DM's Aid: Share Your Campaign, Plothook, and Encounter Ideas

[redzimmer]

Hey there, beleaguered Dungeon Masters!

Have you ever DM'd yourself into a corner and your PCs refuse to hop on the railroad?
Have your PCs taken a Vow of Purity and refuse to meet in a bar?
Did your wife ask you to let your sister-in-law play a one-off in the middle of your two-year old campaign?
Did your just buy Libris Mortis and really want to get some necrotic cysts involved?

Or conversely did all your really awesome Dragon magazine queries get returned unopened?
Then this is the thread for you.

My idea is to leave this thread here for you to post your campaign, plothook and encounter ideas, for DMs in need to borrow or adapt.

Be as broad or specific as you want. Cite splat books. Integrate intriguing 3rd-party materials. Post NPC stat blocks. Or just post "Two words: Owlbear rodeo".

I hope this proves successful, therefore making my work as a DM easier.

For ease of access, format it like so:


Post Type in Bold: Encounter? Plothook? Adventure Idea? Vague Dungeon Theme? The Entire Dragon Warrior Zenithian Cycle Converted to 3.5?

Brief Description, Synopsis, or Abstract, if needed

The actual stuff here.

If you are borrowing others peoples' ideas, it is considered polite to give any due credit.


Here are related links, courtesy of Bohandas:


101 Campaign Hooks (http://www.giantitp.com/forums/showthread.php?527908-101-Campaign-Hooks)
101 Unusual Plot Hooks (http://www.giantitp.com/forums/showthread.php?282157-101-Unusual-Plot-Hooks)
101 Plots for Superhero RPGs (http://www.giantitp.com/forums/showthread.php?512833-101-plots-for-superhero-rpgs)
101 Adventure Hooks (http://www.giantitp.com/forums/showthread.php?487640-101-Adventure-Hooks)
1001 Strange Plot Hooks (http://www.giantitp.com/forums/showthread.php?195437-1001-Strange-Plot-Hooks)
1001 Bad Plot Hooks (http://www.giantitp.com/forums/showthread.php?191844-1001-Bad-Plot-Hooks)
101 Reasons to Adventure (http://www.giantitp.com/forums/showthread.php?400962-101-Reasons-to-adventure)


With thanks.

[redzimmer]

Plot Hooks

An expansive LN (with evil-leanings and deep pockets) is building massive canal to link its eastern and western colonial outposts, but all manner of factors are interrupting construction:

Monstrous attacks- someone or thing is using the labour camps as a private buffet, and the workers refuse to leave their tents until the creature is slain.

Graft aplenty- the colonial governor is skimming funds directed towards the construction, and is blaming the indigenous humanoids for delays to explain losses. An ambitious bureaucrat hires you to expose him (in the process leaving a vacancy said bureaucrat would fill), but you risk making powerful enemies either way.

NIMBY- a bronze dragon who lays claim to this region objects to the public works springing up on his land. As Imperial representatives, you are required to find a solution amenable to everyone (and by "everyone," the Empire means "us. Or else.")

[MisterKaws]

The party goes back to the capital, but when they arrive, all they find are awakened cats walking around with their humanoid 'pets'. Godcat has finally ascended to divinity and is wreaking havoc.

[Aegis013]

Vague Dungeon Theme/Encounter idea:

Chaotic/Wild magic dungeon:

A town or city has been complaining about aberrant weather patterns causing problems and has offered a reward for anyone who can eliminate the the source of the issue.

The issue is caused by a rift that has opened nearby. The rift leads to an extra-planar dungeon which was created by unknown entities for unknown purpose. Inside the dungeon things aren't necessarily what they seem. You may see water, but it may burn like fire. Gravity may reverse upon entering certain areas (but not exiting). This is a good chance for DMs to throw conventions on their heads, thwart meta-gamers who know stat blocks without invalidating Knowledge skills (you may be able to determine this dungeon exists on a demi-plane, but the creatures within may fool the knowledge skill as you may see an owlbear, but it has the stats and abilities of a gorgon or similar).

You can prop up a minor artefact or some other such as the dungeon's fuel, whether it has some way to destroy it, causing the dungeon to collapse or can be recovered would of course be up to the DM.

[Bobby Baratheon]

Plothook/Encounter/Campaign (it kind of does all three to varying degrees; I'm going into some detail here; this is the plot of my current campaign)

An evil, magically potent race across the sees in a continent only rumored to exist prepares to launch an invasion (in my campaign they're elves with a 16th century vietnamese vibe) to the players content.

The invading race stirs up rebellion in their chosen landing area and staging areas. They do this via doppelganger spies, and begin teleporting in monsters to terrorize the countryside and soften up the resistance. Then, with no warning, they use a souped up Locate City Nuke (the wight creating method) to demolish a huge area (strategically chosen), resulting a blasted hellscape inhabited only by wights and a lucky few survivors. This plunges, at the very least, one nation into utter chaos and economic ruin, and local leaders begin capitulating to the invaders. They use teleportation circles to transport their army across the sea (in my campaign, greater teleportation has a reduced range, so the elves use strategically positioned ships with teleportation circles to form a chain in order to get their army across the ocean.). The PC's then are faced with a choice - resist the obviously evil invaders, or join them, or just try to escape. My PC's were within the deadzone when it went off, and survived the blast only to be caught in a wasteland filled with hostile undead. They managed to escape, but were hired by a knightly order to scout out the wasteland to prepare for a strike force to rescue survivors.

This makes for a Fallout type campaign, and what you can do is basically restricted to your imagination. My PC's just barely survived a hellfire wyrm leveling the ruined city they were in. Even just the locate city bomb with the wight reanimation makes for a much different experience for the PCs, let alone the concurrent invasion and political strife.

EDIT: This also gives players the option to leave and do something else, so if they don't like it just adjust and do something else. Or have it happen far away, and have an NPC pay them to retrieve something from the deadzone. Or whatever, use your imagination.

[redzimmer]

Campaign: A God Am I (Only kind of stolen from Final Fantasy IV) Part 1

Level: 1-2
Synopsis: Using artifacts and Ancient magic, a mad king will attempt to attain godhood. A megalomaniac ruler of a notably powerful nation has dispatched his forces to gather the 10 legendary Orbs of Dragonkind. From there he will use them to compel the most powerful dragons in the world to renounce their dragon deities and worship him instead. Then he will hold this worship ransom to the draconic pantheon (*see Draconomicon). If they elevate him to demigodhood, he shall release their dragon worshipers back to the dragon deities. Once this is achieved, his human subjects' (who already venerate him as a god-king) worship will feed his divine rank. The world shall be trod under his immortal boot.

And you want to stop this.

The campaign begins with the level-1 PCs in a little backwater province which has an ancient treasure in the form of the White Orb of Dragonkind. Dread knights demolish the shrine holding this treasure and make off, but we soon discover this orb was the only thing preventing a marauding tribe of Whitespawn Hordelings (Monster Manual IV, page 155) from destroying the village. After staving off the attack, you must find and destroy the dragonkind and save your village.

After this, you are tasked to get your village's orb back, sending the party out into the big wild world.

*To avoid the obvious problem of low-level PCs possessing artifacts, I elected a homebrew rule wherein the orbs cannot be activated until they are all brought together.They only act as a mild dragon repellent that offers some minor buffs that grow with the PCs level.

[redzimmer]

Campaign: A God Am I (Inspired by Final Fantasy IV... and maybe Hostel) Part 2: The Hunt Begins

Level: 2-4
Synopsis: A group of adventurers sets out from their hometown to recover a stolen artifact, and along the way discover others are being taken by the same villain.

The campaign continues. The PCs leave their little backwater village to get the White Orb of Dragonkind back. After a rough encounter-rich journey, they take refuge in what appears to be a ranger outpost.

After a brief respite, the party awakens the next day, stripped of their gear and trussed up to prevent spellcasting. Their "hosts" inform the party that they have the great privilege to be this year's prey in the Solstice Hunt, the annual Erythnul-sponsored slaughter of some hapless locals.

The PCs must evade the hunters, survive the hunt and if possible, turn the tables on their pursuers. If the PCs survive and vanquish the Hunters, they will find the mortal remains of a scout from the Kingdom that stole the Orb.

The scout's notes explain the general plan to steal all ten orbs, but unfortunately, the notes only have the location of one other orb: the Brass Orb of Dragonkind.

[redzimmer]

Campaign: A God Am I (No qualifications or disclaimers for you) Part 3: Dead Leads and Dead Ends

Level: 4-6
Synopsis: With nothing but a vague hint from a dead scout's notes, the PCs must pick up the trail of the soldiers who stole the White Orb of Dragonkind. A town and a name are found, along with another orb's location.

The scout's notes lead the PCs to a port town, and asking about will find the scout's contact left over a year prior on an inland expedition to parts unknown.

Local guides hired by the expedition have been missing since, and search parties have proven fruitless. However, knowing the path the guides took combined with the notes helps locate an ancient shrine to Astilabor, Dragon Deity of the Hoard (Draconomicon). The scout's contact and her guides were killed by traps in the temple.

If the PCs can evade the traps, temple guardians and the restless spirits of the would-orb hunters, they will be rewarded with the Brass Orb of Dragonkind.

What to actually do with it is another question altogether.

[redzimmer]

If one person benefits from this thread, then I will be pleased.

Plot Hook

A series of killings has left a city in the grip of terror.

The killer is revealed to be a reknowned paladin, who slowly into madness.

The madness turns out to be due to having a stuffed and mounted trophy of an aboleth the paladin's father killed decades earlier. The monster's psionic echo remains and slowly eroded the paladin's mind.

[Bobby Baratheon]

If one person benefits from this thread, then I will be pleased.

Plot Hook

A series of killings has left a city in the grip of terror.

The killer is revealed to be a renowned paladin, who slowly into madness.

The madness turns out to be due to having a stuffed and mounted trophy of an aboleth the paladin's father killed decades earlier. The monster's psionic echo remains and slowly eroded the paladin's mind.

That could be part of a pretty successful/awesome Call of Cthulhu type campaign. Come to think of it, psionics in general seem to be a pretty natural fit for Cthulhu type shenanigans.

Adding on to that plot hook, his madness was hastened along by finding the written copy of a certain play, which the subconscious suggestions of the aboleth drove him to seek out. Upon confessing to his crimes and entering into custody, he is murdered by cultists in the night. If the PC's murderized him instead, find some way to get the play into their possession (it has that creepy ability of just turning up in places it shouldn't be), and have cultists try to recruit them or murder them as well.

EDIT: Bonus points if you get the reference. :smallwink:

[redzimmer]

I regret that one went over my head. I'll probably kick myself when it comes to me.

Encounter

A Marut Inevitable has refused to submit itself to a mindwipe and in the process is now being hunted by both a Kolyarut and another Marut.

A green slaad is attracted by such a chaotic act, and the three-way melee that ensues will destroy a small town if you don't intervene.

[Bobby Baratheon]

Plot Hook

A city to which the PCs travel frequently is famous for a large, rocky outcrop upon which the city's citadel is built. Out of nowhere (while they're out shopping, preferably), a seemingly insane spell caster She's a stone giant elder disguised as a normal humanoid, and she uses a mysterious artifact to awaken the elemental awakens the outcrop, which is revealed to actually be a massive Earth Elemental (or a titan, or a god or whatever you prefer). The Elemental stands up, dislodging that irritating little castle from its back, and wipes out the top level of the city's hierarchy, plunging the city into near anarchy as the remaining civil and religious leaders try to keep order. The elemental breaks through the city wall, and settles down to take a nap outside the city limits.

Meanwhile, an army of stone giants marches on and encircles the city. If the PC's (or anyone else) managed to capture the spell caster, they demand her return in addition to demanding that all inhabitants of the city leave. If not, she's at the head of the army. They claim that eons ago, this city belonged to them, and they worshipped the elemental as a manifestation of their gods' power, until some crafty adventurers drove them out through trickery by banishing them to a demiplane with slowed time. They have only just returned, and they want their home back and are willing to crush the city to get it.

The fun thing here is that the PC's path is entirely up to them. They can skip town, side with either faction, take over the city in their own name, bring in a third party, or do whatever they want in reaction to these events. If you want to make things even more interesting, throw in something else to add to the chaos. Maybe the kingdom sends a relief force or diplomats after hearing about the siege? Really, your imagination's the limit here.

[johnbragg]

In a Kingdom where the loyalty of the subjects to the Crown has crunch effects. ("King" as an acquired template, royal guards get continual bless, nationwide plant growth, areas within city walls have a consecrate effect, whatever.)

The King has no legitimate children.
The closest legitimate male-line heir, his cousin, is known to be a nasty piece of work--cruel, lazy and inconsistent.
The closest legitimate female-line heir, his nephew, is the crown prince of the neighboring kingdom, a historic rival.
The most popular choice to succeed the king is his illegitimate son, a Marty Stu paladin of goodness and light. And a bastard cannot be a lawful king.

(Look up the origins of the Hundred Years' War, plus a bastard paladin prince who everyone would love to put on the throne, but he won't go for it because LAWFUL.)

[Bobby Baratheon]

That. . . would be an awesome campaign. Especially since it lets the PCs as morally upright/dubious as they want, and if they amass enough power they can even be kingmakers. Or alternatively, spawn a Game of Thrones style campaign of endless intrigue and intermittent warfare as pretenders rise and fall.

[martixy]

In a Kingdom where the loyalty of the subjects to the Crown has crunch effects. ("King" as an acquired template, royal guards get continual bless, nationwide plant growth, areas within city walls have a consecrate effect, whatever.)

The King has no legitimate children.
The closest legitimate male-line heir, his cousin, is known to be a nasty piece of work--cruel, lazy and inconsistent.
The closest legitimate female-line heir, his nephew, is the crown prince of the neighboring kingdom, a historic rival.
The most popular choice to succeed the king is his illegitimate son, a Marty Stu paladin of goodness and light. And a bastard cannot be a lawful king.

(Look up the origins of the Hundred Years' War, plus a bastard paladin prince who everyone would love to put on the throne, but he won't go for it because LAWFUL.)

Or the War of the Roses(and don't be surprised when it feels awfully familiar to Game of Thrones).

History is rife with amazing little "plot hooks" like that.

Another historical conflict providing a blessedly fertile ground to pull from is the Punic Wars.

And the classical era in general.
(Don't let anybody tell you D&D is a medieval europe setting, they're wrong. It's the classical, heroic era that it emulates most closely - you know, the one with Heracles, Achilles, Jason, the Trojan War, etc.)

[redzimmer]

One of my favorite resources is Greek Fire, Poison Arrows, and Scorpion Bombs: Biological and Chemical Warfare in the Ancient World.

Goblins in most of my games are total nonmagical amoral inventors, devising these and other things like barbed-wire and primitive flamethrowers.

As for history, early-20th Century minus such things as gunpowder and powered locomotion makes for rich D&D plots as well.

My longest-running campaign was a fantasy-expy of inter-Wars Europe circa-1920.

[Bohandas]

These first few are crossposted from another thread I've responded to:

Plot Hooks etc

-Mind-flayer settlement was destroyed several years ago by demonic incursion and/or zombie apocalypse. Remains almost as dangerous to surrounding area now as it was when it was populated by mind-flayers.

-CE demon wields NG intelligent sword powered by the bound soul of an innocent child who fears blood and hates violence. Won't somebody put him to rest?

-The stagnation of technology at the medieval level and the inability of magic to overcome limitations such as seeing through lead or conjuring gold are both he work of an ancient conspiracy dating back to the Battle of Pesh, which the conspiracy whishes to prevent a repeat of as it was fought with gratituitous use of atomic weapons and twin-cataclysms level attack spells.

-Something with a barbaric tribe of cultureless feral people originating from a collapsed/destroyed illithid settlement

-Love interest of one of the PCs is kidnapped by the henchmen of a ghostly spellcaster who needs her as a sacrifice to his god (bonus points of any of you can guess what movie that's from)

-Three oppressive Lawfwul Evil demihuman, goblinoid, and kobold kingdoms are stuck in a 1984 style politically useful eternally stalemated war. This state of affairs was engineered by baatezu soul harvesters. The resistance, at least in the human kingdom and to a lesser extent the goblin kingdom, is led by chaotic evil demons whose plan for freeing the kingdom basically involves destroying it with arson, murder, mass destruction, and Kingsmen-style riot incitement; they call themselves "terminationaries" because they are only interested in destroying the government, without providing any sort of a replacement for it.

-People are smuggling tomes of black magic

-PCs, if they are in the Abyss, are teleported before the Lords of Woe, who then teleport them out to some other more actively hostile territory because, as the Lords explain, they think it will be funny.

-Sectarian war between the Cult of the Ebon Triad (a cult worshipping a being combining the features of Erythnull, Hextor, and Vecna, in hopes of forcing said deities together into a single entity due to belief equaling power on the outer planes) and an advanced Sibriex demon (Fleshwarping primordial demons. see Fiendish Codex 1) who claims that they not only stole his idea but also ruined it (further investigation will reveal that the Sibriex's version involved capturing aspects of the three deities and physically joining them together into a human centipede)

-Servants of a god of misery and misfortune have begun a campaign of arbitrary curses (just putting curses on whoever they come across) and random untargeted sabotage (that is to say they'll, for example, rig a ceiling to collapse without care or regard to who specifically it will collapse on) [Homebrew misery domain you can use: lv1- Black Bag (bovd) (conjures bag of torture implements), lv2- Blindness/Deafness, lv3- Bestow Curse, lv4- Crushing Despair, lv5- Nightmare, lv6- Cloak of Hate (Heroes of Horror) (all initial reactions to victim are one level more hostile and victim takes -10 to diplomacy), lv7- Bestow Greater Curse (BOVD, Spell Compendium), lv8- Polymorph Any Object, lv9- Imprison Soul (Heroes of Horror) (Sucks creature's soul into small totem; creature's body gradually dies); Granted Power- Add Intimidate and Disable Device to cleric class skills and Black Bag spell also conjures holy symbol and thieves tools in bag in addition to the normal knives and scalpels]

-Illegal trade in the fur of celestial animals is on the increase

-A sadistic punk has been going around in the dead of night mutilating domestic animals; sawing the legs off of horses, stuff like that.

-Ruler has been replaced by imposter but imposter is better ruler than real ruler

[Bohandas]

Plot Hooks

-There's been a lot of fake relics flooding the market lately; the pcs are tasked with finding the source

-A dragon or something puts the PCs into a dungeon that's esse tially a glorified mouse maze intended to test demihuman reasoning and adaptability or something like that

[GeekGirl]

Encounter/BBEG (Stolen from a friend)

Will the adventurers be willing to kill a child?

I'm sure you've all seen the Psionic Sandwich (http://www.minmaxboards.com/index.php?topic=1187.0)
The Psionic Sandwich was an attempt to build the most optimized useless character possible, back on 339. The nice thing about this trick is that Tleilaxu_Ghola found a way to effectively get a True Mindswitch without paying the 10,000XP cost.

The Psionic Sandwich by Tleilaxu_Ghola

Hmph, I think I should edit my original mind-switch thread. The most optimal way to gain a body permanently is no longer true mind switch. It's to use astral seed + mind switch + psychic chirurgery. The result is an XP expendature of 0 XP, that's right zero. You lose no levels, and you gain all the effects of true mind switch.

Anyways, so in lieu of what I just said above, the most optimal way to create the most un-optimal character is to use the following sequence and build:

Race: Elan
Build: Telepath 20
Feats: Any, must have EK(Astral Seed) and skill focus (craft [basket weaving])

1. Acquire a loaf of bread (2cp)
2. Turn the bread into a sandwich (craft DC 5) (probably 2 minutes)
3. Polymorph the sandwich (preferably ham with mustard, pepperoni, salami, and jalapenos) into a fuzzy little bunny. (NPC casting 1200 gp) (1 standard action)
4. Cast astral seed (10 minutes)
5. Ritualistically slay yourself with favored method of suicide. Be sure to place your storage crystal next to the sandwich turned bunny. (I prefer to be killed with a dagger to the heart... :shifty: ) (Approximately 5 rounds)
6. Use mind-switch (the 6th level power) to switch with the rabbit, while in your storage crystal. (1 std action)
7. Metamorph into a troll and smash your storage crystal (now containing the mind of a sandwich). (2 standard actions)
8. Use psychic chirurgery to remove your negative level gotten from committing suicide. (10 minutes)
9. Dismiss your metamorphosis and manifest dispel psionics on yourself (to dispel the polymorph). (2 standard actions)

Congratulations, your ascension to the sublime state of a sandwich took:
23 minutes 6 seconds and cost you 1200.02 gold pieces.

Any one have a more optimal method?

Now, it occurred to me that this might not be a half bad character to play. So long as you pick up the power psionic overland flight and tweak your character levels a bit, you could seriously play a sandwich. Of course your hitpoints or AC wouldn't be much to speak of... but honestly, who is going to kill the sandwich that the fighter packs.


Based on that idea; but in place of a sandwich, and child's toy (doll, stuffed animal, whatever), and the build is now Psion/Thrallherd. Using telepathy school, make your way to an orphanage, and dominate a child. Your thrall will follow the lead of this kid, and rain hell down on a city (or what ever the psion's goals are). The players will eventually make it to the boss fight only to meet a 6-7 year old orphan girl. As long as they don't destroy the doll, in a few months it all starts happening again.

[GeekGirl]

Campaign: A God Am I (Only kind of stolen from Final Fantasy IV) Part 1


This is fantastic, I may steal borrow the idea ^_^

[redzimmer]

This is fantastic, I may steal borrow the idea ^_^

I would be thrilled. Part four on its way.

[redzimmer]

Campaign: A God Am I (Any similarities to blah blah blah...) Part 4: Two Sides to Every Coin

Level: 6-8
Synopsis: The PCs have acquired their first Orb of Dragonkind, and forces begin to mount against them. And to make matters worse, their hometown is again under assault.

After given a brief moment to recover after their ordeal at the Temple of Astilabor, the PCs return to the port town (ideally, or they might just head back to their own town or the "ranger outpost", in that case skip ahead).

En route, bounty hunters of a suitably challengingly DC beset the PCs. Upon victory they find a bounty with very exact descriptions of themselves, with the benefactor being a representative of the Mad King Who Seeks The Orbs of Dragonkind (or just Mad King to his friends).

Conversely the PCs are overwhelmed and trussed up for transport (the poster says "Wanted Alive"), in that case a timely rescue is required.

So if A) PCs head to port town and repulse the bounty hunter, they are found by a messenger from their home village, pleading with them to return home.

If B) PCs are captured by the bounty hunters are waylaided by the home village messenger, who gives the PCs an opportunity to escape, then are entreatied to head back home.

If C) PCs head straight to the hometown, then we head straight to...

D) the PCs home village is now under attack from a white dragon. It seems the only thing keeping the dragon at bay was the White Orb.

After seeking out and slaying said dragon, they return home, lauded as conquering heroes. The town elders reveal (this might've been helpful seven levels ago. Maybe the elders were out of town at ElderCon?) the founder was a member of an ancient order of Knights tasked with protecting the Orbs.

And now you have to seek out the Order so you may find out why the Orbs are All That.

Finding out how and why there's a bounty out on them as well might be a thing to do.

[redzimmer]

Encounter

A monk of indeterminate age stages a martial arts competition to determine who shall be his new pupil.

After your party monk vanquishes all competitors, the master reveals himself to be an elder barghest, cultivating the strongest soul to devour.

[redzimmer]

Campaign: A God Am I (No, I did not play Elder Scrolls: Oblivion while making this chapter. Why do you ask?) Part 5: The Order of Io

Level: 8-10
Synopsis: The PCs are directed to the Citadel of Io, where the titular Order headquarters. A test of mettle and character ensues.

A journey to a massive range of mountains is the first part of the journey, either the Citadel being the final destination. This mountaintop castle is not easily breached, so the PCs need either a lot of Clomb checks or a means of flight.

Upon arrival the PCs are met by a pair of Drakestone Golems (Draconomicon again. It's a good book), who will relentlessly attack whomever holds the Brass Orb (even if held in an extraplanar container. Once dead or the PC surrenders it, the golems return to their dormant state (unless destroyed of course), and the Knights of Io sally forth.

Exposition time! The Order has been tasked with keeping the Orbs out of the hands of mortal, who would use them to corrupt Io's children (fun fact, some of these Knights are in fact shapechanged dragons. Shhhh), however a traitor to the Order has absconded with a magical flute which can locate each orb, provided the song for each is known beforehand. The traitor is now ensconced in Mr. Mad King's entourage, and they are snagging all the Orbs for an horrid ritual. So far they have the White, Blue, Bronze, Silver and Black Orbs. You have the Brass Orb. Up for grabs still are the Gold, Red, Green and Copper Orbs.

Good News: There is another magic flute.
Bad News: The flute is deep in this mountain fortress behind a very nasty dungeon full of tests of ability, combat and character. Because of course it is.
Worse News: The songs are unknown to all but a few bards and sages in the world.
Worst News: The Mad King's forces know where the Brass Orb is and they are on their way. Here. Now.

So the PCs race against time to get the flute, and when they emerge from the testing dungeon, Mad King's armada of airships and other cool Evil Empire siege equipment are attacking. One sage in the great Free City of {INSERT CAMPAIGN SPECIFIC CITY HERE} may be of help to find the Songs of the Orbs.

The Order tasks the PCs to get the remaining Orbs and return them to Io's Celestial Temple, which happens to be in the Dragon Graveyard, a mythical location hidden from the eyes of mortals (seriously, Draconomicon is a must-have).

The Order are all willing to die to buy the PCs time, so down the mountain they go, tragic slow-motion deaths to a mournful strings orchestral.

[redzimmer]

Campaign: A God Am I (Shadow Dawn was a good book. Go give it s look) Part 6: Song of the Free City

Level: 10-12
Synopsis: The Sage the PCs seek has just recently died of old age. His nephew and apprentice is more concerned with becoming a famed musician than a stuffy old scholar. Also the PCs meet their enemy face-to-face...

