miscreationist
Explorer
I'm a sucker for cults or evil religions. I find I use them far too often. Usually they are creating undead or summoning something. Maybe I'll pick up a few ideas from this thread.
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GMs, What Plots do you use a lot?
- Thread starter Tinker Gnome
- Start date
Woas
First Post
I'm a sucker for Robin Hood plots. An individual or a group looks like their doing wrong from an outsider looking in at the situation. Player Characters come in and "right" the problem but then realize sick kids won't get needed medicine and the Megacorps get virtually free slave labor or something like that.
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DrunkonDuty
he/him
I like the 'evil noble manipulating things from behind the scenes' as it gives lots scope for social interaction and detective work.
Also keen on the 'the bad guys are just guys, like you.' By which I mean the invading orcs aren't evil. They're the enemy, yes, but are no worse than the humies they fight. They may even have reasonable justification for their actions, like fleeing some other enemy or defending against intrusion by the 'civilised' races.
My fave critters are humanoids of all types. Like wraiths and wights too, for which I blame JRRT.
Also keen on the 'the bad guys are just guys, like you.' By which I mean the invading orcs aren't evil. They're the enemy, yes, but are no worse than the humies they fight. They may even have reasonable justification for their actions, like fleeing some other enemy or defending against intrusion by the 'civilised' races.
My fave critters are humanoids of all types. Like wraiths and wights too, for which I blame JRRT.
Mark
CreativeMountainGames.com
EricNoah
Adventurer
"there's the bad guys, then there's the really bad guys" - i.e. shades of evil
the role of religious institutions in society (their role in propping up those in power, for example); also the role of magical institutions (i.e. wizard's guilds)
lost lore (ancient civilizations rose high, learned a lot, crashed and burned, and we "adventure" in their remnants - and they left a lot of interesting/dangerous information lying around)
the source of magic/the nature of magic (for example: the world is a living being and is the source of all magic; the divisions of arcane/divine/psionic magic are artificial constructs)
The role of the prime material plane - why are demons/devils etc. so interested in us?
I guess these are themes more than plots. Uncovering lost lore; thwarting institutions in power; figuring out the mystery of the ancient ruin are all common plots in my games.
the role of religious institutions in society (their role in propping up those in power, for example); also the role of magical institutions (i.e. wizard's guilds)
lost lore (ancient civilizations rose high, learned a lot, crashed and burned, and we "adventure" in their remnants - and they left a lot of interesting/dangerous information lying around)
the source of magic/the nature of magic (for example: the world is a living being and is the source of all magic; the divisions of arcane/divine/psionic magic are artificial constructs)
The role of the prime material plane - why are demons/devils etc. so interested in us?
I guess these are themes more than plots. Uncovering lost lore; thwarting institutions in power; figuring out the mystery of the ancient ruin are all common plots in my games.
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Stormtalon
First Post
I have a fondness for cribbing classic movie tropes and translating them into D&D terms -- my very first Eberron adventure, for instance, was basically an in-game amalgam of Airport/Poseidon Adventure -- set on an airship on its maiden voyage. The passengers fit all the requisite archetypes; newlyweds (you know one is doomed), arrogant & selfish rich b**** (with hapless goblin servant), kid with parents (future orphan alert!), etc.
Bonus points to whoever can figure out how I got the name "Dunrighben" for the airship....
Right now, however, I'm working on exploring the "Good guy doing horrible things because he knows that if he doesn't even worse stuff will happen" schtick....
Bonus points to whoever can figure out how I got the name "Dunrighben" for the airship....
Right now, however, I'm working on exploring the "Good guy doing horrible things because he knows that if he doesn't even worse stuff will happen" schtick....
Ktulu
First Post
As far as plots go, I often like invading enemies that clash in both physical and political realms. While some sides are more evil than others, no one is without their dark-deeds.
