repeating camapaign idea

[redfeline]

Okay for some reason I have a strange idea for a sandbox campaign. Basically the players are in a town and each day everything in town is fixed and the same. So each day will end with a portal to the abyss opening a demons every where, or some similar apocalypses scenario. I may have it be a 2 day cycle. But the end goal is for the players to learn the events that cause the problem and prevent them.

So I am asking for help with some cool events that could appear each day. I kind of want a doppelganger to be dragged out and exposed at the end of the day to watch them kill the real person next cycle.

Any idea would be appreciated.

I am running an hourly time table starting at 8 am and going to midnight.

.................................................. .................................................. .............

I am currently looking for interesting locals just outside of town. All event suggestions are still welcome

[Ssin]

Groundhog day! :smallbiggrin:

If you haven't seen it be sure to watch it ;)

Anyways, what you could do if you want to make the doppelganger hook more thrilling might be to have him retain his memmories and impersonate a different person each cycle?

For the rest I would put a lot of 'small' hooks in there (since they repeat each cycle) a thief getting his hand cut of, some people conspiring in secret (planning a surprise party :p), a recurring bar fight,

What about beggars in the street that have a varying amount of money in their money box each cycle? (I wouldn't know why, just seems intriguing)

what lvl will the party be?

[Zubrowka74]

Good idea, I like it. Kind of offbeat but with the right players it should be great.

What will happen to PC mortality ? Is everyone raised at the end of the cycle ? Because I assume it ends with total destruction from the Abyss.

[dysprosium]

I was thinking more like the "Window of Opportunity" from SG-1.

Eventually finding all of the clues spread through the time looped town leads the party to being able to stop the apocolyptic end to every day. (which you mentioned in your first post)

A twist on that idea: the loop is because the "good" powers that be want the world to not be destroyed, so the party gets a chance to save the (repeating) day. What if the party had to find the source of the repeating and stop it so the world could be destroyed . . .

[redfeline]

Hard to say what level. I would run this weekly 4 hours a week for summer and I would like them to do same damage in the abyss stuff by the end of summer. So if I assume a level a game session maybe like level 5.

[redfeline]

Good idea, I like it. Kind of offbeat but with the right players it should be great.

What will happen to PC mortality ? Is everyone raised at the end of the cycle ? Because I assume it ends with total destruction from the Abyss.

Ground hog day rules. Every one will be back in bed the start of the next day. If a two day cycle is in use I might have each player have a back up character in the bar at town. But they will be the same character after death and gain levels but most gear won't be kept. If they die early the character won't advance in level the back up will.

[redfeline]

I was thinking more like the "Window of Opportunity" from SG-1.

Eventually finding all of the clues spread through the time looped town leads the party to being able to stop the apocolyptic end to every day. (which you mentioned in your first post)

A twist on that idea: the loop is because the "good" powers that be want the world to not be destroyed, so the party gets a chance to save the (repeating) day. What if the party had to find the source of the repeating and stop it so the world could be destroyed . . .

Yes this is how I see it going.

[ArcturusV]

Yeah, Groundhog Day would be an interesting movie to watch as research for this. Learning out Bill Murray's character copes with it. Shock, confusion, then trying to take advantage of it, then depression and trying to break the cycle via suicides, then using his knowledge of the cycle to effectively become a Superhero, etc.

Other one that comes to mind is an old episode of Xena in the same light. Day keeps repeating as part of a blessing/curse by a Goddess. Similar to what was suggested above there was lots of little stuff going on that worked as an effective smoke screen for what was really important to breaking the cycle (ensuring these two lovers survive the day and get married).

I'm not sure how it would work out in a campaign though. Players might skip a lot of the steps and get into the depression/suicide "I'm done with this" phase really fast and never move on from it. There's always a danger with that in any campaign where effectively the player's actions don't matter. And that's what it's going to feel like when they realize things reset, probably the second cycle through. They might figure the first time is a one time thing. By the second they'll realize it's a pattern and may lose interest/hope.

I'm not sure what mechanic, if any, you have planned for the "reset". Groundhog Day, for example, never really explained it. The only "rule" to the reset is no one remembered it other than Bill Murray's character, and it reset if Bill Murray died or went to sleep.

But presuming you have some other action responsible for the reset (Like say.. Majora's Mask's Song), you might allow players the option to declare something "Saved". This might end some of the frustration and depression over the Resets.

