Menu
News
All News
Dungeons & Dragons
Level Up: Advanced 5th Edition
Pathfinder
Starfinder
Warhammer
2d20 System
Year Zero Engine
Industry News
Reviews
Dragon Reflections
Columns
Weekly Digests
Weekly News Digest
Freebies, Sales & Bundles
RPG Print News
RPG Crowdfunding News
Game Content
ENterplanetary DimENsions
Mythological Figures
Opinion
Worlds of Design
Peregrine's Next
RPG Evolution
Other Columns
From the Freelancing Frontline
Monster ENcyclopedia
WotC/TSR Alumni Look Back
4 Hours w/RSD (Ryan Dancey)
The Road to 3E (Jonathan Tweet)
Greenwood's Realms (Ed Greenwood)
Drawmij's TSR (Jim Ward)
Community
Forums & Topics
Forum List
Latest Posts
Forum list
*Dungeons & Dragons
Level Up: Advanced 5th Edition
D&D Older Editions
*TTRPGs General
*Pathfinder & Starfinder
EN Publishing
*Geek Talk & Media
Search forums
Chat/Discord
Resources
Wiki
Pages
Latest activity
Media
New media
New comments
Search media
Downloads
Latest reviews
Search resources
EN Publishing
Store
EN5ider
Adventures in ZEITGEIST
Awfully Cheerful Engine
What's OLD is NEW
Judge Dredd & The Worlds Of 2000AD
War of the Burning Sky
Level Up: Advanced 5E
Events & Releases
Upcoming Events
Private Events
Featured Events
Socials!
Twitch
YouTube
Facebook (EN Publishing)
Facebook (EN World)
Twitter
Instagram
TikTok
Podcast
Features
Top 5 RPGs Compiled Charts 2004-Present
Adventure Game Industry Market Research Summary (RPGs) V1.0
Ryan Dancey: Acquiring TSR
Q&A With Gary Gygax
D&D Rules FAQs
TSR, WotC, & Paizo: A Comparative History
D&D Pronunciation Guide
Million Dollar TTRPG Kickstarters
Tabletop RPG Podcast Hall of Fame
Eric Noah's Unofficial D&D 3rd Edition News
D&D in the Mainstream
D&D & RPG History
About Morrus
Log in
Register
What's new
Search
Search
Search titles only
By:
Forums & Topics
Forum List
Latest Posts
Forum list
*Dungeons & Dragons
Level Up: Advanced 5th Edition
D&D Older Editions
*TTRPGs General
*Pathfinder & Starfinder
EN Publishing
*Geek Talk & Media
Search forums
Chat/Discord
Menu
Log in
Register
Install the app
Install
Community
General Tabletop Discussion
*TTRPGs General
How Do I Make This Interesting?
JavaScript is disabled. For a better experience, please enable JavaScript in your browser before proceeding.
You are using an out of date browser. It may not display this or other websites correctly.
You should upgrade or use an
alternative browser
.
Reply to thread
Message
<blockquote data-quote="darthkilmor" data-source="post: 3496114" data-attributes="member: 23365"><p>So I'm assuming the investigative work on the PC's part is to figure out that the cultists they're after are posing as Denier worshippers, which are quite easy to find.</p><p>Think of what it is these cultists are doing and what kind of impact/trail they would be leaving in the town.</p><p></p><p>So as an exercise, lets say the cultists are doing any/all of these things(this is just a guess at what evil cultists like to do so):</p><p>-Sacrificing people</p><p>-Summoning monsters</p><p>-Selling cursed/evil/illegal magic items on the black market</p><p>-Assassinating key local power players, leaving their mark at the crime scene</p><p>-Trading in slaves</p><p>-Kidnapping/killing locals that get in their way/find them out</p><p></p><p>Other more subtle things they could be doing(clues!):</p><p>-Buying/importing a large amount of a rare spice/compound/mineral, driving up prices</p><p>-Buying things with an odd/rare/unrecognized currency</p><p>-Hiring lots of bodyguards/evil adventurers</p><p></p><p>But why would cultists do all of this? Whats their end goal, other than being evil? Summoning a dead god/very powerful demon? Creating a new god ? Destroying the town? Slaying a minor god? Casting a ritualistic spell that has Bad_Effect_X ?</p><p></p><p>So grabbing a few of those, we can mash it together into a cult that is internally consistant and the PC's are then simply following clues that you drop for them.</p><p></p><p>Cultists are trying to _Forcibly Summon Shig Noggath, Lord Demon of the 885th layer of the Abyss_ , with a _Epic Ritualistic Spell_ requiring: _random # of virgin sacrifices_ ,each one which must be _drowned in enchanted oils infused with Salibith Roots_ . To accomplish this nefarious deed they are _Kidnapping local virgins_ , _Selling cursed/evil magic items on the black market_ for finances, _Buying/importing large quantities of Salibith Roots_, and _Supplanting the local police/constepolary force with people they've bribed into obedience_.</p><p>As a side effect of their evil magics, _Appropriate CR monsters_ have been attracted to the area and harassing the local countryside/town, ppl are scared to go out at night.