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Lavin
2007-07-06, 08:52 PM
Alright, so the campaign I have my players in is in need of a couple of ideas. I just want a few semi-challenging quests that I can put them in that I can weave little "plot threads" into. Thanks a lot!

BRC
2007-07-06, 08:54 PM
We need more details, describe the setting. but generically you could go with

Evil Cultists in a temple

Bandits in the woods

A dragon in a cave

A necromancer/evil wizard in a tower

ErikZ
2007-07-06, 08:54 PM
lol. That's all the details you're going to give? Is it horror? Does it take place in the desert? etc...

Throw us a bone man.

Lavin
2007-07-06, 08:57 PM
XD sorry guys! alright, pretty mych it's mainly a forest setting, but soon, there is going to be some planar travel, mainly to the fire plain.

Corolinth
2007-07-06, 08:58 PM
They stumble across an elven village that's completely empty. Ghost-town.

BRC
2007-07-06, 08:58 PM
XD sorry guys! alright, pretty mych it's mainly a forest setting, but sonn, theyre is going to be some planar travel, mainly to the fire plain.

Very specific, but if its in a forest, I'd go with bandits.

Banditco, for all your generic villian needs

Lavin
2007-07-06, 09:10 PM
I likey! Thanks!

Mike_Lemmer
2007-07-06, 09:23 PM
Devil's Tower (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Devil%27s_tower)
River running backwards.
Trees flattened to the ground in a mile radius. Something's smoking in the middle of the new clearing.
Drunken centaurs.

Bassetking
2007-07-06, 09:29 PM
Forest Setting. Right, I can run with this...

Bits and Pieces: An adventure for Players in Forest Environments.

Your Players Find a rumor/run into/see the aftermath of a necromantically augmented animal/animals. Dire Bears with an additional set of Dire Badger arms. Winged Dire Weasels. An Owlbear with Monsterous Spider Legs and Abdomen. Real Horrorshow. Maddened, cobbled-together amalgamations of meat-horror.

Encounter 1) Fight 1-3 of these Patchwerks.

Your players hear rumors/follow the trail/scry/ learn the reasons behind the Monsters. Seems our Amature Dr. Moreau feels slighted by the Local Baron/Lost a son in the wars/is tired of the neighbors dog barking/ is a nutter, and has turned to blackest, shambling magic to exact his revenge and right his wrongs.

Encounter 2) Dr.'s Messenger. Doc sends a bigger, more well built horror to accomplish whatever you decide his goal is. Try to time it so that the PC's are there when it attacks. Though, the horror of seeing a trusted NPC strung around his house like confetti and crepe-paper and then hunting down what did it to him may be more your style. Remember; these things are not subtle, clean, or concerned with being followed. It may easily leave a stained trail of NPC in its wake.

After this last insult, your PC's Cowboy up, and ride into the forest to kick in the Doc's door, and take his stuff. Too bad they have to get past his doorway guardian.

Encounter 3) Guardian. Gosh-darn, if this isn't some kind of Meat-Miracle. With more pieces than an Amish Quilt, and twice the stuffing, this thing is loaded with mean and ugly ways to do horrible, unspeakable things to your PC's. Look into giving it a Monsterous Crab's Arms, with strength and constrict to match. Wyveryn's tail stinger, and... just perhaps... giving it either natural flight, or a nice beefy Slam attack.

We've fought our way through the doorway daemon, and down into the secluded, underground tunnels under our Doctor's Homestead. Now we've got to get through his traps to get to the big man himself.

Encounter 4) Dungeon Run through the Doc's Labs. Real Horrorshow Ultraviolence exhibits, like failed experiments, or left-overs; with a few semi-deadly traps for the party's rogue to run. Not too long, but long enough to satisfy.

The Man himself. Maddened by his grudge, insensate at the destruction of his creations, And cranked to eleven on borrowed or bargained necromantic might, our PC's have one mother of a knockdown, all out slugfest in the doctor's personal Charnel-house.

Encounter 5) The Doc. Stat him however you wish, but Levels of Wizard and Blighter both seem appropriate here, as do levels of Cleric focusing on Death and Pestilence.

