Need encounter/plot ideas FAST!

[Kerilstrasz]

Greetings community!

In about 15hours i'm running a solo, one shot, 5-6 hours campaign.
I need ideas about plot/combat encounters.

The story as laid out at session 0...

The PC is a 16 yo Princess, heiress to the throne of the greatest empire of the continent.
For the past 5-6 years, a great war is raging between said empire & the kingdom of the only other continent of the realm.
Because of this, for those 5-6 years, King & Queen had moved to a port-fortress city near the frontier, to oversee the war,
and left the Princess back, at the mainlands, at the King's Castle.
The standing order left by the King, was for his younger brother to deal with the Empire's affairs and tend to the Princess's
needs until he is back, or if he perishes, until she comes of age to take his place.

One morning (a day before the session starts) the Princess's uncle comes to the Princess with news that they are loosing the war,
as the allied forces station at X port fortress city, led by her father, were unable to hold back the enemy forces, thus loosing the city
and suffering devastating loses. In the process, her parents went missing, believed to be captured or killed.
He (the uncle) announced to the Princess that he managed to find a diplomatic solution that would stop the war.
He already contacted the enemy King and made a deal.
Princess was to immediately be escorted to the enemy lands and marry his son, joining the two kingdoms.
After the marriage, the couple will return the the empire where his son will be the new King.

(Queue all the shouting, tears, drama and everything else that make an epic tale bad...)

The argument ends with the uncle (who is acting King, since the Princess isn't yet of age) ordering the Princess to
prepare for her journey and upcoming marriage, as tomorrow morning she will be escorted to X port City, to take the ship
to the enemy Kingdom. The marriage is scheduled to be held in 8 days. Until tomorrow morning she would be confined within Caste's walls.

The session begins with the princess and a handful of maids been escorted by the royal guard to the caravan of wagons that would
transport them to the port city...


What i need are ideas of encounters to springle through out this journey..

[Salmon343]

A couple of questions that'll help everyone helping:

1) What kind of campaign are you going for? Are you mainly thinking of encounters on a dangerous journey while the Princess is being escorted to her marriage, or for there to be some kind of short-story esque plot, like the Uncle actually using this as a power grab, or a rival country trying to sabotage the union?

2) What's the Princess' level? How experienced in D&D and more specifically 5E is the player? The kind of one shot I create for new players differs to what I create for experienced players - experienced players can handle more challenge and complexity, while for newer players I like to give them a one shot which touches on all of the pillars of 5E: exploration, combat, and social.

[Kerilstrasz]

As i said it is a one shot 5-6 hour campaign so no major plots that need "investigating".

A little more about the world...
I wont go into details, the keystones are:
1) Realm wide Dragon Wars centuries ago led to realm wide arcane polution.
2) Arcane polution led to Global ban of all magic.
3) Magic Ban = No books,schools, practising of magic. Punishable by execution upon proof on the spot.
4) Inate magic users executed upon proof of their magic.
5) 3&4 are heavily enforced globaly with prejudice.
6) Since Dragon wars, there are no sighting of dragon ever again. Dragons considered to be extinct or even a myth by younger generations.



A couple of questions that'll help everyone helping:

1) What kind of campaign are you going for? Are you mainly thinking of encounters on a dangerous journey while the Princess is being escorted to her marriage, or for there to be some kind of short-story esque plot, like the Uncle actually using this as a power grab, or a rival country trying to sabotage the union?

Maybe caravan gets umbushed and princess has to flee with whatever she can easily grab (equipment) which certainly does NOT include a pedigree or proof of royalty.
Use of her abilities in public, making her a target by everyone.
Hunted by her kingdom, the enemy kingdom (maybe they ambushed the caravan?), her Uncle's payed assassins, maybe a rival dragon?
It would be a time run for the Princess (and player) to reach the end goal.
The end goal is either for her to reach the city her parents were and free them, or if they died, for the hex (look bellow) to fail and revenge her parents' death in her true form.


2) What's the Princess' level? How experienced in D&D and more specifically 5E is the player? The kind of one shot I create for new players differs to what I create for experienced players - experienced players can handle more challenge and complexity, while for newer players I like to give them a one shot which touches on all of the pillars of 5E: exploration, combat, and social.

Player is experienced, but since this is our 1st game together i don't know her level of competence.

