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.

For every problem a DM has, there is the perfect solution - elegant, intuitive, adding to the game experience, and allowing the players as much freedom of choice as possible. However, finding that perfect solution, especially on the spot, can be hard, and produce a lot of imperfect solutions instead, that do create more problems than they solve - especially if the DM is going for the perfect, elegant solution, and player/PC reactions start to escalate.

In such situations, DMing can be enhanced a lot by a not spurning the quick and easy solutions. That doesn't mean that one should always pick the easy route, but in a pinch, it's often better not to complicate things needlessly, as long as all are on the same page, and want the game to go on.

If your party suffered a PC death, and you need to integrate the new PC, you don't need to spend too much time on this - or have the player wait "until an opportunity presents itself" - unless you wish it. Even in the middle of a dungeon a PC can appear out of thin air - literally, in some cases, if there are telport traps. Could be captured, could be fighting the same foes, or carrying a message to the party. And a quick "you know him from before", coupled with a few retroactively inserted reasons to trust the new PC ("Parents worked together" "grew up together" "guarded a caravan together" "Same temple/school/academy class" goes a long way to keep the game going, and avoid stalls and pitfalls, such as the new PC getting told to get lost after a few gaffes. (Provided, of course, that your players do not like to play through such "pitfalls".)

Sometimes a group has trouble finding a reason to "accept a quest" even if all the players want to follow up on such an adventure hook because it's not really in character for the PCs. That can lead to frustration, and could be easily solved by the quick if heavy-handed approach "You've got a dream, which you can recognise as a divine vision, that ..." or "the poor farmer sees you're not going to risk your life for goodness alone, and digs out his uncles old ... to offer as a reward. He'd have really liked to keep it, but survival comes first." or "the poor farmer promises to pay you a reward, stating that he'll have his daughter accpet the marriage proposal from a rich neighbor".

If you need a PC raised, and no cleric of high enough level is available, you can come up with lots of plots and side quests, and have the player of the currently dead PC play an NPC, or another PC, etc. etc. Very fun if it works. But at times, it'd be better for everyone's enjoyment of the game if the party just stumbled upon a hermit cleric, or travelling bishop, or a similar deus ex machina, and the player can return to play his favorite PC without the party having to travel back to the capital (leaving the threat unsolved) or continuing without the dead PC (because that's what they would do to save the country/world).

This goes beyond IC solutions as well. If you're not ready yet for the party's arrival in a town, it can be better to simply tell the players so, and have them follow a detour willingly, instead of trying to trick them into a side quest when they really want to get to that town.

So, don't be afraid to use such "cheap" solutions - if they work, and keep your game fun for everyone involved, then they are a good choice.

The Sword of Kings

Background:
In a distant realm, the "Sword of Kings", the magical blade of the royal line, carried by the crown prince, was stolen. Passing through many hands, including a few unscrupoulos travelling merchants, it arrived in a large toen/metropolis, where it is to be sold at an auction of magical, unique or luxury items.
The King of the realm has his men investigating the theft, and they traced it to a hapless merchant who had bought and re-sold it unknowingly, and is now facing execution for his part in this crime. His son, an adventurer, is desperately trying to recover the sword to gain a royal pardon for his father.
The crown prince himself is also looking for the blade, bent on personally recovering it to wash the stain on his honot (for losing it in the first place) away.
His half-sister, meanwhile, has sent a few trusted agents to swap the blade for a (deadly) cursed look-alike, to make it appear as if the blade judged the crown prince unworthy to become king so she can take his place as the heir.
Another group just wants the sword to blackmail the royal line - or to strike a blow against the monarchy, undermining the people's faith in their king.
All try their best to get the blade - through all means neccessary.

Hooks:
The adventurers could, if flush with treasure, buy the sword at the auction without knowing what it is - the auction house made up some story about a dragon's hoard - and then be later approached, maybe after a long chase, by the various people interested in it. That includes attempt to steal it, bribe them, replace it, rob it, or try to bully them into handing it over or promise them great treasures for giving it.
The adventurers could be the prince's bodyguard, hired to protect him on his long journey (and make a man out of the arrogant, yet inexperienced boy in the process).
The adventurers could be friends of the son of the merchant (or one of them could be the son himself) trying to recover the sword.
The adventurers could be hired by the half-sister, either knowingly, or as stooges with a sob-story.
The adventurers could be - if they oppose the royal line, maybe working for the "true king" or the "people" or the oligarchy of merchants that was before - trying to get the sword, and kill the prince in the process.