Anxe
2007-07-06, 10:13 PM
Just pick an artifact and base a quest around it. First they have to get it, then destroy it or use it or whatever.

Lavin
2007-07-06, 10:22 PM
Thanks, Anxe, however that is already one of the core elements in my campaign. I appreciate it though! By the way, Bassetking, amazing! That's exacly what I'm looking for.

Corolinth
2007-07-06, 10:36 PM
One session, they stumble across a crew of zombies digging a ditch. Later, they run into a crew of zombies chopping down trees. Interspersed throughout the zombie work crews should be zombie children. This should be after they run across the abandoned town I mentioned in my previous post.

ShneekeyTheLost
2007-07-06, 11:07 PM
* Guards have reported seeing eerie lights deep in the forest, just on the outskirts of the perimiter. Most of the time, when the guards investigate, they find nothing. Once every so often, however, they simply dissapear. Local governor is getting rather upset, he's lost four guards in as many months, and wants it stopped. As with any government contract, you will be overworked, underpaid, and any promises of bonuses or further payment will be hedged and hemmed with so many loopholes that you're never going to be able to actually collect.

Damionte
2007-07-06, 11:13 PM
Use a shemale for your main villain. That'll throw em for a loop. Unless they're not the type to actually interact with the badie other than rolling initiative.

Lavin
2007-07-06, 11:23 PM
Sorry, Damionte, already have a main villan. Thanks though.
Just to clarify, I already have a solid core storyline, I just needed suggestions on plots to lead to it.

Fawsto
2007-07-07, 11:33 PM
Fire Plane + Forest?

Fire Elemental is starting random wildfires in the forest, stop him, or the entire animals of teh forest will suffer or worse, the dire animals of teh forest will move near to the villages.

When the PCs are almost finishing the Fire Elemental he planeshifts to the elemental plane of fire and tah dah, the party must follow him to finish the job.

Xuincherguixe
2007-07-08, 12:14 AM
Challenge eh? Encounter the first.

"You see Cthulhu. You wish you hadn't."

Encounter the second. Roll will to avoid killing yourself, dc 40

Anyone who lives gets eaten.


Or, it could just be some jerk pixies pretending to be Cthulhu if you know, don't hate the players and want to make the suffer for no reason.

Citizen Joe
2007-07-08, 07:15 AM
Yea, I second the forest fires. Only I'd go with Efreeti looking for something. Make sure the team gets some fire protection, logical since they'll be fighting fires. When they are ready (in your opinion), start dropping some hints about the source of the fire. Then in a climactic battle, the Efreeti escapes through a Gate back to the elemental plane of fire, taking the plot critical item with it. The party has moments to decide: Chase the efreet, or risk the world shattering consequences of losing the MacGuffin.

I'd leave it as a cliffhanger at that point (assuming a PnP game) and let them think about the route they'll take between sessions.

Ethdred
2007-07-09, 11:32 AM
Try throwing in a recurring character - in a forest, a druid seems like a good bet. He's not the challenge so much as giving them 'jobs' to do - like 'I'm having trouble with this (CR appropriate critter) that's moved into the area, can you sort it out'. And sorting it out might not mean killing it, it could just be driving it away or capturing it. Then give him some twist, like he's an alcoholic or will only talk to the party via the wizard's familiar.

Nevar
2007-07-09, 11:40 AM
Just an idea, I character changing event. One of my favorites is lycanthropy. Of course that's lvl dependant and don't forget it's just not werewolves. Changes the characters and puts them on a quest for a cure that could involve side quests to obtain the 'cure'. Very fun to RP as well.

DeathQuaker
2007-07-09, 11:55 AM
Okay, correct me if I'm wrong, but it sounds like you have an overarching plot thread where the players are seeking a MacGuffin, which has led them to travel through a forest, then eventually into the Elemental Plane of Fire.

What I assume you are looking for are some sidequests/subplots to help them level up and/or learn more about the plot and/or get appropriate gear they would need to survive an Elemental Plane.