Princess PC has no class.
Or better yet, she has a custom class.
Proff score of +2

Str 8
Dex 16
Con 12
Int 14 Prof on Save
Wis 10
Cha 20 Prof on Save

Proff in:
History
Insight
Deception
Performance
Intimidation
Persuasion

Not Proff with armors or Weapons

Cha based Caster
5 Cantrips of Any Class, in Any combination of Classes (limited to 1 dmg catrip)
3 1st lvl spells of Any Class, in Any combination of Classes (limited to 1 dmg spell) , cast at will
1 2nd lvl spell of Any Class (can Not be a dmg spell) once per day

Unlimited budget for gear (no weapons or armor) & up to 4 uncommon magic items that do no direct dmg.

Only person that knows Princess is an "innate spellcaster" is/was her mother, who knew since birth.
She advised Princess to keep it a secret cause of Global Magic Ban, and promised to explain why she is a spellcaster
when she comes of age. That won't happen if mother is indeed killed.
(The idea is that her mother is/was indeed one of the last Dragons alive, and "dragon magic" passed to her child.
Maybe the princess is a dragon too? Maybe hexed by her mother into a human form until she come of age?)

[JonBeowulf]

The enemy kingdom is unlikely to take action against her since they stand to gain control of an entire kingdom. Keeping her safe is very much in their best interest.

A criminal element from her kingdom may try to pull off a kidnapping/ransom attempt since they know they can get anything they want from both kingdoms. Heck, a criminal element from the enemy kingdom may have the same idea. Even some/all of the crew on the transport ship might have the same idea.

Random sea encounters are always tense due to the lack of maneuver space and danger of falling overboard.

[dehro]

you should Princess bride that **** like there's no tomorrow

[Salmon343]

This lore & world sounds pretty cool! I'm not sure where to place that custom class in terms of rough level - my guess would be that at will 1st level damage equates roughly to extra attack? Would really depend on the spell. If you wanted to fill out the party a bit, you could give some of the retainers lesser combat abilities - think Tasha's NPC pseudo-classes.

In terms of types of encounters, with the richness of the world and lore that you've got going on, it'd be a shame to just do random encounters - the assassins idea would work well, if this was possibly going to lead into a later campaign. Gives hints that something is wrong, which would encourage the Princess to go after her parents instead, and sets lots of plot seeds you could use later. Their employer doesn't even need to be known information.

Random encounters/bandits would work well if there's some other witnesses - it adds drama in the Princess having to reveal her magical abilities to an innocent party.

Combat does take a while though, which really matters for a one shot. I'd recommend 2/3 (max) encounters, with the rest of the challenge filled with traversal, and social stuff. Even with one player, there's a lot you can do there - especially if the Princess has just been forced to reveal illegal abilities.

[Kerilstrasz]

Very nice ideas :D

I ll most likely have the convoy ambushed by assassins..
The entire party would be killed fast, barring a soldier of the royal guard.
Both him and the Princess will flee, but not before Princess use some magic to save him.
In the chaos of the realization of her be a "witch", they will have their chance to run.
Queue some drama between the 2, with the soldier really considering killing her right there
because of what she is, but having his doubts as she just saved him.

How should i "nudge" the player toward going for the city her parents where?
Maybe she overhears the assassins talking about their parents been still alive?

In their way the assassins will return, but they will be different ones.
The dmpc soldier will "hypothesize" that they are 2 different groups, on domestic & one foreign.

Maybe i ll have the 2 group of assasssins attack in the outskirtts of a busy trade town, so if
tthe princess uses her powers she would be seen. Thus, getting them to avoid the city and have them one the run once more.

So.. 2 major combat encounters, several small social ones, some RP, some survival...
then when at the city, one last final battle.

[KorvinStarmast]

The enemy kingdom is unlikely to take action against her since they stand to gain control of an entire kingdom. Keeping her safe is very much in their best interest.

A criminal element from her kingdom may try to pull off a kidnapping/ransom attempt since they know they can get anything they want from both kingdoms. Heck, a criminal element from the enemy kingdom may have the same idea. Even some/all of the crew on the transport ship might have the same idea.

Random sea encounters are always tense due to the lack of maneuver space and danger of falling overboard. These are actionable suggestions. A sea encounter with Tritons, pirates, or kidnappers all fit very well for different reasons.
1) Tritons may be aware of the war and consider for their own reasons to take her into protective custody
2) Pirates ~ hold her for ransom (or worse) is their aim ~ the adventure becomes "jail break" or "talk them out of it" in short order.
3) Kidnappers (as mentioned in the quoted post) from either faction/nation/a third party like the Thieves Guild or a Merchant's Guild) take her to not only hold her for ransom but more importantly for political leverage/territorial concession from either empire/kingdom.
4) Her betrothed (the prince) hates the idea, and he has his agents her kidnap so that she "disappears" and he gets to marry it one true love. :smallsmile: (He is, in so many words, not interested in her huge tracts of land ...)

