D&D General City Adventure Ideas
- Thread starter Marc_C
- Start date
Eltab
Lord of the Hidden Layer
Waterdeep: City of Splendors (3e sourcebook) had a bunch of plot hooks disguised as 'locations of interest'.
Dragon Heist (5e) has a bunch of locations and how they fit into pick-one-of-four different plot threads.
Noble villa: steal / plant an incriminating document from their Study.
Street urchins pick your pocket but you notice. They are not solo freelancers.
Sherlock Holmes thinks there is evidence disposed of in the garbage dump. You get to search for it.
The guild wants you to attend a party (or a bar) and be alert for shenanigans.
Lord Fullofhimself wants to take his carriage down a narrow street full of people; there is not enough room for everybody at once.
The river is flooding and people / property must be saved / protected / moved.
Hope these help.
Dragon Heist (5e) has a bunch of locations and how they fit into pick-one-of-four different plot threads.
Noble villa: steal / plant an incriminating document from their Study.
Street urchins pick your pocket but you notice. They are not solo freelancers.
Sherlock Holmes thinks there is evidence disposed of in the garbage dump. You get to search for it.
The guild wants you to attend a party (or a bar) and be alert for shenanigans.
Lord Fullofhimself wants to take his carriage down a narrow street full of people; there is not enough room for everybody at once.
The river is flooding and people / property must be saved / protected / moved.
Hope these help.
aco175
Legend
Do you have a level range in mind? Some things like a sewer crawl may be better for levels 1-5 rather than a 12th level adventure. Also, how large the city is? Waterdeep can have anything, where a smaller city may be more of a town to some people.
My problem with cities is that they are more abstract in dealing with people and places. I am not mapping all of Waterdeep and listing all the people and places. I just assume that there is about anything the PCs need or want to get. I try to have several NPCs available and a few groups of bad guys to interact with, but the size of a city can be daunting.
I like to have a mystery in a city. There may be an item people are looking for and one of the other gang has it. Trick is that the other gang is setting up the first to take the fall.
A grander idea is that the city is under attack. Depending on how much you want to plan and work at it. Also a city may have big defenses already for a attack by orcs or giants.
My problem with cities is that they are more abstract in dealing with people and places. I am not mapping all of Waterdeep and listing all the people and places. I just assume that there is about anything the PCs need or want to get. I try to have several NPCs available and a few groups of bad guys to interact with, but the size of a city can be daunting.
I like to have a mystery in a city. There may be an item people are looking for and one of the other gang has it. Trick is that the other gang is setting up the first to take the fall.
A grander idea is that the city is under attack. Depending on how much you want to plan and work at it. Also a city may have big defenses already for a attack by orcs or giants.
turnip_farmer
Adventurer
Party stumbles across an assassination of a notable merchant. Hired to investigate and get involved in some conflict between merchant houses, but that's all a red herring! He was really assassinated by the Ancient Order of Ominous Nefariousness due to his dabblings in nefarious ominousity.
A city split by civil war. The people, strained to breaking by being exploited and edged on by anti-immigrant revolutionary elements, have risen up against the merchant class and taken over the industrial sector and the docks. The party must decide to support the rebel workers or the ruling class. Go on missions for either side. Etc.
Similar Threads
Split the Hoard
Split the Hoard
Negotiate, demand, or steal the loot you desire!
A competitive card game for 2-5 players