Creating a D&D 3.5 Treasure Hunt

[Zilter]

Yo hello, and thanks for stopping by!

In the campaign I just started DMing, one of my players wrote up a backstory about hunting a famous treasure. Little to no detail was given on the treasure. I like to make my players feel like they are really part of the world, so decided to create the treasure, and a series of clues to lead the players there. You know, National Treasure style. Unfortunately, I'm lacking a bit in the creativity section of my head, so I could really need some help and ideas as to what the long string of clues could contain.

I'm thinking the players could "coincidentally" stumble across a fellow treasure hunter who has the last known clue. The players will of course, being adventurers, murder the bejesus out of him and loot him, and then picking up where he left off.

I have decided that the hunt will end in a sunken pirate ship. Maybe mysteriously sunken in a small but deep lake, with no access to the ocean it sailed and plundered.

The players are pretty low level. They are second level now, and I'm thinking 3-4 by the time they pick this up.

I need some help coming up with inventive ways of leading the players to different places and items. Can you help me out?

[endur]

The Maltese Falcon