The Temple of Io is under attack, and the PCs must take the magical flute and make good their escape to the Free City. An unused tunnel from the Testing Chambers leads to an escape route. Clearing the tunnel (and the landwyrms that inhabits it) will take the PCs to the source of a river which if traveled will lead to a way station on the main road to the Free City.

By now the PCs should have means to disguise themselves to avoid the ever-increasing number of bounty hunters seeking them. Upon reaching the Free City, they discover the sage they seek is recently deceased. He chosen apprentice and successor is found frequenting the public houses and spending his inheritance as rapidly as possible. Efforts to get him to reveal the songs are rebuffed until the next day. And the next day he goes missing.

A scouring of the city of will turn up the apprentice in the custody of minions of the Mad King, the Io Traitor chief among them. A rescue ensues, the traitor escapes and the apprentice shares the Red Orb song before he goes into hiding. Access to the sage's research library and apartments are granted to you.

Playing the Song of the Red Orb gives its listeners a vision of a mist-shrouded island. Now if only the PCs only could access a large research library to determine the island's location...

[Bohandas]

The PCs are hired to secure, before darker forces do, an ancient obryith artifact capable of holding the Vast Gate to the Far Realm on Firestorm Peak open permanently in the absence of the Dragon's Tear comet that usually powers it.

EDIT:
Remember, (IIRC), the Obryiths originally came to this multiverse from another one through the Far Realm

[Randomthom]

The King has been persuaded by one of his chief advisor-courtiers (actually a succubus in magical and mundane disguise) to commission the creation of a set of powerful magical artifacts. Spellcasters and artisans throughout the land are called in to craft and enchant them.

The aim is to create 'items' each of which require approx 1000 spell slots "spent" on them via rituals that are directed by the succubus.
The items are;
A colossus, an Adamantite Golem to defend the city (I imagine it as a massive statue like the one in Bravos in game of thrones or perhaps a Jaeger from Pacific Rim)
A mythal to power the city's magical defences (description here (http://forgottenrealms.wikia.com/wiki/Mythal))
A sceptre (to be held by the current monarch) which increases his leadership ability & wisdom considerably (while offering immunity to mind-affecting spells). The holder of the sceptre may also communicate telepathically with the mythal to control the Colossus.

The succubus intends to engineer things so that she can steal the sceptre and control the colossus to defend her while she uses the mythal to open a portal to the abyss, unleashing hordes of demons upon the material plane.

There are some devils who are aware of the commissioning of the artifacts and are suspicious that there is a demon involved. They want to uncover any demonic influence and thwart it. Even better, they would love to make pacts where possible to increase their influence in the material plane.

Session 1 - The King's Call
The King puts out a call throughout the land for spellcasters to come to the capital to contribute to the creation of these artifacts. PCs can directly contribute to the crafting, casting or recruiting if they want. The city hosts tournaments and a festival and makes a big party out of it. Players can compete in tournaments or games of chance etc.

Session 2 - Rumours of a threat
The PCs are recruited (by the succubus) to investigate rumours of a Devil infiltration into the city, they are suspected to be here to sabotage the artifacts or perhaps poising to steal one if they can. The devils are real but are there to sabotage the Succubus' plans (of which they are partially aware). The PCs will be pointed in the direction of the Devils with the expectation that they will seek & destroy. The leader of the Devils will, if given half a chance, tell them (cryptically) that things are not as they seem and that the artifacts must not be completed. (Alternatively, a written note or similar exposition inserted here).

Session 3 - The Devil is in the detail
The PCs will probably now be suspicious of the Succubus advisor but since they are well protected by their high status & favour with the King (not to mention armed guards and magical protections) they will be relatively powerless to do anything. Any accusations made can be shot down by her high diplomacy and/or charm/domination spells if she can get a 1-on-1 meeting with anyone in a position of power to arrest/question her. The accusation may even land the PCs in jail for the week.

In the meantime they might consider sabotaging the artifacts but they will be (spectacularly) well-guarded and probably being worked on all day & night by the large number of volunteer spellcasters.

That's as far as I've got with this idea so far...

[redzimmer]

Campaign: A God Am I (I never read Dr. Moreau, but cultural osmosis, amirite?) Part 7: Science Unfettered

Level: 12-14
Synopsis: After some digging, the mysterious misty island is located. The Red Orb of Dragonkind is there, along with an amoral lich theruge. Because you never find a mysterious must-shrouded island populated by a gnomish day spa.

A gathering of information determines the location of the island from the Red Song vision. A ship can be hired to make the journey to the far north. The PCs' destination is an island at the very southmost tip of the permanent ice shelf. The crew tell of shipwrecked persons disappearing on the island, and thus refuse to make land.

Making shore with a borrowed dinghy, the PCs find the subarctic island to be tropical in climate, the surrounding mists being endlessly sublimated ice. Inhabiting the island are a menagerie of odd creatures, from dinosaurs to variant aberrations and hybridized monstrosities.

At the centre of the island is a genial old man who acts as caretaker for "the Master". The Master is a lich who killed the original Order of Io monks who guarded the Red Orb. The Master uses the Orb to affect this climate, which allows for his "scientific breakthroughs." Eventually the caretaker reveals a grotesque true form and killing seems a mercy.

The Master is away from the Island on a "procurement expedition", so gathering the Orb will at this point be easy, but once obtained, the island quickly reverts back to its true icy climate.

And then the ship returns, only the crew has been killed and animated, all screaming accusations at the PCs. After repulsing (or through some epic diplomacy, aligning with) the undead ship, the lich, aboard an enchanted airship, returns.

The lich is thoroughly displeased, and will fight to the death. Upon success, a magical airship is at your disposal, but unless you find the phylactery, the lich with periodically harass the party.

A little experimentation will reveal the airship requires daily arcane infusion to operate (meaning expending spell slots). Notable is the "cargo" of halflings the lich captured, among them an acolyte of a goddess of music. The acolyte suggests a trip to the goddess's celestial plane (if the PCs didn't think of it themselves).

[johnbragg]

I was pondering what treasure to place with the goblins my level 2 PCs are about to fight--they shouldn't have a lot of coin, goblins aren't likely to be carrying difficult-to-sell valuable items. MAgic?

Yes. 12-20 potions from the Cauldron of Chaos.

What do the potions do? Well you don't know until you drink it. Roll! (All durations 1 minute)

1. Expeditious Retreat
2. Enlarge Person (to Large)
3. Reduce PErson (to Tiny)
4. Fire breathing (Burning hands, or produce flame)
5. Sleep
6. Summon Tiny Paparrazzi! You are surrounded with brightly colored fairy lights that flash and wink constantly
Will save each round or be dazed. (DC 11)
7. Invisibility
8. Rage
9. Silence
10. Blindness.

[redzimmer]

Campaign: A God Am I (If you have airships in your campaign and no airship fight, you're doing it wrong) Part 8: Skies of the Outlands

Level: 14-16
Synopsis: After gaining the Red Orb and a fancy magical airship, the PCs must race to the Realm of Sheela Peryroyl in the Outlands and entreaty the Goddess for her holy artifact the Compleat Songbook.

The PCs have a group of freed halfling captives onboard. In exchange for transport to their homeland, an acolyte of Sheela Peryroyl (halfling Goddess of, among other things, Music) will show the PCs a portal that can allow travel from one plane to another.

After dropping off the halflings, the PCs travel to a mystical location known as the Valley of All Worlds. They must activate the portal and direct it the Outlands, where Sheela dwells. It is not an easy feat, involving restarting ancient magical machinery and avoiding the prerequisite guardians.

Just as the PCs activate the gate to the Outlands, another airship races through the portal and the race is on. After you catch up to the airship, you see the Traitorous Knight of Io is piloting the ship and has the same idea as you.

After a battle in the skies of the Outlands the PCs' ship is destroyed (alas, so swiftly), but the Mad King's Mad Kingdom airship is now theirs. A quick trip to The Flowering Hill, the realm of Sheela Peryroyl and some convincing diplomacy or sleight of hand will get the PCs access to Her enchanted songbook, and more importantly the location of all remaining Orbs of Dragonkind.

A return to the Material Plane is in order. There are Orbs to be found...

[redzimmer]

Campaign: A God Am I (If this were a TV Show, this part would be done via montage) Part 9: All Together Now

Level: 16-18
Synopsis: With the locations of the three remaining unclaimed Orbs in hand, the PCs have some searching to do.

The PCs now have a top-of-the-line Battle Airship, and the songs to locate the Gold, Green and Copper Orbs of Dragonkind. Without any further obstructions (save the entire amassed armies of the Mad King on their tail), the PCs set out to collect them.

Gold: The Great Wyrm green dragon Venothrax is well aware of the treasure he possesses. It serves as the crown jewel of his hoard. He also is disguised as the Elflord of the grand Metropolis of Xix. Free the city, slay the dragon, get the orb and elude the Mad King's personal assassins, the Twelve.

Green: The PCs must again activate the Valley of All Worlds and travel the Plane of Shadow. The Green Orb is in a shadowy parody of the Free City, where everything and everyone wants to consume the PCs.

Copper: Fieri Hall, the home of the Mountain King of Fire Giants is the Copper Orb's current address. Smallfolk are most certainly not welcome, especially during the tense diplomatic summit currently taking place between fire and cloud giants.

After all the orbs are collected, it is time to retrieve the other orbs: the PCs must travel into the very heart of the Mad Kingdom...

[redzimmer]

Campaign: A God Am I (I wish I had three years to run this myself) Part 10: All Things Must Die

Level: 18-20
Synopsis: The PCs invade the very realm of the Mad King to retrieve the final Orbs of Dragonkind, the travel to the mythical Dragon's Graveyard and restore the Orbs to the Shrine of Io. Easy.

However the PCs want to do it, be it full-scale invasion, elaborate heist, epic-level bluff check or what-have-you, they must breach the vault of the Mad King, get the Orbs and find the Dragon's Graveyard (Draconomicon again, it's like I'm married to it or something).

Once Orbs are obtained and Graveyards are located, a final battle betwixt the Mad King and his minions (not to mention the hazards and guardians of the Graveyard), and the PCs.

Winner takes all.

If anyone fleshed out and plays this campaign, please let me know how it works on paper.

[redzimmer]

Plot Hook

Seven Paladin Kings were rewarded with seven magical swords, each representing a divine virtue each King best exemplified.

However, each blade possessed a taint, cursing each King with the Sin that countered their paragon virtue.

Hundreds of years later their lands are in ruin, and the only way to restore the lands is trial the Seven Kings' Seven Castles and purge the swords (and now-undead fallen paladins) of evil.

[Bohandas]

Hook:

-Unicorns are being poached due to their usefulness in creating Soverign Glue in a quicker manner

[redzimmer]

Plot Hook

Half-orcs and half-elves are being targeted in racially-motivated murders.
Tensions rise in a once-tolerant city, with the lynchpin being an impending wedding between a half-orc lass and a half-elf lad.
While the prime suspects are human supremacists (i.e. Zarus), but a strange collaboration of elves and orcs are the true perpetrators.

[Bohandas]

Plot Hook + Creature:

-Some Sibriex obryith demons have devised a baroque new way to trick paladins into falling. It's a side application of a recent developments they have made in the fields of curses and casual recreational mass murder. What they have done is bred, from stock of awakened and celestial rats, a race of intelligent beings which are pure and innocent yet give off an aura (similar to a Cloak of Hate spell) compelling all other races and creatures to see them as worthless vermin in such a way that even while conversing with one verbally a person will still see it mostly as an ordinary rat, and possibly casually kill it. This is combined with excessive trustingness and naievety that makes they easily killed; they don't realize how people see them. The demons originally created these creatures to have a quickly replenishing population of good beings that could be conveniently slaughtered without risk (think of a safe, sustainable version of Androlynne). They soon also hit upon the idea of tricking paladins into killing them.

[statistically, these rats have stats like normal rats but modified as follows {approximately}-
Type: Magical Beast(Good)
Int 10, wis 8, cha 8
special qualities-
Pest: Under constant effect similar to Cloak of Hate spell. All creatures of other species encountering one (must make a will save? or) have their starting attitude lowered by one step, and tend to view the creature as a nuisance animal. The ratw take a -10 penalty to diplomacy checks with creatures of other species.

Friendly and trusting: Their Initial attitudes towards others are improved by one step and they do not gain the standard bonus to sense motive against bluffs that put them at risk.

Tiny Powers: All damage done by spells, psionics, etc cast by these creatures is scaled down in accordance with their size, as if they were using a smaller sized weapon. All effect radii and diameters are halved. Other areas of effect are halved as well. Finally all spell ranges are halved as well. Lines are changed to rays. All effect radii and diameters are halved. Other areas of effect are halved as well. All spell ranges are halved as well. Lines are changed to rays. Class hit dice sizes are reduced by two steps.

Alignment:
Always good(any) ]

[Bucky]

Campaign (one shot): 10 minute dungeon crawl
Level 8-9
(previously discussed here (www.giantitp.com/forums/showthread.php?440034-10-Minute-Dungeon-Crawl))

The PCs have been invited to the underground base of another group of adventurers, who have heard of the PCs' quest to save the world and want to lend them a useful artifact. When the PCs arrive, instead of being greeted by the party, they find the place swarming with undead. When they engage the undead, a poorly-constructed contingency in the base's security system activates, sealing the front door shut. Also, as the friendly butler construct informs the party, they also activated a self destruct sequence, and have 10 minutes to open the vault containing the artifact and escape before the place explodes.

The next 100 rounds happen entirely within initiative.

The link describes most of the encounters, but there are a few important details not mentioned:

*The entire base must be compact to reduce travel time; the original design fit into a 30x24 grid.
*If the party tries to reconstruct the details of the attack, it was clearly a scry-and-die (that bypassed the security contingency watching the front door) involving a (Pathfinder) Dread Zombie Undead Lord as the main combatant. The Undead Lord itself was recalled out, leaving its semi-intelligent Dread Zombie minions to finish ransacking the place.
*The party can quickly and easily a loot healing wand from the base's infirmary to sustain them without real rest. But consider having the 'best' wand (Cure Serious) fixed in place so they can't walk off with it.
*The vault itself is permanently dimension locked, and requires the authorization of three (dead) adventurers to open. Those dead adventurers have keys that can substitute for personal authorization (not all of which were carried when they died), and each also has a substitute (such as a spare key hidden somewhere or a written note in the office room that can be altered by Forgery). The front door can be unsealed in the same way as the vault, although the Forgery can only be used for one of the two.
*I'd planned to also have a very well hidden second entrance to the vault, possibly involving descending a garbage chute and fighting the 'toilet' encounter.
*Encounters after the first were balanced around the possibility of a split party.

And the draft bios for the other adventuring party, with Gather Information DCs:

Bios:
Ruford - Male Human fighter. Often seen carrying a pole arm (DC 10 Gather Information in local village), but also competent at bare-handed combat (DC 20). Breeds magical beasts in his spare time (DC 25). Currently working on a solution for the local Giant Wasp problem (DC 15 incl. circumstance bonus from his own actions) by breeding and training half-dragon animals as wasp hunters (30).
Seren - Female (race) artificer. Has innate spell casting but almost always uses wands and scrolls. Apparently makes the wands herself (DC 20) but has plans for a more ambitious project(25) - golems (30 + DC 25 Know Arcana). Has ties to the Shadow plane dwelling fetchlings (DC 30).
Dahvi - Female Undine Druid. (incomplete)

[redzimmer]

Campaign: What They Left Behind Part 1: Mud Hill

Synopsis: A fledgling empire is trying to recapture the legacy of another ancient empire. The problem is, their former subjects would rather they didn't. In one such former colony, locals have begun to disappear.

Level: 1-3

An ancient and cruel empire had colonies throughout the world, and when it began to crumble, colonists fled back to the homeland to escape reprisals.

Some of these colonial outposts held fell artifacts and other varied riches.

The PCs live in a repressively dull logging town called Mud Hill, on the aptly-named Bleak Isle. Recently people have gone missing. Thus far it was only migrant loggers, but now a local child has disappeared. The PCs search for the missing child and uncover a twisted conspiracy.

The search leads first to the local skid row where pubs, brothels and rooming houses ply their trades. A slimy individual has been drugging loggers and other people who would not be missed by locals. When confronted about the missing child, he gets violent.

This leads to a slaver from another town on Bleak Isle, a hidden slaver and pirate haven called Carnage.

On the Island there are several common hazards and indigenous peoples to encounter:
-Stirges as thick as mosquito swarms,
-Sea Orc raiding parties looking for food or slaves to trade (based on Unearthed Arcana water orcs with a Polynesian theme),
-wild elf war parties (Grugarch elves with a Pacific Northwest First Nations look),
-Slavers from aforementioned Carnage,
-Various carnivorous plants.
All in all, Bleak Isle kind of sucks.
Investigations discover a slaver who has been selling labourers to a secret excavation taking place inland on the Isle.

The excavation site is revealed to be one of the previously-mentioned ancient empire relics. A dark altar which promises great rewards in exchange for the Blood of Innocents.

The expendable workers have now been repurposed as undead guards, while the child is being prepped as a sacrifice. The mastermind behind the whole kidnapping/excavation scheme is a warlock who posed as a local paladin, trying to discover other Ancient Empire locations.

The warlock is killed, and the ritual is interrupted. The warlock's blood instead lands on the altar, and a mildly annoyed demon appears to grant the PCs a mediocre boon.

Returning to Mud Hill as heroes, the PCs are encouraged to travel to Bleak Isle's largest community, Salmon Ferry, and collect a bounty on the slavers and warlock.

[Bohandas]

Hook:

-The PCs are hired to investigate a ring of fay and elfin counterfeiters (http://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/fairy%20gold)

[redzimmer]

Encounters

Death Knight Encounters

A monk who poisoned his opponents in a tournament died an ignoble death, and now haunts his abandoned monastery challenging all comers to single combat. For added fun, give him four-armed ogre henchman.

A samurai failed his liege lord and was unable to commit ritual suicide to atone his failure. He now wanders the countryside seeking a worthy opponent to destroy him and end his curse. The trail of bodies left behind him tells of his mounting frustration.

A knight is defeated in a joust by an irreverent elf lord. He murders the elf soon after, but the elf's ghost slowly drives him to his death. Sadly for the knight, death gave no relief. The death knight and the elf ghost now wander the realms, the knight brooding and the elf happily tormenting him. (Actually this sounds like a cool fantasy plot. Does Tor take unsolicited manuscripts?)

[Mikalo]

When I master I never write a linear story. I don't feel the need the see the party as a single entity and I don't like when my players feel useless without the rest of the party, I want them to take decisions with their own mind.
I am no fool though, I am aware that when two or three players are playing the rest is just going to "watch" but with a couple of tricks it's completely doable, it's not easy but with an interesting story even when someone is not playing he will still feel the need to follow the plot

[Bohandas]

*At some major upper class function somebody set off some sort of nass polymorph device, randomizing the race and sex of everybody there

*Solving a mystery is made more annoying by the tagging along of an elven "boy detective" who's older than anyone in the party

[redzimmer]

When I master I never write a linear story. I don't feel the need the see the party as a single entity and I don't like when my players feel useless without the rest of the party, I want them to take decisions with their own mind.
I am no fool though, I am aware that when two or three players are playing the rest is just going to "watch" but with a couple of tricks it's completely doable, it's not easy but with an interesting story even when someone is not playing he will still feel the need to follow the plot

Yes, it's great when the game runs organically. However when times it doesn't, a handy DM resource with Plot Hooks, Campaigns & Encounters is a welcome aid.

Why here is one right here! Splendid.

[Bucky]

Plot Hook

The baron's little girl: urban bodyguarding for low level characters

A local VIP tries to hire the PCs to tail his daughter during a local festival and keep her out of trouble. His daughter (spec'd as a Rogue of the PCs' level) notices them and uses their presence as an excuse to get into trouble. If she finds their presence too restrictive, she also tries to ditch them. And there might be actual kidnappers or assassins around...

If this seems too easy, the VIP might also have warned them not to kill anyone in front of her.

[ganondorf50]

The PC's are approached by a weaponsmith or armorsmith depending on who you want to use. He uses a secure vault to store all of his weapons every night. Every morning he finds a weapon is gone, he cannot figure out why. The armory is a 30 by 30 foot room with all sorts of armaments. He asks the PCs to stay over night to see if the wizard next door who is jealous of his business, has been sneaking in and stealing. Note there is only one entrance a solid iron door. When they PC's stay over night they hear a skittering all throughout the room but when they look they don't see anything. What the PC's don't know is there are four tiny rust monsters eating the metal in the room!!! Over the course of a few nights the PC's should discover whats going on and maybe link it to the wizard or not either way it makes for a fun roleplaying and encounter.

[redzimmer]

Now that is a scary monster.

I think a tiny rust monster swarm would be a magnificent thing for snugs PCs to encounter.


The PC's are approached by a weaponsmith or armorsmith depending on who you want to use. He uses a secure vault to store all of his weapons every night. Every morning he finds a weapon is gone, he cannot figure out why. The armory is a 30 by 30 foot room with all sorts of armaments. He asks the PCs to stay over night to see if the wizard next door who is jealous of his business, has been sneaking in and stealing. Note there is only one entrance a solid iron door. When they PC's stay over night they hear a skittering all throughout the room but when they look they don't see anything. What the PC's don't know is there are four tiny rust monsters eating the metal in the room!!! Over the course of a few nights the PC's should discover whats going on and maybe link it to the wizard or not either way it makes for a fun roleplaying and encounter.

[ganondorf50]

Now that is a scary monster.

I think a tiny rust monster swarm would be a magnificent thing for snugs PCs to encounter.

Thank you its always nice to take the PC's down a peg when they get really smug

[Bohandas]

A strange planar confluence deposits the ship the PCs are traveling on into the River Styx

[Bohandas]

Campaign:

OK, horror campaign idea:

A bunch of surface dwellers (no dwarves) are kidnapped by the drow and taken underground and enslaved. They have to escape and make their way back to the surface. But the entire campaign occurs in pitch black darkness; there are no light sources and they can't see anything. Twist ending: they finally get to the surface and back into the light and they STILL can't see anything, the drow have taken their eyes and replaced them with realistic feeling fakes.

(BTW, this was inspired by a version of the scottish ballad "Tam Lin" in which the fairy queen remarks that she should have done just this to the title character; taken his eyes and put in useless replacements)

[Bohandas]

The students and faculty of a school of the arcane are being preyed upon by a vampire in tneir midst, and nobody can figure out who it is. Many people there have undead grafts, confounding the use of detect undead. Also, the vampire has taken steps to hide their identity; including countermeasures against some common divinations, as well as the use of full-body flesh-tone makeup and a hairpiece so that they will show up in mirrors.

[redzimmer]

C: What They Left Behind Part 2: Salmon Ferry

Synopsis: Someone is arming the local Orc tribe with high-quality weapons, in hopes of destabilizing the status quo on Bleak Isle. The investigation leads to new insights about the unholy altar the PCs found.

The PCs travel to the largest town on Bleak Isle, Salmon Ferry. En route they encounter Sea Orcs (UA water orcs with a vaguely Polynesian theme) wielding equipment well beyond their usual stone, tooth & bone tech level.

After collecting the bounty on the warlock in Salmon Ferry, a sergeant on the town Watch asks if the PCs can investigate a well-established merchant he suspects to be supplying the Sea Orc with the masterwork gear. The merchant has several town councilor sand Watch members on his payroll and the sergeant thinks 'independent investigators' would be more trustworthy.

Digging about leads the PCs to follow an employee of said merchant to the north end of Bleak Isle. The employee rows offshore and returns an hour later with a some crates which he loads into a cart and departs with. If confronted, he surrenders quickly, and spills the beans that a ship wrecked on a reef both of the island is where the gear comes from. He won't admit his boss is involved as the worst the PCs can do is just kill him.

A necrotic cyst (Libris Mortis) then bursts in the informant, killing him and the body is animated as a skulking cyst, which attacks the party (and if they fail throws, the PCs may unknowingly be infected with cysts themselves). A journey to the shipwreck finds a larger galleon loaded with weapons, and some nasty aquatic ghouls. The cyst-infected employee unknowingly was protected from these undead, but the PCs are not so lucky.

The captain's quarters have been smashed open and occupied by a large fiendish octopus which the ghouls avoid.

Defeated the ock will lead PCs to the semi-legible log of the ship. It reveals the ship was commissioned to off-load these weapons to a 'contact' on Bleak Isle. The final entry speaks of the wreck and an attack by undead. The rest of the log is water-damaged, but PCs can make out the port of origin (the fledgling Empire mentioned in part one synopsis) and a few lines warning to not go inland until the Idle is secured.

Once the PCs are done with the boat and return to shore, they are ambushed some appropriately challenging NPCs. Each of them too will let burst with a necrotic cyst if the PCs defeat them. Infected PCs will suffer ill effects as well.

They can be ID'd by the Watch sergeant as persons in the employ of the merchant, but a search of the merchant's home and business shows he has run off. The PCs get a reward, the contents of the ship are seized and the Watch and town council are purged of the corrupt elements.

If asked about why the aspiring-Empire-in-question is interested in the island, the sergeant suggests contacting one of the wild elves that periodically inhabit the island. The nomadic elves have inhabited the island for centuries and their long lives and memories might give more insights.

NOTE: I freely admit taking some liberties with how necrotic cysts are made and used in this adventure as Rule of Cool always trumps RAW for me.

[Bohandas]

This other thread may also be helpful:

http://www.giantitp.com/forums/showthread.php?481798-Need-a-few-plot-hooks-running-out-of-time

[Draco_Lord]

Plot Hook

Half-orcs and half-elves are being targeted in racially-motivated murders.
Tensions rise in a once-tolerant city, with the lynchpin being an impending wedding between a half-orc lass and a half-elf lad.
While the prime suspects are human supremacists (i.e. Zarus), but a strange collaboration of elves and orcs are the true perpetrators.

