). (A knowledgeable agent suggested this to the savages, this person is an enemy of the dream messenger) Once this is done, the messenger tells the PC(s) where to find their reward.

In the middle of an abandoned village is a well. At the bottom of this well is the entrance to a dungeon.

In a tavern in a city, there is a door that the regulars avoid and warn outsiders away from. It is extra dimensional, it just appeared there one day and everyone who goes in never comes out. When opened, all that can be seen is depthless black.

A wizard/sorcerer lives in an extra dimensional tower. Someone needs to reach him, and they have so far failed in doing so, so they hire the PC(s) to venture in and find him/her. The tower is much larger on the inside than the out, and each room is different.

A lot of them are obviously stolen, but my players don't know it.

Sometimes I combine them, like just recently I did "Hidden shrine to a powerful outsider awakens upon approach and offers to reward PC(s) if they complete a task" + "In the middle of an abandoned village is a well. At the bottom of this well is the entrance to a dungeon." The outsider wanted something retrieved from a hidden temple under an abandoned village. It was pretty cool and kept my players guessing.

Gan The Grey
2009-08-17, 02:26 PM
Forgot the obvious. The DMG has a listing of 100 different adventure springboard ideas. Some of them are pretty decent too.

Umael
2009-08-17, 04:31 PM
What is a lot of fun is taking good old cliches and turning them on their ear.

Example: The knight in shining armor rescues the princess from the dragon.

Definitions: The knight in this case represents the protagonist of the story who overcomes the obtacle (our dragon) to obtain the goal (rescuing the princess).

Setup: The party hears the terrible story that a dragon has been sighted nearby. Worse, the princess has gone missing, with many hysterical guards claiming that the dragon took off with the princess in its claws! A reward is posted by the local lord for news about the whereabouts of the princess, with a greater reward for her safe return, and an even greater reward for dispatching the dragon.

Smelling adventure, the party goes off to rescue a princess and possibly slay a dragon. As they get closer to where the dragon was last seen...

Possible Twist A: ...they find a baby green dragon (or other small, but still dangerous dragon). They attack!... only to find out that the dragon is none other than the princess herself, having been polymorphed by a wicked stepmother, evil witch, scheming vizier, or other stock villain of your choice. The party was tricked into (almost) commiting regicide! How will they right this injustice? Who is responisible? What are they going to do about the (by now hysterical) princess/dragon (if she's still alive) and all those other gloryhunting would-be dragon slayers?

Possible Twist B: ...they find a baby green dragon. They attack! Turns out that the princess IS the dragon... the mama dragon! Why did the dragon polymorph into a princess? Has she been the princess all this time, or did she kidnap the princess and masquerade as her? What if the real princess is still alive? And for what nefarious purpose?

Possible Twist C: ...they find the princess talking with a dragon. It turns out that the princess and the dragon are in love! And she wants to elope!! Does the dragon want to elope as well? Is the dragon actually just using her? What if the princess is betrothed?

Possible Twist D: ...they find the princess talking with a dragon. It turns out that the princess befriended the dragon. Apparently, the dragon is dying of a rare magical disease. The cure? To consume a willing sacrifice. Now the princess wants to help the dragon by sacrificing herself, but the dragon is unwilling to eat its new friend. Is there another cure? Can another sacrifice be found? Could this have anything to do with the princess being one of eight heirs in a divisive kingdom? Or with the fact that the king's new wife, the stepmother, is rumored to be a manipulator? What if the stepmother was the one responsible for placing the disease on the dragon? What if the cure WASN'T consuming a willing sacrifice at all?

Possible Twist E: ...when they are attacked by the dragon, who demands to know what they did with her - meaning the princess! What's going on?


Other possibilities...

Don't start in a tavern. End in the tavern. The villain is making a plan to kill a visiting dignitary in order to ignite a war - the PCs find out about it and have to defeat the villain, but first they have to get...

...off a desert island. Apparently, they were passengers on a ship that ran into trouble. The only survivors from the ship are the PCs... they think. The island turns out to be the villain's abandoned lair. The shipwreck? Sacrifices for the underwater guardians. The lair is full of disgruntled minions who have been fired, deathtraps that need to be maintained, a few clues as to the villain's plot, and maybe even a way off the island if they work hard enough.