Locations:
Auction house with various defenses


The prince is a pauper

Background:
In a city state/capital, there was a bloody coup, and all the royals were killed. All but the youngest prince, which the court mage, before his death, managed to polymorph into a young boy, and implanted fake memories as well as protection from scrying, passing the detect-thoughts-enhanced search of the rebels.
Now the boy is struggling to survive on the city streets, trying to find his mother - the mother his fake memories invented - which he thinks is in a noble's mansion, held captive. He has dreams, strange dreams, during which he is a rich prince, but everyone has those dreams as boy, right?
The rebel leader, meanwhile, consorting with his fiendish ally, wants the last threat to hi reign disposed of.
To restore the boy to his true form and mind as a young man one needs a high-level dispel magic, or the prepared counter spell from the dead court mage - to be found either in his notes ransacked by the rebels and stored in the palace, or in his tower which was transplanted into the astral realm upon his death, or by talking with his spirit in the realm of the dead.

Hooks:
The adventurers can stumble upon the starving boy, or see him steal a bread, and getting caught, hear his story, and may decide to help finding his mother, which might tip them off once they see it's a fake memory (the enchantment is growing weaker over time as well).
The adventurers might be hired by a distant relative with visions to save the prince, or hired by the rebels to track down "the last spawn of the tyrant, which killed young people for his amusement, protected by the king" (or whatever other story makes them hunt a boy).

Locations:
"Nest": Abandoned building in the slums, run by a few older kids, and home to many of the street kids. Targetted by a ghoul, which has started hunting them.
Noble Mansion where the "Pauper" believes his mother is held prisoner. There is actually a young woman imprisoned there, either a mad relative hidden from public, or a thief caught by the guards, or the daughter of a merchant the noble wants to force into a marriage.
Royal Palace: Dungeons, ballrooms, bed chambers, hidden passages, towers, secret doors, lurking ghosts of the recently slain, and vengeful spirit dragging lone rebel guards to their deaths at midnight.

Twisted curse

Background:
A thief broke into a wizards tower, trying to steal some valuables. Not having any spellcraft skill worth of note, (perhaps using some dust that glitters when touching magic, or just appraise), the thief took a powerful magic item - which cursed the thief with "Polymorph: Wolf". The thief's on the run now, believing it a trap of the wizard, and looking for a way to get cured.
Unfortunately, the item is even more powerful than the thief imagined - it causes lycantrophy as well, the victim of a polymorph spell gaining control of the shapechanging, and the lycantrophy taking effect, once he or she kills a sentient being as a wolf.
The wizard was trying to study the item, and learn how to cure its victims when the item was stolen, and is now searching for it - but he can't find it with scry until the polymorph is undone. He's still looking for it though.
Also looking for the item is a "wolf pack" of lycantrophs - the item's earlier victims, led by a ranger. They have been stalking the area for the item, tracking down the adventurer that delivered it to the wizard, and killed him. They haven't been able to breach the defenses of the wizard's tower though - the wizard increased them after the thief got away. The wolf pack has been killing several peasants and travelers, and is holding a few people prisoner which they want to turn into werewolves once they get the item - among them the son of the local noble.

Hooks:
The party can encounter the "wolfed" thief in the woods, and if they discern its intentions may help the thief with dispel magic. The thief may tell them a sob story about an evil wizard, trying to get them to help getting away, which might make the encounter with the wizard, once he tracks them down, more interesting. Rumors of the missing people, and lycantrophs, might make them suspiscious of the wolf though, and if they kill it they find the magic item - and get chased by the wolfpack and the wizard.
Alternatively they might have been hired to look into the missing people, or the dead adventurer, or get hired by the wizard to track down the thief.
Or the adventurers might stumble upon the massacred retainers of the noble's heir, and may be mistaken for their killers, or get asked by a survivor to help them rescue the kidnapped noble.

Locations:
Wizard tower in the woods - standard build, but with more protective magics after the break in.
Lair: Cave where the wolf pack keeps their prisoners, hidden behind a waterfall. The prisoners are tied up, and in bad shape.
Village with inn, where the adventurer was killed. large stable, where a horse was also killed and partially eaten.
Hunting lodge, where the son of the noble was taken, and his retainers killed.
Merchant wagon, traces of a battle, all animals and people dragged away to a stream. Difficult, but not impossible to track to the lair.

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.