I like this idea, mainly imagining the PCs finally figuring out who the true villains are, and having it be a group of old people, each more racist then the last, yelling at each other about how much they hate each other slightly less then they hate the idea of their kids getting married.

"I hate you only slightly less then I hate the idea of being your son's father-in-law, green skin." "Same here, you knife eared jerk!"

[redzimmer]

This other thread may also be helpful:

http://www.giantitp.com/forums/showthread.php?481798-Need-a-few-plot-hooks-running-out-of-time

Thanks for the cross-pollination. The more people that benefit from this, the happier I'll be.

[redzimmer]

Plot Hooks

Un-Human Wars.

Goblins vs. Kobolds: the technologically-superior goblins are trying to eradicate the numerically-superior kobolds. Both have access to lots of coin, and hire mercenaries such as the PCs.

Lizardfolk vs. Troglodytes: Both sides vie for an ancient temple that the PCs seek, as they both claim it holds religious significance. They are too great in size (or CR) for the PCs to face, so manipulating the war may be a means to distract them long enough to get what you need from the temple.

Hobgoblins vs. Orcs: A brutal expansionist hobgoblin kingdom has pushed to far into or lands, inciting them enough to set aside their own tribal rivalries and unite into a single genocidal horde. The hobs now are demanding the local "goodly" races aid them, or you all will face extinction.

Bullywug vs. Sahuagin: Shipping lanes are disrupted as these aquatic and amphibious races make war on the swamps, shores and seas of a major shipping port.

[johnbragg]

Goblins, goblins everywhere!

Jeez, why are there so many goblins in the woods all of a sudden?

Because there has been a coup in the local goblin chieftaincy. The goblin king's court wizard, a necromancer of one stripe or another, has seized power, and half of the tribe is scattering in all directions, figuring that if they don't, they'll end up as undead servants sooner rather than later.

So the players *could* make common cause with at least some of the invaders/refugees, who would be happier returning to their forest rather than starting new tribes in your forest. But that requires SOMEONE to take down the new goblin Necromancer Lord.

[Bohandas]

Plot Hook:

Mysterious cattle mutilations!

[redzimmer]

Campaign: What They Left Behind Part 3: What Lies Below

Synopsis: The wild elves of Bleak Isle have long memories. One memory in particular is regarding the temple the PCs recently raided.

At the advice of the Salmon Feery Watch sergeant, the PCs head to the nomadic camp of the wild elves (who you'll recall are a pastiche of Pacific Northwest First Nations). Diplomacy is a requirement of there are no elves in the party.

If they come around, they will reveal the about 900 years prior, an old Human Empire (which will call the Old Empire for simplicity) had a temple complex in the centre of the Isle. Elves tended to avoid the Isle at this time, but a curious young scout (likely still around, because elves) did see a massive, panicked withdrawal of the humans which culminated with a massive magical earthquake sealing up the temple.

Exposition over, the elves and PCs are attacked by a massive Sea Orc war party, and again they are clearly outfitted beyond their technological level.

After the refreshing combat, the PCs can head back to Mud Hill to heal up and return to the temple.

Upon reaching the altar, some investigation will reveal a before-unseen staircase under the altar. Once the PCs figure this out, the Necromancer Merchant pops up and tries to capitalize on your success. He has several scaled CR minions with him. You win or you die, of course.

Necromancer and co. dispatched, the PCs descend into a temple not only full of traps and magical guardians, but also the risk of the unstable building collapsing onto them.

Upon reaching the innermost chamber, a sarcophagus can be opened, and if it is (and honestly, what sensible PC would not?) opened, an overwhelmingly evil presence wafts out. Some good treasure can be looted, but at this point there is nothing else left to see. To rush them along, the temple might begin to crumble.

After returning to the entrance under the altar, the dead necromancer and his cronies are all animated.

The necromancer in a deep, otherworldly voice thanks you for releasing his bound spirit. While he still needs to recover his body(?!), this vessel will suffice.

To reward you, he will give you a quick death, unlike those who put him in this position to begin with.
He orders half of his now-undead followers to kill you, while the rest of them set off, and the temple begins to fall apart in earnest.

If the PCs survive, they should probably investigate whatever this unholy abomination they've unleashed might be.

Note: This is not at rip-off of the Mummy (1999). Shining Force 2 came out years before it did. :smalltongue:

[martixy]

You know, I've been reading the posts and I kept wondering why it's actually not very useful. Then it hit me... half of this thread is missing.
Lots of hook, very little plot.

Given that this thread is DM Aid, why does everyone keep pitching as if to players instead?

Example:
Hook:

"Half-orcs and half-elves are being targeted in racially-motivated murders.
Tensions rise in a once-tolerant city, with the lynchpin being an impending wedding between a half-orc lass and a half-elf lad."
Plot:
Elves and orcs are being manipulated into the murders, thinking they're stopping a disease, by a cabal of necromancers who wish to use the half-breeds to summon a demon prince.

Or somesuch... you get the idea.
Better spell it out anyway: A "why" that a DM can use instead of just the "what" that players will see.

Hook = Mysterious cattle mutilations!
Plot = ???

[Bohandas]

Plot Hooks:

A few Eberron themed hooks, mostly having to do with the Warforged:

-Turf war in the Mournland between the undead and the cult of the Lord of Blades

-The cult of the Lord of Blades has begun murdering any warforged that show a strong tendency to thinking of themselves as male or female

-The PCs are being hunted by a new type of warforged with the shapeshifting powers of a changeling or dopplegangar. I may have stolen this last idea from Terminator 2.

[Bohandas]

Plot Hook:


-Some Sibriex obryith demons have devised a baroque new way to trick paladins into falling. It's a side application of a recent developments they have made in the fields of curses and casual recreational mass murder. What they have done is bred, from stock of awakened and celestial rats, a race of intelligent beings which are pure and innocent yet give off an aura (similar to a Cloak of Hate spell) compelling all other races and creatures to see them as worthless vermin in such a way that even while conversing with one verbally a person will still see it mostly as an ordinary rat, and possibly casually kill it. This is combined with excessive trustingness and naievety that makes they easily killed; they don't realize how people see them. The demons originally created these creatures to have a quickly replenishing population of good beings that could be conveniently slaughtered without risk (think of a safe, sustainable version of Androlynne). They soon also hit upon the idea of tricking paladins into killing them.

[statistically, these rats have stats like normal rats but modified as follows {approximately}-
Type: Magical Beast(Good)
Int 10, wis 8, cha 8
special qualities-
Pest: Under constant effect similar to Cloak of Hate spell. All creatures of other species encountering one (must make a will save? or) have their starting attitude lowered by one step, and tend to view the creature as a nuisance animal. The ratw take a -10 penalty to diplomacy checks with creatures of other species.

Friendly and trusting: Their Initial attitudes towards others are improved by one step and they do not gain the standard bonus to sense motive against bluffs that put them at risk.

Tiny Powers: All damage done by spells, psionics, etc cast by these creatures is scaled down in accordance with their size, as if they were using a smaller sized weapon. All effect radii and diameters are halved. Other areas of effect are halved as well. Finally all spell ranges are halved as well. Lines are changed to rays. All effect radii and diameters are halved. Other areas of effect are halved as well. All spell ranges are halved as well. Lines are changed to rays. Class hit dice sizes are reduced by two steps.

Alignment:
Always good(any) ]

The karmic pollution caused by these beasties is drawing chunks of the abyss up into pandemonium and higher. The PCs are hired by an irate demon lord not wishing to lose more territory (or allow its prey to escape) to find a way to stop this.

[redzimmer]

Plot Hook

A major metropolis is home to the largest arcane college in the world. Its endless magical experimentation has led to a sort of "magical pollution" which acts almost like a wild magic zone to those living the environs around the college.

Some effects may include:

The dead random rising, but as awakened undead who just go about their previous lives.
Local fauna become anthropomorphic creatures.
Random portals to other plane open like magical sinkholes.
Spells cast become living spells.
Constructs become self-aware and form unions.

Yes, these are all inspired by Discworld.

[Bohandas]

Campaign:


-The stagnation of technology at the medieval level and the inability of magic to overcome limitations such as seeing through lead or conjuring gold are both he work of an ancient conspiracy dating back to the Battle of Pesh, which the conspiracy whishes to prevent a repeat of as it was fought with gratituitous use of atomic weapons and twin-cataclysms level attack spells.


The PCs become involved in an investigation into this conspiracy and the curses that it has laid on the world which is being conducted by church of boccob's subsidiary the cult of Zagyg. The behavior of Zagyg's slightly unstable followers will also likely provide the PCs with insight into their enemies' likely motives for trying to suppress magic and technology.

It begins with the recovery of rare ancient kobold holy texts, the Glaucodot Sutra and the Smalt Tablet. These date to a time when more advanced technology and magic once existed. It seems that Kurtlmak started out, in his original form, as a Skynet style military nuclear missile command computer (this idea came to me based on the combunation of the traditional relationship between kobalds and cobalt, plus the theoretical possible use of cobalt in nuclear bombs to increase fallout for long-term area denial), but he gained not only self-awareness but also enlightenment. These texts are equal parts treatise on alchemy and list of nuclear launch codes. The Zagyg cult wants them for the former, but the deranged Kobold cleric who they have to fight to get them (and who found out about them largely due to the other cult's investigations, similar to how the nazis find the ark in Indiana Jones 1) wants them for the latter, to destroy real and imagined enemies on the surface world (although the weapons would have their destructiveness severely reduced due to the curse, they would still cause a lot of trouble if launched. Kurtlmak himself, by the way, has all but forgotten that form due to the curse on the world, and cannot launch any of said weapons without the codes anyway)

At any rate. this confirms the church's suspicians that at one time magic and technology both had more potential that were somehow suppressed.

The next step of the investigation involves the cult's plans to build a time machine to investigate directly. Zagyg himself is also personally involved with the investigation at this point. The PCs are tasked with acquiring various macguffins the cult needs as well as securing the area around Firestorm Peak; they intend to reverse engineer the Vast Gate and based on it build a vehicle that can dive out of the multiverse into the Far Realm and then reemerge in any point in space or time on any of the planes.

Their eventual test run of this ship, the Eldritch, releases creatures and environments inimical to life on both exit and reentry and also comes back hella haunted (think like the film Event Horizon for this last bit) and the PCs have to clear it out but is declared a complete success because it technically did what it was supposed to.

There is another macguffin for a seperate part of the investigation unrelated to building the time machine which the PCs have also been tasked/asked to keep an eye out for since prior to part 2 and which becomes the main focus of a wild goose chase for some time after the time machine is completed until it becomes clear that the reason it went missing all those eons ago is because Zagyg retrieved it in the Eldritch.


The last part involves the construction by the cult of a superweapon to attack possible culprits and/or lynchpins/capstones of the suppression curse that they've identified, including Tabjari, Regulus, the Outlands spire, Tharizdun, and the Regulators. The weapon is called the "ad infinitum" cannon and is powered by the concept of infinity, which it draws out of the bottomless pit in the second layer of the abyss. It's the construction is largely at the behest and urging of a demonic advisor; after seeing a depiction of it in a drawig Zagyg hired an actual angel and demon (or in this case an Eladrin and an Obryith) to follow him around and advise him and bicker with each other. At any rate the PCs can either try to put a stop to this madness of take up arms against others who are trying to stop it.

[Bohandas]

Plot Hooks, etc.:

-Angry at being barred from entering the city a spiteful demigod is sealing up Sigil's portals from the outside.

-Guarding a shipment of Oil of Purify Food and Drink being sent as relief to a town suffering some kind of blight that's causing all their food to rot quickly.

-Someone has to go out and get those rare and expensive spell components so that the magic shops can sell them. This time it's the PCs.

-A group of succubi are deliberately spreadig STDs

-Escorting some druids to an area where they need to conjure replacements for an animal population that has been extirpated. To put more on the line the druids may have bad stats other than wisdom and/or be using a special spell that not many know.

[redzimmer]

-A group of succubi are deliberately spreadig STDs


MAGICAL STDs. Totally using this one.

[Bohandas]

Plot Hook

A major metropolis is home to the largest arcane college in the world. Its endless magical experimentation has led to a sort of "magical pollution" which acts almost like a wild magic zone to those living the environs around the college.

Some effects may include:

The dead random rising, but as awakened undead who just go about their previous lives.
Local fauna become anthropomorphic creatures.
Random portals to other plane open like magical sinkholes.
Spells cast become living spells.
Constructs become self-aware and form unions.

Yes, these are all inspired by Discworld.

Don't forget the Post Office being haunted by the ghosts of the undeliverable mail in the dead letter room

[redzimmer]

Campaign: What They Left Behind Part 4: Clean Up Your Mess

Synopsis: Having released an ancient evil upon the world, it seems fair they should seal it again.

After releasing the trapped spirit of the First Emperor, the PCs escape the collapsing temple and return to Mud Hill. The town is in flames and the residents slaughtered. If inclined alignment-wise, the PCs should help any survivors and marshal them in the nearby lumber camp.

Moving right along, Salmon Hill has been occupied by New Empire naval units. The First Emperor 's host body was an Imperial agent and he uses the guise to instruct the navy to blockade the town.

The Watch sergeant who hired the PCs is now in hiding, and strongly suggests they get out of town.

There are three ways to go from here:

1. Head to the wild elves, help them fend off an Empire incursion until they can abandon the island and with them move to their nearest settlement on the mainland. (The "Good" option)

2. Find the Sea Orcs and in exchange for eradicating their elves, they will let the PCs hitch a ride to the mainland. (The "total bastard" option)

3. Head back to the slave port of Carnage and
a) Quell a slave revolt and get passage to the mainland from grateful slavers.
b) Support the slave revolt and commandeer a liberated slave ship, then take said slaves and ship to mainland and sell the ship, divvying up the spoils between the PCs and the slaves (it's tempting for the PCs to keep the ship for themselves, but a contrived way to prevent this is to enact a real cost for crew, upkeep and maritime fees).
c) Get shanghaied by a pirate crew, start a mutiny and turn ship over for a reward on the mainland.

Any of these choices ultimately lead the PCs to the mainland, at or near the port town of Hastir. And on the horizon, the New Empire's Navy is bearing down on the town in full conquest mode...

[Bohandas]

Plot Hook:

A good deity looked in a mirror of opposition and now there's a rogue aspect out there causing trouble

[Rakoa]

Redzimmer, I have done a first session of "A God Am I" and things are going great. Everybody is incredibly excited. So far all they've done is succeed in repelling the Whitespawn Hordelings from the village, and are about to set out to their lair. I decided to include the Traitor of Io among the Dread Knights, in order to establish a secondary villain immediately, and had him command the knights to execute one of the village elders as well as one of the PCs parents that tried to defend the town. So far, so good. They've already immediately figured out that the Orb was what was keeping the Hordelings away, and one of the players, out of game, thinks she knows what the Orb itself is. I'm not so sure, but maybe she does!

I'm already getting to work rolling up the Mad King. I'm probably going to go for some form of Sorcerer gish just because I think that'd be fun. That can wait, though, because for now I have work to do on preparing the Ranger Outpost encounter. Now that should be fun. I will keep you posted here on how this progresses.

[redzimmer]

Redzimmer, I have done a first session of "A God Am I" and things are going great. Everybody is incredibly excited. So far all they've done is succeed in repelling the Whitespawn Hordelings from the village, and are about to set out to their lair. I decided to include the Traitor of Io among the Dread Knights, in order to establish a secondary villain immediately, and had him command the knights to execute one of the village elders as well as one of the PCs parents that tried to defend the town. So far, so good. They've already immediately figured out that the Orb was what was keeping the Hordelings away, and one of the players, out of game, thinks she knows what the Orb itself is. I'm not so sure, but maybe she does!

I'm already getting to work rolling up the Mad King. I'm probably going to go for some form of Sorcerer gish just because I think that'd be fun. That can wait, though, because for now I have work to do on preparing the Ranger Outpost encounter. Now that should be fun. I will keep you posted here on how this progresses.

Pleased to hear it! Hope everyone has fun.

[Jay R]

I once ran a scenario called the Staves of the Wanderers.

The PCs started as servants of seven high-level characters who wandered the world. Each one had a staff that was an artifact. The staves were each capped with one of the seven metals (silver, mercury, copper, gold, iron, tin, lead).

The seven high-level characters told them that the Staves of the Wanderers were getting out of control, and had to be returned to a temple on top of a mountain. They let themselves be destroyed by the staves, to quiet the staves down long enough for the PCs to return them.

Each staff had an automatic power and a protective power. It had a medium power and a higher level power with risks attached.

1. The silver staff provided night vision and protection from lycanthropy. It also provided invisibility and Polymorph Others.
2. The mercury staff provided high speed and protection from Hold, or Slow. It also allowed Fly and Beguile.
3. The copper staff provided Charm Person and Protection from Charm. It also allowed similar advance powers.
4. The gold staff had light and heat based powers.
5. The iron staff had martial powers.
6. The tin staff had lightning and heroism powers.
7. The lead staff had powers based on time and coldness.

I always referred to the staves in the same order.

The clues so far are pretty obscure. As the adventures progressed, the clues became more and more obvious, until the players finally figured out the secret of the Staves of the Wanderers.

The "Wanderers" weren't the people who had once held the stave. These staves contained powers from the Wandering Stars - the planets (moon, Mercury, Venus, the sun, Mars, Jupiter, and Saturn).

Mercury-based powers were about speed and beguilement; sun-based powers were light and heat, etc.

[redzimmer]

Campaign: What They Left Behind Part 5: A Price To Pay

Synopsis: The PCs are being hunted down by the First Emperor because He thinks they are a greater danger than they actually are. Regardless, they need to get out of town.

Level: 10-12

After making landfall at Hastir and having enough time to rest and recuperate, the PCs again are witness to the military power of the New Empire. Stone golems and minotaur slave soldiers lead the vanguard. After a few hours, the town surrenders and a death warrant is proclaimed for persons matching the description of the PCs.

The best option for escape in up through the mountains that encircle the port. At some point they become impassable. The PCs are then approached by an old wizard who seems to be waiting for them.

As night falls, the PCs need a way over the mountains and the wizard needs help getting some troublesome invaders out of his home.

These invaders are actually his former slaves. After cutting a swath (or, I don't know, stopping to negotiate?) they find out the wizard is a vampire and the slaves hedged out all undead.

The PCs can kill the slaves, kill the vampire, kill them both. The end result is discovering a two-way teleportation circle that will let them escape the New Empire forces...

...And transport them right to the capitol of the New Empire itself.

Campaign: What They Left Behind Part 6: Try to Act Normally

Synopsis: The PCs have found themselves at the very heart of the New Empire. Now they just need to find out how to re-seal the First Emperor.

Level: 13-14

Happenstance has led the PCs right to the bowels of the New Empire's Capitol.

Since his arrival in the host body necromancer, the First Emperor has enacted an ancient magical contingency plan, specifically to reclaim power if He were ever deposed. Even as they acclimatize to the new location, the PCs witness the First Emperor strike down the current Emperor and Senate, and a festival of celebration is proclaimed, with bloody gladiatorial games, sacrifices and all-around badness.

Rumour has it that some senators have survived. If the PCs seek them out, they will want to escape town. As the PCs have a secret teleportation circle to barter with, the senators offer a location of the Emperor's original body, as well as the means to again separate Him from his body.

One thing however, the rite is hidden in the Imperial Palace, so the PCs will have to use all their guile and power to break in, locate the ritual (hint: it's woven into a tapestry), and get out of town before all Tartaerus breaks loose.

[Bohandas]

Plot Hooks:

-A local judge has been possessed by a nalfeshnee

-While digging a well, townspeople unexpectedly breached into a settlement of some kind of underground dwelling creatures

-The elemental planes have shifted slightly, resulting in patches of ground dissolding, bodies of water evaporating, spontaneous firestorms, and open flames spontaneously collapsing into inert soot (edit: earth into water, water into air, air into fire, and fire into earth)

[redzimmer]

Campaign: What They Left Behind Part 7: Sometimes the Classics are Best

Synopsis: The First Emperor seeks His original body. The PCs seek a way to destroy it and Him. Someone else has beat them both to it...

Level: 15-16

The PCs have to first get out of the port of Hastir, occupied by the cruel forces of the New Empire. With the help of the locals, they must oust the Empire and steal one their ships. Now with a direction towards the First Emperor's body (and a ritual designed to eliminate the First Emperor for good), it is a race...

Once they get to the location of the body, the PCs quickly discover a great wyrm red dragon has added His body to its hoard. And so happens an epic battle with a THE iconic D&D villain.

The hoard begotten after victory is small comfort, as upon victory, the First Emperor in His necromancer host arrives to take the body for Himself.

Left for dead, any remaining PCs must regroup and complete the ritual and defeat the First Emperor for once and all.

[Bohandas]

Plot Hook/Potential Basis for Campaign:

-Illithids have hired salamanders to sabotage the sun somehow. You need to go to the sun and stop them.

[redzimmer]

Plot Hook/Potential Basis for Campaign:

-Illithids have hired salamanders to sabotage the sun somehow. You need to go to the sun and stop them.

Be sure to go at night

[THEChanger]

Plot Hook/Potential Basis for Campaign:

-Illithids have hired salamanders to sabotage the sun somehow. You need to go to the sun and stop them.

Wait...this actually could be really cool. Let's see.

The Last Dawn - An Adventure for a Party of Level 12-17 Adventurers

Firstly, for this adventure to make sense, all Illithid and related creatures have the following Special Quality, which under normal circumstances would reduce their CR by 1:

Sunlight Vulnerability: When exposed to direct sunlight or the magical equivalent, an Illithid is dazzled (takes a -1 penalty to all rolls), and can only take a single action per turn, either a move action or a standard action. In addition, an Illithid exposed to natural sunlight takes a single point of nonlethal damage each turn. While wearing a Dampsuit (Lords of Madness, pg. 68), an Illithid is not considered to be exposed to sunlight.

Illithid and their ilk should, also, ideally use their Psionic stats.

Ideally, the party has gained a reputation for themselves over the past 12 levels, and perhaps has already done some work out in the Inner Planes. While resting between adventures, news reaches the party that creatures normally associated with the Elemental Plane of Fire have been pouring out of an ancient ruin previously thought to have been abandoned. Perhaps the party has been to this ruin in a previous adventure. In any case, taking the bait, the party makes their way to the ruins, doing battle with Fire Elementals, swarms of Mephits, Azer warbands, and within the ruins themselves, a patrol of Salamanders. They guard a minor planar tear, a gate opened to the Plane of Fire, the source of the out of place monsters. A DC 20 Knowledge: Arcana or The Planes will reveal that the tear is not natural - it is being kept open by something on the other side. As they look on, the tear suddenly goes dark. Still open, it now looks to be a portal into blackest night.

On the other side waits two figures - one a salamander sorcerer named Agni(use an Average Salamander, to have more Sorcerer levels), the other a roughly humanoid figure, easily nine feet tall, encased in a suit of shifting black leather. This is Menigos, an Ulitharid Psion wearing a Dampsuit. The two are working with a strange black device, which seems to be drawing in the flames which should be flowing through the tear. Discovered, Menigos uses Psionic Teleport to flee, telling Agni to hold the party off while the experiment completes. Agni battles with the party for a few rounds, summoning aid and blasting them with fire spells, but does not risk their own life to protect the device. Once Agni flees, or is defeated, the planar tear begins to close.

If the party retrieves the device, examination reveals it to interrupt the natural flow of energy through a tear between the Plane of Fire and the Material Plane, absorbing that energy and preventing it from reaching the Material. Such tears can be caused by magic, but they often occur naturally - they are the source of stars, and the Material Plane's Sun is in fact a massive instance of such a tear. Around this point, the party is contacted by representatives of the Prince of Flint and Steel, one of the six Efreet Sultans who rule the Brass City of Kash. He and his siblings need the party's aid, and provide an explanation of these events.

A hive city of Illithid, in an effort to speed their eventual conquest of the surface of the Material, seeks to make the sun dim forever. To this end, they have created a magical device called a Solar Umbrella, which absorbs the energy that would normally flow through the planar tears when placed in front of it. What the party retrieved was a prototype, but even now Menigos is preparing the finished Solar Umbrella with the aid of their salamander allies. As the Illithid cannot maintain a presence in the Plane of Fire, they have created an alliance with the salamanders. If the salamanders protect and maintain the Solar Umbrella, they can use the energy it collects to create magic items of incredible power. With this newfound strength, Agni and his brothers could overthrow the Sultanate of Kash, something the Prince of Flint and Steel cannot allow to come to pass. Oh, and the Solar Umbrella will send the Prime Material into an endless night, in which the Illithid will emerge from their deep cave homes and overrun the surface, creating an empire of endless torment and slavery that will eventually spread throughout all other Planes but the Plane of Fire. This matters less to the Sultans.

So why don't the Sultans do something? Well, the planar tear responsible for the Prime Material's Sun lies within the divine domain of a god of fire(this could be an elemental lord like Kossuth in Forgotten Realms, or it might be an actual diety of the Sun, like Pelor or Saranrae). And while this threat is enormous, the delicate balance of politics prevents the agents of Kash from directly interfering in that deity's domain. Which is where the party comes in. Rather than approaching the tear from the Plane of Fire, and altering the deity, the adventurers will come at it from the other side - flying through the void directly into the sun. This is how Menigos snuck into the Plane as well, thanks to a Nautiloid ship. The Prince of Flint and Steel is willing to lend the party his chariot, pulled by eight noble Nightmares, which can navigate the void surrounding the sun. However, the party must first earn the trust of the Nightmares. This could be done through careful negotiation, Diplomacy and Bluff checks, giving gifts to the Nightmares(what does a flaming horse want?), or by the party proving themselves in a contest of violence.