...out of the mass grave. Apparently, everyone in a local village was attacked by a swarm of ghouls, paralyzed, tied up, and carted off into a large pit. Why were none of them killed yet? Because something in the pit needed the food? Because they are part of some dark ritual? How do they get out? Where is this mass grave?

...through the dark forest. Apparently, the adventurers were part of a tour that was run by bandits. During the night, the tour was captured by the bandits and separated according to their ransom value. One of the captured NPCs helped lead the escape attempt, and the prisoners revolted. Many of the bandits and prisoners were killed, but the PCs managed to grab some things and bolt for safety. A little bit later, they find the NPC who lead the escape, dying. In his last words, he explains that he is an agent of a country who is threatened by war, and so the PCs learn of the villain's plan.

Don't forget that the villain won't be the one to actually attempt the assassination himself, so even if the PCs manage to save the dignitary, the threat is still there, waiting...

Je dit Viola
2009-08-17, 04:47 PM
What is a lot of fun is taking good old cliches and turning them on their ear.

Example: The knight in shining armor rescues the princess from the dragon.

I've got another twist that you somehow miss.

Possible Twist F: It turns out a the Head Knight (not the protagonists) kidnapped the princess in a plot to stage revolution and become king...and is framing the dragon for it! When the PCs meet the dragon's cave and wonder where the princess is, they meet an old, sickly dragon who gives them a hint that the princess is still in the castle right before they kill it - leaving them wondering if the dragon told the truth or not...

Umael
2009-08-17, 05:14 PM
I've got another twist that you somehow miss.

Oh, by no means was that list exhaustive. I left out the possibility that the princess is the evil witch who kidnapped the dragon, the dragon is just an illusion who frightened the princess, the princess and/or the dragon are actually just unconscious projections of one of the party members, the princess is a complete red-herring and the dragon is an actual threat, and so on.



they meet an old, sickly dragon who gives them a hint that the princess is still in the castle

Which leads to "Thank you, Mario, but the princess is in another castle!"

Harperfan7
2009-08-17, 08:25 PM
A knight (actually a polymorphed kobold) hires the party to rescue the dragon (a wyrmling) who was captured by the princess (a sorceress).

AshDesert
2009-08-17, 09:23 PM
I know that you're currently looking for plot hooks to get an adventure going and introduce the BBEG and/or his lieutenants to the party, but I have a very cool creative adventure to throw your players on a loop. Every so often, you have a "Very Special Episode" in which your players play as a group of the BBEG's minions, at roughly the level of your PC's. (Note: you can only pull this trick off with a group that would resist the temptation to meta-game and screw up the baddie's plan).

Step 1: Build some characters that are roughly "Evil Opposites" of your group.

Step 2: Let your players decide whether they want to stick with their own roles or switch it up a little bit.

Step 3: Give them a goal that achieves something for the BBEG that's not directly opposed to the player's (these are the guys that make sure Plan B is ready to go when the player's screw up Plan A).

Step 4: Find a way to have it benefit your PC's if possible (this can be a bit tough, sometimes you really have to think outside the box).

Each goal should take a session to complete, and should include at least one instance of hardcore evil. If your players react well, intersperse these special sessions out occasionally. I was a player in a campaign like this and found myself really looking forward to them. Again your group should enjoy roleplaying to truly get the full potential out of this. It's fun to roleplay as an evil guy once in a while.

Even (read: especially) if your players get attached to the minions, there's going to be a point where contingency plans are gone and the BBEG is focusing on one plan. That's when your PC's run into your evil PC's. It's satisfying in a way to overcome a team of villains you played as, like some kind of weird closure.

The Dark Fiddler
2009-08-17, 09:30 PM
I had an idea for a sub-plot.

Basically, they PCs will find armor and weapons, slowly, and whoever gets the first piece will start getting odd feelings as to where to next pieces are. The reason being that an old, sealed away god is trapped, and his/her soul is split up and trapped in the armor. As the player gathers more, the god starts actively talking and/or giving orders. At the end, the player ends up summoning the god and being possessed.