Urban Adventure Ideas

[cerberus2112]

I'm looking for inspiration for a series of urban adventures for my homebrew campaign. In these adventure, the PCs will be taking the role of city militia in a city of low reputation; the city ministries are known to be corrupt. The feel of the game is intended to be grim and gritty, at first, and will turn to epic adventure later in the campaign.

I'll look at any ideas, or references to published adventures; I hope to have a long running campaign, with lots of varied adventures in the city.

 

[el-remmen]

I recommend taking an urban police/crime drama and switching some of the elements of their plots to fit the flavor of the setting.

 

[Mighty Halfling]

Might I suggest you look at Faction Folio 2: The Blackcloak Watch.
This is a just-released PDF from the good folks at EN Publishing, and it sounds like its just what you're after:

The world is a dangerous place, and nowhere is it more dangerous than in the big city. Heroes and villains of all types and powers drop in on unsuspecting towns and turn the place upside down. The average peasant can only dream of the spells, powers and weapons in an adventurer’s arsenal. The real problem is when those dreams turn into nightmares and powerful beings use their abilities against the city. That’s where the Blackcloak Watch comes in to play.
They are the people’s defenders. They are the drunk-rustlers. They are the spell-stoppers. They are the crime-fighters. They are the conspiracy-destroyers. They maintain order. They want your help.

Will you join the Blackcloak Watch? Can you hide your crimes from them? It’s up to you: Choose a side!

EN Publishing’s Faction Folio products feature new and unique “drag-and-drop” organizations usable by game masters and players. Game masters can place the group instantly into any campaign; players can use it for character background, design ideas, and supporting characters.

This fully detailed power group is built from top to bottom, complete with NPC stats, new prestige classes, new feats, new spells, and a mini-adventure complete with player map.

Of course, I'm a little partial to it because I helped make it!

 

[Thornir Alekeg]

In recent weeks more than half of the city's public wells have either gone dry, or have become contaminated, sicking all those who drink from them. Most of the contaminated wells have been in the poorest districts of the city and the dry wells have been in the merchant districts. Rumors are flying; it is a prelude to an assault on the city, the result of a curse upon the city itself, or that the merchants poisoned some wells and have run their own wells dry pumping out water as fast as possible to store and sell as the crisis heightens.

The militia is called upon to maintain order as water riots begin, try and determine if a specific person or group is behind the crisis, and to keep the commoners away from the wells used by the city leaders.

 

[Warren Okuma]

Fallout from other campaigns...
Ye old goblins in sewers (and other foul creatures). Fled from some other adventuring group that drove them out of their lands... so they are squatting in the sewers and causing troubles. They are fearful of humans, but they gotta eat, and they are running out of rats...

High level adventures...
The city is beginning to tax magic items. High level folks are outraged...

A high level group just massacred the entire gate guard. They refused to turn in their weapons, and stole all the weapons that people had there. They ported off dimension and hawked it. Now the mayor is hated by lots of mid level characters for "weapons control." The mayor got a cut off of the sale of course...

The mayor is a lich and a servant of Demogorgon... Kill him and the Demogorgon will scheme against you.

 

[Rechan]

Paizo has two:
Hangman's Noose (1st level horror mystery, not out til January).
Gallery of Evil (8th level).

Also, Dungeon 133 had "Chimes of Midnight", 5th level Eberron adventure dealing with a mastermind and his rogue's gallery of twisted lackies. Then Dragon 150 had the second, "Quoth the Raven", a murder mystery for 10th level, and finally DDI had "Hell's Heart", a free 12th level PDF. "Chimes of Midnight" is very cool, but more high flying action than dark and gritty. (Quoth is dark and gritty).

If your city is big, the PCs could be the local militia for a certain district or neighborhood. Which could turn out to be a nice little "gang war". See "Gangs of New York" for inspiration here. Particularly if the City Government is using that district for smuggling, magical experimentation, etc etc. Political activists/terrorists are plotting to kill the corrupt officials (this is very useful if the PCs hate the city officials. They have to decide: do we let them do it, or do we stop them?)

Other options are just more "Urban Monsters". The boogeyman is real, and is hunting children in the PC's neighborhood. Ghouls, disguised as bums, are snatching victims and dragging them into the sewers. The town's local mad wizard is killed by his experiment, just before it escapes. Some grimlocks, armed with an Eversmoking bottle, are going to execute a raid on the town from the inside. A plague is running through the streets, and one of the neighborhoods has been "Quarantined"; but something important is inside the quarantined section, and the PCs must go in and get it.

 

[InVinoVeritas]

My Paridon campaign uses the police path. I've billed it as CSI meets Silent Hill via D&D. Check my sig below for details; but I figure going a CSI-styled path with more combat and adventure (more Miami, then, I guess) works well.

CSI Las Vegas is best with the investigation angle.
CSI Miami is best with the action angle.
CSI New York has the oddest happenings; it's the closest of the three to a supernatural story.

 

[Warren Okuma]

You need a basic briefing at the beginning of each session.
"One body was found at the King's crossing road, by the empty lot. Female, naked. So avoid the place. There is a money pouch cutter in the Hope Marketplace. Ank got killed last night, we're passing the hat for his widow. He got killed by the empty lot. Merchant Halk is complaining about prostitutes by his shop, you two, go ask them to move. Oh yeah the miller's house got broken into, so you four go check it out. Tonight's Kord's birthday, so lots of people will be getting into the booze and fighting, so you get the big clubs. Illassa got beaten up by her husband again, so someone go swing on by their place. I'm gonna need volunteers for the flying squad. All right, dismissed, and don't get yourself killed."