Having obtained the Spark Chariot and the trust of the Nightmares, the party heads back to the Prime Material, and flies towards the sun. There are a few Lanceships (http://lost.spelljammer.org/ShatteredFractine/shipyard/docks/shipyd30/ships/lanceship.html) guarding the tear, and Menigos' Nautiloid (http://lost.spelljammer.org/ShatteredFractine/shipyard/docks/shipyd30/ships/nautiloid.html) is moored nearby. The Lanceships can be engaged safely, but if the Nautiloid activates, the party is in for a rough fight.

Through the tear, the party finds Menigos and Agni standing atop a nearby spire of flaming rock, as well as a group of salamander warriors aided by Illithid Psions. It's a slugfest, though divine spellcasters find they can call upon aid from the flame deity's servitors against the invaders. The true battle, however, is with Menigos and Agni. Menigos is a clever tactician, attempting to use their psionic powers to enslave and confound the party. Agni is all fire and rage, applying as much brute force as they can. They make for a formidable challenge. However, the prize is the Solar Umbrella. If the party can disable it, Menigos has no more reason to stay, and they and any remaining Illithid attempt to flee through the planar tear. Here, Agni fights until the death.

Upon Agni's death, the party now has the Solar Umbrella, which contains many valuable magical components, as well as a partially charged arcane well. I will leave it up to individual DMs to determine exactly how the party might use such things. In addition, on Agni's body, the party finds a blade capable of cutting the fabric between planes, opening short lived planar tears (this is how Agni created the planar tear in the ruins, to test the prototype Umbrella). They also find a map, leading from the ruins where their adventure began to a hidden cave, where the hive city Menigos hails from lies hidden. A possible future adventure, the adventurers may decide to descend into the shadows of the Underdark, and confront the sinister puppet master behind Menigos' plan...

[redzimmer]

[/slow clap]

Love that.

[zyggythorn]

Terrorist attack on the equivalent of the Olympic games, starting 1 civil war (Dwarves- Mafia family v Alienist Clan) and resparking another (the humans- King and People v Nobles).

(Will explain further later. Away from notes)

[Bohandas]

Unusual Villain Concepts

-Dead wizard villain's familiar is running things now and/or out for revenge

-Intelligent item is the mastermind behind (whatever)

[killem2]

Maldrake, Drea, Ryo, and company do not look.



So in part 2 the party must capture this large spire that inside holds a once evil cult that was trying to bring back to the material plane Vetra Kali Eats-the-eyes. The altar of kali has a seal over it and so they must do prayers and this ritual to break it blah blah. Week by week stuff happens to them.

On week five a pair of moon dogs happen to come around and start killing off minions. Except in my session the moon dogs have not killed anyone yet. The only thing the players know is, is that invisible attackers have done this and they are magical.

What they don't know is, a former PC (level 6 wizard) who left our sessions and originally agreed to craft stuff for us as downtime and eventually he couldn't even do that. Now, this normally would have no bearing on the story but it was the room he decided he wanted to make his own. (each player got their own room to make their own)


Since he prepares his spells here as well:

Anyone who meditates here for more than eight hours must make a Will save (DC 16). If the save is failed, the character goes insane, becoming a homicidal psychotic. The character's alignment changes to chaotic evil and they gain a +10 competence bonus on bluff checks to hide their insanity. The recipient of this 'wisdom' now revels in dealing death and killing. If the character goes more than a week with out killing a sentient creature, then the character must make another will save (DC16). The character must murder someone that day preferably in a gruesome and ritualistic orgy of slaughter. Every day they go with out killing someone, they receive a progressive penalty of -1 to any skill check not focused don finding or slaying a victim. However, while they possess this insanity, they also gain Iron will as a bonus feat. If they already have Iron will they will instead get improved iron will.







While his will saves are decent, everyone fails at some point and he has. And so he has actually been killing people.

Now, while this is all going on, I've been trying to secretly plan a "future cohort" for someone who is planning on taking leadership. It is a wayang illusionist. Who is scared to show himself now because he might get blamed for all of this murder. He has kind of become endeared to the rogue in the group for what he did to the boggards and has began leaving notes to communicate with him.


So they will have a couple weeks of hell until they catch on that this former PC has gone insane.

[Bohandas]

Plot Hook

-Members of an acting troupe need the PCs to rescue the mimic who usually plays most of the larger props in their plays but was recently kidnapped by someone (I just noticed that Mimics are neutral with int 10, so what if instead of being a monster, it was the victim they had to rescue)

[redzimmer]

Campaign: What They Left Behind Part 8: Rite Back to the Start

Synopsis: The First Emperor possesses His original body. The PCs are left for dead. But they have the ritual to separate them, and a dragon's hoard...

Level: 16-18

As the First Emperor takes possession of His body, magical wards placed by the original conspirators are triggered, greatly weakening the necromancer host body.

Rather than staying to kill the PCs, the First Emperor is forced to flee, leaving some powerful minions behind to finish the PCs off.

The PCs can find healing and offensive magic items suitable to defend themselves, if the red dragon fight should have depleted their HP and spells.

Before the First Emperor can dispell the wards and reunite His soul and body, the PCs need to perform the separation ritual. A site tied to the original rite is required to recreate it, so back to Bleak Isle and the ruined temple south of Mud Hill they go.

First, a suitable military assault or stealth insertion is required to get back to the island, which is left up to the PCs and the dragon treasure now in their possession.

Second, the PCs need to rally any of the original factions still present on Bleak Isle (or all of them, wild elves, sea orcs, Carnage smugglers and slavers, Salmon Ferry sergeant and the local militia) and rally them to drive off New Empire forces.

Third, they must excavate the temple site, which was collapsed previously.

Lastly, the ritual has to be completed. This is complicated by the arrival of the newly revived First Emperor and His nigh-invulnerable true form, and all the considerable forces at His disposal.

Completing the rite makes Him vulnerable and defeating Him will once again separate body and spirit. The most-loyal of His followers were reanimated by Him, and fall as well, and the remaining Ne Empire can be routed by timely arrival of one (or all) of the four original factions on the island.

Now with the First Emperor sundered, these strong and resourceful PCs shall have to find a way to ensure these components are not released and reunited again.

And that is up to whatever DM decides. A trip to Sigil to ask a multiversal sage's advice? Sphere of Annihilation? Bury the parts underground and place "Warning, ancient evil: do not release" signs all around? Who knows?

[Bohandas]

Plot Hooks:

-A group of intelligent rings of elemental command are trying to restart the cult of elemental evil

-The tavern where the PCs are spending the night is haunted

-Possessed marionette or ventriloquist's dummy

-All the crops are turning into different kinds of crops

-Intelligent dagger designed by demons to foment violent rebellions. It's beneficial when it falls into the hands of slaves or whatever (though even then it still creates an inappropriate number of civilian casualties) but even in benevolent lands it tries to overthrow the government and kill the leaders. If a rebellion succeeds it turns on the leaders of the rebellion, and so on until everyone's dead. It also has levels in psionic classes

[Efrate]

Campaign: A Tale as Old as Dragons

Setting: Forgotten realms, after time of troubles, before spellplague. Banned: Celerity line of spells (anything messing with time pre time stop is kind of BS IMO), MIC, anything from any setting not generic D&D (eberron, ravenloft, pathfinder, d20 modern, etc, greyhawk ok) , 3rd party, Shadow weave (see below), Dragon Stuff available on a case by case basis. Evil PCs can do this adventure as well with less intense RP but it fits them almost as well if not better than good ones.

Optimization level: tier 3-4. Any classes subject to above, but attempt to play not the I solve everything effortlessly from my private demiplane/astal projection/infinite wealth/city nuke/army of countless undead,etc. Nothing wrong being decent and prepared, everything wrong with invalidating the entire party though army of minions, world ending shenanigans, etc. If your party doesn't like this, and goes full op, then you do it as much as them, for (nearly) all the encounters. More work but them's the break.

A few of my players pop on occasionally, this is for their safety

Overall theme: During the time of troubles, multiple deities dying has lead to a usurping of divine ranks, which being limited has thrown the balance of the multiverse out of wack. Lolth, Tiamat, Tempus, Shar, and the Azuth have been killed. Divinity is limited and kept in a careful balance, and this has caused the fracturing of everything. Think a set of scales which has had a significant amount of weight removed from a side rapidly and how it now goes up and down while trying to re-establish its balance. And right when it does, someone smack its again.

A trio of new greater gods has emerged. Two are LG, one is NE (and a demon/devil/yugoloth/evil outsider of choice pre-ascecnsion)
.
As the multiverse attempts to right its balance do to the sudden influx of too much good, reality starts to tear. Random monster not native to material plane show up a lot, more or less randomly, like Balor in the middle of a Thorp's tavern. Far realm stuff shows up much more prevalently. People randomly walking are suddenly deposited on a random plane, sometimes its only briefly, sometimes forever. This is not effecting just the prime material plane. A devil can be on the first layer of Hell and appear in the Dragon's Eeyrie. A solar suddenly is on the negative energy plane, etc. Lesser creatures will likely be trapped, or destroyed, more powerful ones can get themselves out, provided they are somehow capable. Alternate realities cross over, including various GreyHawk elements. Sigil has even more doors to it now and from it now, and several deities might have been shifted to near the spire and be SoL.

Ao has forbidden any of the deities to get directly involved, though followers and proxies are fine. Root of the problem? There is now a surplus of Good and Law in the Multiverse. If the scales aren't balanced, everything ends. And it gets worse the longer you take.

Option 1:

Easiest solution: Dragons, being the oldest race, must have their evil god. Canidates are any chromatic dragon, a source of divinity either by killing some amount of good and/or lawful dieties(new or old), or finding one willing to give up his power. Barring (perhaps) a select few gods of suffering, doing this to revive evil goes against the concept of a good god and their self preservation, gods being the exact ideals they represent (DM leeway, don't just ask Bob the God of Suffering to give it up for the best of everyone, least without something hugely drastic). This will fix the cosmos, with the least amount of new deities raised. The scales do not have to be perfect but this is a huge benefit, because oldest race is dragons and they matter more (rule of cool).

This solution is not known to many dragons, and fewer outsiders, and due to needing worship after the fact, many evil dragons are consolidating power and the Cult of the Dragon are very active. Dragons are much more frequent and tales of some sort of final reckoning between them circulate in the taverns of the world as epic dragon battles happen with alarming frequency. Neutral dragons are heavily recruited by various chromatic dragons to start to form a sort of power base. A CE dragon would be best, a LE or NE one would require more work. Many draconic themed encounters, protodragons, etc. The more powerful dragons with the assistance of the Cult of the Dragon are also attempting to siphon off worshipers from other evil gods. The Zhentarim, Thayan Empire, and most of the other evil organizations are mostly unaware of all this (until later), and fight back vehemently.

Eventually (level 14-16ish) if they haven't already, they figure this out and must start siding with a faction. Each chromatic dragon color has a few exceptional specimens, they can pursue one or all. All the dragons want it for themselves/their color, being greedy hoarding dragons and all, but none of them are willing to give up without a fight. Final Encounters pit their allied great wyrm draconic deity hopeful vs. some or all the others with allies, or just killing all the other top rivals. All of these are CR 20+, usually advanced via epic level progression, with multiple minions, trapped lairs, etc. Dracoliches are very much a possibility and the Cult of the Dragon would love to help with that. Nothing saying an undead dragon cannot be a god.

Many dragons/emissaries of the dragons try to bribe/convince/kill them throughout. Other high level NPCs (other high level parties, elminster, etc) may be working with another faction or trying another way. Why your PCs? Cause you are the heroes. Doing what must be done even if it isn't "right" in some ways. Ends justify the means, greater good, etc. Great fun RPing for paladins and the like. Yes its ****ed up and kind of grimdark, kind of the point.

They work their way through the colors as assassins or diplomats or whatever leveling until early epic (25-30ish is where I plan to stop, hopefully 25) where they have their final showdown, then use help their chosen dragon to get divinity. Good Luck. How you do this is up to you, massive battles, convincing arguments, what have you. My party is attempting one final entreaty to Ilmater then going god hunting if they survive the Great Green Dragon's test.


More work, better results?

The "best" option: Add more to the fulcrum so good and evil are more balanced. You need not raise any new evil deities. You can balance by adding neutrality and a bit of Chaos. If not a dragon you have 38 divine ranks needing to be redistributed, some of which must be chaotic. This doesn't deal with dragons, or even possible any new gods, but can be completed almost entirely with converting gods various followers/nations to the worship of neutral deities. This has the advantage of being less evil; not raising new evil deities, and maybe only taking a bit from a bunch of different good gods. Easier to convince multiple good deities to give a bit of their power to something possibly ideologically similar in other aspects. Or even just make one CN god (a slaad mayhaps?) and distribute the rest to true neutral or an equal amount of law/chaos gods.

The draconic war is just a sidequest here, maybe a setting element. You will deal more with either people and followers, or outsiders of the law/chaos spectrum. Of course, some powers (the demonlords of the abyss, Asmodeaus, etc) want to "help" by taking power for themselves. Maybe they assist the PCs through proxies and then try to usurp the power someone else has given them. If they went to deities, then the magical mcguffin of awesome divinity storage might be opened by a lord of hell, or just a balor trying to move up the only way it can. They have to cross planes, ally with a faction opposed to said thief, get the mcguffin back before its seal is broken and someone gets divinity. If they do not do it in time, you get an evil deity of some stripe that buys you more time to fix things. You then get to go to all these good deities and try to convince them to still help, but they might not like it after your results, or may be unable to without sacrificing too much power, etc. Or they might require a great divine quest or crusade to agree to help again with more of their power which they directly transfer. During the ritual, more jealous or greedy beings break in trying to disrupt it hope to capture divinity themselves.

Let your imagination fly, you have options. You could purely do law vs. chaos as well and leave all the devils and stuff out of it, but you need to then avoid the lower planes' influential members and magic. You can sneak it all through hidden portals and be very cloak and dagger.

You may get lucky and just manage to be the largest evangelic movement in history to get people to worship the almighty farmer bob and his hogs, the Chaos Lord Ukjhk'Htskl the death slaad emperor, or the Fey Queen Titania.

The Hardest Way

Ok so existence needs divinity? Ya know who'd be a great god. The PCs. Alignment whatever, they can just go kill the newest offending gods, share the divine wealth, maybe help the one new evil guy out, and take power themselves. This works especially well for evil (or highly chaotic) PCs. Your goal is to do exactly what caused this in the first place, kill a new (or some older) gods. Gods need a mortal voice, help them be more relate-able to the people. I'm a mortal voice, so why not.

Of course, by attempting divinity yourself, you merely becoming the targets of everyone. But the power of godhood is worth wading through attack from Demogorgon's lackys, Mephisto's slaves, Tyr's Solars,The formian great hive mothers endless nests, the slaad regime and everyone else, until you have what you need to steal the powers of godhood from whomever. If you want to use this as a short high level campaign, this option can work, or you can 1-20+ this in a place where literally everyone and everything or nearly so is against you. Your PCs must find allies where they can, artifacts for their final fight, with all of the planes against them. Can they do it? Do they have the power?

A little of this, a little of that?

Combine all the above. You work with the dragons to raise one, but secretly you are helping a power in the lower planes. Or a neutral force. Or yourself. Doublecross everyone, have them do most the dirty work, and help them pick of the pieces. Maybe just play god(king) maker. Why do you do all this, why you and not someone else? Why you are the Pcs, and its your story. Your PCs have been called by destiny/gods/the multiverse/Cthulhu/farmer bob to do what only you can. Divinity cannot take direct agency, so they work through mortals. You just happen to be those mortals. Everything, all existence rests in your (more or less) capable hands. Reality is your essentially your toy. To you break it, fix it, rebuild it, or ignore it? Your call. There will be booze, there will be treasure, there will fame (or infamy), there will be a legend told forever about how you saved (or doomed) it all. Forever might just happen quicker than you think it will.

[Val666]

Encounter:

This is fun actually. This will fit really good in a campaign which have Daelkyr, Mind Flayers or The Far Realm as main boss.

1) Grab Illithids
2) Grab Dvatis
3) Voidmind every Dvati (both twins) you can
4) Make them learn or take Warblade levels
5) Grab Ironheart Surge

Now you have an army of enchanced Voidmind Dvatis. Some maneuvers work from range, so use half the twins as frontline fighters and the other half as ranged. Whenever ome of the frontline twins die the other twin will feel the sickness of losing his other half. Now Ironheart Surge removes a condition affecting your character. Only way of healing this sickness ia to bring your other half back to life so IHS will ress your twin.

Nearly Immortal army of Voidmind Dvatis at your service.

PD: When spending maneuvers with the frontliners you can recover maneuvers using the twin in the backline. Works the other way too.

[Flying Nostril]

Adventure Idea/Campaign

Character levels: any, but realistically 15-20 is probably best.

The Great White Whale:
The Obvious: A zombie space blue whale has been taken over by a band of pirates that travel between prime material plane planets/discs/ringworlds etc. These pirates land from space and raid villages--typically leaving no one alive, although they take as many captives as possible. Survivors say that the pirates wear regular clothing and armor, use weapons and magic like normal, but instead of regular bodies they have only skeletons that are constantly dripping blood. The PCs might be hired to stop their depredations or track them so that other groups can engage them (depends on their character level). High-DC knowledge(Local) or Knowledge(History) checks might reveal more information about the group: where they tend to strike, what time of the year/month, and other similar information.

The Secrets: The zombie space whale is an awakened zombie space whale with 1-20 levels of druid (again, depending on how difficult you want to make it). It is the real master of the pirate crew, whom it controls indirectly through a captain and a pair of wizards/other officers. It chooses which villages to hit and so on. It was the last animal companion of an ocean druid who chose to awaken it before they died, and so it lived for a long time awakened, gaining levels of druid. Eventually a human/whatever decided to make a life's work of hunting it and all of the whales like it, and succeeded in killing every blue whale in the ocean that this creature lived in. In the final confrontation between the two, the druid-blue whale destroyed the entire ship and crew of this whale hunter, and caught him in its mouth and crushed him to death. Mortally wounded, the druid blue whale died seething with hatred for all humanoids and their vile whale-killing ways. A god of undeath (pick one) took notice and short-stopped the whale's soul on it way to Obad-Hai and offered it a deal: return to life and continue to punish those who killed its kind or continue on and allow those who murder whales to be free. As a bonus, the god of undeath promised to curse the crew and captain that hunted it to death with a punishment fit for their crimes. Still enraged, the druid blue whale picks life, and is awarded with a zombified body. The whale's soul, now trapped in a body it loathes, discovers that the god of undeath made good on its promise to curse the whalers. It has cursed them to be bloody skeletons for all eternity bound in service to the whale. This means that unless the whale is destroyed the crew and captain re-surge back to blood dripping skeletal undeath some short time after their destruction (1d4 minutes/hours/days, depending on if your PCs can handle it), losing no levels in the process (though their stuff might be gone--certainly upsetting to your average pirate).

Additionally:
The crew can leave the whale-vessel for raids and shore leave. They capture as many people as possible to satisfy the whale's desire for revenge on humanoids, and when they have sacrificed enough captives they are granted shore leave--48 hours with their real bodies again. The captain and the officers should be high-powered NPCs with PC classes--in my game they are going to be gish tier 1 caster//tier 3 warrior combinations. The level of treasure these NPCs have could also be off the charts--they have been raiding and hunting like this for dozens, perhaps hundreds of years across numerous worlds. Heck if your players don't want to do it to save people they can at least do it for the money.

This setup also works for a one-off Encounter:
The players come across a few of the pirates on shore leave, and they behave curiously since their bodies are like those of Pirates of the Caribbean fame--they can't really die, they feel physical sensations only barely, and they have an utter disregard for the lives of everyone around them, perhaps including their own. This encounter can be tailored to the power level of the PCs again, but to lend credence to the legend of these villains I would make them very difficult, at least CR 2-3 higher than the PCs.

[Bohandas]

Intelligent dagger designed by demons to foment violent rebellions. It's beneficial when it falls into the hands of slaves or whatever (though even then it still creates an inappropriate number of civilian casualties) but even in benevolent lands it tries to overthrow the government and kill the leaders. If a rebellion succeeds it turns on the leaders of the rebellion, and so on until everyone's dead. It also has levels in psionic classes

Stabby McFacestab CE Intelligent Pitforged +2 Hideaway Anarchic Implacable Keen Dagger Ardent 5; Int 12 Wis 18 Cha 18; Speech, telepathy, read magic; 120 ft. darkvision, blindsense, and hearing; Lesser Powers: Invisibility 3/day, Knock 3/day, Sound Burst 3/day; Greater Power: Confusion 3/day; Special Purpose Power: Break Enchantment; Ardent Mantles: Chaos, Corruption, Deception, Freedom; Ardent Powers: Cloud Mind, Dimension Hop, False Sensory Input Matter Agitation, Mental Turmoil, Psionic Charm,

[Bohandas]

Hooks etc.:

-Babysitting a brass dragon wyrmling

-The river has turned to pus; find out why and undo it if possible

-The river has turned to piss; find out why and undo it if possible

-Sting operation to infiltrate the thieves' guild

[Bohandas]

Plot Hooks:

-Archon (or other LG or NG outsider) antivillain wants to mind control everyone into being happy and content all the time, to a degree detrimental to the survival prospects of creatures that actually need to eat and drink and stuff

-All the water has been turned to blood, which is attracting vampires. This has been done by a divine enemy of the sun god; this enemy is building a vampire army to destroy the sun god's temples and followers. The river blood grants them turn resistence.

[killem2]

A gnome Shaman of ours found four fledgling Assassin Vines that were barely medium creatures so I created just a mini game for her to feed them and watch them grow.

It takes 100 points to make them full growth (as per the typical stat block):


Feed it a tiny creature = 2 points
Feed it a small creature = 5 points
Feed it a medium creature = 10 points



Then once per day per plant, she can make a nature check and whatever that roll is, she can add that total to the tally for the particular plant.

So for example, she spend a couple hours hunting and has a rabbit, rabbit, and squirrel (tiny animals). She also managed to slay a Faun (medium fey). She can choose a few different way to spread the food, but for simplicity of this example lets just say she feeds it all to one plant.

That would be 16 points and then she makes a nature check. Say she rolls an 18. Her total of 100 points for that one plant will be 34/100.


I of course warned her, once large size (100 points) they will attack anything on site if not chained and kept under control.

[Bohandas]

Plot Hook:

A cleric of Olidammara is paying money to anyone who brings him live rats, which he needs for combination rat-baiting (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rat-baiting)/animal sacrifice

[Draco_Lord]

The Wandering Stars

Out of interest, I don't know what The Wandering Stars are, or why those planets are called that, could I learn more about this?

[Bohandas]

Out of interest, I don't know what The Wandering Stars are, or why those planets are called that, could I learn more about this?
In ancient times (because they had no telescopes) the only discernable difference between planets and stars was that the relative positions of the planets in the sky changed from night to night.

Now for a plot hook...

Plot Hook:

The cult of the Abyssal demon lord Pazuzu pays the characters to travel to the Shelves of Despond in Baator, where souls arriving to the Nine Hells arrive, and graffiti Pazuzu's name all over the place (speaking Pazuzu's name aloud three times can forcibly turn the speaker chaotic, which would deny their soul to the forces of Baator, plus Pazuzu can send an aspect to any place where his name is thusly spoken)

[redzimmer]

Encounters

Death Knight Variants

Recently I tried to begin a campaign involving seven orders of knights who each exemplified one of the classic Seven Virtues (in Dragon 335) and their opposition to the Seven Deadly Sins (as given in Dragon 323).

And then since everyone loves to see people fail, I corrupted the Grand Master of each Order to create new evil anti-paladins that embraced one of each sin.

But since that was not nearly enough, I decided to create new Death Knight Templates for each sinful knight. Good fun.

This will be a work a long time coming. I asked the 3.5 boards for input on it, and I ask help once I post them for determining CR and whether are too imbalanced and welcome tweak input.

Coming soon...

[redzimmer]

Mini-Campaign: The Renakor Foreign Legion Part 1

Level: 1-2
Synopsis: A springboard for a DM who doesn't like PCs meeting in a pub.


[QUOTE]Four nations (Magocratic Ekern, Paladin Kingdom Entaurus, Theocratic Jenador, and Military Dictatorship Renakor) have been at war since they have been nations. However a growing superpower, the Empire of Thenes, has become an expansionist drive, and any of these four nations would quickly fall to them. However, united they are equal or greater than the Empire.

Thus the Treaty of Ekarsh has been signed by all four nations. While not friends by any sense of the word, there is now a Détente cordiale, wherein if one of the four nations attack one of the others, all three others are obliged by treaty to destroy the belligerent nation.

Each nation is also involved in the fantasy equivalent of the Great Game, wherein they scramble to build hegemony in less-developed nations (the better the spread their dogma and exploits the local resources) and to build empires abroad in newly discovered lands across the oceans. With shared "frenemy" borders and a greater threat breathing down their collective backs, each nations now fields armies of either bottom-of-the-barrel mercenaries, fanatically religious "volunteers", or slave conscripts to manage their colonial interests.

Of these armies, the one of interest in this campaign is the Renakor Foreign Legion. Any class, any race and any alignment the DM will permit can be recruited into the RFL. So long as you are not a citizen of Renakor and you obey orders, you are welcome to join. Renakor's foreign policy involves dividing and conquering sovereign nations. In the land of Taldras, a multi-faction civil war of succession is in full swing. The RFL has been dispatched to aid one of the warring princes who wishes to take the throne. Once the Legion ensures his victory, the prince will then-whether he likes it or not-become the head of a new client state.

Stationed in a dusty desert outpost typical of the land of Taldras, the PCs are raw recruits in the Legion.

One day at dawn a pair of RFL deserters appear, being chased by some native fanatics (not aligned with Renakor's puppet prince) who claim they had desecrated a sacred tomb, and demand they be surrendered. The base commandant-a half-iron golem half-ogre-refuses, since the deserters are subject first to martial law. The fanatics depart, warning the camp will be destroyed at dawn the next day if the deserters are not surrendered.

