Need some adventure ideas...

[The Human Target]

Okay kids, I'm coming to you with my text based hat in hand.

Basically, my game day plans for Saturday are now scrapped due to player issues and I have to come up with an entirely new adventure for the remaining players to enjoy.

As it stands, I'm considering running 5 to 8 hours of the game, and would kind of like to have several short mini-adventures take place around the same general location.

The game/setting is gritty fantasy with some steampunk elements.

So heres what I'm thinking... The PCs are going to be on a bounty hunt that leads them into a remote, mountainous region of the game world. The first sub-adventure will deal with catching/killing the fleeing fugitive they're after. By the time they apprehend the fugitive, winter will have settled onto the region and the PCs will have no real choice but to stay in a nearby village until the Spring thaw clears the desolate mountain roads.

So I'm looking for different adventures the PCs could have will wintering in the town. Monsters to fight, places to explore, characters to encounter.

Anything would be of help and I'm more than willing to alter my basic idea if someone suggests something cooler.

Thanks in advance!

 

[exile]

#1 A shepherdess goes missing from the village. The PCs (because of their man-hunting prowess) are asked to track her down. Maybe another villager comes along as a guide. Maybe the PCs find the girl's sheep wandering aimlessly or maybe they find them neatly secured somewhere. Ultimately the PCs discover that the adventurous lass has stumbled across a patrol of humanoids and has either tracked them back to their war-camp or been captured by them.

#2 A newly infected werewolf steps up his aggression from sheep to locals. Maybe the werewolf also happens to be the village priest who is now (because of the lycanthropy) having trouble channeling the power of his good god. The party's cleric might initially be asked to stand in by casting some spells, and of course the party will ultimately have to track down the beast.

#3 The winter snows are so heavy that almost the entire village has packed itself into the largest building, probably an inn. The only problem is that there is a serial killer amongst them.

 

[Rhun]

#4 The unusually heavy snows inevitably bring humanoids/giants/whatever coming down from the mountains seeking to take/steal food from the villagers.

Also, if you are looking for something other than just a run of the mill "capture the fugitive" sceen, you could always have the adventurers fall into some sort of sinkhole during the chase. Or maybe the fugitive falls in, and the PCs have to go in after him. It could lead down into an old mine or ancient below-ground ruin.

 

[diaglo]

the party didn't plan for the winter. the village didn't plan to have so many (it is a small village) extra mouths to feed. so a supply of food is needed. either by magical or mundane means the party needs to help bring in more food to fend off starvation for themselves or the villagers. maybe in throw in a blight or disease on the stored grains/foodstores to push the need up a level or two.

on a similar vein. a need for wood or peat for fires. the winter came early and is more severe. so the need for warmth is an issue. also furs or other winter gear.

theft and hoarding are a problem.

and lastly an avalanche uncovers a cave to the underworld.

 

[The Human Target]

Bump for the time being, with replies to follow.

 

[The Human Target]

#1 A shepherdess goes missing from the village. The PCs (because of their man-hunting prowess) are asked to track her down. Maybe another villager comes along as a guide. Maybe the PCs find the girl's sheep wandering aimlessly or maybe they find them neatly secured somewhere. Ultimately the PCs discover that the adventurous lass has stumbled across a patrol of humanoids and has either tracked them back to their war-camp or been captured by them.

#2 A newly infected werewolf steps up his aggression from sheep to locals. Maybe the werewolf also happens to be the village priest who is now (because of the lycanthropy) having trouble channeling the power of his good god. The party's cleric might initially be asked to stand in by casting some spells, and of course the party will ultimately have to track down the beast.

#3 The winter snows are so heavy that almost the entire village has packed itself into the largest building, probably an inn. The only problem is that there is a serial killer amongst them.

#1- This is a case of me just having done something along those lines fairly recently, and I don't want to retread the same ground right yet.

#2- On the one hand, I use were-animals waaaaay too much. On the other, I like the general idea. I definitely think someone(s) important in town are going to be killed or incapacitated, and the PCs are going to be thrust into responsibility they might not otherwise have chosen.

#3- I'm now considering having the fugitive have some form of glamor/illusion to enable him to take the place of someone in town, so the PCs have to sort out who he's become. I really like the idea of them being stranded in the inn en mass, especially if a fight breaks out. Fireballs are less fn to throw around when you're stuck in a wooden building full of innocents.

Thanks for the help mate!

 

[The Human Target]

#4 The unusually heavy snows inevitably bring humanoids/giants/whatever coming down from the mountains seeking to take/steal food from the villagers.

Also, if you are looking for something other than just a run of the mill "capture the fugitive" sceen, you could always have the adventurers fall into some sort of sinkhole during the chase. Or maybe the fugitive falls in, and the PCs have to go in after him. It could lead down into an old mine or ancient below-ground ruin.

Hmmm this idea of the fugitive getting into some other form of trouble the PCs then have to get him out of is excellent.

Combined with Dialgo's idea for an avalanche uncovering something, I think this could work as the end of the chase.

 

[The Human Target]

the party didn't plan for the winter. the village didn't plan to have so many (it is a small village) extra mouths to feed. so a supply of food is needed. either by magical or mundane means the party needs to help bring in more food to fend off starvation for themselves or the villagers. maybe in throw in a blight or disease on the stored grains/foodstores to push the need up a level or two.

on a similar vein. a need for wood or peat for fires. the winter came early and is more severe. so the need for warmth is an issue. also furs or other winter gear.

theft and hoarding are a problem.

and lastly an avalanche uncovers a cave to the underworld.

I'm thinking of having the normal game for the region be cleaned out/chased off by some rare creature come down from the high mountains to duck the weather. But some creature that also happens to be good eating for a village.

Since its kind of a steampunk setting, I'm considering having a minor side quest that involves the town wide furnace/heating system breaking down.

Thanks guys!

 

[GreatLemur]

the party didn't plan for the winter. the village didn't plan to have so many (it is a small village) extra mouths to feed. so a supply of food is needed. either by magical or mundane means the party needs to help bring in more food to fend off starvation for themselves or the villagers. maybe in throw in a blight or disease on the stored grains/foodstores to push the need up a level or two.

And then cannibalism. And Wendigo.

 

[Rhun]

And then cannibalism. And Wendigo.

Wendigo could be a lot of fun. Or perhaps something in a similar vein. What level are the PCs in question?