So as the cycle ends each player gets to declare one action they did which will carry over to the next cycle. Fighter McSwordington says, "Hey, I killed that Cult Leader. I want him to stay dead on the next cycle" and it'll happen.

Of course, the cycle after that the Cult Leader would be alive again, as he didn't actually kill the Cult Leader on the following cycle and thus couldn't declare the Cult Leader remains killed this time...

But a simple mechanic like that could make sure that cycles remain sufficiently different. And give players a sense that they are making some sort of progress, able to effect the cycles and have some control over their lives.

[BowStreetRunner]

Personally, I would come up with at least 2 different potential causes for the time-loop, each with a different solution, and place BOTH in the campaign. Whichever the PCs figure out first turns out to be the red herring and their solution fails.

This way I don't have to force them to chase after the red herring while I keep them away from the real solution. Their choice of which to attempt first decides what is the red herring and what is the real solution.

[BowStreetRunner]

I'm not sure how it would work out in a campaign though. Players might skip a lot of the steps and get into the depression/suicide "I'm done with this" phase really fast and never move on from it. There's always a danger with that in any campaign where effectively the player's actions don't matter. And that's what it's going to feel like when they realize things reset, probably the second cycle through. They might figure the first time is a one time thing. By the second they'll realize it's a pattern and may lose interest/hope.

I think that the fact they gain experience and continue to level will certainly help keep them from giving up hope too soon. Of course, the whole 'wealth by level' equation could get messed up if there is no material gain. So the ending should have some decent rewards.

[ArcturusV]

Maybe, but Sandboxing tends to be less about Level Rewards, and more about Impact rewards. Least in my experience. The draw of a Sandbox as opposed to say, a Dungeon Crawl, isn't gaining XP or Wealth (You'd do that during a dungeon crawl anyway), it's the ability to impact the world. Which the reset would take away.

[JusticeZero]

Beware of very high prep time, since you need to figure out your day in vastly more detail than normal.

[BowStreetRunner]

Beware of very high prep time, since you need to figure out your day in vastly more detail than normal.

You might also want to use a recording device whenever you have to give a description that wasn't pre-planned. That way you can go back and write it down later so that you can give the exact same information in the next loop.

[redfeline]

...

But a simple mechanic like that could make sure that cycles remain sufficiently different. And give players a sense that they are making some sort of progress, able to effect the cycles and have some control over their lives.

Yeah that is a serious concern and I really like your save for one cycle idea. I may see if I can work that in.

Alternately my plan is for some items to stay dynamic in a static time stream. The players are an obvious example, but some gear will remain where it was at the end or rather with the last owner. If I have one such item added early then I hope to draw them in that way.

But the save one trait is really a cool idea.

[SamBurke]

I think you should have some special "rules" that change things: like the 1 change per person per cycle. That could be a retaining of an item, or keeping one thing different.

You do need a "Mentor" to explain what's going on, so that they don't get tooooooo wacked out by things.

[redfeline]

Maybe, but Sandboxing tends to be less about Level Rewards, and more about Impact rewards. Least in my experience. The draw of a Sandbox as opposed to say, a Dungeon Crawl, isn't gaining XP or Wealth (You'd do that during a dungeon crawl anyway), it's the ability to impact the world. Which the reset would take away.

I am going to try and have some motivation be about an increase in what they can do. The bar fight will be a level above them that way they loose first cycle and win next cycle. Along those lines I will encourage some "meta gaming" hey the ice devil is next. WotC did an interesting story back in 3rd a snow caped dead volcano with an albino red dragon in it. Something like that can be a simple way for the pc's to power up just based on round 2 I know its there.

Perhaps for backstory purposes I can say they just returned from an adventure so they have X loot unspent that they can use for equipment each cycle. This would also be a good place to drop in any nonstatic time stream gear.

[redfeline]

I think you should have some special "rules" that change things: like the 1 change per person per cycle. That could be a retaining of an item, or keeping one thing different.

You do need a "Mentor" to explain what's going on, so that they don't get tooooooo wacked out by things.

My group is used to me making up new mechanics and weird concepts. The world reset won't weird them out too much, and if it does bug them I will likely explain the score at the end of session 1.

[redfeline]

Any cool idea for locals and quests about a half day out of town. Maybe a dungeon that changes each cycle.

I am going to edit the first post to show what ever I am currently looking for advice on.

