D&D General Steal this from my campaign!

[Blue]

We all have cool things in the campaigns we run and play in. It could be a great quest idea, a feature of the world, how the party started, or an NPC we all love - or love to hate.

So, what do you have that you want to share with the hope someone will steal it for their campaign?

I've made this a Question thread - feel free to suggest as many things as you want put please put them all in their own comment. People can upvote to comments and the most beloved will float to the top.

Regardless if you have something to post, please upvote responses you'd like to steal.

 

[Tallifer]

Gnomes in colorful caravans with inscrutable gnomish tarot decks which plant seeds of hope, suspicion or fear in the players' minds. I just scrawl down the briefest of descriptions for weird new cards: sometimes the players are even affected or can draw on some insight or advantage. I liked the idea of Eberron's draconic prophecy but wanted something more whimsical and Oz-like.

(See more from my webcomic which is a record of my campaigns Tales from the Gnomish Tarot )

 

[toucanbuzz]

In my fey heavy Kingmaker 5E reboot, I utilize fairy tales come to life by foreshadowing them through tavern tales, childhood rhymes, creepy children, and so on (attached). Most will eventually come into play in some way, as legends that cannot be overcome by combat. For example, recently they put a rusulka to rest after finding out (1) her name (located on a gravestone found during exploration a few sessions earlier), (2) how to use that name to remind her she was alive (paid research), (3) punishing her killer (by beating a broom woven of her hair on his grave at midnight to summon his soul, requiring paid research and finding that grave) and (4) restoring to her what was denied to her in life by her killer so she could finally rest (roleplayed).

 

[Norton]

I had kind of a fun idea for a fantasy/sci-fi jump start that I might want to publish called Square One (SQ1).

A group of low-level, forest-dwelling PCs are hunting and come upon an arrow made of strange material, described to the players as looking like a circuit board. Investigating the area they find a large tunnel burrowed into the ground and at the end of it a broken-up ship. Fighting off some hideous creatures fashioning weapons from it and living in it, they find looted human corpses and through human writing (or a hologram) learn a very big secret: the ship crash-landed some time ago and in it were a group of humans attempting to make a new start on a newly discovered habitable planet after theirs was destroyed. They also discover that hidden on the ship somewhere is important DNA cargo, and that a device jettisoned from the ship prior to touchdown was meant to create conditions conducive to restarting life from its earliest phase. As they try to process what they've learned, water begins to rush into the tunnel...

 

[Benjamin Olson]

So when there is a need for a very knowledgeable exposition character to be consulted by the PCs, or when they need the help of a high level spellcaster, my players will often find that, performing in town that week, is a high level NPC Changeling Glamour Bard named "Magic Tom", who is very blatantly just David Bowie. I don't consider it a particularly brilliant or original idea, but it is one I would most like to see adopted by a few more random DMs in the world. It seems much more on brand for the Starman to be gigging around a fantastical multiverse wielding high level magic through music than just another dead person here on Earth, and the more people whose campaign settings he weirdly shows up in the better.

 

[JohnF]

Steal my battle lobsters. Even if you don't ride them, they're delicious.

Spoiler: Battle Lobster 5e Stat Block

 

[Scott Christian]

I have one campaign that starts off with:

• The PCs RP with the lead NPC guard, who is pivotal to the story. She has gathered all of them there, and they do not know each other.
• They immediately need to leave if they "want the job."
• They get outside the city and have an encounter
• They find their campsite for the night and then sitting around the fire, introduce themselves.

I've run that beginning (or one similar) a few times, and it seems to work well. If there is any awkwardness, it is gone by the time they reach camp. If there is any notable ideas or backstories the player had in mind, it is sometimes fleshed out during the RP or encounter. And if there are restless players that require action, it satiates their desire.