Desperate DM needs quick help!!

[badash56]

Hey guys, I've been put on the spot to run a D&D game TODAY. Our usual DM is ill and doesn't feel up to running a game, and has asked me to do something for the group! ACK! So now I only have a few hours to come up with something to plug into the campaign. I thought I'd stop by here and see if anyone has a quick idea a group of five 4th level PCs could handle. I hate asking, but I am terribly short on time today, and don't want to dissapoint the players with a half assed adventure I make up off the top of my head.

A little background: there are five people in the party all 4th level. We play in the Scarred Lands setting, and just finished the main into adventure for a new campaign. I just need something to fill in for a week, a side plot of some sorts unrelated to any big story. I can usually come up with stuff easily, but the group I paly with is very experienced and tends to get bored with generic dungeon crawl or simple linear adventures. They like to figure out things to do on their own, and then kind of fall into the adventure rather than have a plot hook slap them in the face. So what I'm hoping is someone recently ran or played in a game that could fit into this and drop just a few lines of a decent hook that I could run with. I'll take just about anything at this point.

Its embarrassing to ask for help, but I'm just strapped for time today and only have 1 or 2 hours to throw this together, and I have to run out for some family things right now. I'll be back shortly so hopefully someone is awake and can help.

Thanks!

 

[Gilladian]

I don't know the scarred lands, but if they're in a town you've got a lot of options. Have an old friend ask them to help him track somebody down (a criminal, someone who witnessed a crime, a lost child). That leads into a fairly loose scenario of questioning and hunting, using diplomacy and information gathering. IMC I just had the party spend several hours hunting for a lost friend-of-a-friend. It led into something they haven't discovered yet - the leatherworker who claims the friend never made it to his shop is actually a serial killer and necromantic skin-shaper of sorts.

Another trick I've used is to have the PCs notice that someone is following them. Watching them. Who, why and how to put a stop to it can take hours - and if the reasons are left vague enough, can come back later as a new plot thread.

If they're out on the road, have them run into fellow travelers. Pilgrims, a wedding-party, a funeral party. Or how about they come across a crossroads with a gallows and a cage. Someone's in the cage, hanging from the gallows tree. Let the PCs run with it. Again, a fairly open plot you can carry in any direction.

If they're in the true wilderness, how about they stumble across signs of a monster that is just a bit more dangerous than they can handle? Maybe they'll spend a whole session trying to get away from something that appears to be stalking them. Or they'll have to find allies to help them deal with the danger. What allies is up to you.

Hope this helps fuel the idea engine!

 

[Tinner]

Any of the Dungeon Crawl Classics would fit the bill. Yes, they are all dungeon crawls, but they have a lot of depth to them. You can get the PDF pretty cheap, right here at the ENGS.

Have you checked the Wizards website for a suitable adventure? Might be something there you can cobble together.

If these are established characters, why not take the opportunity to look into their backgrounds? Have old friends show up looking for help. A "Magnificent Seven" scenario always works well for this kind of thing.

 

[jtone]

There's the Big List of RPG Plots for inspiration http://www.io.com/~sjohn/plots.htm. Most of those would do fine as a one-off game. You can set one of these up and add or remove encounters to speed things up or slow them down to make the whole thing fit the available time.

 

[Hand of Evil]

Save the kids/cleric/family/what-ever party is moving through an area and find raiders/slavers have been hitting the area and have taken someone important.

 

[Reynard]

Ask the regualr DM whre the party needs to be for the next adventure, then get them their -- the long and hard way. While a series of unconnected encounters can be tiresome if it happens all the time, one session of "We just want to get to a nice cozy inn and these situations keep stopping us!" can be fun. A bandit attack here, a pilgrim in need of aid there, a squad of knights thinking the PCs are trouble in between, and maybe a bridge that has been washed away by a flood. Stuff like this, as long as you keep every encounter interesting and fast paced, can easily fill a session. plus, every encounter can serve as a seed for a whole adventure down the road (either by the regualr DM, or for you should you be asked to run again).

The key, though, is to pick stuff where you have easy access to pre-generated stats and what not. Skim through soem adventures or issues of dunegeon, or some websites, and get some stuff together.

Good luck.

 

[devilbat]

Go pick up an issue of Dungeon. There should be plenty in there that is fairly easy to adjust to your current level and location.

 

[Mark CMG]

http://www.wizards.com/default.asp?x=dnd/oa/20030530b

Particularly -

http://www.wizards.com/default.asp?x=dnd/oa/20040731a

- or -

http://www.wizards.com/default.asp?x=dnd/oa/20030725a

Good luck!

 

[badash56]

Awesome guys, thanks for the ideas and links! I think I might end up mixing in some of those adventures linked on Wizard's site. We usually play for a long time and I found a few that I could work into the story. Thanks!!

 

[jdrakeh]

No GM can afford not to read this.

So. Uhm. Read it. It'll make your week that much easier.