I also tend to use these monsters commonly:
Vampire
Drow
Lizardfolk
Yuan-ti
Religion always plays a heavy part in my games, whether it be holy wars, theocracies, or just heavy emphasis from religious NPC's. I like mixing and moving the official panthon around to suit my games and create the overall themes.
I also rarely use all races in any campaign. I limit to what the players are playing plus a few, i.e. I don't have gnolls, dwarves, goblins, orcs, kobolds, elves, etc.. in one world. I pick from a few allowing me easier focus on those that exist without trying to carve out an explanation for every single one.
I also tend to use these monsters commonly:
Vampire
Drow
Lizardfolk
Yuan-ti
Religion always plays a heavy part in my games, whether it be holy wars, theocracies, or just heavy emphasis from religious NPC's. I like mixing and moving the official panthon around to suit my games and create the overall themes.
I also rarely use all races in any campaign. I limit to what the players are playing plus a few, i.e. I don't have gnolls, dwarves, goblins, orcs, kobolds, elves, etc.. in one world. I pick from a few allowing me easier focus on those that exist without trying to carve out an explanation for every single one.
Jack99
Adventurer
My last campaign was "stop the invasion". With the coming of 4e and the 3 tiers, I decided to go a bit larger in scope, and got the following.
Heroic: The players, who are refugees fleeing a dying world, set out to discover the new world. They unwillingly free an ancient evil (Aspect of Yeenoghu), letting it enter the mortal world where it can create havoc. During the course of the first tier, they learn a lot about the new world, including the fact that the gods that they worship (IE the PHB gods) are merely exarchs in this world, servants of ancient gods.
Paragon: Now big-time heroes, the players must untangle the mess they have created, stopping the horde of demons, undead and gnolls that Yeenoghu has unleashed on the world, only to discover how deep the rabbit holes goes.
Epic: Having defeated Yeenoghu and his posse, they find out that the whole thing is a plot by none other than Asmodeus. The twist is that the new gods (who are exarchs here) were originally the real gods in this world, but were sub-planted and killed by those who now claim they are the real gods. When they were killed, small parts of their divine essences hid in various mortals, who eventually became exarchs of the false gods. They have no memory of their former divinity, at least, most of them. Asmodeus does however, and he is setting the players up to ultimately topple the false gods and thus pave the way for the exarchs (IE the PHB gods) to assume their rightful place in the world.
So I guess it is kinda "the evil noble being in the scenes" campaign, just on a slightly larger scale.
Heroic: The players, who are refugees fleeing a dying world, set out to discover the new world. They unwillingly free an ancient evil (Aspect of Yeenoghu), letting it enter the mortal world where it can create havoc. During the course of the first tier, they learn a lot about the new world, including the fact that the gods that they worship (IE the PHB gods) are merely exarchs in this world, servants of ancient gods.
Paragon: Now big-time heroes, the players must untangle the mess they have created, stopping the horde of demons, undead and gnolls that Yeenoghu has unleashed on the world, only to discover how deep the rabbit holes goes.
Epic: Having defeated Yeenoghu and his posse, they find out that the whole thing is a plot by none other than Asmodeus. The twist is that the new gods (who are exarchs here) were originally the real gods in this world, but were sub-planted and killed by those who now claim they are the real gods. When they were killed, small parts of their divine essences hid in various mortals, who eventually became exarchs of the false gods. They have no memory of their former divinity, at least, most of them. Asmodeus does however, and he is setting the players up to ultimately topple the false gods and thus pave the way for the exarchs (IE the PHB gods) to assume their rightful place in the world.
So I guess it is kinda "the evil noble being in the scenes" campaign, just on a slightly larger scale.
I tent to abuse assassination plots: NPC X is really important and is targeted by this group of very evil people. Also planar related things (invasions, creatures, searches...) are pretty common in my games.
About monsters, I love displacer beasts, they are like the definitive predator/stalker for me.
About monsters, I love displacer beasts, they are like the definitive predator/stalker for me.