[ArcturusV]

Similar to, and on topic, I always wanted to run a DnD campaign based loosely around the "Ancient Dungeon" from Lufia 2: Rise of the Sinistrals.

The important things about it?

It's random layout each time you go in. No promises of what the floors will look like, enemies inside, loot inside, etc.

Everytime you entered, you were stripped of all gear and items (Including known spells), sent in effectively naked and at level 1.

The stairs "disappeared" behind you as you went down levels and thus faced tougher enemies. You could never backtrack.

The only way out was to find an item that randomly had a chance of appearing on a floor after you reached floor 20.

There were two types of treasure chests in the dungeon. Red chests would give you items that you could use inside the dungeon, but disappeared when you left the dungeon. Blue chests gave you items that you could use in the dungeon, would leave the dungeon with you, and if you reentered it, you kept all your Blue Chest items (though were still reset to level 1, stripped of spells, etc).

I haven't had much luck finding a group that I'd think would be into the idea though since I really got a bug to run it. But it sounds like you're in the way to do something very similar in spirit. So let me know how it works out and any pitfalls that may arise.

[redfeline]

Lufia had the best plot of any RPG I played on SNES. Yeah I own the game and remember the dungeon. But lufia 2 had a weaker plot. Pass on lufia 3.

I'll try and get you posted. First I need to get the power of DMing back from a friend. I started work as a teacher and lost the time to plan, but hey summer is here I can DM again. Besides the current plot just wrapped up.

[redfeline]

apparently asking for specific idea's ended the conversation.

[Volos]

You could always take a page out of the Legend of Zelda book. Majora's Mask was a three day cycle where the moon fell down to crush the town. The BBEG was introduced before the cycle started and as Link interacted with the different NPCs, fixing their problems and helping them in various ways, it gave him insight on how to stop the coming doom.

[BowStreetRunner]

apparently asking for specific idea's ended the conversation.

Have a little patience - I am actually working on the details but it's a bit complicated. Check back in a bit and I will regale you with the tale of the Hole in the Road Gang! It would be perfect for your repeating campaign.

[ArcturusV]

Well, one location type I tend to like using that you might consider is Industrial Areas. In a typical medieval based fantasy world this isn't as much of an oxymoron as it sounds. It's just gonna take a different approach. A grain mill in particular offers a lot of neat bits and effects that people don't necessarily think of.

1) There is only natural lighting in there. So you're not going to find convenient torches, candles, etc, if they decide to break in at night. As they operate under natural light it'll naturally have more windows, so a lot more alternate entrances/exits which can make for more dynamic encounters instead of Chokepoint-fests.

2) Highly explosive. The reason why they operate by natural light. Grain dust is quite explosive. And given the propensity of most players to rely on fire to solve all their problems, it becomes a ticking timebomb.

3) Three Dimensional Space. Typical grain mill means that you're going to have a building where the third dimension actually matters in context of something other than standing on a table or chair. Gear works, grain chutes, etc. All interesting terrain features which can come into play during a scene.

4) Can easily go either way. The grain mill can just be something players don't really think of or care about too much. They see it with as much detail as they see the random subsistence farm on the edge of the wilderness. Or it can be twisted into a house of horrors that will live in their minds forever. All with the same effective layout, it's all about details and the NPCs you stock it with.

5) Adds to a level of verisimilitude, the town ends up having an industrial capacity, even if it's only the agricultural industry. Gives people a place to work, something important that people might want to interact with for the good/ill of the town.

[redfeline]

I like the grain mill, that is a solid location especially for some one with a ring of jumping or such.

Side note, I just noticed I can drop in op items and not have to worry to much if the pcs get them because it is one day, or at worst a reward for taking action X each day. Still best to play it safe an above average ring of jumping or something first to test with.

[redfeline]

Have a little patience - I am actually working on the details but it's a bit complicated. Check back in a bit and I will regale you with the tale of the Hole in the Road Gang! It would be perfect for your repeating campaign.

I look forward to hearing about it.

[BowStreetRunner]

Okay, here is what I have. Of course, this should be customized to your own needs - adjust levels and such appropriately. But the principle is of a group of potential encounters, all seemingly unrelated, but which are in fact all linked together and will alter events elsewhere.

