Plot ideas....(My players keep out)

[Seebo_Garrick]

Okay as most of you may or may not know I DM a large group of players, 12 to be exact. Well I took the ideas of the people on this board and divided my group into two different groups of 6 a piece.

So here is what each group is going thru at this current time. I would like your ideas on the two plots that I have given to each group.

Group #1 -- They recently have arrived at a town and they have settled down to try and make this their base of operations. Well a couple of weeks after they got to town one of the players who has taken on a job at the local inn, was framed for poisoning one of the regulars. The party has been talking to people thru out the town, trying to track down the person who slipped the regular the poison. So far they think that one of three people could have poisoned the regular. His wife (she wants his money and title), his brother (wants the family title more than anything on the face of the planet) and the local mage who had a recent run in with the poisoned man.

Group #2 -- While traveling to the town of Thalton, they stopped off at a little town to rest for the night. It so happened that that night was the towns festival and the whole town was throwing a huge party. During this party a local bard was onstage performing when he was taken over by an unseen force. During the time that he was taken over he made prophecies of horrible things that will happen to the town in days to come. As the force left the bards body he slumped ot the stage and right before he died muttered the word "Pool". Now the players have been talking to people thru out the town for the past couple of days trying to figure out what the word "pool" means and why anyone would want to hurt the town and it's people.


Okay here are my ideas for the two groups.

Group #1 -- The person who poisoned the regular was a rival of the local mage. He saw the fight between the regular and the mage and decided that it was a good opportunity for him to frame the mage.

Group #2 -- The word "Pool" is the name of a long since died out family in the town. The spirits of the family are upset about some of the new developments around the town and are going to start terrorizing the town until they get what they want. Namely they hate the fact that the family of the bard has built their brand new home on their burial site.

Anyone have any ideas for plot twists and such for my games. Thanks in advance for your help.

 

[Piratecat]

Geez - you never build on the ancient burial site. That's just asking for trouble!

 

[LostSoul]

Piratecat's response got me thinking.

Maybe somebody knows that burial site exists, and is planning on using the restless dead to his own ends. Maybe the final deaths of these spirits will help out his own nefarious plans - so in a way, the PCs will be aiding him.

 

[BiggusGeekus]

Geez - you never build on the ancient burial site. That's just asking for trouble!

[d20 Modern]
Or build near one. Like how the Pentagon is very close to Arlington Cemetary in DC.
[/d20 Modern]

spin for group 1: suicide. The guy was so depressed that everyone close to him wanted him dead that he killed himself. Not only would he achieve a macabre release, he could frame those who are after him.

 

[Larry Fitz]

Ok, I like your ideas, but we could do an Emiril to them and kick it up a notch:

Group 1: The Rival to the local mage is a Sorceress whose husband poisoned the regular and will leave clues implicating his wife for the PC's to find. The idea is that while they will think it was the Wizard they will then be led to believe that it is the rival (Sorceress) only to eventually discover it was her husband {Bam!}.

Group 2: Too simple, needs something to add some spice... First the Poole family (cooler spelling, IMO) were one of the founding families of the town. They were it's protectors in a very real way (primarily Rangers and Bards, but that's negotiable). The things you had the Bard describing I assume were things you thought you could have the the spirits of the Poole family doing? That is they could be accomplished by spritual undead? Why not have the Bard's Grandfather, seemingly senile to the rest of the town, actually be an accomplished Necromancer. He is raising the spirits of the town's once protector's for his own insane ends. He picked them because of the proximity of their final resting place. His intent is to use them in a war with a rival Necromancer (perhaps even, Lich?) In the course of raising these spirits however, one spirit got free of his domination and possessed the Necromancer's grandson in an effort to warn the town the Poole's all loved so dearly (if you have any PC's whose family history is vague enough, you could even reveal that they are the last surviving descendant of the Poole's). Now the PC's have both an immediate threat (The Dominated Undead Spirits of the Pooles) a medium term threat (the Necromancer) and a potential long term threat (the Lich) {Bam!}

3. For extra credit you can tie these two plots together by having the Sorceress be the former apprentice of the Lich (he taught her how to harness her magical talent). Setting up an eventual crossover game involving both groups. {Bam!}