Before going to sea, at least one faction and maybe all of the above tries to kidnap her and she gets a chance to play one faction off against the others.

[Salmon343]

Very nice ideas :D

I ll most likely have the convoy ambushed by assassins..
The entire party would be killed fast, barring a soldier of the royal guard.
Both him and the Princess will flee, but not before Princess use some magic to save him.
In the chaos of the realization of her be a "witch", they will have their chance to run.
Queue some drama between the 2, with the soldier really considering killing her right there
because of what she is, but having his doubts as she just saved him.

I quite like this - one thing I'd be wary of is making sure it all happens organically. Kind of like playing out scripted events in video games, rather than them just being a cutscene - it's more immersive. If they're assassins for the Princess they'd likely target her, so perhaps the retainers could have some kind of ability (like a reaction) that lets them divert a blow? Would be an emotionally hard-hitting start too.



How should i "nudge" the player toward going for the city her parents where?
Maybe she overhears the assassins talking about their parents been still alive?

There could be evidence left by the assassins - something to be found rather than heard. If the assassins are suitably hammy in their evil, then it being spoken would be fitting - them letting her know of the depths of her uncle's betrayal before murdering her. Of course, they wouldn't expect the tables to be turned... Alternatively there could be evidence on her slain companions - they may have been more aware of the situation than the Princess. Trusted enough to escort her to the marriage, but not trusted enough to be kept alive - not that they knew that.



In their way the assassins will return, but they will be different ones.
The dmpc soldier will "hypothesize" that they are 2 different groups, on domestic & one foreign.

Something like this is really fun to express through the battle - the assassins could have completely different fighting styles, hell the foreign group may even use magic! That would be a dead give-away. You can even express it through accents, if you do accents for your DMing.



Maybe i ll have the 2 group of assasssins attack in the outskirtts of a busy trade town, so if
tthe princess uses her powers she would be seen. Thus, getting them to avoid the city and have them one the run once more.

So.. 2 major combat encounters, several small social ones, some RP, some survival...
then when at the city, one last final battle.

That's a very good idea - it keeps the pressure on, and stops the journey feeling comfortable. The journey to a trade-town with its own route will come with some relief - which will make being forced to take the beaten track all the more powerful. Plus a busy trade town is a wonderful scene for a battle - lots of environment to interact with, lots of civilians to get in the way...

[Sorinth]

Given the lore you presented maybe instead of assassin's a Dragon should attack the caravan and be searching for the princess. In this case the player would be trying to get to the city/find her parents while being hunted by the dragon+some unidentified bandits that may or may not be servants of the dragon. Since you don't actually want the player to fight the dragon, the dragon is being controlled/summoned by a McGuffin by the real villain so the final fight is with this villain (Maybe the uncle).

In terms of structure this first attack should be narrated with your whole she uses magic to save the NPC and escape together (Fog Cloud or Rope Trick could work). Then you have your conversation with the DMPC, followed by some wilderness challenges to reach a village, some social and information gathering on possible location of her parents, a small fight with the bandits and then flee the village either because the dragon will arrive soon or because she's outed as a magic user. Some more wilderness challenges on the way to find the parents/mother, get there and get the promised lore about why she's a magic user and find out about the McGuffin and who the real villain is and then finally the final battle for control of the McGuffin.

[Burley]

The caravan is attacked!!! Body guards are grievously wounded, some killed. The handmaids are at spearpoint and the leader, a young man covering his face, demands the princess surrender.
The Bandit Leader commands his men to take the Royal Guards equipment and lead the caravan on.

Turns out, the Uncle didn't really need the princess to get married. He needed her out of his hair.
Turns out, the royal guard was tasked with killing the princess and her handmaids en route.
Turns out, the Bandit Leader is the prince/arranged fiancée, whose intricate network of spies (maybe one of the handmaids?) learned of the Uncle's kingdom stealing treachery.
Turns out, Uncle and Other King have been lovers since Fantasy University and have been planning this war for decades to unify their kingdoms, because Other King is also an uncle/steward.

