This blog is mainly meant for DMs, hopefully providing tips and tricks to help running a campaign and handling problems as well as providing plot ideas.
I am playing a heavily house ruled 3E campaign, but the entries should be applicable to other systems as well.
I am playing a heavily house ruled 3E campaign, but the entries should be applicable to other systems as well.
Adventure/Encounter Hooks V
Posted 9th March 2009 at 02:02 PM by Fenes
Love and marriage...
Background:
A rich merchant has built his house up by forging ties through marriage - and keeps doing so. Sons, daughters, nieces, nephews, all and sundry are used for matchmaking attempts. Whenever he meets with someone rich, powerful or both, he tries to marry a relative to them.
Not all of his younger relatives are fond of that practise, even if most go along. Some have taken to develop "eccentrics" in order to drive some suitors off, others actively try to find a "good match" of their own choosing, or try to escape by joining a chruch, or simply running away.
Hooks:
- The PCs can be the target of a marriage proposal themselves, if they look rich or powerful enough, or come from a noble background. Some of the relatives prefer adventurers - they are not often at home, and are likely to get killed while away, leaving the husband or wife with their treasures - and so are quite persistent. Maybe, if the culture differs enough, or the PCs drunk enough, the PCs accidentally marry, or at least engage.
- A PC might be proposed to enter a fake marriage as a means of a relative to get away.
- The merchant has fierce rivals. Just the threat of an alliance by marriage to the PCs prompts hostile action - assassins target either party.
- The family is cursed, each generation the curse strikes one member - by blood or marriage.
- The PCs are hired to bring a bride/groom-to-be to his/her fiancé(e). Said relative wants to avoid the marriage though, promising anything to get away. If there's a paladin the relative wants to join the church, if there's a greedy rogue the relative proposes to rob the family blind and run away.
- It is discovered that one of the PCs is a relative of the merchant, and he/she was/gets promised to marry a member of a rich noble house - and the future mate seeks the PC out, pursued by rivals, and assassins from feuding families.
Locations:
- Merchant Mansion
Straight to the point
Background:
There's a tribe of evil orcs raiding the lands of a noble family. The family recently lost a lot of their men-at-arms and the family head in a war, and needs help defeating the orcs - which is why the orcs picked the fiefdom in the first place. That's all there is to it. The half-orc leader of the tribe grew up among humans though, and is very cunning. If faced with a band of adventurers too strong to kill he'll spin some yarn with the best of them just to get away.
"The humans stole some holy statue from the orcs, and now they can't find peace in the afterlife until they get it back."
"The humans massacred the tribe's women and children (who are actually in the mountains, away from the raiding party)"
"Humans started it, and drove them from their fields, now they need to raid to feed their children."
"The noble family kidnapped the human bride of the leader for evil, necromantic purposes - a member of a rival noble family told the poor half-orc so. They need to fight to save her."
Nothing is true, all are lies designed to get the adventurers to spare the orcs and get busy with the nobles while the orcs flee.
Hooks:
- The PCs are hired by the nobles, or stumble upon a raid of orcs.
Locations:
- Orc lair
- Orc tribe hide out
- Noble's castle
- Villages, Inn and a mine.
Background:
A rich merchant has built his house up by forging ties through marriage - and keeps doing so. Sons, daughters, nieces, nephews, all and sundry are used for matchmaking attempts. Whenever he meets with someone rich, powerful or both, he tries to marry a relative to them.
Not all of his younger relatives are fond of that practise, even if most go along. Some have taken to develop "eccentrics" in order to drive some suitors off, others actively try to find a "good match" of their own choosing, or try to escape by joining a chruch, or simply running away.
Hooks:
- The PCs can be the target of a marriage proposal themselves, if they look rich or powerful enough, or come from a noble background. Some of the relatives prefer adventurers - they are not often at home, and are likely to get killed while away, leaving the husband or wife with their treasures - and so are quite persistent. Maybe, if the culture differs enough, or the PCs drunk enough, the PCs accidentally marry, or at least engage.
- A PC might be proposed to enter a fake marriage as a means of a relative to get away.
- The merchant has fierce rivals. Just the threat of an alliance by marriage to the PCs prompts hostile action - assassins target either party.
- The family is cursed, each generation the curse strikes one member - by blood or marriage.
- The PCs are hired to bring a bride/groom-to-be to his/her fiancé(e). Said relative wants to avoid the marriage though, promising anything to get away. If there's a paladin the relative wants to join the church, if there's a greedy rogue the relative proposes to rob the family blind and run away.
- It is discovered that one of the PCs is a relative of the merchant, and he/she was/gets promised to marry a member of a rich noble house - and the future mate seeks the PC out, pursued by rivals, and assassins from feuding families.
Locations:
- Merchant Mansion
Straight to the point
Background:
There's a tribe of evil orcs raiding the lands of a noble family. The family recently lost a lot of their men-at-arms and the family head in a war, and needs help defeating the orcs - which is why the orcs picked the fiefdom in the first place. That's all there is to it. The half-orc leader of the tribe grew up among humans though, and is very cunning. If faced with a band of adventurers too strong to kill he'll spin some yarn with the best of them just to get away.
"The humans stole some holy statue from the orcs, and now they can't find peace in the afterlife until they get it back."
"The humans massacred the tribe's women and children (who are actually in the mountains, away from the raiding party)"
"Humans started it, and drove them from their fields, now they need to raid to feed their children."
"The noble family kidnapped the human bride of the leader for evil, necromantic purposes - a member of a rival noble family told the poor half-orc so. They need to fight to save her."
Nothing is true, all are lies designed to get the adventurers to spare the orcs and get busy with the nobles while the orcs flee.
Hooks:
- The PCs are hired by the nobles, or stumble upon a raid of orcs.
Locations:
- Orc lair
- Orc tribe hide out
- Noble's castle
- Villages, Inn and a mine.
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