101 Unusual Adventure Hooks

[steeldragons]

16) The party nears the infamous town of Krenk. It is known throughout the land that the town has notorious strict rules to abide. Failure to follow them means almost immediate imprisonment, swift "trial" and eventual death....the only punishment for disobeying any of Krenk's laws is death.

As the party approaches the single gatehouse in Krenk's well fortified wall, the placard displaying the laws of Krenk is obvious, posted beside gates and extending, easily, 10 feet into the air if not more. No guards are noted along the parapets. When you get to the gate, the two heavily armored and armed guardsmen make no move or sound toward you. When to reach the wide open gate and the men, you see they both seem to be asleep.

 

[cavalier973]

17. While resting alongside the road, an adventuring party sees two wagons pass by. The adventurers discover that the first wagon is transporting a load of medicine to a village that is known to have been struck with the Plague. The second wagon, following closely, is a wedding party heading into town. A few minutes after both wagons pass, the adventurers hear the commotion of battle. Racing to the sound, they discover that a party of kobolds has stolen the wagon full of medicine and is heading east. A band of lecherous orcs has kidnapped the bride from the wedding party and is heading west.

18. A building in the capital city explodes and collapses. Word is that spies from an enemy land destroyed it. The adventurers, however, happened to see one of the king's spies sneaking from the building just before it was destroyed.

 

[jonesy]

19) Travelling back to their kingdom the party arrives to the border crossing only to see it explode. Not the border crossing, the kingdom. Burning pieces of kingdom fly all over the horizon, crushing lakes and toppling mountains. The party barely avoids being hit by the capital city as is sails past.

 

[Living Legend]

20) just as the PC's start to wind down from a difficult battle one of them closes their eyes... only to witness slivers of the same battle, but playing out differently. Every time a PC closes his eyes for the next few moments he/she witnesses glimpses of the same battle but playing out the opposite way, ending with the party's death instead of the enemies defeat.

 

[mkill]

The PCs wake up in the morning, after a merry but uneventful night in a tavern. As they enter the common room, they notice that everyone, absolutely everyone in town is wearing a purple hat. Even the old bald dwarven barkeep, even the tavern cat, even their own horses! The hats are of different shape and size, but all purple.

 

[Celebrim]

I'm not really a fan of strange hooks; too many bad science fiction shows that mistook a hook for a story have left a bad taste in my mouth. As such, I'm going to pair my hook with my twist because I feel that the hook itself is pretty useless.

EDIT: Nevermind, I see you explicitly forbade people from doing what I was doing. Oh well.

 

[Celebrim]

19) Travelling back to their kingdom the party arrives to the border crossing only to see it explode. Not the border crossing, the kingdom. Burning pieces of kingdom fly all over the horizon, crushing lakes and toppling mountains. The party barely avoids being hit by the capital city as is sails past.

I like your style. This is exactly the sort of thing that I think one should open campaigns with.

 

[Stormonu]

22) As the party prepares to negotiate with a hostile force, the negotiation is rocked by a thunderous boom and the tang of sulphur. Now, the limp body of a mage dangles between the groups, his head hidden in the stone roof from a teleport mishap. The enemy is greedily eyeing the dead mage's gear...

23) After a night of reveling, one of the party members awakes to find their spouse waiting for them in the next room. The new spouse wants to check out the fix-'er-up cottage they've just acquired, and settle down to a "normal" life.

24) A trio of humanoids, of the same race the party has recently trounced, approaches the strongest-seeming character and pledge their blades to their new leader.

25) A cloaked individual approaches a party member and hands a strange knife to the character as he speaks an odd phrase. When the party member does not respond with the appropriate counter-phrase, the individual appears horrified, and dashes away.

 

[Revil Fox]

26) One of the PC's wakes up in an inn just in time to see a woman dressed head to toe in black leather stealing a prized treasure from him. The woman notices the PC wake up and makes a mad dash for the window, not slowing as she dives head first through the glass. The PC sees a bright flash of light, and when he gets outside only seconds later the woman is laying motionless on the ground, with the treasure nowhere to be found. The leather hood she's wearing has no holes for eyes, mouth, or nose, and seems to be attached to the leather bodysuit via a small, but well made, padlock. When the PCs eventually get her out of it, it's clear that she was killed very recently; her throat is slit, as are both of her Achilles tendons and both of her wrists, yet there is no fresh or dried blood anywhere to be found.

 

[Janx]

27) You were invited to a dinner with a local lord and have chosen to attend. After dinner, the party is invited to the smoking room, where the lord may have a private word with you. You're waiting in the smoking parlor while the lord says good bye to his other guests. Suddenly, all the lights go out, and you hear a crash, a woman scream.

28) The party is out and about, when they meet an odd pair. A short, cylindrical Modron (or other minor Mechanus critter) and a tall, lanky War Forged. The War Forged offers for the pair to enter into your service as butler and assistant. The modron only speaks in odd noises that the war forged seems to understand. The war forged is a prissy efete of a man, overly concerned with manners and protocol. If the Modron is inspected, it seems that he has an old scroll tied and tucked into one of his nooks or crannies.