Change Up Your Locations!

[kitsune9]

DM: Okay guys, the traveling merchant told you that the dark cloak figure was last seen heading toward the mausoleum inside the Warders' Graves.

Cleric: Ah ha! Their hideout is in the graveyard. I better pray for all my anti-undead spells.

Fighter: I get my magical flail ready.

Rogue: Well, this sucks. I just tag along I guess. Maybe something is breathing and I'll get to nail it.

Sure enough, the PC's encounter a necromancer and his band of undead in a tomb underneath the graveyard and completely cake-walked the adventure because they were prepared.

Now, there's really nothing wrong with that actually; however, it can be a little too predictable. How many of you DM's have wrote up some encounter at an abandoned temple being used by cultists? Or a tomb filled with undead? Or a Thieves Guild filled with.....thieves?

So here's an exercise:

1. Name the location. My example, graveyard.
2. Give the Red Herring Monster. My example, dark cloaked figure.
3. Provide the twist. Sure, it's a location under a mausoleum, but in truth, it's actually a drow enclave.
4. Provide a reason for disbelief. The drow have burrowed their way up from the Underdark and into the tombs of the graveyard. The graveyard serves as an excellent central location for them to keep watch on the city and to prepare an invasion force all the way from the Underdark.

Now, some of you DM's have done this before, but take your premise and make it in this format so that we all can then take the gist and make it something for ourselves.

You must remember one golden rule here though--there must be a twist. If your site is a graveyard, don't use undead. If it's a temple, avoid cultists. If a forest grove, no druids, fey or such. Be creative, but do something that players probably won't think of where you're going with the story!

If we get a few of these, we can put them together and blamo! an adventure that practically writes itself.

Happy Gaming!