One of the deserters dies of his wounds and the other is incarcerated. That night, the dead Legionnaire rises as an undead compelled to free the other deserter and open the gates. By the time this is discovered (the base is on high alert and the PCs have drawn midnight watch duties), the gates have been breached, and forces unknown are attacking the outpost.

The living deserter escapes, and the commandant orders the PCs to pursue him. But first they must navigate a battlefield filled with seasoned soldiers and siege golems.

The surviving deserter heads back to the very tomb he allegedly desecrated, where the pursuing fanatics (a cadre of half-orc paladins dedicated to preventing foreign invasion) intercept both him and the PCs. Battle or negotiations can ensue, and the aftermath shows the 'deserter' was a Legionnaire captured and magically compelled to defile the tomb, riles up the natives and get back into the outpost.

After sorting this out and returning to the outpost, the PCs discover the base has been overrun and the garrison slaughtered. Approaching the outpost directly would be suicide, but after a skirmish with sentries, the PCs are met by other Legionnaire survivors.

The surviving legionnaires must trek back to the main Taldras outpost, doing their best to avoid the locals, random desert encounters and hazards as well as not succumbing to dehydration or exposure.


Arriving at the main RFL HQ, the PCs are debriefed. From the account of the attack, it sounds like tactics of Ekern Friekorps (the Ekern equivalent of the RFL, natch), which would be construed as an act of war.

The PCs are healed up, re-equipped and sent to find out who attacked the outpost, and why?

Esprit des corpse!

[Bohandas]

Eberron Plot Hook
The Planar Shepherds have enlisted the PCs' aid in a dangerpus and controversial mission to move the bound Daelkyr lords back to their home plane

[killem2]

None of the above:

I give 500 exp to the party each or to a player if I make a mistake on a rule or totally screw something up with my players.

[kingtiger13123]

Plot Hook
The PCs are contracted by a dwarves lord to retrieve ancient Dwarven artifacts from an ancient dwarf settlement in the north. They are also to investigate rumors that a massive meeting of worshippers of evil gods, from both civilized (humans, gnomes, half-elves etc.) and barbaric (orcs, gnolls, goblins, etc.) races is to be conducted in the same region.

Encounter
The PCs need a verbal password to open a locked door. The only thing in the area that knows it is a talkative taxidermed wolf's head. Which only speaks in puns. Only use if you wish to "Pun"-ish your players

[Bohandas]

Plot Hook/Plot Twist:

Some Yugoloths have been running a scam wherein they spread false rumors that a powerful artifact of evil can be destroyed by dumping it into Mount Chemada in Gehenna. It can't. They sell the artifact. Wait for it to fall into the hands of do-gooders looking to destroy it. Wait for the do-gooders to come to the peak of Chemada and either waylay them and strip their bodies and souls of useful materials if they seem weak, or else hang back except for a few expendible minions and retrieve the artifact from the volcano later if the do-gooders seem powerful. Then they sell the thing again and wait for it to onve again return to them.

[AlanBruce]

Plot Hook 1

Recommended starting level : 13 and up.

A sinister and very crude winter has began ravaging a small duchy and spreading towards other lands and even mighty kingdoms.

Divinations and other spells have proved fruitless to stop the winter itself, which has manifested in the middle of summer, but many Seers have identified the source as coming from the duchy.

PCs hear about this or are in the duchy itself and decide to investigate.

Turns out that the winter is a result from a forest beyond the duchy. Ancient and protected by mysterious fey, an old pact has been broken and a rogue Court of Unseelie have returned to the Material, with their leader attempting to reclaim everything back by freezing the mortals in her realm, seeing them as interlopers.

Why did they come back? How? And how to send her and her legendary fey warriors back to the Unseelie Realms? especially when the fey that protect the forest are not getting reinforcements from the Seelie Court, supposed to answer immediately to such a breach?


Plot Hook 2

Recommended starting level: 11 and up

A zenythri (MM2) inquisitor has recently arrived into the PCs' home town, replacing the deceased previous inquisitor to the Cuthbertine Church.

The fact that a zenythri would be in town as acting church head is odd enough.

The fact that she has a Kolyarut by her side at all times makes it even stranger.

Turns out the zenythri carries with her a box. In it, is trapped a minor slaadi lord, captured by her ancestor generations ago and passed down her family line until a definitive way to get rid of him can be found.

The Kolyarut has held the box in his hands, having his raw LN essence keeping the box and the slaadi inside at bay...

However, a group of local rogues training to become Temple Raiders decide to stupidly rob the Cuthbertine compound when the Kolyarut is being fixed for maintenance.

Unknown to everyone but the zenythri and the inevitable, the slaadi lord can posses any body and eventually take over and awaken his powers. The more chaotic the creature, the faster he will take over and the faster his powers will awaken.

The rogues responsible happen to be in good terms with the party (maybe one of the rogues is a PC) and with the box missing and the slaadi lord hidden deep inside an unwary vessel, the zenythri has sent the Kolyarut in a merciless hunt to catch and slay anyone who may have taken the box and its contents before the entire town is drowned in chaos.

[Bohandas]

Campaign
It occurs to me that one could life the most of the plot of Fallout 3, replacing the Capital Wasteland BoS with the White Paladins, Vault 101 with an insular community, possibly Dwarven or otherwise underground dwelling, Vault 112 with a Society of Sensation facility, and Aqua Pura with Holy Water.

[Bohandas]

Hook
Lawful neutral druid/artificer needs help repairing some climate-change-preventing inevitables (whatever the local climate's equivalent of the Anhydrut from Sandstorm is) before the local climate goes to crap

[Ninjattack]

Plot Complication Idea

The recent activities of a serial killer have made it hard for the party to move within a town important to their quest. So for example the killer disguises themselves as an uncommon race that happens to be in your party, and so the town guard have become more apprehensive towards members of that race. Or as another example the killer could bare an uncanny resemblance to one of the party members, leaving the rest in a race against the clock to prove the accused's innocence.

[Bohandas]

Plot Hook
A party member or quest giver affiliated with the churches of Heironeous and/or Murlynd is tasked with securing, in the name of the Order of White Paladins, the remains of inevitables destroyed in a recent battle before the baatezu claim them and use them in the construction of Hellforged constructs

[redzimmer]

Mini-Campaign: The Renakor Foreign Legion Part 2

Level: 3-5
Synopsis: The second part of a min-campaign to get your crew together.

After recovering from the assault and loss of their outpost, the new RFL recruits are tasked with reclaiming it. As you recall... From the account of the attack, it sounds like tactics of Ekern Friekorps (the Ekern equivalent of the RFL) why Ekern would an act of war and endanger the Four Nations' Treaty is hard to discern.

A small sally port (really the midden chute, so enjoy!) can be used to access the outpost. The PCs are required to subdue the guards and open the main gates in time for the main Renakor Foreign Legion force to attack.

Stealthy investigations discover that it was a false flag attack. Agents of the Thenesian Empire were the actual perpetrators of the attack, and with it hoping to break the Treaty of Ekarsh, and with the traditional tactic of Divide and Conquer, Thenes can sweep across the warring nations and destroy them all.

Or they would if it wasn't for those meddling PCs.

They must kill or disable the commandant of the Thenes forces, open the gates somehow before the attacking force is caught at the gates by the siege golems and warmages stationed there.

Upon completion, the PCs are given commendations and are marked for Special Forces training. From there the DM can send them off to all sorts of wacky adventures.

[Bohandas]

Villain or Encounter:
A bandit similar to the one from Alfred's anecdote in The Dark Knight, who robs people simply for the fun of it

[Bohandas]

Hook:

Inevitables dedicated to the idea "You Can't Get Something For Nothing"/"Nothing in life is free"/"There's no such thing as a free lunch" have invaded the Big Rock Candy Mountains (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2AfIOAC9f1c) on the plane of Ysgard

[GreyBlack]

My current campaign I'm running:

You awaken in a cell, with no memory of who you once were. What do you do?

[Bohandas]

Hook/Encounter/Adventure:
Strange goings-on in the forest, including unusually tough animals (and occasionallg also travelers waking with either more or less rations than tthey had when they went to sleep), are eventually traced back, by the end of the adventure, to a ruin containing Nomnom (http://www.giantitp.com/forums/showthread.php?485471-Buying-Furniture&p=20690037&postcount=16#post20690037), an intelligent magic dinner table that can cast Heroes' Feast and in yhe absence of a human(oid) master has been making food for (and occasiona;=lly also from) the forest animals

[redzimmer]

Encounter

You are randomly attacked by valuable art objects (treat as animated objects of appropriate size). They are remnants of a dragon's horde.

The dragon was killed centuries ago, but a vestige of its soul lives on in the old treasure. The PCs must find and collect all the items to exorcise a ghost dragon.

[Bohandas]

Mystery:
A series of bizarre "thefts" have occured in a town recently. The culprit turns out to be a rare life-themed inverted counterpart of the death slaad. This creature has been animating random objects, which have then wandered off

[Bohandas]

Misc
A concept: (As a background to this you need to be familiar with the canon that the Mind Flayers originally came from a distant future from which they time-traveled) What if the Illithids were, unknowingly fo both parties, the distant descendants of the githyanki, the result of a process similar to that described in the pseudoscientific treatise The Beginning Was the End (except with psychic talent being increased and sex drive decreased)

[Bohandas]

Hook for Antiheroes/Antivillains:

Recruited by the cult of either Lolth, Zuggtmoy, and/or Iuz as part of an combined inquisition by the three of them to oust Tharizdun's followers from the Cult of Elemental Evil.

Adventure Concept:
Town tries to send the PCs after a dragon that they say robbed their treasury, but it turns out that this was because the town owed the dragon money for services and refused to pay

[redzimmer]

Hook

In a terra nova region, a war between lizardfolk and troglodytes rages.

Turns out it is a proxy war orchestrated by two rival kingdoms nominally at peace.

The PCs need to find proof of the local governors of the kingdoms colonies shenanigans before the humanoids are annihilated and the war spreads.

[Bohandas]

Hook:
Someone is sealing all of Sigil's portals from the outside. (Possibly Vecnite cultists with an axe to grind)

Character:
A Bhaalspawn who resembles a goth version of Jesus. "In my father's house there are many tombs" and so forth

Hook:
Internecine conflict within the Athar (a radically anti-theistic anticlericalist cult from the Planescape setting) due to the appearance of a moderate subsect advocating the worship of deities whose actions or teachings stress the fallibility of the gods (ie. Zagyg, Karsus, Prometheus, etc.)

[Zakier]

Death becomes Them

"Due to either a miscalculated spell, a nefarious plot or simple bad luck the party has died. Trapped in the Ethereal Realm our brave adventures must seek out a way to revive themselves or forever be trapped, unable to pass on."


So many people as DM's and players have a small far that somehow the party will wipe. Early enough in the game rerollong isn't too big of a hassle but at some point people do not want to lose a character they have invested so much into. Especially due to simply bad rolls.

I present my solution to the problem. Should your party wipe completely, instead of dm fiat to simply revive then or having to re roll, have an adventure as ghost, success or completion results in revival. True death of they fail. Considered a second chance at redemption my adventure hook here gives players and DM's a final fallback before losing a character completely.




How the players achieve this is up to you. I keep it fluid with a standard end of meeting some God that if pleased by their actions or if they complete some moderately difficult task the Gods send them back to the material plane.

For setting remember the Ethereal plane and material overlap almost exactly. Use your current setting and environments but apply ghostly greyish appearance to everything.

[Ken Murikumo]

I've got 2, one i'm running now, and another when im done with this campaign:

Campaign idea

Players eventually learn the world is a far far future not a fantasy past and the gods are actually gargantuan constructs left over from the human era that can warp timespace (use magic). Main antagonist learns this and how to control them. Players must discover the truth, find a way to disable the "gods" and stop the big bad

Players see (and feel) cities getting NUKED from very far away. Investigation leads them to a heavy guarded underground facility. Magic keeps blinking on and off depending on where they are. They learn there are multiple areas like this on the planet. The highest order of rulers (and mages) do NOT want anyone finding out what is inside. When the players find the "bottom" of one of the heavily guarded facilities, they enter into a very abstract, but technologically superior "dungeon dungeon" (a cute name my players call it because it's literally a dungeon that has a dungeon). They eventually learn it's actually the (mostly) dormant remains of one of the gargantuan god constructs. Eventually the party learns how to disable the gods and cut off the main antagonist's infinite power. Epic battle ensues and then the end. The state of the world after is completely up to my players choices.
Yes it does sound kind of mass effect-like. "Even a dead god can still dream" was the quote that inspired the construct god beings

Idea 2 (this is gonna be a future fantasy setting. I would like to get my hands on Starfinder, but thats not available for another year, so i'll make it up as i go)

Campaign Idea

Players wake up on derelict ship with spotty memories. They've been asleep for over 500 years. In that time a religious order has gained popularity and descended into horror. This "holy" order has been glassing planets and destroying civilizations on the assumptions that they are heretical and impure. Effectively they are so good that by comparison everyone else is a dirty sinner not worth saving. Big plot twist, one of the "Old Ones" has infected the religion and is twisting it into his own personal religion. With the forced deification and the Old One knowledge it plans to do cataclysmic things to the universe

^ Summary is really all i got. That and populating the ship they wake up on. Kind of like Motherbase from MGS5, but in space... with magic...

[trikkydik]

This only works during a great battle.

The Tarrasque erupts from beneath the battle scene! The commotion must have awoken it.

Use this super weapon to destroy it, or die. (Complicated mechanism and a long reload time, make for combat in between using the super weapon.)

Was a lot of fun.

[prufock]

Hooks

I've posted these in other places before, but I'm expanding a little on them here.

Hook #1: A low-ish level spellcaster accidentally starts the Wightocalypse, and you must stop it before the entire world is nothing but wights.

Plot Summary - This adventure would probably include the introduction of the somewhat bumbling spellcaster, who gets humiliated by X (possibly the PCs?) in public, becoming a bit of a laughing stock. He hatches a plan of revenge, researching the Locate City Bomb trick, one step at a time, with each step being revealed to the PCs as some sort of crime to be solved. They eventually piece together his idea, and must stop him before he releases the wights upon the world. If they fail, he realizes how bad his mistake could become, and turns to them for help stopping it.

Hook #2: Word is getting around the Abyss that Pazuzu is bragging about corrupting a kobold paladin. Things get out of hand, but a time-traveling artificer has an idea.

Plot Summary - This starts with a very common kobold raid plot, then discovery of the kobold warren, where thy find a sacrificed kobold, and some mention of the name Pazuzu. Soon nearby towns are also being raided, and some are whispering the name of the kobold in charge, who appears to have strange magical powers: Pun-Pun. They find and confront him, only to be soundly defeated. Luckily, before they are killed, they are deus ex machina'd by a time-traveling artificer, who has a plan of how to defeat the kobold. This might result in some Groundhog Day-like time loops.

Hook #3: A meteor impacts in the desert or wherever, killing most of the population within miles. Wait, that's no meteor, that's a spaceship. And contains an elder evil, or something.

Plot Summary - I would place this in a world without psionics. The story starts with the characters seeing a falling star that impacts with the ground in the distance. They may choose to go investigate, or wait for problems to arise. And arise they do. With the landing of the asteroid, it released quantities of starjelly all over the countryside, granting psionic powers to various creatures, driving them somewhat mad. After encountering some of these creatures, they discover the starjelly. The PCs can also use the starjelly (works similarly to potions, but each time you use it you slip slowly into insanity). Investigating further, they find that the quantity of starjelly increases as they get closer to the asteroid (resulting in more and increasingly powerful affected psionic creatures). The asteroid itself is like a large building (spaceship) containing a captive Elder Evil that has worked its way free, killing the crew, except for one survivor, who tells them how to reform the evil's seal.

[Bohandas]

Encounter:

The characters are accosted by a clown or jester who is possessed by a large number of demons (as sort of a spoof on the old clown car gag)

EDIT:
Adventure Concept:
You must protect a lucky gambler from a mobster-esque inevitable dedicated to the assertation that "the house always wins"

EDIT:
Hook?
A demon orchestrates the actions of a cult of cold blooded killers from inside the body of a dog which the demon is possessing (This suggestion based on claims made by the serial killer David Berkowitz, aka The Son of Sam, as to the motive for his actions)

[Bohandas]

Campaign or Adventure Concept:

Die Vecna Die played out from a different perspective. Instead of chasing Vecna through the multiverse, the story plays out within Sigil where it's clear that something big and disruptive is about to happen and the heroes have to find out what. Kind of similar to the original 1980's Ghostbusters.

[Jack_McSnatch]

Encounter/possibly even an adventure

Scorchlings: cr variable.
A mad wizards experiments have paid off in the form of fire breathing squirrels rampaging across the countryside. The pests are small, agile, and belch flame like dragons. The heroes must find a way to stop this menace before the entire kingdom burns, and stop the mad mage from simply creating more chittering terrors.

The scorchlings for the most part are regular squirrels whose only concerns involve survival. They thrive in fire, and thus use their breath to make smoking, sweltering dens.

[Bohandas]

Adventure for Toon: The Cartoon Roleplaying Game
The PCs work for a music magazine that uses technology to objectively measure how hard a band rocks. Unfortunately some of the equipment has been damaged to to flooding. You have two hours to acquire a metal detector and a vickers hardness tester before the big music festival

D&D Campaign Idea:
Dune-like storyline taking place on one of the dead gods in the Astral Plane (Thus explaining the giant worms :smalltongue: )

[redzimmer]

Plot Hook

You witness a murder in a major city.

The city watch arrest you as a suspect and a speak with dead is cast upon the body--the body implicates you.

You must escape from prison, discover who the murderer is, find out who cast the false spell, and clear your name or names.

[Bohandas]

Treants are being menaced by fiendish beavers

[Bohandas]

Here's a link to another relevant thread:

Ship-based Adventures (http://www.giantitp.com/forums/showthread.php?502091-Ship-based-adventures)

[redzimmer]

The Wider World Part 1: Lair Dive

Level: 1-2
Synopsis: A small village was under the thrall of a red dragon for centuries. Suddenly one day, mighty adventurers slew the dragon and took her hoard.
Some decades later, the PCs raid the former lair as a rite of passage and run across an upsetting truth.

The PCs are all native to the small village of Dragoj. One day they are urged by an NPC friend to join him on a Lair Dive, a so-called rite of passage for youths of the village.

A Lair Dive entails delving in as far into the dead red dragon's lair, evading what traps remain and monsters that seems still drawn to the place.

Upon reaching the very middle of the lair, the NPC friend becomes possessed and attacks the PCs. Subduing or killing him, the PCs discover the remains of a spell which curses the dragon's hoard. Those that would possess the hoard are taken over by the dragon's malevolent spirit.

This means the very heroes who slew the dragon, are now possessed by the dragon, and who knows what evil they have wrought in the world.


* For added fun: Have your players roll up the high-level heroes who fought the dragon, and for the "prelude" of the campaign, have them slay said dragon and take whatever treasure. Then, take these PCs into DM-controlled NPCs with a new alignment of CE.

[Bohandas]

Hook
The party wizard has been hired as a secondary caster in an epic ritual spell. Sinister forces (Vecna?) are now after their spellbook copy of their portion of the ritual.

[redzimmer]

The Wider World Part 2: What's Mine is Mine

Level: 2-4
Synopsis: A group of adventurers discover a curse was placed on a dragon's hoard, and that's terrible.

The PCs are apprehended for trespassing in the dragon's lair, which is in the provincial Lord's private lands. The treasure found in the lair is confiscated by the lord's bailiff. The sentence is four years indentured service in the province's copper mines.

In the mines the PCs fight off a grimlock incursion and facilitate a prisoner revolt. One of the prisoners knows the Lord personally--he was one of the original heroes who slew the dragon. The prisoners, a wizard named Conrad, believes the Lord is under some sort of curse.

Clever PCs will have put 2 & 2 together by now and figured the Hoard Curse is in effect on this Lord. The former prisoners ask you to help release him. He used to be benevolent before the dragon.

The PCs would be slaughtered by the Lord, so Conrad instead intends to separate the cursed treasure from the Lord. He sneaks you into the Lord's castle, where the PCs must find the hoard share and remove it to another Plane. Luckily, there is a Well of Many Worlds in the castle.

A persistent inevitable tries to prevent illegal plane dumping, and the castle guards will soon discover the theft.

Expelling the hoard frees the Lord, who asks the PCs and Conrad to find the remaining percentages of the treasure before who knows what damage the other dragonslayers are up to.

[Bohandas]

Campaign concept for Call of Cthulhu:
A Call of Cthulhu campaign wherein the cthulhu mythos is swapped out with another comparable pantheon such as the Ogdru Jahad from Hellboy or the Ruinous Powers from Warhammer 40k.

D&D campaign idea:
"Urban Renewal", A campaign focused on completing or repairing various artifact-level magical public works projects and eldritch machines constructed by the Free City of Greyhawk's brilliant but insane former mayor Zagyg Yragerne

[redzimmer]

D&D campaign idea:
"Urban Renewal", A campaign focused on completing or repairing various artifact-level magical public works projects and eldritch machines constructed by the Free City of Greyhawk's brilliant but insane former mayor Zagyg Yragerne

I'm envisioning something akin to Anhk-Morpork's "Bloody Stupid" Johnson's architecture.

[redzimmer]

Campaign: The Wider World Addendum

The first two parts are easy to make without the actual high-level PCs to build from.

So rather than give the remaining parts, I will just give a general guideline:


The Dragon Evatravrag

Evatravrag

Male Mature Adult Red Dragon
Chaotic Evil

S: 37 (+13)
D: 12 (+1)
Co: 26 (+8)
I: 18 (+4)
W: 17 (+3)
Ch: 23 (+6)

Size: Huge

Breath Weapon: Cone of fire, 50 feet x 50 feet x 50 feet, Damage 14d10 (Reflex DC = 30)
Bite (x1): +37, Damage 2d8+13 [strength]
Claws (x2): +32, Damage 2d6+6 [0.5 x strength adjustment]
Wings (x2): +31, Damage 1d8+6 [0.5 x strength adjustment]
Tail Slap: +31, Damage 2d6+19 [1.5 x strength adjustment]
Crush: Reflex save, DC 30, Damage 2d8+19
Grapple check (crush, snatch): +46

Hit Points: 344

Speed: 40 feet
Fly: 150 (poor)

Armor Class: 31 = 10 +1 [dexterity] -2 [huge] +24 [natural]
Touch AC: 7
Flat-footed: 32

Initiative modifier: +1=+1 [dexterity]
Fortitude save: +22=14+8 [constitution]
Reflex save: +15= 14 [base]+1 [dexterity]
Will save: +17= 14 [base]+3 [wisdom]
Spell resistance: 23
Frightful presence: 210 feet (will save DC=28 or panicked/shaken)

[B]Languages


Abyssal
Common
Draconic
Dwarven
Elven
Giant


Feats


Flyby Attack
Improved Critical: Bite
Improved Critical: Claw
Recover Breath
Shape Breath
Skill Focus (Knowledge Arcana)
Weapon Focus (Claw)
Weapon Focus (Bite)



Skills of Note

Appraise +32
Climb +13
Diplomacy +23
Intimidate +28
Jump +17
Knowledge (arcana) +35 [skill focus]
Knowledge (history) +32
Knowledge (planes) +32
Listen +28 =
Search +29
Sense Motive +31
Spot +28
Use Magic Device +34

Know Planes >=5 ranks gives +2 on survival checks on other planes.
Search >=5 ranks gives +2 on survival checks while tracking.