Hole in the Road Gang

The Hole in the Road Gang is a group of highwaymen who have come to town in order to waylay a noble's carriage. The carriage is expected to return to town during the evening after spending the day inspecting the noble's estates in another region. The carriage must pass close by an old farmhouse at the edge of a wooded area outside town, where the gang intends to divert the carriage via the expedient of a large hole in the road, redirecting it into a prepared ambush site. In the morning, the members of the gang are scattered through the area, each passing the time according to their own tastes, before gathering around midday near the farmhouse to prepare for the ambush that evening.

The leader of the gang is a half-elf Rogue/Swashbuckler Daring Outlaw spending the morning in a townhouse with his mistress. He will emerge from the townhouse after lunch and head to the stables to retrive his horse, then ride out to meet his gang near the farmhouse.

The second in command of the gang is a half-orc Fighter/Order of the Bow Initiate who can be found during the morning camped somewhere along the road well past the farmhouse, watching in case the carriage passes by early. He has two poachers with him helping to keep an eye out. The poachers are not members of the gang, but are aware that the gang leader will reward them for any news of the noble's movements. Shortly before midday the second will leave the poachers and head to the farmhouse.

The gang's spellcaster is a human sorcerer with a Staff of Earth and Stone that has 2 charges remaining. With him is a dwarven Fighter / Stonelord who is also a member of the gang. They spent the night in a tavern and will be found there in the morning attempting to sober up. A short time before midday they will drive a wagon out from the stable behind the inn and head for the farmhouse.

A pair of twin half-elven Rogues from the gang can be found during the morning in a private storehouse near the town gate, where a series of prize-fights are taking place among some of the local teamsters. The twins are gambling heavily, but will break off with plenty of time to ride out to the farmhouse.

A group of four gang members - a half-orc Fighter/Menacing Brute, a dwarven Fighter/Tactical Soldier, a half-elf Fighter/Rogue/Streetfighter, and a half-elf Rogue/Scar Enforcer - are staying in a cabin on the wooded hill overlooking the farmhouse. They will walk down to the farmhouse together at midday.

The last two members of the gang - a half-ogre Barbarian/Outcast Champion and a half-elf bard - are in a wagon travelling toward the town from the other direction. They will reach the town early enough to make it to the farmhouse by midday.

Each of the subgroups can potentially be encountered by the PCs during the day. These will seem like random, unrelated encounters. However, the outcome of each may will have an impact on what happens overall.

> There are 12 members in the gang. If encounters with the PCs reduce this number below 10 by midday, the gang leader will attempt to recruit some new members to assist with the ambush. He may even attempt to recruit PCs. Should he be unable to recruit the PCs, he will find a group of four hobgoblin fighters mounted on dire wolves who are acquaintances of the gang's half-ogre and bard. They will join the gang for the ambush.

> If the party encounters the leader of the gang (this would usually occur after lunch at the stables or on the road to the farmhouse just past midday - he is the last of the gang to arrive at the farmhouse) before he joins the gang, he will be cautious but not unfriendly. Any sign of wealth will peak his interest, although he would not delay his attack on the noble in order to waylay the PCs. Should the leader fail to arrive at the farmhouse, the rest of the party will come looking for him by dinnertime. Instead of attacking the noble's carriage, they will attempt to free their leader if he is captive, or avenge him if he has been killed.

> If the party encounters the gang second (this would usually occur on the road where he is keeping watch) he and the poachers will try to remain out of sight, but if caught unawares would pretend they are just travellers waiting to meet a companion on the road. The only reason the gang second would attack the party is if he believes they will endanger the ambush - for instance by warning the noble of bandits along the road. Should he fail to reach the farmhouse, the gang will still attempt to go ahead with the ambush, but the leader will try later in the evening to track down the person responsible for whatever happened to his second and with the gang's help either free his second or avenge him.

> If the party encounters the spellcaster and his friend (at the inn or at the stables), the pair will be in a beligerant mood and very well may sling insults at anyone who attempts to engage them in discussion. Both have a noticable reek of alcohol. Should the PCs end up in combat with these pair, a group of 3 dwarves passing by will intervene on the side of the stonelord, who is a friend. The three include a fighter/battlesmith, a duskblade/runesmith, and a fighter/dwarven defender. This group of dwarves are mostly interested in stopping the fight and protecting their friend. They are well-known and respected and their word will have significant weight with the local constables and magistrate should it come to that. If the spellcaster is unable to reach the farmhouse, the gang will need to either rescue him or find someone else able to use the staff to create the hold in the road. Also, the spellcaster is friends with a local clan who is feuding with a neighboring clan. If the ambush goes as planned, the spellcaster will arrive at the home of a friend just at sunset and cast a scroll of weather control for his friend, causing an unseasonable storm to suddenly come up over the lands of the other clan. (This storm will cause the farms on that land to fall behind in getting their crops in.) Should the sorcerer be prevented from reaching this destination for any reason, the unseasonable storm won't occur - a discrepancy the PCs may find hard to explain at first.

