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 II
Posted 22nd September 2008 at 10:57 AM by Fenes
More ideas and blurps for encounters, scenes and adventures:
Kidnapping Plot:
Background:
In a town, a group of organised criminals kidnap the sons and daughters of rich families, and release them for ransom. The experiences of the kidnapping victims are traumatising, despite big ransoms being paid.
Unknown to the families, the true plan of the criminals goes further: They are/work with dopplegangers, and replace the victims with dopplegangers, which are then ransomed. The long term goal is to either take over the infiltrated families (by engineering the death of the heads, so the doppleganger scions can take over) or drain their fortune (and possibly have a controlled family take over).
The kidnapping victims - waste not, want not - are sold off to interested parties, possibly slavers from far away countries or even other planes, or the clichee necromancer/cultist with a need for sacrifices.
Hook:
Adventurers can be hired as bodyguards, or to track down and rescue kidnapping victims, or to kill the criminals.
Alternatively, the adventurers might rescue a victim sold into slavery, and discover that the victim supposedly was freed long ago (though this might make the plot too easy).
Locations:
Secret cellar with a tunel to the sea for smuggling under an inn in town, where the victims can be kept until sold off.
Bandit camp for the kidnappers in the wood.
Main Headquarters, with the leader and his allies, and a gate to their patron god/devil/demon (if such exist).
Double-Cross:
Background:
The crown princess of a (small) realm, headstrong if a bit naive, arrives in a seedy metropolis, "Incognito", just in the company of trusted bodyguards and retainers, to look for her half-brother, which has been kidnapped by a rich noble/merchant.
Unknown to her, this is actually a plot by her brother with said merchant, to get rid of her and become the crown prince. Once the princess guards and other ways to defend herself are known, the trap is sprung and the princess taken captive.
Unknown to the treacherous prince, his co-conspirator won't be killing the princess as planned, but keeping her as a way to blackmail the prince once he sits on the throne. Alternatively, he plans to sell her to a neighboring kingdom whose dynasty wants to marry their heir to her and take over both Realms - if needed, the deal will be camouflaged as a heroic rescue by the crown prince, who "saves" (maybe even without knowing about the plan, thinking it's a real rescue, deceived by his parents) the princess, which will hopefully fall in love with him (or get impressed enough to marry him, and to get her realm back.)
Hooks:
The adventurers can be the retainers, additional guards hired by a retainer, hired by the king and queen to get the princess back, just stumble on the whole affair when brekaing into the merchant's house to free someone else/get an item back, or be hired by the rival kingdom to help the "heroic" prince with his rescue.
Locations:
Merchant mansion, Inn where the princess stays.
Kidnapping Plot:
Background:
In a town, a group of organised criminals kidnap the sons and daughters of rich families, and release them for ransom. The experiences of the kidnapping victims are traumatising, despite big ransoms being paid.
Unknown to the families, the true plan of the criminals goes further: They are/work with dopplegangers, and replace the victims with dopplegangers, which are then ransomed. The long term goal is to either take over the infiltrated families (by engineering the death of the heads, so the doppleganger scions can take over) or drain their fortune (and possibly have a controlled family take over).
The kidnapping victims - waste not, want not - are sold off to interested parties, possibly slavers from far away countries or even other planes, or the clichee necromancer/cultist with a need for sacrifices.
Hook:
Adventurers can be hired as bodyguards, or to track down and rescue kidnapping victims, or to kill the criminals.
Alternatively, the adventurers might rescue a victim sold into slavery, and discover that the victim supposedly was freed long ago (though this might make the plot too easy).
Locations:
Secret cellar with a tunel to the sea for smuggling under an inn in town, where the victims can be kept until sold off.
Bandit camp for the kidnappers in the wood.
Main Headquarters, with the leader and his allies, and a gate to their patron god/devil/demon (if such exist).
Double-Cross:
Background:
The crown princess of a (small) realm, headstrong if a bit naive, arrives in a seedy metropolis, "Incognito", just in the company of trusted bodyguards and retainers, to look for her half-brother, which has been kidnapped by a rich noble/merchant.
Unknown to her, this is actually a plot by her brother with said merchant, to get rid of her and become the crown prince. Once the princess guards and other ways to defend herself are known, the trap is sprung and the princess taken captive.
Unknown to the treacherous prince, his co-conspirator won't be killing the princess as planned, but keeping her as a way to blackmail the prince once he sits on the throne. Alternatively, he plans to sell her to a neighboring kingdom whose dynasty wants to marry their heir to her and take over both Realms - if needed, the deal will be camouflaged as a heroic rescue by the crown prince, who "saves" (maybe even without knowing about the plan, thinking it's a real rescue, deceived by his parents) the princess, which will hopefully fall in love with him (or get impressed enough to marry him, and to get her realm back.)
Hooks:
The adventurers can be the retainers, additional guards hired by a retainer, hired by the king and queen to get the princess back, just stumble on the whole affair when brekaing into the merchant's house to free someone else/get an item back, or be hired by the rival kingdom to help the "heroic" prince with his rescue.
Locations:
Merchant mansion, Inn where the princess stays.
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