Zero-level Sorcerer spells: 6 per day Read Magic, Detect Magic, Daze, Flare, Inflict Minor Wounds, Arcane Mark, Mage Hand, Open/Close

First-level Sorcerer spells: 8 (6+2) per day 5 known Protection From Law, Protection From Good, Burning Hands, Alarm, Grease, Color Spray

Second-level Sorcerer spells: 8 (6+2) per day 4 known Shatter, Desecrate, Produce Flame, Resist Energy, Web, Arcane Lock

Third-level Sorcerer spells: 7 (6+1) per day 3 known Magic Circle Against Law, Magic Circle Against Good, Resist Energy (Cold or Fire), Fireball, Displacement

Fourth-level Sorcerer spells: 5 (4+1) per day 2 known Chaos Hammer, Unholy Blight, Wall of Fire, Animate Dead

Dragon Abilities:

Immune to paralysis and sleep
Blindsense to sixty feet
Darkvision to 120 feet
Vision twice human in normal light, four times in shadowy light

Red Dragon Abilities:

Fire subtype
Locate object (7/day)
Damage reduction 10/+1
CR: 18


Coins


2445 pp
9731 gp
5 sp
5 cp


Gems


Alexandrite (300 gp)
Alexandrite (600 gp)
Aquamarine (800 gp)
Azurite (12 gp)
Banded Agate (6 gp)
Black Star Sapphire (800 gp)
Bloodstone (20 gp)
2 x Blue Quartz (11 gp)
Blue Sapphire (1200 gp)
Blue Star Sapphire (900 gp)
Blue Star Sapphire (1200 gp)
Chalcedony (60 gp)
Chrysoprase (50 gp)
Citrine (60 gp)
Fire Opal (1100 gp)
Golden Pearl (100 gp)
Golden Yellow Topaz (500 gp)
Iolite (30 gp)
Jet (120 gp)
Malachite (9 gp)
Moonstone (30 gp)
Onyx (80 gp)
Pink Pearl (140 gp)
Sardonyx (80 gp)
Violet Garnet (300 gp)
Violet Garnet (600 gp)
White Opal (1000 gp)



Total value = 10119 gp

Art Objects


Bolt of Electrum Cloth (2100 gp)
Bottle of Exotic Wine (1200 gp)
Box of Perfumed Candles (100 gp)
Brass Flask inlaid with Copper (1000 gp)
Bronze Stele (1200 gp)
Carved Wooden Rod (140 gp)
Copper Cloth Gloves (100 gp)
Copper Idol (of a God of War) set with Tourmaline (1500 gp)
Crystal Dice (pair) set with Rhodochrosite (100 gp)
Crystal Miniature (of a Ship) set with Moss Agate (900 gp)
Dragonscale Belt inlaid with Adamantine (5000 gp)
Dragonscale Ribbon set with Peridot (900 gp)
Electrum Cloth Cloak (1300 gp)
Ermine Cloak (4000 gp)
Fine Leather Cloak set with Golden Yellow Topaz (1000 gp)
Gilded Wooden Statue (of a Goddess of Honor) (1000 gp)
Ivory Stele inlaid with Gold (3000 gp)
Lacquered Wooden Necklace (700 gp)
Lacquered Wooden Statue (of a Serpent) set with Aquamarine (4000 gp)
Large Tapestry threaded with Silver (6000 gp)
Leather Ribbon (60 gp)
Marble Pedestal set with Deep Blue Spinel (5000 gp)
Painted Glass Goblet (100 gp)
Platinum Cloth Robe set with Jade (2000 gp)
Silk Gown trimmed with Sable (600 gp)
Silk Tabard (60 gp)
Silk Vest trimmed with Ermine (500 gp)
Silver Brazier wreathed in Continual Flame (5000 gp)
Silver Cloth Coat (1800 gp)
Silver Cloth Pennant (200 gp)
Silver Cloth Tabard set with Red-brown Spinel (3000 gp)
Small Bag of Incense (70 gp)
Small Carpet (900 gp)
Small Carpet (1000 gp)
Small Silver Mirror (10 gp)
Small Tapestry threaded with Bronze (1400 gp)
Small Tapestry threaded with Silver (1600 gp)
Small Vial of Exotic Perfume (400 gp)


Total value = 58940 gp

Magic Items


Dagger (Medium) (+3 weapon, Shocking Burst) (50302 gp)
Ioun Stone (pink and green sphere) (8000 gp)



Total value = 58302 gp

Salvaged Goods


7 x Backpacks (2 gp, 2 lb)
5 x Ballistae (500 gp)
14 x Barrels (2 gp, 30 lb)
7 x Bookcases (30 gp)
Bottle of Spiced Wine (2 gp, 4 lb)
Carriage (100 gp, 600 lb)
Cart (15 gp, 200 lb)
5 x Cauldrons (10 gp)
12 x Chariots (100 gp, 200 lb)
20 x Gnomish Cold Weather Outfit (8 gp, 7 lb)
8 x Courtier's Outfit (30 gp, 6 lb)
Heavy Catapult (800 gp)
9 x Iron Bars (1 sp, 5 lb)
8 x Large Cages (50 gp)
3 x Light Catapults (550 gp)
5 x Dwarf Noble's Outfits (75 gp, 10 lb)
4 x Portable Rams (10 gp, 20 lb)
Rope Net (10' x 10') (4 gp, 40 lb)
8 x Rugs (10 gp)
3 x Shrines to Boccob, Ehlonna & Hextor (50 gp)
2 x Siege Rams (1000 gp)
Goat-drawn Sled (20 gp, 300 lb)
Small Animal Cage (10 gp)
Small Carpet (10 gp)
18 x Small Cask of Cinnamon (5 gp, 5 lb)
21 x Small Casks of Halfling Tobacco (2 gp, 8 lb)
Small Lodestone Magnet (10 gp, 1 lb)
39 x Tents (10 gp, 20 lb)
3 x Gnomish Trebuchets (1200 gp)
4 x Wardrobe (30 gp)


Total value 175853 gp 4 sp 5 cp

Chapter 3: The Lord advises the PCs of the last location of the Dragonslayer he knows for certain. This Dragonslayer took over a kingdom and ruled as cruel despot, only to be assassinated. The new ruling council melted redistributed the treasure to the masses. Now the masses are being killed by a cult loyal to the dead dragon who are collecting the treasure. Why are they doing this? Once stopped, the cult's agents abscond with the treasure.

Chapter 4: Two Dragonslayers are mustering armies to fight each other, and a small innocent kingdom sits right in the middle. The PCs must defend the city from two attacking armies until the city can be evacuated.
Once this is achieved, The wizard Conrad has found a way to break the curse. However it means first finding the original spell, which dwells in the stronghold of the dragon cult. Maybe a couple of armies could be convinced to attack the fortress of the cult for the PCs? After the smoke clears and the armies retire, the PCs delve into the cult stronghold's remains and discover they are trying to reacquire the hoard and somehow use it to resurrect the red dragon.

Chapter 5: With both Dragonslayers' armies decimated by the battle, the PCs pick a Slayer to confront. Defeat this Dragonslayer, only to find the cult's survivors dispatched the other Dragonslayer. Now the PCs have 5/12ths of a CR 18 (x3) treasure to lug around (1/6th of the hoard from this Chapter's Dragonslayer, who in turn took 50% of the cult's portion taken ... forget it). Find the cultists and take the 1.5 /6th hoard they have (Maths!).


An aside to recap:

Accounted For Dragonslayers and Hoard %

Dragonslayer 1: The Lord you free from the curse in Chapter 2.
Dragonslayer 2: The assassinated despot. Her share ended up in the hands of the Cultists.
Dragonslayer 3: The head of one of the marching armies. Took half of Dragonslayer 2's treasure after they defeated the cult stronghold. Killed by PCs.
Dragonslayer 4: The head of the other army. Took the other half of Dragonslayer 2's treasure. Killed by cultists.

Share 1: On another plane.
Share 2a: In the PCs possession.
Share 2b: In the cult's possession.
Share 3: In the PCs possession.
Share 4: In cultist's possession.

Unaccounted Dragonslayers and % of Hoard

Dragonslayer 5
Dragonslayer 6

Chapter 6: Conrad and the Lord have found what they hope is a cure for the curse. They direct you into the underdark, where Dragonslayer 5 resides. The PCs return Dragonslayer 5 to the Lord's realm. BUT! Once you retrieve him and his hoard share, the Lord and Conrad murder him and PCs are next. Turns out there is no cure for the curse, the Lord was just a convincing actor and wanted the whole hoard for himself. Only an escape into the very Well of Many Worlds the PCs used to ditch the treasure is a possible escape.

Chapter 7: In another plane, the PCs must first recover the dumped hoard before the wizard Conrad (in hot pursuit) does. Then defeat Conrad and get back to the material plane. Finally, they must defeat the Lord once and for all.

Chapter 8: The Lord and Conrad are dead, but the hoard and the curse remain. As does one last Dragonslayer. This Dragonslayer also happens to be the head of the Cult - the Dragonslyer believes once reunited with the hoard, he (or she) will be able to become as powerful as the dragon. The hoard is brought back to the lair, and the last slayer is defeated.

Then the hoard itself animates with the spirit of the dragon, with undead shades of its Slayers as minions. The defeat of the hoard vestige and the spectres breaks the curse, and now the PCs can take the place of the original Dragonslayers are the greatest heroes of the realm.

[Bohandas]

Campaign Concept
Something has happened to Pelor. The sun has dimmed (a bit) and ceased repelling vampires and other undead. And Pelor's clerics have only been receiving the same magical dregs as clerics with no deity. If something is not done the land will be overrun with the living dead.

Villain Concept:
What appears to be some kind of blackguard or evil knight is actually a golem in a suit of intelligent demon armor which controls it

[Bohandas]

Adventure Concept/Hook
The teenaged son or daughter of a wizard or nobleman has snuck out and now the overzealous construct or bound extraplanar creature assigned to guard them is wrecking havoc in it's quest to retrieve them.

[Gwaednerth]

For an urban campaign I ran:
A plague has struck the city and martial law has been declared. As panic threatens the whole city, the manipulative aristocrat Archduke Heidegger seeks to harness the situation to oust the royally-appointed Lord-Justice of the city and return the aristocracy to its former power. The heroes must discover a cure, prevent the city from dissolving into chaos, and uncover the Archduke's nefarious scheme.

[Bohandas]

Plot concept for Call of Cthulhu:
*An uptick in violence is due to a cult mind-controlling people into fighting each other at the behest of their alien masters, for said aliens' amusement. Sort of a combination of Predator, They Live, Fight Club, and Django Unchained


D20 Modern adventure ideas:i
*Dungeon crawl through an Al-Qaeda stronghold in a cave somewhere
*

Adventure idea for Toon: The Cartoon RPG:
*The scientists at Mesa Of Color Laboratories (Lambada Division) are working to invent a teleporter that will allow them to sneak in and see monster movies for free. Something has went wrong however and the monsters from the movies have instead been transported to them. Now they have to deal with zombies and blobs and giant bugs and killer plants and stuff.

[Bohandas]

Hook:
It's election time in Avernus, as the layer's Baatezu denizens gather to choose the administrator in charge of the disbursement of the 1% of the layer's budget not earmarked for military and the administration of the non-military duties that Lord Bel doesn't care about. The denizens are bitterly divided by the Authoritarian Party, which favors deeply divided rigid heirarchies in which the powerful use their positions to prey on and exploit the weak, VS. the Procrustean Party, who wish to stamp out all individuality and make everybody exactly the same. The divide between the two is deep and is sure to produce it's share of intrigue, intimidation, and assassinations.

[Bohandas]

Dungeon Concept:
A dungeon designed specifically as a deathtrap to lure in and kill mid-level adventurers so that its operators can loot their stuff. The PCs would however instead encounter it at high level. It would contain a lot of monsters and hazards disguised to look like weaker monsters and hazards.

Dungeon Concept:
A dungeon built by a dragon or aberration or outsider essentially as a mouse maze to test the abilities of humanoids.

EDIT:

Hook
A baatezu devil hires the party to slay some intelligent undead who had themselves deliberately turned into intelligent undead in order to avoid paying out on a faustian contract.

[Bohandas]

Villain/Encounter:
Necromancer operating out of the meatpacking district. Lots of zombie bulls and steers. etc etc

[redzimmer]

Plothook

A slaadi appears and body-swaps all the PCs.

[Bohandas]

Adventure or encounter
The PCs must stop an inevitable from making a mortal keep their end of a faustian compact

Campaign Idea:
Someone is building a doomsday weapon in the abyss capable of extracting conceptual infinity from the Grand Abyss (abyssal layer 2, a bottomless pit) and focusing it into a beam of destruction capable of firing across planes and destroying anything (think a combination of the ad-infinitum siphons from the game Afterlife combined with Starkiller Base from Star Wars 7). They intend to use it to destroy the pact primeval; this could end the blood war once and for all. The PCs are hired to stop this by another abyssal lord who worries they'll have nothing fun to do if the war ends. Baator eventually finds out and builds countermeasures, but this does nothing because, as the PCs find out if they fail, the (first) target is the copy of the pact on mechanus

[redzimmer]

Plot Hook

In a vast, totalitarian metropolis, the PCs are members of the slave caste.

Only the ruling caste may possess martial weapons and heavier than light armor, divine spellcasting is limited to the priest caste, and arcane magic is restricted to the scholarly caste.

This means the PCs can only begin with simple weapons, and any spellcasting must be done clandestinely.

The goal is to escape the city, form a resistance and overthrow the rulers of the city.

TL:DR - every Young Adult book published in the past ten years.

[danielxcutter]

Campaign/Plothook/Encounter Idea(will expand on later): Changes

Encounter example: The PCs are sent to dispatch a necromancer who is causing trouble of some sort. When they actually meet(and probably fight) said necromancer, they see that while the necromancer can control far more undead(or stronger ones; depends on how the PCs fight) then they normally should, their spellcasting is limited - almost all of their spells are limited to spells from the Necromancy school. Obviously(from a meta point of view), this necromancer is not a Wizard, Cleric or Sorcerer, but a Dread Necromancer.

Plot twist: Dread Necromancers are completely unknown, at least from an in-universe point of view. That is, Dread Necromancers practice a previously unknown, different form of magic compared to "core" spellcasters.

The general campaign idea is: divide the material that you're using into part A and part B. Part A is general stuff - core material plus whatever you want to add. Part B is everything else. While most people in the setting already know about part A, part B is totally unknown, so people aren't able to defend themselves properly.

Fighters don't have anything else besides bonus feats, but Warblades have the martial arts of the Sublime Way.

While a Wizard or Sorcerer eventually runs out of spells, Warlocks don't run out of invocations.

The Charm Person spell can't be used to make someone commit suicide, but there's a psionic power that can do that.


Have I made myself clear or do some people need more explaination(which is possible, since I'm not that good at explaining things)?

[sjeshin]

[B]Lawful evil cleric runs an asylum. [B]

[I]As a short to 1 shot adventure where a local town has a lawful evil cleric who coerced them into needing an asylum for the people who are violent and dangerous. He then uses the people "in his care" to try to create ghouls, and succeeds. [I]

The nitty gritty is that it can be a party of any low level 1-5 and get some fun. Have the ghouls be locked up tight for level 1 pcs and set the clerics level to or below the pcs level. He creates the ghouls through grouping all of the "patients" in one room. Through various psychological tortures such as "If you kill someone you get to eat, or sleep, or i will give you water." Then he does not give what is promised and it eventually turns into cannibalism until they are all dead and raise as ghouls. He is a relatively low level cleric that craves power. His deity has not found him worthy of the power to create undead so he seeks to do it though other means, and then rebuke them. I set it in a small podunk village with a fighter as the captain of the town guard and a few warriors for guards. I try to be prepared to have law enforcement for if the pcs do something that could be missunderstood or go evil so they have opposition.

The main hook is a town member complaining publicly that their loved one does not belong there and the pcs take interest there or when the cleric lets loose one of his creations to test its strength. I ran this for a group of level 1 pcs and they loved investigating the story then sneaking in and around the small asylum. I only had them fight one ghoul on the loose. I timed it that the cleric had already made his ghouls, and started keeping them locked up separately in small cells. I also made the captain of the guard a level 5 fighter... with that much evidence only one locked door away, and the pcs unable to determine the clerics strength they just ratted him out and the captain of the guard wrecked the cleric when he resisted. If you do not like your pcs finding alternate solutions to normally a combative confrontation you might change this up. For higher level players, about the time they find out what is going on, have the (inexperienced and relatively ignorant) cleric go on a power trip trying to destroy the town with a pile of ghouls and keep the town guard too few or too weak to defeat him.

[IcarusWulfe]

For an urban campaign I ran:
A plague has struck the city and martial law has been declared. As panic threatens the whole city, the manipulative aristocrat Archduke Heidegger seeks to harness the situation to oust the royally-appointed Lord-Justice of the city and return the aristocracy to its former power. The heroes must discover a cure, prevent the city from dissolving into chaos, and uncover the Archduke's nefarious scheme.

Might you by any chance be a fan of Dishonored?

[Bohandas]

the planar shepherds need you to take 0ne of the im[risoned daelkyr back to xoriot without letting it get lo0se

[Bohandas]

Misc hooks etc:

*A certain mage is cataloging minor (mechanically identical but differing in minor details of verbal or somatic components, specifics of preparation, etc) variations of [insert common spell here] in hopes of developing a more powerful version. He would welcome assistance.

*There is a certain haunted book which kills anyone who reads it in seven days

*A quest to recover Olidammara's Holy Beer Funnel (a parody of the Holy Grail)

[lylsyly]

@redzimmer;

I really like the "A God I Am" campaign path you outlined, and I think I like the "What They Left Behind"
even better, but ... did you intentionally not post part 6?. Or did I somehow miss it despite the fact I looked several times (entirely possible with my aged, decrepit, and disheveled mind)?

[redzimmer]

@redzimmer;

I really like the "A God I Am" campaign path you outlined, and I think I like the "What They Left Behind"
even better, but ... did you intentionally not post part 6?. Or did I somehow miss it despite the fact I looked several times (entirely possible with my aged, decrepit, and disheveled mind)?

Part six was kind of a hard thing to make due to the amount of DM & PC input required. I might have neglected to post it or rolled it into a summation at the end of part 5. I'll check.

[redzimmer]

@redzimmer;

I really like the "A God I Am" campaign path you outlined, and I think I like the "What They Left Behind"
even better, but ... did you intentionally not post part 6?. Or did I somehow miss it despite the fact I looked several times (entirely possible with my aged, decrepit, and disheveled mind)?

Part six was kind of a hard thing to make due to the amount of DM & PC input required. I might have neglected to post it or rolled it into a summation at the end of part 5. I'll check.

Huh, I guess I DID overlook it. I shall post and edit soon.

[redzimmer]

Campaign: What They Left Behind Part 5: A Price To Pay

Synopsis: The PCs are being hunted down by the First Emperor because He thinks they are a greater danger than they actually are. Regardless, they need to get out of town.

Level: 10-12

After making landfall at Hastir and having enough time to rest and recuperate, the PCs again are witness to the military power of the New Empire. Stone golems and minotaur slave soldiers lead the vanguard. After a few hours, the town surrenders and s death warrant is proclaimed for persons matching the description of the PCs.

The best option for escape in up through the mountains that encircle the port. At some point they become impassable. The PCs are then approached by an old wizard who seems to be waiting for them.

As night falls, the PCs need a way over the mountains and the wizard needs help getting some troublesome invaders out of his home.

These invaders are actually his former slaves. After cutting a swath (or, I don't know, stopping to negotiate?) they find out the wizard is a vampire and the slaves hedged out all undead.

The PCs can kill the slaves, kill the vampire, kill them both. The end result is discovering a two-way teleportation circle that will let them escape the New Empire forces...

...And transport them right to the capitol of the New Empire itself.


Campaign: What They Left Behind Part 6: Try to Act Normally

Synopsis: The PCs have found themselves at the very heart of the New Empire. Now they just need to find out how to re-seal the First Emperor.

Level: 13-14

Happenstance has led the PCs right to the bowels of the New Empire's Capitol.

Since his arrival in the host body necromancer, the First Emperor has enacted an ancient magical contingency plan, specifically to reclaim power if He were ever deposed. Even as they acclimatize to the new location, the PCs witness the First Emperor strike down the current Emperor and Senate, and a festival of celebration is proclaimed, with bloody gladiatorial games, sacrifices and all-around badness.

Rumour has it that some senators have survived. If the PCs seek them out, they will want to escape town. As the PCs have a secret teleportation circle to barter with, the senators offer a location of the Emperor's original body, as well as the means to again separate Him from his body.

One thing however, the rite is hidden in the Imperial Palace, so the PCs will have to use all their guile and power to break in, locate the ritual (hint: it's woven into a tapestry), and get out of town before all Tartaerus breaks loose.

[lylsyly]

Part six was kind of a hard thing to make due to the amount of DM & PC input required. I might have neglected to post it or rolled it into a summation at the end of part 5. I'll check.

Huh, I guess I DID overlook it. I shall post and edit soon.

I thought you must have, someone who gives that much thought to a simple campaign guideline wouldn't normally miss posting a section off it.

Great work by the way.

Thank You.

[redzimmer]

I thought you must have, someone who gives that much thought to a simple campaign guideline wouldn't normally miss posting a section off it.

Great work by the way.

Thank You.

My pleasure. I'm now in the process of trying to God Mod A God Am I. Hopefully it works out.

[Bohandas]

Hook/Campaign Concept:

*A Journey to the West knockoff where the characters have been sent to retrieve a copy of some rare mystic book(s) from a far off land

Location Concept

Once, during a famine, a mad ruler had his land's remaining food buried in an elaborate mausoleum after a bombastic funeral ceremony. This is that mausoleum. (I don't know what would be inside it. Undead plant monsters? Rats?)

[redzimmer]

Villain

Count Erich Von Kreigr, devotee of Zarus.

He is governor of a colony of a human-supremacist theocracy:


Count Erich Von Kreigr (http://www.myth-weavers.com/sheet.html#id=462109)
Male LE Human Paladin of Tyranny , Level 9, Init -1, HP 68/68, Speed
AC 22, Touch 10, Flat-footed 22, Fort +10, Ref +4, Will +6, Base Attack Bonus 9/4
Three times per day, you can command this +1 lance to fi re a 15-foot cone of searing fl ames from its tip, dealing 5d4 points of fi re damage to targ Blazing Skylance (Double damaged if charging mounted) +11/+6 (1d8+2, x3)
When you activate this weapon, you can launch either one spike (a standard action) or all six spikes (a full-round action) from its hilt as a ranged a Manticore Greatsword (6/day) +12/+7 (2d6+2, )
Heavy Mace +1 +12/+6 ( , )
Restful Crystal (MIC pg. 26) Full Plate +3 (+11 Armor, -1 Dex, +1 Deflect, +1 Natural)
Abilities Str 12, Dex 8, Con 15, Int 12, Wis 13, Cha 17
Condition None
16 pt + 4 each level (34)

[Matrota]

So after listening to some music recently I got an interesting idea for a small plot hook, or rather more of an NPC recruitment that turns out a little more than the party might have wished for. The somng that gave me the idea is 麻枝 准×やなぎなぎ「無敵のSoldier」 (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=s5_quqY91iY).

Basically, there's a group of thieves/bandits that are causing trouble for nearby towns, and someone's forming a group to go take them out. PCs join in the interest of coin (and maybe justice), and go find and assault the hideout. In the end, emerging from some of the carnage, is a 15 year old boy/girl who looks terrified, that refuses to speak (potentially mute if you really wanna lay on the angst). The kiddo is actually a member of the bandits themselves, and has several levels in rogue, with a hefty bonus to sleight of hand. Have the npc who lead the assault take pity on the child who might have been dragged into it, or maybe the party PCs takes pity on the child and takes them in. Maybe just have the child look awed by their "saviors," and try to follow them. Build up some trust with some good bluffs, have the kiddo help the party in a few scuffles, and then one day have the kid start pulling random things out of their bag that they've stolen along the way. Comes to a moral judgement point, where the party has to decide whether to intervene and stop the kid from resorting to old habits of theft. Or, potentially have the kid steal right in front of their eyes and get caught, and then have the party blamed for aiding in theft. Whatever suits your fancy.

Note: This will probably work best in a heavy roleplay campaign, min-maxing murder hobos probably won't care too much about the problems of a 15 year old thief.

[redzimmer]

Campaign Setting - Plot Not Included

Level: Adjustable, depending on the hook.


Twenty years ago, explorers from the most-populous continent discovered a New World across the vast, uncharted sea. The people already living in this New World were surprised to hear they were new.
Over the next two decades, explorers, adventurers, conquerors and settlers moved to this New World. The natives were for the most part unimpressed.
The PCs begin at a New Town, just founded, at the furthest inland expansion in the New World.


Hooks

Scallywags! (Level 1-2): A n'er-do-well has set up a den of iniquity (prostitution, gambling, dog-fights, drugs, poetry slams) in a nearby clearing and is fleecing the population and undermining the settlement. Shut them down, or depending on alignment and inclination, take it over.

Olive Branch (Level 3-5): Local humanoid natives have been raiding the town and outlying farms. Find a way to either make peace or wipe them out.

The City of Gold (Level 6-7): Many rumours abound of a lost city of an ancient empire of reptilian humanoids that died out eons ago. Untold riches, lost magic and whatever else a greedy PC might want just happens to be there.
However, the city once found proves to not be as dead as they thought...

We the People (level 7-10): The Lawful Evil empire from which the settlers were exiled from has decided to impose its rule more directly. Taxes, sanctions, religious persecution and all manner of oppressive policies are stamping the independent spirit of the New World.
The time to rise up and throw off the shackles of the empire is at hand!

[Bohandas]

Plot Hook/Adventure:
Inversion of Super Mario Brothers. A metallic dragon hires the PCs to investigate a cult of Zuggtmoy worshippers operating out of a city's sewers.

Plot Hook/Adventure:
Reverse dungeon/mirror fight. The (royal palace/mayor's office/questgiver's abode/whatever) is being raided and looted piecemeal by a criminal gang of evil aligned adventurers. The PCs are hired to stop them.

[redzimmer]

I wish I could upvote this.

[Bucky]

Pandora's Box (Adventure): The PCs come across an ancient anti-magic field vault full of what looks like valuable magical jewelry. In reality, it's a repository of lich phylacteries, whose owners haven't been able to respawn in centuries because the vault suppressed them. Now that the vault's looted, they're coming back at a rate of several per day, with no idea what happened except that the PCs were apparently involved. Then a powerful Good organization investigating the sudden surge in lich sightings muffs some divinations and becomes convinced that the party has secured their services and tries to hold them accountable.

Appropriate for a level 16+ party.

[Bohandas]

Ring of the Lords
Ok, so i recently saw this post (http://www.giantitp.com/forums/showsinglepost.php?p=15378553&postcount=9) by Giledragon and it immediately gave me an idea for a story arc about an intelligent magic ring who wants to control all other intelligent magic items and is attempting to do so via the intermediary of various humanoid patsies like a role reversed version of Lord of the Rings.
To extend the LoTR analogy perhaps The ring's not too much of a threat at the moment because it's been seperated from it's main humanoid minion, whom you need to assassinate before he can be reunited with it

[ShadowFX]

:::So this is my current campaign. It's my first time writing my own, and I know it is very derivative, but it morphs into its own further on.::

The players start out on a very basic dungeon crawl. You see, for the past five years they have been attending an adventurer's guild, training to become guardians of the continent. Upon completion of the initial crawl, they are full-fledged members of the Guild, and are given their first quest. The king of the Eastern Kingdom has summoned them. There has been a series of villages ransacked by invading forces from the Southern Kingdom. This is very unlike the southern races, who have normally lived in a very tribal, peaceful state, for hundreds of years.

The party travels to the villages that are being invaded, and there they come upon the invaders, who have been ensorcelled by a spellcaster, causing them to become enraged, full of bloodlust, killing everything in sight. They are now tasked by the king of the Eastern realm to travel to the far side of the continent, to retrieve an ancient relic, the Horn of Gygax, in hopes that it will dispel the bloodlust.