> If the party encounters the twins (at the prize-fights) they will most likely attempt to convince the PCs to either make a bet on the fights, or to enter the fights themselves. Should the PCs end up in combat against the twins, about a dozen of the teamsters will join in the fray on the side of the twins, another dozen will stick around to watch, and the remaining dozen will decide they have other places to be. At least twenty member of the town watch will show up one minute after the combat begins and they will somehow 'fail to notice' any teamsters who are present. They've been paid off, and the fights are a regular source of income for them, so they will be hostile to the PCs for interrupting. Furthermore, should the PCs interfere with the fights, the local thieve's guild (who sponsor the fights) will target the PCs later that day. If this happens, a group of three young thieves will attempt to pick the pockets of the PCs. They will continue until they are noticed, then all three will run off toward a nearby alley. A group of thugs (four more thugs than there are PCs) will then attempt to waylay the PCs in the alley. They will be backed up by whatever NPCs the guild feels are necessary to deal with the PCs.

> If the party encounters the four gang members in the cabin, the group will attempt to allay suspicion by claiming they are bailiffs for the lord who owns the land and telling the PCs to leave or be considered trespassers. If this fails, they will flee down a thickly wooded path that leads into a small village deep in the wood. This village is a shantytown built by poor and otherwise homeless peasants, many of whom are hiding from debt. The four will try to disappear in the shantytown and all of the villagers will begin hostile to the PCs.

> If the party encounters the bard and his friend (in their wagon on the road) the bard will attempt to sell them salves and ointments from the apothecary supplies in his wagon. Some of them might even work! Should any harm come to the bard and word of the PC's involvement reach the town, the bard's mother - a human sorcerer/dread witch - will come after the party. She is accompanied by a half-elven hexblade and the pair will try to pick off single members of the party who become separated from the group for any reason.

Note that each of these potential encounters can impact how other events turn out during the day. The PCs should not be in a position to recognize that all of these individuals are part of the same gang unless they encounter them all at the farmhouse or during the ambush. Some of the things the PCs can do even have the potential to make things worse. For instance, taking out one or two of the gang members early in the day could end up strengthening the ambush party by four hobgoblins on dire wolves later that day!

[redfeline]

Any one have strong feelings on 5th edition. I just got the playtest rules and may try to run this as 5th edition level 1. Otherwise pathfinder 5th level will be the start and I'll move up from there.

[SiuiS]

Groundhog day! :smallbiggrin:

Majora's Mask is a better analogue.


Any one have strong feelings on 5th edition. I just got the playtest rules and may try to run this as 5th edition level 1. Otherwise pathfinder 5th level will be the start and I'll move up from there.

It plays a lot like e6 at low levels, except monsters can kinda one-shot you if you aren't careful. My party had issues, where surprising a group of orcs, then being flanked by them, then knocking them away, then being knocked down led to Advantage and Disadvantge being traded around a lot. It was an epic feeling fight, but I honestly feared for a TPk.

To be fair, that is because orcs are ridiculously strong, due to their fight after death ability giving them a free +13 HP for a round. Do enough damage they turn into suicide bombers because running after 0 HP is pointless. And their crits took our rogue from full HP to -11.

[redfeline]

Bowstreet you are awesome

[redfeline]

Majora's Mask is a better analogue.



It plays a lot like e6 at low levels, except monsters can kinda one-shot you if you aren't careful. My party had issues, where surprising a group of orcs, then being flanked by them, then knocking them away, then being knocked down led to Advantage and Disadvantge being traded around a lot. It was an epic feeling fight, but I honestly feared for a TPk.

To be fair, that is because orcs are ridiculously strong, due to their fight after death ability giving them a free +13 HP for a round. Do enough damage they turn into suicide bombers because running after 0 HP is pointless. And their crits took our rogue from full HP to -11.

e6 = epic 6?

