Plot hooks and general sub-quest suggestions?

[DanteD]

Hello everyone, I'm Alexander, new to the forum, been playing some RPGs for around 6 years and was DM to a couple of stories that went alright.
Rather tired of the foolhardy way of last-moment-invention, I first decided to build my own map of the continent (soon to cover the rest of the world, hopefully) and revolve my stories around some certain facts so it would make more sense to me and more fun for some of my old players (re-meeting old characters etc etc) .
I decided to ask for some help due to the fact that I've been met with some 20-minute-swamps in the whole story in which I frantically tried to find a way for things to take their course again,and to cover up the small story gap I gave the party a small sub-quest that ended in killing bad monsters and gaining XP.
Can anyone please give me some more interesting ideas for sub-quests that last long enough to be attached to the main story?

I would also appreciate it if anyone could help me finish the main storyline for one of the PCs in my party, which I'll mention later.

Thanks a lot, hope that wasn't too tiring.

 

[RChandler]

Can anyone please give me some more interesting ideas for sub-quests that last long enough to be attached to the main story?

Hi, Alexander,

Here are a few random sub-plots. I don't know if they'll help you, but here goes!

* An ogre is chasing a young woman through the woods. She is possessed by a demon, and slaughtered an entire village of people that was under his protection. He is ashamed of his failure and wants nothing more than to destroy her. She is toying with him.

* A young sorcerer with amnesia wanders into town. He's capable of some low-level magic, nothing spectacular. But his left hand is deformed, and resembles a bird claw. He's actually an intelligent monster (such as a dragon) that is being punished for disobeying its master (an extremely powerful lich). The lich is trying to find the creature so that it can be transformed back into its normal form and resume its duties. When its memory is restored, there's no telling how the creature will respond.

* A merchant hires the party to safeguard a caravan through the wilderness. The caravan's chests are full of human bones. A group of necromancers in a far-off swamp pay the merchant handsomely for these, which they use as spell components. A group of bandits (not necessarily human) has discovered this arrangement, and wants to steal the bones, which they'll then sell to the necromancers for a profit. They'll try to ambush the caravan en route.

* A princess is abducted from the citadel on the eve of her wedding. The royal family has no idea that she is secretly in love with one of her guards, and that the two have eloped. The princess has no idea that the guard has been bribed by the rules of a neighboring kingdom. The two of them are traveling through the woods, and neither one realizes that they're being pursued by a ravenous manticore. The king has sent his best trackers after them, but the enemy ruler has sent a group of mercenaries out to intercept them and secure the princess.

Good luck!

-- Rafael

 

[Dannyalcatraz]

You might find some help in these two threads:

http://www.enworld.org/showthread.php?threadid=102706

http://www.enworld.org/showthread.php?threadid=217518