List your favorite plots here!

[Oberyn]

Hello everyone im going to be getting into the wonderfully marvolous world of DMing and im not sure if there is already a thread like this. But i know it would be a great boon for me and probobly a lot of new DM's out there if everyone here would give thier favorite ploits for adventures or ones that could have done a bit better but were good none-the-less.

 

[Hand of Evil]

Plots are easy, it is the stuff in the middle that is hard.

A great place to get plot ideas is history and the news, pick up the paper and grab a headline then run with it.

The one I use over and over is what I call 'the land grab', someone wants to to build on/own/pass through someone elses land and goes about it, players have to help/stop/or find out who is behind it.

Just having the plot is not enough, you always have to say, what happens now?

 

[Poster Bard]

Start with these!

http://www.io.com/~sjohn/plots.htm

 

[Keeper of Secrets]

I think you should start with something that you would find fun to create and stick with.

Would you be interested in revenge, romance, ultimate evil vs ultimate good or something simple like 'the characters have to save the sountryside from orcs and in the process stumble across . . ."

I would suggest starting with something very simple but be receptive to player/character chatter about what they think is going on or what they suspect. What are your players like? Do they prefer lots of hack and slash or do they prefer conspiracies and intrigue?

 

[Ravellion]

Good thread!

I like to place activities in the campaign that will have the players wonder whether they are plot connected. If they pursue it, they will uncover things.

Example: The party encounters a hobgoblin supply caravan on the road, with loads of weapons. In a few days or so, they encounter yet another hobgoblin supply caravan with loads of weapons.

Not so much a plot, more of a plot hook.

Develop it to fit your campaign world. Are the hobgoblins amassing for war? Are they selling large quantities of weapons to others? Have they built a complex for crafing all these weapons, or do they purchase or steal them?

Rav

 

[NewJeffCTHome]

Plots are simple. I try to follow the KISS method - Keep It Simple, Stupid. If I spend too much time devising incredible plot twists, double & triple crosses, and 18 layers of political intrigue, I find that I have often wasted a lot of time, as the players will do something unexpected and avoid 90% of those twists & turns, or just charge through them.

Look at it this way - "Star Wars" (the first movie) is a relatively simple movie - young innocent (Luke) tries to save princess with help from a wise old mentor. What makes it a great movie is one of the great all-time movie villains in Darth Vader and some great NPCs - Ben Kenobi, C3PO, R2D2, - and some interesting minor characters like Greedo, the sand people, the jawas, Luke's aunt & uncle, etc.

 

[EricNoah]

Here are some more generic plots:

http://www.enworld.org/showthread.php?t=113860&highlight=maguffin

http://www.roleplayingtips.com/readissue.php?number=148#1

And check out issues 227 and 229 on this list:
http://roleplayingtips.com/archives.php

 

[Dr. Strangemonkey]

How specific a plot do you want? Cause we can go pretty general or tamp out to the last poniard on the bugbear.

Some of my favorite plots in the past:

Find the invisible murderer or hunter of men, with the twist that he or she appears to be stalking an active battlefield. So how do you tell the righteously slain from the victimized?

Your city has just been sent into space, react! Seriously, figure out some technical responses and begin figuring out how far you want to go to smooth out the transition of power in the inevitably fractured civil institutions.

 

[Kuld]

I agree with NewJeffCTHome and the KISS system. Huge and elaborate plots could be fun to build but you should avoid the predetermined "if p than q" philosophy, becouse it's impossible to plan for every possible contingency.

And you'll find that a simple plot, one that may or may not last one session, will turn out to be more fun for the players primarily because they will receive quick rewards.

So, I guess the answer is to have an elaborate plot with bunch of little plots on yer way. And be flexible, and find something that you will have fun with too!

 

[Sir Elton]

My advice?

Watch a lot of T.V., movies, and anime. One of the best ways to learn how plot works is to deconstruct an easily constructed plot. Watch TV's MASH.