</p><p></p><p>So when the PC's get into town, they can quickly learn several things that can get them on a path to finding out whats going on: _Appropriate CR monsters_ encounter at night, pc's learn is happening with regularity. NPC could ask them to find his missing daughter(who was kidnapped and sacrificed). A local merchant tries to hire them as bodyguards, claiming the local police force is corrupt and worthless as of late. The PC's stop a robbery or other crime where the assailents used _evil/cursed magic items(maybe dust of sneezing and choking_, can investigate where it came from. PC's find several businesses closing shop, sell goods to PC's at discount prices, explain they can't afford to hire any caravans to come in since they all are bringing in _Salibith Roots_ for the local Denier worshippers, who claim its required for their ceremonies( which a knowledge(religion) check could flag as false). Key is to lay out several hooks for the PC's to pick up, each of which could lead them to the cultists, and not restrict them to figuring out One Thing.</p><p></p><p>Sorry this is a bit long, I let my creativity take control a bit. Hope its the slightest bit helpful.</p></blockquote><p></p>
[QUOTE="darthkilmor, post: 3496114, member: 23365"] So I'm assuming the investigative work on the PC's part is to figure out that the cultists they're after are posing as Denier worshippers, which are quite easy to find. Think of what it is these cultists are doing and what kind of impact/trail they would be leaving in the town. So as an exercise, lets say the cultists are doing any/all of these things(this is just a guess at what evil cultists like to do so): -Sacrificing people -Summoning monsters -Selling cursed/evil/illegal magic items on the black market -Assassinating key local power players, leaving their mark at the crime scene -Trading in slaves -Kidnapping/killing locals that get in their way/find them out Other more subtle things they could be doing(clues!): -Buying/importing a large amount of a rare spice/compound/mineral, driving up prices -Buying things with an odd/rare/unrecognized currency -Hiring lots of bodyguards/evil adventurers But why would cultists do all of this? Whats their end goal, other than being evil? Summoning a dead god/very powerful demon? Creating a new god ? Destroying the town? Slaying a minor god? Casting a ritualistic spell that has Bad_Effect_X ? So grabbing a few of those, we can mash it together into a cult that is internally consistant and the PC's are then simply following clues that you drop for them. Cultists are trying to _Forcibly Summon Shig Noggath, Lord Demon of the 885th layer of the Abyss_ , with a _Epic Ritualistic Spell_ requiring: _random # of virgin sacrifices_ ,each one which must be _drowned in enchanted oils infused with Salibith Roots_ . To accomplish this nefarious deed they are _Kidnapping local virgins_ , _Selling cursed/evil magic items on the black market_ for finances, _Buying/importing large quantities of Salibith Roots_, and _Supplanting the local police/constepolary force with people they've bribed into obedience_. As a side effect of their evil magics, _Appropriate CR monsters_ have been attracted to the area and harassing the local countryside/town, ppl are scared to go out at night. So when the PC's get into town, they can quickly learn several things that can get them on a path to finding out whats going on: _Appropriate CR monsters_ encounter at night, pc's learn is happening with regularity. NPC could ask them to find his missing daughter(who was kidnapped and sacrificed). A local merchant tries to hire them as bodyguards, claiming the local police force is corrupt and worthless as of late. The PC's stop a robbery or other crime where the assailents used _evil/cursed magic items(maybe dust of sneezing and choking_, can investigate where it came from. PC's find several businesses closing shop, sell goods to PC's at discount prices, explain they can't afford to hire any caravans to come in since they all are bringing in _Salibith Roots_ for the local Denier worshippers, who claim its required for their ceremonies( which a knowledge(religion) check could flag as false). Key is to lay out several hooks for the PC's to pick up, each of which could lead them to the cultists, and not restrict them to figuring out One Thing. Sorry this is a bit long, I let my creativity take control a bit. Hope its the slightest bit helpful. [/QUOTE]
Insert quotes…
Verification
Post reply
Community
General Tabletop Discussion
*TTRPGs General
How Do I Make This Interesting?
Top