When they have retrieved it, they return to find the entire Eastern Kingdom's capital city fallen, the king slain. In a final desperate attempt to achieve victory, they fight their way through the city, climbing the highest tower and sounding the Horn of Gygax.

The fury of the battle lessens for just a moment, a long breath, before returning to full fury. But on the horizon a shape appears. A roar splits the air, the sound of massive wings beating the air. The dragons have awoken!!!

[danielxcutter]

:::So this is my current campaign. It's my first time writing my own, and I know it is very derivative, but it morphs into its own further on.::

The players start out on a very basic dungeon crawl. You see, for the past five years they have been attending an adventurer's guild, training to become guardians of the continent. Upon completion of the initial crawl, they are full-fledged members of the Guild, and are given their first quest. The king of the Eastern Kingdom has summoned them. There has been a series of villages ransacked by invading forces from the Southern Kingdom. This is very unlike the southern races, who have normally lived in a very tribal, peaceful state, for hundreds of years.

The party travels to the villages that are being invaded, and there they come upon the invaders, who have been ensorcelled by a spellcaster, causing them to become enraged, full of bloodlust, killing everything in sight. They are now tasked by the king of the Eastern realm to travel to the far side of the continent, to retrieve an ancient relic, the Horn of Gygax, in hopes that it will dispel the bloodlust.

When they have retrieved it, they return to find the entire Eastern Kingdom's capital city fallen, the king slain. In a final desperate attempt to achieve victory, they fight their way through the city, climbing the highest tower and sounding the Horn of Gygax.

The fury of the battle lessens for just a moment, a long breath, before returning to full fury. But on the horizon a shape appears. A roar splits the air, the sound of massive wings beating the air. The dragons have awoken!!!

Nice. Hope this isn't thread necromancy, though.

[redzimmer]

Nope. Updated as often as possible. Thanks for your concern.

[redzimmer]

Encounter

A particularly powerful Djinn manages to summon the PCs via an augmented Summon Monster spell.

While under the effect of the spell the PCs are subjected to every type of summoned monster abuse and Munchkin genie shenanigans possible.

[Bohandas]

Hook for Eberron
The cleric receives prophetic dreams from his god in which he is given tasks to carry out. Later it turns out that he's merely being incepted by the Quori.

[Bohandas]

Adventure Concept
Disrupt the illithid equivalent of a cattle drive

[danielxcutter]

Adventure Concept
Disrupt the illithid equivalent of a cattle drive

You know, I think the Underdark actually does have cattle. Or more like buffalo, if I remember correctly, but yeah.

[redzimmer]

Rothé they're called.

[IIzak]

Plot Hook/Adventure:

Deal with the Devil

I like this idea as a way to take the PC's into hell, as it's a lot of fun. When the PC's need help, point them in the direction of a Devil near town that offers to help people who enter into contracts with him. It's a lot of fun to actually type out a contract and physically make the PC's sign it. You do this because the Devil secretly writes clauses in invisible ink into the contract that the PC's will most likely unwittingly agree to. My favorite way to do this is that if someone needs something really big, you have that devil say "well, I can't actually give you what you want, but I know some people who can, if you sign a contract with me, I'll put you in touch with them." The clause would be something like "Kill (The person that he's sending them to) within X days or pay (The devil who gives them the contract) 500,000gp. Failure to comply with any clause in the contract is grounds for the forfeiture of the soul of the people who signed this contract. or something like that. This means that they have to secure the assistance of the next person in order to get what they want, and they have to kill them, without tipping them off.

[Braininthejar2]

The burned tower:

This necromancer used to be the terror of the mountain pass, adding travellers to his collection of undead. But now there seems to have been a fire in his tower's top floors, and he hasn't ventured out for days. Someone sends the party there to investigate (in my version, the party ran afoul of a local orc tribe - the orcs decided that they could rob and kill the adventurers, but they would serve them better as disposable scouts.)

The tower is still infested with undead, and even some weak constructs, an ample challenge for a low level party. The necromancer would have destroyed them with ease - but as it turns out, he has succumbed to age and disease, unable to achieve lichdom in time. His last, desperate gambit to cheat death backfired disastrously - one does not attempt planar binding while delirious with fever. The summoned efreet set his library alight, and warped his wish by turning him into a curst, granting him immortality at the cost of all his power and much of his mind. The once powerful wizard is now reduced to a raving lunatic, that won't stay down no matter how many times the party dismember him.

[Bohandas]

How about something with a Hellraiser-style cult of deranged sadomasochists who operate out of the positive energy plane (where too much life makes you explode and thus is the perfect habitat for deranged supersadomasochists

[Braininthejar2]

An idea from an old adventure I once read - a man used to grow up in an abusive home, suffering at the hands of his deranged relatives after his mother, the only good person in his life, passed away.

One day the home burned down under mysterious circumstances, the boy being the only survivor. However, something (his grandfather's occult experiments are the main suspect) cursed him, preserving his nightmarish childhood inside his mind.

Now he periodically suffers from episodes where he randomly falls unconscious and into a nightmare, and pulls nearby people in with him. He's a helpless child inside his own mind, and the twisted reflections of his family gleefully go Freddy Kruger on any outsiders.

The ghost of the mother will try to give them clues - they can't leave, and killing the kid would be horribly risky, as he's the dreamer - what they need to do is try to find the pieces of his toy sword, an item that can be used to defeat the grandfather.

I could probably remember more details if asked.

[danielxcutter]

How about something with a Hellraiser-style cult of deranged sadomasochists who operate out of the positive energy plane (where too much life makes you explode and thus is the perfect habitat for deranged supersadomasochists

Not gonna lie, that could fit a cult of Ragnorra, an Elder Evil, surprisingly well.

[redzimmer]

What are Kytons if not Cenobites of a different name?

[Bohandas]

You know, I think the Underdark actually does have cattle. Or more like buffalo, if I remember correctly, but yeah.

Yeah, but I meant that the illithids are moving thralls

[Braininthejar2]

* A mission in Carceri that involves getting a vital piece of information - from a village of petitioners who are all compulsive liars.

[TheFamilarRaven]

One Shot Adventure (Pathfinder, level 4-5)
The party wanders into a village. While staying at the inn, they over hear the locals expressing concern about a band of hunters who have been missing for a few days. That night, a gang of ghouls assault the town. They bear a striking resemblance to the missing hunters. Following the ghouls' tracks leads the party to a cave occupied by a newly born Nabasu Demon.

[J-H]

(Inspired partly by Worm)

Large city environment
Medium level PCs

The Seven Deadly Sins are in town recruiting apprentices. A wandering band of mercenaries, murderers, and servants of evil, each of their members keeps up to two apprentices (possible replacements) as well as a number of lesser minions. Each follows a theme associated with their name, although there may be some surprising variations. Powerful and crazy, they set rules and make attempts to kill them into a twisted sort of game.

They have kidnapped the entire royal family, and are holding them captive somewhere in the city. The military and militant church orders are being watched somehow, and last time they tried to slip forces out to act, a Projected Image was sent to the front door of the appropriate building, showing the prince's hand being cut off. His hand was Dimension Doored over a half minute later.

The city is in moderately controlled chaos, with many stabilizing forces forced into inactivity, the government paralyzed, and a band of serial killers in charge.

PC objectives may include any and all of:

Kill or wipe out the Seven
Drive them off
Avoid being recruited as apprentices
Successfully be recruited as apprentices
Kill off minions of the Seven
Find and rescue the royal family
Develop a method to let the army, paladins, churches, etc., participate
Build a relationship with the Thieves Guild, Bards Guild, etc., for information that can help with all of the above
Stop any nefarious plans the Seven may have while in town (poisoning food, water, summoning monsters, etc.)
Suppress the elevated levels of ordinary crime
Persuade non-governmental actors (independent wizards, nobles, wealthy merchants) to act

You could probably assign point values to each of these items, and declare victory for a given number of points.

As for the Seven? That's up to you, but I would probably go with Wrath as some type of Rager, Lust as a succubus or enchanter, Pride as a wizard or a blademaster (Eternal blade?), etc. One of them should be a clear leader who is very, very hard to pin down and kill, and who provides vision and keeps the group in line.

The Seven should be each generally doing their own thing, but should still be in frequent contact and frequently meeting each other. The PCs might track down one, only to find three and be forced to retreat.

[Braininthejar2]

A crisis of succession has brought an island kingdom to the brink of a civil war. The party arrive as agents of one of the kings from the mainland, their task to support one of the parties in the conflict - a resourceful, but not very powerful young woman who has a pretty strong claim to the throne, but not much actual strength: the party has to keep her alive against attacks and schemes, until they can facilitate a political marriage that will consolidate her position. (ideally while making it look like it was not their idea - she's not so keen on the idea of marriage right now, and the quest giver king wants her in his debt, not the other way round.)

[Grytorm]

At the edges of 'civilized' lands their is a vast swamp inhabited by tribes of 'monsters' including Elves, Orcs, Goblin and Giants. The players get involved by investigating a series of raids against a new dwarven mining settlement which was established to harvest cinnabar and process it into mercury. This process most definitely is not creating environmental damage which annoys nearby tribes. Nope they are just vicious.

As the PCs get involved the PCs oppose a bunch of factions. Including the corrupt inheritors of a fallen civilization, an encroaching Orcish kingdom and a circle of druids who revivfy the dead. Should also showcase different cultures. Including goblins and kobolds who ride over sized water striders. Boat riding

[Braininthejar2]

At the edges of 'civilized' lands their is a vast swamp inhabited by tribes of 'monsters' including Elves, Orcs, Goblin and Giants. The players get involved by investigating a series of raids against a new dwarven mining settlement which was established to harvest cinnabar and process it into mercury. This process most definitely is not creating environmental damage which annoys nearby tribes. Nope they are just vicious.

As the PCs get involved the PCs oppose a bunch of factions. Including the corrupt inheritors of a fallen civilization, an encroaching Orcish kingdom and a circle of druids who revivfy the dead. Should also showcase different cultures. Including goblins and kobolds who ride over sized water striders. Boat riding

Have you watched Princess Mononoke?

[redzimmer]

Have you watched Princess Mononoke?

Required viewing for any DM who wants to do Fantasy Wild v. Civilized campaigns.

Don't remember and too lazy to search, but I think I suggested a campaign based on "the Ghost and the Darkness," where a near-mythical beast preys on the work camps of an Empire's Great Work.

[redzimmer]

Hook: Schism

A cabal of wizards hires the PCs to track down and assassinate rogue spell-casters.

But it is soon revealed to be a plot by Vecnan clergy to eradicate sorcerers, seen as magical abominations.

Formal wizardry associations split into factions that either support this sorcerous genocide or oppose it.

Meanwhile sorcerers are not sitting idly by while they're kind or killed.

An apocalyptic war is soon to erupt if the conspirators are not revealed.

[Bohandas]

Villain Concept:

An extremely lawful evil doomsday cultist (possibly a Tharidun worshipper if in the Greyhawk setting) (also possibly a LE fiend, as a creature without the [Lawful] subtype would probably simply abandon their promise and walk away before going to these lengths) seeking to bring about the end of the world so that he can be released from an oath he took to someone which included a clause saying that it would remain binding until the end of the world.

Basically an overly literal version of the second to last movement of Paradise by the Dashboard Light



"I couldn't take it any longer
Lord I was crazed
And when the feeling came upon me like a tidal wave
I started swearing to my god and on my mother's grave
That I would love you to the end of time
I swore, that I would love you to the end of time
So now I'm praying for the end of time
To hurry up and arrive
'Cause if I gotta spend another minute with you
I don't think that I can really survive
I'll never break my promise or forget my vow
But God only knows what I can do right now
I'm praying for the end of time
It's all that I can do
Praying for the end of time, so I can end my time with you"

[druid zook]

Here is a funny encounter idea:

Fool the party and cleric into believing they are under attack by skeletons, which are really animated stone carvings with magically glowing eyes. Maybe a Rast is controlling them?

Incidentally, the animated chain in Shackled City's Malachite Fortress was vicious!

[Grytorm]

Have you watched Princess Mononoke?

Yes I have, although it would probably be a bit more peaceful preexisting conditions rather than straight up hostility between the sides. Also I would have developed the faction ideas more, but I saw someone I knew and rushed.

Detailed Adventure Ideas

Body Snatchers
Well, the local the PCs are in town when a pair of travelers pass through with a shrouded body. They refer to themselves as members of the Knights Quiescent, a knightly order in the service to Pharasma who return the bodies of dead warriors to their homelands. Also they get drunk a lot and get involved in stupid wars. Really its not that religious most of the time. They travel with the body of the young prince who had joined them on their adventuring and died in an unfortunate battle accident. That night the Knights get drunk and are assaulted by Goblins who run off with the corpse.

With the Knights incapacitated it is up to the PCs to recover the body and find out why the goblins are causing trouble. In time they discover that the goblins have been stealing lots of bodies, and giving them proper burials. It turns out that they have been taken over by a Nosoi, a low level Psycopomp, who was temporarily banished to the material plane for running a smuggling ring. He is making the Goblins snatch bodies to give them 'proper' burials on the order of a priest. The prince has been sent to the priest's temple for internment, which is a completely different temple than where it was supposed to go.


Well of Judgement
Bandits take the children of a small village hostage after discovering them in the woods playing near the old well. The PCs are asked to rescue them while the bandits are being entertained, most of the children are safely recovered but a few hid down the well. The villagers reveal that the well has a series of chambers beneath but they don't want to reveal what is down their.

When explored the well holds a series of dangerous monsters, who actually end up acting somewhat friendly. They consist of several Qlippoth and a bunch of zombies who were bound to the well centuries ago. They are used by the village as a justice system, they throw people into the well for trial by really scary monsters. The Qlippoth seeking to end the flow of mortal souls trap those who are CE, NE, or CN and bind their immortal souls. But they don't bother the other six alignments, not seeing anyone else as potential Demons. The children are unharmed, wouldn't want to cause any trouble now, the Qlippoth know they can't really get out and if they draw to much attention they could get killed. So they remain in place.


Skin Deep
With the death of the prince in the first adventure, or for any old reason, the characters are asked to visit a secluded valley inhabited by a mixture of Orcs (sensibly ones, not +4 Str -2 mental) and Humans. The 'king's daughter is betrothed to a young heir to the region and he wants to pry into the area a little without seeming to pry into the area a little. The PCs arrive and find the child in perfectly good health, shiny, flawless skin and other unnerving features. The boy's mother, a marquess, hides herself in a scarlet veil, and is followed everywhere by a sinister priest.

After a fine meal and a history lesson about an old ogre kingdom, the PCs depart. A group of villagers tell the players that the marquess has sworn herself to an evil cult and that their clerics, mostly priestesses, have been kidnapped and are being for execution. The cult is revealed to be a sect of Zon Kuthon worshipers who exult in the perfection of the physical form. Both the boy and his mother have received modifications of some sort. The clerics are rescued and everything is good.

The villagers are extremely grateful offering luxurious rewards and lascivious attentions. And they prove a tad annoyed when the PCs are upset by their plans to sacrifice the marquess. They don't normally offer people to Lamashtu, but the marquess was an apostate and they need to reconsecrate the temple. The boy? Oh, he is a sweet kid, we'll be careful in choosing his guardian so he won't suffer an accident. Probably an elderly spinster to teach him traditional values. Well, have a pleasant voyage to report to the 'King'.

(Note: I imagine people not knowing to much about the valley, and those that do know don't care much. Also many of the inhabitants are Ogrekin and were born with grotesque mutations including the ruling house).

[Bohandas]

Campaign Concept

"Mission Accomplished"
The first phase of the campaign is a standard overthrow-the-tyrannical-and-oppressive-dark-lord/king/tyrant/whatever
in the second stage, once the tyrannical king has been deposed it becomes clear that his iron fisted rule was the only thing keeping the spread of a twisted violent cult bent on world domination and subjugation in check. This cult must now be dealt with.

[logic_error]

Campaign Concept

"Mission Accomplished"
The first phase of the campaign is a standard overthrow-the-tyrannical-and-oppressive-dark-lord/king/tyrant/whatever
in the second stage, once the tyrannical king has been deposed it becomes clear that his iron fisted rule was the only thing keeping the spread of a twisted violent cult bent on world domination and subjugation in check. This cult must now be dealt with.

Equals real life Middle east to draw inspiration from. Gaaddafi, Hussain and Asad as the Tyrant and ISIS as the cult.

[TorsteinTheRed]

Encounter

The PCs are captured by a group of wood elves, and taken to be sacrificed to their god: an ancient golem of some sort, chained up near a makeshift sacrificial altar. The Golem sucks up the energy of any spell cast within 30ft, and when it has eaten 6 levels worth of spells, it hits whatever is on the altar with Disintegrate.

The shamans of the tribe generally do a long prayer, casting first level spells throughout.

The Golem does not want to be there. It has been chained up for centuries, gained self-awareness long ago, and is near insanity. If the PCs speak the right language, and are willing to help, the Golem will attempt to stop eating spells long enough to allow the PCs to cast repairing spells on it. It will then go berserk, attacking the tribe that enslaved it, and any PCs that get in its way. If it survives 15 rounds, it will cease its attack, thank the players, and walk to the bottom of the nearest ocean in order to be alone for once.

[Bohandas]

Yes I have, although it would probably be a bit more peaceful preexisting conditions rather than straight up hostility between the sides. Also I would have developed the faction ideas more, but I saw someone I knew and rushed.

Detailed Adventure Ideas

Body Snatchers
Well, the local the PCs are in town when a pair of travelers pass through with a shrouded body. They refer to themselves as members of the Knights Quiescent, a knightly order in the service to Pharasma who return the bodies of dead warriors to their homelands. Also they get drunk a lot and get involved in stupid wars. Really its not that religious most of the time. They travel with the body of the young prince who had joined them on their adventuring and died in an unfortunate battle accident. That night the Knights get drunk and are assaulted by Goblins who run off with the corpse.

With the Knights incapacitated it is up to the PCs to recover the body and find out why the goblins are causing trouble. In time they discover that the goblins have been stealing lots of bodies, and giving them proper burials. It turns out that they have been taken over by a Nosoi, a low level Psycopomp, who was temporarily banished to the material plane for running a smuggling ring. He is making the Goblins snatch bodies to give them 'proper' burials on the order of a priest. The prince has been sent to the priest's temple for internment, which is a completely different temple than where it was supposed to go.


Are the burials a means of smuggling things into the afterlife?

[Mendicant]

Overarching campaign idea:

The setting begins level-capped at 6, with very, very few monsters above CR 8, and not a lot of monsters period, honestly. The world is much more ASoIaF than Forgotten Realms. The first levels of adventuring introduce the players to it, some of the major cities and power groups, and a bizarre cult called the Coil, whose allegiances seem alien to the normal axis of cosmic conflict between fiends and celestials. The cult's leadership seems to primarily be a mixture of druids, bards, some fey, and a handful of weaker genies.

As the game progresses, it becomes clear that this cult wants to liberate an entity they refer to as the World Serpent by breaking 7 divine seals scattered througout the world. The serpent was bound by the ruling good guy deity/deities of the setting for unclear but probably good reasons.

The twist: the "World Serpent" isn't an entity but the bound primordial power of the planet that allows creatures and individuals to surpass natural limitations. When you break a seal, you lift the global level cap by two and unleash a swarm of level-appropriate monsters. Even one broken seal causes horrible cataclysms: a world where the best you can be is level 6 is not equipped for a sudden influx of CR 8 dragons and giants. Any equilibrium a classic setting might normally have doesn't exist. The crisis will spiral even faster if the cult can break seals rapidly--the world's NPCs won't level fast enough to keep up, and a quick glance at your MM/Bestiary will tell you that most of what's suddenly coming up out of the ground and through rent planar barriers is not nice.

Millions die, even as a few Johnny Cool Guys--the PCs included--suddenly get to enjoy incredible power. A new crop of amped-up NPCs scramble to protect their loved ones from monsters, scrabble to realign the world as they see fit, or just indulge their power fantasies. A few of them figure out what's happening, and now there's a super-powered world war between high-level people who want even more and those who want to fight any further increase in available power levels. Governments and religious organizations fall apart or change rapidly. The coil becomes a worldwide religious awakening, teaching that gods and fiends are cosmic interlopers, that the only true god is the World Serpent, and the only sacrament is the Will to Power.

At each level cap increase, more angels and devils (who are for now allied) come through, fighting to restore the seals and reassert their idea of order. Towards level 12 or 14ish, the PC's get a clear idea of how to reset things, and they have a choice--side with the Astral side, and steadily decrement their own power, banishing most monsters in the process, or take the primordial side and eventually make themselves gods.

[redzimmer]

Kudos to all of you who have contributed to this thing of stuff.

I hope DMs out there have made a use of this.

[redzimmer]

For Fathers Day

My daughter "DM'd" this freestyle adventure:

You, along with a magic talking cat, a giant slug, a myconid named Toadette and a blacksmith named Jack must help a gnome village find out who's been killing their giant chickens.

(It was a warlock who made a deal with the devil to make chickens disappear. Like an episode from the Real Ghostbusters.)

She's five.

[danielxcutter]

For Fathers Day

My daughter "DM'd" this freestyle adventure:

You, along with a magic talking cat, a giant slug, a myconid named Toadette and a blacksmith named Jack must help a gnome village find out who's been killing their giant chickens.

(It was a warlock who made a deal with the devil to make chickens disappear. Like and episode from the Real Ghostbusters.)

She's five.

I personally envy her creativity. How was it?

[redzimmer]

I personally envy her creativity. How was it?

We found the chickens and killed the warlock and fed him to the chickens.

Then the gnomes taught us how to make acid bombs using Giant Slug's slime. At good time had by all.

[Boozy]

Is this an appropriate thread to add DM storytelling techniques, that can be applied anywhere?

[redzimmer]

Is this an appropriate thread to add DM storytelling techniques, that can be applied anywhere?

Anything that can HDMO.

[Boozy]

Anything that can HDMO.

Okay then.

I've used a variety of techniques to mix up the game night routine. I enjoy storytelling (also in the WoD sense) and I appreciate the power of atmosphere to create tension.

First, here's some simple tech that makes any campaign more engaging: Set up a metronome for initiative. I start with a base ten count per player, and add 3 counts per point of initiative modifier. Conditional modifiers like Mindlink allow the party to discuss options during that time. When the time expires, the character either declares their action or goes full defensive.

In a similar vein, here's a session technique to ratchet up tension: Set a firm timer before something bad happens. Old school (1990 version Prince of Persia). Say, 250 rounds or so. Counts precisely each one, and make the players know they are on the clock. You can use much lower ECL creatures and challenges when the players are forced to rush without rest, and the way they bicker and fret when they get down below 50 rounds is awesome. You will see genuine pride and relief if they make it, and a nice shiny helps motivate them.

[Bohandas]

Comical Sidequest:
since they are people who seem to have a heroic destiny the PCs are recruited by the local authorities to take part in in a sting operation to collect taxes from those shops full of magic relics that sometimes mysteriously appear where there was nothing before and then suddenly disappear (or occasionally retroactively become long abandoned) just as mysteriously (like the ones you see in a lot of fantasy and/or horror films)

[Goaty14]

Small Plot Hook
-A not-so frequented town by the PCs suddenly loses all of its children! The town officials ask to PCs to find the root of it, additionally (if such town has a large population) all newborns disappear the night after they are born...

The reason is because <somehow, maybe tied to the main plot> a large group of grey renders have started to "adopt" the children. The nice thing about this one is that it's not necessarily evil; Grey Renders are CR 13, and could therefore take care of the children better than some commoners. <Chaotic Good Path> BUT they are being taken away from civilization <Lawful Good Path>, if they players don't care, then they will try to make the grey renders a part of the current society <Neutral Good Path>.

[Bohandas]

Campaign concept for Toon: The Cartoon Roleplaying Game:

Factbusters
The PCs are employees of a Mythbusters-esque television show wherein the "myths" being tested tend to be either stupid bar bets ("you can't drink more than me without passing out"), health advice ("if you keep eating so much fast food you're going to have a heart attack" and then eventually the character dies of liver failure and diabetes. "myth busted!"), and places where people have used the word "can" to mean "may" ("you can't bring those TV cameras into Area 51!" and then they tunnel under the fence or somethig "So as you viewers can see, we can get TV cameras into Area 51 after all"...)

[Bohandas]

I wanted to post come links to a couple of other relevant threads:

101 Campaign Hooks (http://www.giantitp.com/forums/showthread.php?527908-101-Campaign-Hooks)
101 Unusual Plot Hooks (http://www.giantitp.com/forums/showthread.php?282157-101-Unusual-Plot-Hooks)
101 Plots for Superhero RPGs (http://www.giantitp.com/forums/showthread.php?512833-101-plots-for-superhero-rpgs)

[redzimmer]

I wanted to post come links to a couple of other relevant threads:

101 Campaign Hooks (http://www.giantitp.com/forums/showthread.php?527908-101-Campaign-Hooks)
101 Unusual Plot Hooks (http://www.giantitp.com/forums/showthread.php?282157-101-Unusual-Plot-Hooks)
101 Plots for Superhero RPGs (http://www.giantitp.com/forums/showthread.php?512833-101-plots-for-superhero-rpgs)

Much obliged. Will add to first post with your credit due.