One thing I use when I'm stuck while coming up with sidequests and encounters is random generation such as that provided by the Dungeon Master's Guide (where they have tables for randomly generating a creature you will encounter in a given area). The TRICK is to use what you randomly generate CREATIVELY--simply to spark off an adventure idea.

So, say you roll on the Sample Temperate Forest Encounter Table, and the result you get is "1 5th level lizardfolk druid NPC and 2 Centaurs."

What you DON'T do is say, "So, um, a lizardman and a couple centaurs attack the party."

Think about why those monsters are there. Could they have something to do with your plotline? How could they? Are they hostile, friendly, both towards each other and the party?

You could decide the lizardman druid, being at one with the forest, knows the location of the Planar Portal the Party is looking for. You could have them overhear and argument between the druid and the two Centaurs--perhaps they are demanding the portal's location, or perhaps the druid is threatening to throw them in to punish them for some reason. The party could listen, or they could rush in and take one creature's side or another. The key is to be sure they have some way to get the information they're looking for (maybe the druid has a map, if they kill him), but otherwise, be flexible with it.

And of course maybe that won't work, but the idea is just to get a few words or a thought to spur a new plot thread. Sometimes all you need is a seed of an idea to help it grow into something that would suit your story--you just need to ask yourself the right questions. In the end, you'll probably come up with something that suits your campaign more than a few random Internet gamers trying to guess at what you're looking for based on minimal information. No offense intended to the people who've posted--everyone has good ideas--but since we don't know what best serves your needs we're left guessing. If you find a means to jog your own creativity, all the better.

Dragonmuncher
2007-07-09, 02:10 PM
When a Wizard summons a monster from another plane, it fights on his whim until the spell ends, or the monster is "killed," both of which send them to their home plane.

You could have an extraplanar spellcaster summon some humans (or whatever) to fight, and those humans happen to be your party! So they get sucked into a battle for 10 rounds or whatever, and battle it out. Then they go home.

Added twists- make it an extremely high level battle, so that when one of their party is "killed" it's all very dramatic, but then everything is back to normal in 10 rounds.

Or, have the caster be on the plane of Fire. as they're fighting for the caster, they see the McGuffin they were tracking, and this is what spurs them to go to the Plane of Fire.

Prometheus
2007-07-09, 03:42 PM
Steal my Fire plane plot:
Evil Djinn rises to power by corrupt dealings with Fire Giant who also happens to be the "leader/ruler/steward" of the Fire plane. Needless to say, the Djinn got the bargain and was still in debt to the less than intelligent Fire Giant King. When the players confront the Djinn for his evilness, he tells them this, and says he will undo his evil acts (which is to use his position close the portal from the Water plane to a demonic plane resulting in hellfire taking over, and a buildup of pressure in the water plane that causes flooding in the material/main plane) if the players slay the Fire Giant King for him. He tells them how to sneak in and how best to defeat the fire giant king too. The players agree, because they do good on two counts, and can always go back on their word with the Djinn. The paladin gets a uneasy feeling in her stomach about dealing with an evil Djinn.
On the way back from slaying the Fire Giant King, an Inevitable aprehends them (Some by force, others by persuassion) and drags them to extraplanar court where they are charged with the quite obvious task of murdering an important planar official. At the same time, the evil acts done by the Djinn come to light (mostly because the players yell it out as they are getting hauled off). The Djinn swoops in and tells the players that they are in this together and that they should collaborate with his (forged) evidence that pins all the blame on the Fire Giant King, as well as a couple of the Djinn's political opponents, all while portraying the Djinn as the victim. If they are instead found guilty, they are frozen in time and placed in a cell, so that they are effectively dead but cannot be resurrected.
Whether the players go with the Djinn, like mine did, or whether they go against the Djinn, and poke holes in his evidence is up to them, the evil acts are undone. If the former occurs, the Djinn survives and gives them the final word that they both got what they wanted and that if he ever sees them again he will kill them (in my campaign, the next time they see him he greets them with "What took you so long?" and offers another nefarious deal).