If that is what you mean I get a similar feeling, but that is prefered to 4th edition where everything was too uniformed for my tastes.

[redfeline]

I am going to need to have a waterclock in town so the guys have a good idea of the time. Part of the industrial area with the water mill.

[RogueDM]

A few early replies gave me an idea. You'd mentioned a doppleganger being executed. Then somebody mentioned the DG changing its shape each cycle. That made me think, what if the PCs weren't the only ones stuck in the loop, a la Window of Opportunity. Someone else is using the cycle to stall for time, or perhaps trying to break the cycle for a different outcome than the party wants.

This would make it a non-linear race between the party and their competition, especially since they can't just kill the enemy and win, since he/she/they would likewise renew with the next cycle. Of course, hide who the other "looper" is, make them figure it out from who else isn't repeating their actions each cycle. Granted, the party's actions will change the flow of everyone else's day muddling this effort to some extent. Also note that the other looper/s may have known this was going to happen so have a head start on the party limiting their time to solve the mystery.

Example, the other looper(s) are searching/researching some evil ritual to break the cycle and prevent the loop allowing [cataclysm] to continue to end the world/cancel your favorite TV Show/eat the last of the cannoli that you love. So each loop they rule out a passage, or commit more of the ritual to memory.

[redfeline]

That would be interesting.

[Fitz10019]

Other loopers will also be a great escape for you as DM when you misremember the way something happened in an earlier session. When you fail to recreate an event accurately, blame it on hint about changes made by other loopers.

The town could have an orphanage, and the kids are sent out hustling for donations. Sometimes the party meets these kids; sometimes the party meets the kids of NPCs they know. In later loops, having NPC-connected kids show up among the orphans should cause a double-take for the party.

A fire. There could be a fire in a major building. The party could prevent it, or use it as a distraction, but never both.

[Squirrel_Dude]

One random rule I would make: If a character dies from something other than the natural end of the cycle, they would be reborn, but would have no memories from the previous day(s). That way being a Kender isn't an effective problem solving/knowledge gathering strategy.

Also, having a villain or other NPC that are watching/acting in the time stream the same way they do. Maybe it's someone who is murdered that knows some way to stop the Abyss from swallowing the town, etc.

[redfeline]

One random rule I would make: If a character dies from something other than the natural end of the cycle, they would be reborn, but would have no memories from the previous day(s). That way being a Kender isn't an effective problem solving/knowledge gathering strategy.

Also, having a villain or other NPC that are watching/acting in the time stream the same way they do. Maybe it's someone who is murdered that knows some way to stop the Abyss from swallowing the town, etc.


I'll be pathfinder and fortunately no one in my party knows what a Kender is. But I'm already implying your rule, if you die before the reset you don't gain any experience otherwise I am thinking of a level a game session provided they get stuff done.

[redfeline]

Other loopers will also be a great escape for you as DM when you misremember the way something happened in an earlier session. When you fail to recreate an event accurately, blame it on hint about changes made by other loopers.

The town could have an orphanage, and the kids are sent out hustling for donations. Sometimes the party meets these kids; sometimes the party meets the kids of NPCs they know. In later loops, having NPC-connected kids show up among the orphans should cause a double-take for the party.

A fire. There could be a fire in a major building. The party could prevent it, or use it as a distraction, but never both.

A fire is a must have, the orphans would be cool if I can pull it off. I am hopeing to avoid loopers until the 3rd or 4th loop at which point they become the villains because a number of starting challenges will be low level.

[redfeline]

I am thinking of having a trassque arive at midnight each day. Just have it pop out of a mountain were it has been asleep for 1000 years.

Along those lines what if I have a great wrym dragon probably evil, that the pcs can align with to fight the trassque. This might even be one of the end game scenario's.

I am planing to have one of my friends wake up in bed with some one else each day for a very immediate wait this is the same day. I also fully expect them to run from the trassque the first day.

The day will be organized into hourly events starting at 8 am and going to midnight. I'll start plugging numbers into this set up later today or tomorrow.

Current definite plans are to have 2 half fiend quicklings in the mill which is supposedly haunted.

A doppleganger assassin kills some one. This will likely be one of the first loopers, as the pcs recall events and a doppleganger can read minds.

A fire will break out.

The local woods are haunted and a dragon will probably be near by.

The hole in the road gang will be present.