[Bohandas]

I wanted to post come links to a couple of other relevant threads:

101 Campaign Hooks (http://www.giantitp.com/forums/showthread.php?527908-101-Campaign-Hooks)
101 Unusual Plot Hooks (http://www.giantitp.com/forums/showthread.php?282157-101-Unusual-Plot-Hooks)
101 Plots for Superhero RPGs (http://www.giantitp.com/forums/showthread.php?512833-101-plots-for-superhero-rpgs)

found another one

101 Adventure Hooks (http://www.giantitp.com/forums/showthread.php?487640-101-Adventure-Hooks)

[Barbarian Horde]

New beholder has come to claim back the title Xanathar from the Redsash in waterdeep after the spell plague in Faerun. You his new crew of thiefs will become the new wet-work boys and recruitment center of this new empire. Decisions will need to be made as you establish something beautiful; something to be feared. As the chaos flows you'll need to decide what you can and can't live with, and what will get you disintegrated. Nothing says I'm dead like a pissed off beholder with sorcerer levels and meta magic feats.
----------------
Criminal Organization
A kingpin whom's sanity is questionable at best
Lucrative opportunities
Betrayal
Massive information network
Ocean of blood
Moral choices

How far are you willing to go to reach the top. Doing a city campaign and working for Xanathar actually is a lot of fun. I've basicly treated like the players were forced, volunteered, or no choices were left after hitting rock bottom. This is after reading their BG story to determine how to introduce things. Hell I've got a player who works for the noble who is in charge of the town guard as an informant that's in deep cover.

[Bohandas]

found another one

101 Adventure Hooks (http://www.giantitp.com/forums/showthread.php?487640-101-Adventure-Hooks)

Also
1001 Strange Plot Hooks (http://www.giantitp.com/forums/showthread.php?195437-1001-Strange-Plot-Hooks)
1001 Bad Plot Hooks (http://www.giantitp.com/forums/showthread.php?191844-1001-Bad-Plot-Hooks)
101 Reasons to Adventure (http://www.giantitp.com/forums/showthread.php?400962-101-Reasons-to-adventure)

[redzimmer]

Hook

You stumble across a massive army of undead.

The army is reliving the battle where it was decimated, causing a general blight on the region annually.

If the PCs can reenact the battle wherein the undead army "wins" (i.e. by "surrendering" while disguised as the commander of the original winners), the revenants will disappear for good.

[Bohandas]

Crossposting from another thread this table of gibberish for generating verbal components


This reminds me, I actually made up a table of random mystic gibberish from various sources awhile back for randomly generating verbal components


01.) Ashonai.
02.) Ebiris.
03.) 0Urshoring.
04.) Kvanti.
05.) Pythan.
06.) N'gurad.
07.) Feringomalee

08.) Azerath
09.) Metrion
10.) Zinthos

11.) Tatra
12.) amistrobin
13.) azarta,
14.) tatis
15.) manor
16.) manziz
17.) hounaz,
18.) ansobar
19.) saman
20.) darobza
21.) dahir
22.) saika
23.) danz
24.) deroza,
25.) kandar

26.) Kunda.
27.) Astratta.
28.) Montosse.
29.) Canda

30.) klaatu
31.) barata
32.) nikto

33.) N'gai
34.) n'gha
35.) 'ghaa,
36.) bugg-shoggog,
37.) y'hah

38.) Abra
39.) kadabra
40.) alakazam
41.) Aajaye
42.) Shemhamforash
43.) hocus
44.) pocus

45.) mecca
46.) lecca
47.) hi,
48.) hiney
49.) ho

50.) sim
51.) sala
52.) bim

52.) Bibbidi
53.) Bobbidi
54.) Boo

55.) Shazam

56.) Cei-u

57.) Yu
58.) Mo
59.) Gui
60.) Guay
61.) Fai
62.) Di
63.) Zao

64.) FUs
65.) Ro
66.) Da

67.) Feim
68.) Zii
69.) Gron

70.) Joor
71.) Zah
72.) Frul

73.) Wuld
74.) Nah
75.) Kest

76.) Nahl
77.) Dal
78.) Vus

79.) Slen
80.) Tiid
81.) Vo

82.) Lok
83.) Vah
84.) Koor

85.) Hun
86.) Kaal
87.) Zor

88.) Od
89.) Ah
90.) Viing

91.) Laas
92.) Yah
93.) Nir

94.) Ph
95.) Nglui
96.) Mglwnafh
97.) Wgah
98.) nagl

99.) Ni
100) Peng
101) Nee-wom


(somatic components could in turn be adapted from this (http://retrohelix.com/2013/08/super-ultra-ultimate-rock-paper-scissors/))

the words are culled from Discworld, Elder Scrolls, Cinderella, DC Comics, , Monty Python And The Holy Grail, the Cthulhu Mythos, the Evil Dead series, The Day the Earth Stood Still, traditional stage magic, Jackie Chan Adventures, and Pee-Wee's Playhouse

[redzimmer]

Let's not overlook the incantations from Baldur's Gate!


https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=i_7gzmJVxLc

[Bohandas]

Encounter/Adventure/Side-Quest

A sibriex (flesh-grafting demon from fiendish codex 1) passed through a racher's lands recently, now the rancher is down three steers and up three uncontrollably violent bulls with demonic tireless-rage abilities.

[redzimmer]

Encounter

Every X years, a full lunar eclipse coincides with the Fall equinox. The Night of Restless Departed, where the dead walk, and any slain rise also.

An immense horse of mindless undead is marching across the land.

Overwhelmed, the PCs take refuge in an abandoned keep. However a cache of Druidic scrolls and magical items will aid in the defense.

Survive the night and the enchantment ends. Can plants help you fends off zombies?

[cullynthedwarf]

The king is sick of his family trying to weedle the throne out from under him so he gives them a new target. The heir apparent of the local nobles.

Giving the idea that who ever wins this contest shall become the next king, he distributes sacks of coins of an unknown material. Coins can be exchanged for gold at the palaces bursars office. However most heirsvmiss that some of the coins have writing on the edge of them. If put into the correct order it spells out a clue.

Finding the clue sets off a race between 1/4 of the people. The others having missed the writing.

The real challenge is to find the first capital that has been lost for a millennium. 3 cities give physical objects that need to be decoded. Drawing connecting lines from the six decoded names pin points the old cities location while the others give a time of year it can be reached ad well as a vague set of hints as why it was abandoned.

My players have the sixith clue now and have formed a rivalry against another noble band who seems to be just beating the to the punch.

[Bohandas]

Let's not overlook the incantations from Baldur's Gate!


https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=i_7gzmJVxLc

maybe, but I can't spell any of that

[White Blade]

Encounter/Adventure Idea: Peace!
A young adult silver dragon comes to town and her demands are simple - Her child, a bright but scrawny boy of a little less than a year, has gone missing. Her mate is guarding the other children, but they are both desperate for the child's return. They offer a large reward for information that brings about their child's return or of who took them.

(Un)Fortunately for them, their child has not been lost or kidnapped but ran away. Enraptured by a dream of Tamara, the dragon goddess of mercy, the boy swore sacred oaths to keep no hoard and kill no creature. Terrified of his parents' disapproval, he fled. Now he's hiding [in the woods as an animal/in town as a mendicant]. In any form, he emblazons the symbol of Tamara on his person in an obvious manner and players can recognize this at an appropriate DC or a few hours in a local religious collection.

The silver dragon wyrmling has very good mental stats (17, 19, 18) and can have as many levels of Apostle of Peace as you like (three will give it access to freedom of movement) and he has no desire to go home at all. Players will have to navigate the wishes of the two dragons, which may prove difficult.

[Yahzi]

Sandbox World Generator (http://www.drivethrurpg.com/product/217951/Sandbox-World-Generator)creates a whole continent and fills it with monsters and kingdoms, with the push of a button.

You can zoom into just a region, change it up as much as you like, and start running. When the players get too big for the local area, you've got a whole continent laid out in every direction.

[Evoker]

Low level:

A kobold tribe has stolen alchemical reagents. The local alchemists guild will pay the PC's to retrieve them. However, an alchemist has been captured from another town and is being forced by the kobolds to create alchemical concoctions.

[Bohandas]

This thread might get more traffic if it was in the general RPG forum rather than the 3e D&D subforum.

On that note, here's a campaign concept for the Toon roleplaying game:

The main characters all work in what is essentially an overly prosaic reading of the end of 2001: A Space Odyssey, to wit they are employees in a hotel and spa in deep space run by an enigmatic godlike AI that travels the galaxy creating sapient species in order to generate potential customers. The each session revolves around dealing with the various beings that come in


Monolith stats:

Monolith

The Monolith is a godlike artificial intelligence that travels the galaxy being myaterious and raising animals into sentient species in order to xxdrum upxx create demand for its deep space hotel

Speed: 1 (0?)
HP: 18

SMARTS 6
Read 10
Resist Fast Talk 9
ID Dangerous 9
Spot 7

MUSCLE 1
break down door 5

CHUTZPAH 5
Pass/Detect shoddy 7

ZIP 1


Shticks

Teleport 9 (Usable On Others) (The monolith can't really move much, but can travel anywhere in the universe in 20 minutes (even if it's in the same building; twenty minutes) by traveling through the kaleidoscope dimension)
Cosmic Shift 8
Command (Soaptoon web supplement) 7 (the Monolith doesn't speak, it just sort of looms mysteriously, but looming in different ways can convey a lot and it's hotel employees can pick up its vibe, IF it makes it's roll)
Psychosis (Psychotoon web supplement) (Special)
Invulnerability (Physical) (TTG) 7
Invulnerability (Mental) (TTG) 5
Mindwarp (TTG) 8
Mental Attack (TTG) 4
Psychotic Fighting/Mind Fu (Psycho Toon web supplement) 4
Psychotic Exploration (Psycho Toon web supplement) 6

[Bohandas]

Minion:

Kobold Thug; Kobold Rog 1/Ftr 1; cr 2; Small Humanoid (reptilian); HD 1d6+1d8; HP 10; Init +1; Spd 30; AC 15 (+1 size, +1 Dex, +1 natural, +2 leather armor), touch 12, flat-footed 14; Atk telescoping spear (extended) +2 melee 1d4-4 (19-20/x2) (+1 size +1 BAB +1 spear focus -1 str) OR telescoping spear (retracted) +3 melee 1d3-1 (x3) (+1 size +1 BAB +1 dex); SA Sneak Attack +1d6; SQ Darkvision (60 feet), Light Sensitivity Kobold Traits, Rapid Retreat, Shrewd Trapfinding; AL LN or LE; Saves Fort +3 Ref +3 Will -1; Str 8 Dex 13 Con 11 Int 10 Wis 9 Cha 8

Skills and feats: Bluff +0 (1skp), Climb +0 (1skp), Craft (Traps) +4 (2skp), Disable Device +2 (+4 to disarm traps) (2skp), Hide +7 (2skp), Intimidate +4 (5skp), Jump +1 (2skp), Move Silently +4 (3skp), Profession (miner) +1 (0skp), Search +5 (+7 to find traps) (3skp), Sleight of hand +5 (4skp), Spot +0 (1skp), Tumble +5 (4skp), Use Magic Device +3 (4skp) ; Armor proficiency (Light), Dodge, Spear Focus, Weapon Finesse

Dodge (Ex): A kobold fighter who takes the 1st-level racial substitution level gains Dodge as a bonus feat. This substitution feature replaces the standard fighter’s heavy armor proficiency

Kobold Traits: -4 Strength, +2 Dexterity, -2 Constitution. Small size: +1 bonus to Armor Class, +1 bonus on attack rolls, +4 bonus on Hide checks, -4 penalty on grapple checks, lifting and carrying limits ¾ those of Medium characters. A kobold’s base land speed is 30 feet. Darkvision out to 60 feet. Racial Skills: A kobold character has a +2 racial bonus on Craft (trapmaking), Profession (miner), and Search checks. +1 natural armor bonus. Light sensitivity. Automatic Languages: Draconic.

Light Sensitivity (Ex): Kobolds are dazzled in bright sunlight or within the radius of a daylight spell.

Rapid Retreat (Ex): A kobold rogue who takes the 1st-level racial substitution level gains the ability to retreat quickly from dangerous situations. Any time a kobold rogue with this substitution feature uses the withdraw action, she gains a 5-foot bonus to her speed.

Shrewd Trapfinding (Ex): Starting at 1st level, eachtime a kobold rogue takes a substitution level, she gainsa cumulative +2 competence bonus on Search checks to find traps and on Disable Device checks to disarm traps.
This bonus is lost if the kobold rogue does not have a number of ranks in Craft (trapmaking) equal to or greater than her rogue class level.
This substitution feature alters but does not replace the standard

Spear Focus (Ex): A 1st-level kobold fighter focuses his combat talents on spear fighting. He gains a +1 bonus on attack rolls with the following weapons: longspear, shortspear, and spear. At the DM’s option, this bonus might also apply to other spearlike weapons.
This bonus does not stack with the bonus from Weapon Focus, but it is treated as the equivalent of Weapon Focus for qualifying for feats, prestige classes, and anything else that requires that feat. A kobold fi ghter who has this ability could take Weapon Specialization (spear) without selecting Weapon Focus (spear) as a separate feat.
This substitution feature replaces the standard fighter’s 1st-level bonus feat and medium armor proficiency.rogue’s trapfinding class feature.

Telescoping Spear:'These kobolds carry special weapons that are normally daggerlike, but at the press of a button can be expanded into shortspears as a move (swift?) action. They can be collapsed back into daggers as a full round action (2 rounds?)

Possessions:
Leather Armor
Telescoping Spear

[Bohandas]

Another relevant link:

Campaign Ideas You Have had (http://www.giantitp.com/forums/showthread.php?535405-Campaign-Ideas-You-Have-Had&p=22357606)

[cullynthedwarf]

Rockshaw The Temple Guardian

At its widest point, this ice column is 30ft around and several hundred high. Under the guardian is an non active gate spell focus.

To defeat the guardian you must open the gate under him and melt the ice. The last time gate was opened it was to a confluence of the water and negative energy planes. this has caused the ice to be come negatively charged and spending to long figuring out the puzzle will hurt the party. Scale as needed.

In my campaign Seriyuu is the god of evil and water. So my clues tell the PCs to the Rockshaw draws strength from Seriyuu's blood so the most sever the flow.

The puzzle itself is a 10 x 10 grid to put tiles in order as the plaque describes. 36 are blank and the others are 8 fire, 8 water, 8 air, 8 earth, 8 negative/death, 8 positive/life, 8 order & 8 chaos.

The plaque reads:
pull the dead from the sea and lay them to rest upon the earth.
A shield in the west and chaos in the east protects you from oblivion,
Build a fire to send the dead on and let the mighty wind blow the ash away.
Let the face of Byakko shine down on all.

When the final tile is placed the spell finishes and rockshaw comes tunneling down along with the roof it held up. A secret door opens behind the tile board leading to successfully escape.

Cause I don't want to kill my players unfairly I will let the know if a square is correct by flipping it to the other side. The will however only get a second shot at this before repercussions come out of the mal functioning gate.

[Bohandas]

Some relevant links

Funky Settig Ideas (http://secretsofthearchmages.net/Threads/Wotc/2015/PreviousEditionGeneral/1136716.htm)
Fleeting Random Ideas (http://secretsofthearchmages.net/Threads/Wotc/2015/PreviousEditionGeneral/2199051.htm)

Special thanks to Solauren (http://www.giantitp.com/forums/member.php?41283-Solauren) for saving these.

[Bohandas]

Campaign
The gods' magic hat with the names of all intelligent beings in it has been stolen by the dark lord. It's become clear that a bunch of normal prople are going to have to go after it because the gods cannot choose champions without it.

[Bohandas]

Campaign Concept for Call of Cthulhu
The Call of not-Cthulhu
This is a Call of Cthulhu campaign in which the Cthulhu Mythos has been replaced by something similar but distinct such as the Ruinous Powers or the Ogdru Jahad

Adventure Concept for D&D
Bridge to Total Control
Disguised human agents of the baatezu are offering their services to rid people of fiendish posession. No, it's not a protection racket; it's something more sophistocated than that. What's happening is this: Getting a non-posessed person to sign a contract for the cultists to drive posessing spirits out of them gives the cultists' baatezu masters license to posess that person, as a necessary first step to removing posession. This is an efficient way to move baatezu into the material plane and pick up a hefty bit of cash in the process

[Bohandas]

Campaign Concept:
"The Pre-emptive Macguffin"

A new type of wondrous item has become very very popular among people who can afford magic items. The PCs have been tasked by the church of the god of magic to track down the original prototype of this item. This prototype is (at the moment) crude, non-descript, and no different from a normal item of it's type, but it must be secured because magical prototypes have a tendency to acquire powerful legacy and/or artifact powers as more and more copies enter into circulation.

Campaign Concept for Call of Cthulhu:
"There's No Such Thing As A Rare Book"

A Call of Cthulhu game set in modern times in which paranormal mythos activity has skyrocketed due to the fact that the Necronomicon, Pnakotic Fragments, Book of Eibon, Revelations of Glakii, etc are now freely available on the Miskatonic University website (and those of similar institutes of higher learning) to anybody who is interested.

[Bohandas]

Another relevant thread>
Weird Forest Encounters (http://www.giantitp.com/forums/showthread.php?511604-quot-Weird-forest-quot-encounters)

[Bohandas]

A magic item (possibly a sword or something) which was a family heirloom of a local noble has been missing for an undetermined period of time. Beyond it's base magical abilities It had been enchanted to not show up on detect magic to reduce incidents of people trying to steal it, but this also meant that when it was stolen - and replaced with a fake - the fake took some time to be noticed. Anyway the PCs need to track down the sword (or whatever)

[redzimmer]

A magic item (possibly a sword or something) which was a family heirloom of a local noble has been missing for an undetermined period of time. Beyond it's base magical abilities It had been enchanted to not show up on detect magic to reduce incidents of people trying to steal it, but this also meant that when it was stolen - and replaced with a fake - the fake took some time to be noticed. Anyway the PCs need to track down the sword (or whatever)

Add a whole ornate set of armour and shield to the mix, and you have a hook for a whole campaign.

Actually, might I steal this? I will steal this.

[redzimmer]

I am Seeking three PCs to populate the thing in my sig. All to be introduce via splitting the party. Anyone interested?

If so give me a skirt bio, a character pic if you have one, and be as thorough or vague as you like.

L.6, stats how you want 'em, gear inconsequential.

[Bohandas]

Adventure
While in the Abyss the PCs are randomly abducted and taken to the courtroom layer of Woeful Escarand to stand trial against made up charges. The "trial" starts out as a disorderly courtroom trial in which whichever side insults the other worst seems to have advantage (use bluff checks as per Dragonlance taunting rules) but after a short while, if the PCs are winning, it is changed to a trial by ordeal, consisting of aomething similar to a Double Dare obstacle course but much bigger and with demons taking potshots at the PCs, deadly booby traps, and offal and excrement instead of non-toxic fun slime, if they succeed at this the format is again changed, this time to trial by combat against the prosecutor, who is at least as surprised by this latest change as the PCs are and is not entirely prepared. If they kill the prosecutor they are allowed to go free.

Adventure
Hired to babysit a metallic dragon wyrmling. Will have to fight off opportunistic enemies of it's parents witgout getting the place all bloody

[Bohandas]

Encounter
"The gamers"
This can be inserted into an adventure of the exploration-of-a-derelict-wizard-tower variety
In an out of the way room, possibly behind a locked or hidden door, the players stumble upon the last group to investigate this ruin,mwho have been missing for several months. They are alive and well, enraptured by the original owner's magical entertainment system, an intelligent Table of Feasting with the ability to conjure boardgames and extensive storytelling talent. They are either enraptured by the item's ego or simply content to stay there.

Boardy McGameface: Intelligent Table of Feasting (Stronghold Builder's Guidebook p.84; Heroes' Feast 3/day) Int 19 Wis 10 Cha 19; Speech, Telepathy 120 ft, Read Languages and Magic; Blindsense and Darkvision 120 feet and hearing; Lesser Powers: Prestidigitation continuously, Dancing Lights at will, Ghost Sound at will, item has 10 ranks in Diplomacy, item has 10 ranks in Perform(Oratory), item has 10 ranks in Sense Motive; Greater Powers: Minor Image at will; Ego 19

[redzimmer]

Encounter

A group of four warlock/bards are being blamed for the increase in demonic activity in the region.

The band claims innocence, and investigation discovers it is an unrelated corrupted temple to a dead god tha is trickling in the Abyssal host. The bards alone know how to seal the rift.

However, ever further digging reveals the band is trying to corrupt the youths of the realm. Only towards small acts of evil that feed the Nine Hells, not one big demonic burst that will draw every goodly god's attention.

[Bohandas]

Comic Relief NPC

I've got this idea stuck in my head for a cleric of Olidammara (or some other equivalent god of rogues and bards) whose religious duties, practices, and scriptures all derive in some way from either Rock, Rap, Hollywood, or Stoner culture, but transformed in someway into something recognizably religious. He wears golden plates inscribed with scriptural passages around his neck like hip-hop medallions. If asked to accompany the party on some quest or journey he refuses citing a sacred vow to "rock and roll all night and party every day" which wilderness and/or a need for stealth would interfere with. He's also under a vow to "smoke weed every day". He may not eat green colored candies. He goes on fasts that bear similarities the the grapefruit diet, the cabbage soup diet, the drunk diet, and/or the master clense. He rattles off scriptural quotations such as "Shout with joy O holy city. See your king comes to you, righteous and victorious, rolling down the street, smoking indo, sipping on gin and juice".

[johnbragg]

Two neighboring kingdoms have very different cultural outlooks.

Kingdom A has created a means to summon adventurer-heroes from throughout the multiverses to help fight off the orc hordes, undead plagues, dragons, giant bands, aberrations, evil spellcasters and various other threats that threaten civilization in the setting. The adventurers are supported by the kingdom in return for keeping down the monstrous threats and supplying a steady stream of information to the kingdom.

Kingdom B is fairly xenophobic about blindly conjuring "murderhobos". They often have a point.

(In my next campaign, this is my explanation for why the players can play kitchen-sink archetypes in a setting that has some level of narrative coherence. No, there are no native kender or warforged or monks or Dread Necromancers. But the summoning circle has been coughing up a steady trickle of dragonborn and gunslingers and catfolk and psions and mul for half a century, so your Jedi Knight being there is less surprising to the natives than it is to your PC.

[Bohandas]

Low level encounter

A seemingly injured man asks for the party's help with some mundane task that he can't due to his arm being in a sling or something like that. If they agree he leads them to an out of the way location and tries to kill them.

[Barbarian Horde]

Work for Xanathar
Work against Xanathar
Steal Xanathar's goldfish

[Goaty14]

Players are asked to smuggle <high powered magical item> to <unimportant ruler> in the world. When the PCs deliver it, the item poisons the person who first touches it with a disease that turns you into a ghast. If the PCs touch it first, then they unintentionally carry it with them.

One way or another, the PCs are stuck in a noble building with a bunch of ghasts.

[Bohandas]

Adventure or Campaign concepyt

"The Deep State"
In a reversal of a classic trope the player characters must thwart the plot against the lawful good advisor and ministers who are keeping the chaotic evil king in check and/or help the good vizier depose the evil king

[redzimmer]

Superhero RPG Antagonists

The Remnant: A secret society of Ancient Astronauts who quietly manipulate the world. The last survivors of an invasion fleet destroyed by "mythological" heroes. (Spoiler: All Myths Are Real)

The NAIL: As in "For the Want of a Nail..." A disavowed government organization dedicated to creating countermeasures against super- and metahumans.

The Liars: Reality-warping beings of Chaos, who seek pure anarchy. And their counterpart:

The Truth Engine: A hive mind creature of pure Order, seeking to stamp out disorder and free thought. ,

[Bohandas]

Call of Cthulhu antagonists
How about a Call of Cthulhu campaign where the murder cult isn't trying to wake the eldritch abomination up, but rather are the only thing keeping it asleep (Similar to the Vigil from Docyor Who or the unnamed cult from The Cabin In The Woods)

[redzimmer]

Call of Cthulhu antagonists
How about a Call of Cthulhu campaign where the murder cult isn't trying to wake the eldritch abomination up, but rather are the only thing keeping it asleep (Similar to the Vigil from Docyor Who or the unnamed cult from The Cabin In The Woods)

Or the Banites in Treasure Of the Savage Frontier.

[Bohandas]

Fantasy Borg Cube
(spelljammer)
In the middle of the pholgiston the characters come across an incongruous iron cube-shaped fortress filled with spawn-creating zombies controlled by an evil witch whose living head is grafted onto a zombie body

[redzimmer]

And their analogous Species 8472 being a living Formian hive ship.

[redzimmer]

How the party meets:

The party meets in a dungeon, stripped of gear and prepared spells.

A magic mouth informs them each has been infected with a necrotic cyst (Libris Mortis).

An NPC is also in the dungeon. He is killed when his cyst is triggered.

The magic mouth tells the party they must gather certain reagents for an unknown party unless they want to die next...

[Bohandas]

High level spelljammer campaign
The gods of greyhawk recruit the characters to do some errands for them in realmspace (which the greyhawk gods can't enter because they are interdicted by lord Ao). Olidammara wants to plunder the wall of the faithless for souls and Zagyg wants them to steal back some notebooks of his that were stolen by Jon Irenicus

[redzimmer]

I would ten copies of that. A spelljammer heist caper sounds awesome.

[Bohandas]

Encounter/Adventure/Side-Quest

A sibriex (flesh-grafting demon from fiendish codex 1) passed through a racher's lands recently, now the rancher is down three steers and up three uncontrollably violent bulls with demonic tireless-rage abilities.

A more extended version of this encounter could be that the ranch is secluded and quite some time has gone by since these uncontrollable bulls gored the rancher and ranch hands to death, only now have people gotten worried and sent somebody due to the herd of fiendish cattle sired by the bulls beginning to cause trouble

[Bohandas]

Encounter
When the wizard casts Time Stop they are accosted by a Quarut, Langolier, or Hound of Tindalos while still under the spell's effects.
Alternately the party is hired as backup by a wizard targeted by these creatures; he's going to cast a modified version of the spell that will pull them all in so they can fight the creature with him

[Bohandas]

The old "head of vecna" gag, but in connection with an ettin or hydra that avoids it's fatal flaw