It's up to you how much exposition to give away. I would LOVE to see the princess escape and kill the "Bandit Leader" before she learns anything. She fights, forages and files forms all the way to the port city, stows away on a ship to the new country, presents herself at court only to find that she had done away with Other King's nephew Prince Bandit. She'd probably be arrested and executed.

Oh, I'm positively giddy thinking about the player's gaping maw at the self-fulfilling prophecy.

[Burley]

Sorry for the double post, but I'd love for the OP to tell us how it went. :wink:

[CapnWildefyr]

Probably this is too much for a 1-day thing...but...

If the group that started the dragon wars is still around, somewhere, maybe they actually started the war between the two otherwise peaceful-enough countries so that they can take over both. It hasn't been going well enough, the empire and kingdom are still largely OK, so they are unhappy and want to escalate. They've been killing peace overtures between them for years, and now are the ones actually responsible for the king & queens deaths/whatever (whether they did it directly, or just helped one side vs the other by melting a castle wall or two does not matter). The uncle can really want princess out of the way so he can take over, the other king's prince may or may not want this marriage too... but a 3-sided fight-- uncle's assassins vs prince's kidnappers vs magic-using Sons of the Dragon who are trying to kill them all... could be fun.

That way, Princess's magic use can save the day vs the BBEMG (the extra m = for Magic), who can't be stopped except by someone who can use magic.

Of maybe she has old-school spellfire, you know, she cant cast spells but she can absorb them to heal herself and to blast back.

[Salmon343]

Sorry for the double post, but I'd love for the OP to tell us how it went. :wink:

Likewise, I'm keen to read how it went also..!

[Segev]

I think the best way to approach this is to consider having 2-3 potentially antagonistic factions. These need not be closely affiliated internally to themselves, just a broad "type" of motivation that can create opportunities or obstacles.

1) Those who want the marriage to fail. Motives can range from liking the war, to thinking the Prince not good enough for the Princess or vice-versa, to believing the enemy kingdom also about to fall and they just need to hold out a little longer. There could be those who want to keep the Princess alive, and those who care not whether she lives or dies as long as the wedding is stopped, in this group. The ones who don't want the Prince saddled with this foreign Princess from the conquered kingdom might just outright try assassination.

Maybe a "she can't marry our prince" faction believes in rumors that the now-missing queen was a witch and therefore her daughter should've been executed along with her.

2) Those who think this is a trap for the Princess. These folks are loyal to her in theory, and will help her escape if that's what she wants, will kidnap her "for her own good" if they think it's for the best (then be open to persuasion if she has something to say once they abscond to a safe place with her), or will even provide aid to get her safely to the wedding while investigating everything suspiciously if she indicates she wants to go through with it.

3) Those who want the Princess as a hostage for their own purposes. Forced marriage to claim the kingdom's throne for themselves (maybe they think they can defeat the enemy kingdom, or at least hold a smaller portion of this kingdom), holding her for ransom from her own kingdom or her betrothed's kingdom or both (after all, the enemy kingdom probably wants this to work, too, as it secures their victory), or even potentially suspecting her of being a prophesied magic child or somesuch and wanting to either rescue her for that prophecy or exploit her magic somehow.


And, of course, there's the enemy kingdom who probably wants this to work, her Uncle's loyalists who are doubtless also loyal to the kingdom and probably to her, but will side with her Uncle over her (if she tries to talk them into helping her escape) because they believe this to be the right move (or at least adhere to his authority on it), and possibly others who want this to work.

It might be interesting to introduce the Prince, but in disguise. Yes, it's an old trope, but having him be some "Random Adventurer" or a soldier or a mercenary or something detached from the military unit he was leading as they took the port might be a good excuse. Perhaps, upon hearing of his father's deal with the Regent of the conquered kingdom and his upcoming betrothal, he either decided to try to meet her without letting on, or he went looking for her parents so he could try to offer their rescue as a noble gesture at their wedding. Something that explains why he's on her route, and they run into each other.

Maybe accepting the bargain was HIS idea, even, if he, for example, fell in love at first sight with a painting of her. Cheesy, but common to the era this is referencing, at least in that era's fiction.

If her mother IS a dragon, one approach could be to have the prince have found the wounded King on his quest, but only the King's horse with him. After taking him back for medical care, he took the magnificent steed and set out to find the Princess for whatever reasons you care to give him. The steed is actually the shapeshifted dragon Queen, who was trying to carry her husband to someone for care when the Prince and his men found them. She's serving as his mount to observe, having learned her brother-in-law's plan/deal, and trying to judge if this boy is worthy of her daughter.