What are some of your favorite plot hooks?

[Turanil]

Those both sound pretty cool.

Does anybody have any thoughts on less epic hooks?

I remember these plot hooks that was extremely funny, at least to me the DM:

1) This was back in 1e, when adventurers were regularly hired to right wrongs. A little girl (about 8 years old) came to the PCs and told them that far away (several days horse-riding) her family had been slaughtered by an evil noble who had taken her father's castle. She said that her "pooor" brother was still alive and kept prisoner in the castle's jails (underground). So, the PCs go, slay everyone in the castle in the name of justice (despite some strange clues about the castle's inhabitants not looking so evil), and free a monstrous creature that "is her pooor brother polymorphed into a monster by an evil mage". Then the little girl resumes her normal demonic shape and flee with the monster. The PCs (the players!) felt soooo stupid for believing the little girl and go on a killing justice rampage without any second thought...

2) This was beack in 2e, a solo adventure where the PC was searching for something extremely important. He needed clues and advice so sought a diviner in a city in which he was a total stranger, hehe... They told him where to find the best and most renown diviner. He go to the diviner's house, and I roleplay the encounter with the diviner so the player should have been really suspicious. Basically, the diviner's house was almost empty, and the diviner himself had a suspicious behavior, not knowing how to behave properly with a client, looking in fact puzzled at first that he got a client, etc. Then, the diviner tells the PC that he will give him all advice for free plus money, if he retrieves his great cristal ball that was recently stolen by some thief living in the noble district. So the PC go there, enter what looks like a mage's mansion at first sight, slays a flesh golem, robs everything he can (after all, it's a thief's mansion!), retrieves the cristal ball, and leaves a mess behind. He returns to the diviner who gives him some money, and tells him to come back next day because a mighty divination spell he will cast needs a full moon night. Then, when the PC comes back he finds the house totally empty. He inquiries about it around and learns that.... hehehe, the real diviner has changed location recently, and now lives in the nobles' district (guess where! ). The worst with this story, is that the PC really needed the diviner's advice, who himself needed the cristal ball to give this advice!! How fun was this adventure for me as a DM!!!!

 

[Jurble]

This is the beginning of a campaign im designing for my first real DM run, although it will be awhile till i run it properly.

THe PCs awake all fuzzy, chained together with lots of other ppl on benches on either side of a long hallway in a sandstone underground room, with guards walking around. THey barely get a hold of their situation when all the prisoners are marched out into an arena where they are thrown immediatly into a very random gladiator match. fortunately for them most of the ppl are just peasants. They all grab cruddy weapons out of a troph and start annihilating each other in order to survive. Before the PCs die (being some of the few survivors) the evil lord of this country/city state calls a stop to it. HE comes and puts them onto a mission for him saying they are his slaves and should they attempt to escape his control device (eithe ra spell or device) will kill them (ie leaving his lands).

at the same time they all remember where they were previously in their perosnal RP,. having been captured soon after their last memory. This evil lord subdues revolt in his city state with great gladitorial matches. He sadistically revels in people being thrown into a life/death situation with no idea how they have ended up their and the animal survival instinct it causes in them.

Meanwhile they are given basic gear and sent on some foul mission for their master. At some point early one (at most after their first or second missionf or him) they encounter a resistance whjo offer to help them escape. Depending on the party i thought this could either lead into acampaign revolving around toppling their former master, or they could even just head off in another campaign, having freed themselves with the help of the resistance. Of course the evil lord (possibly a sorc?), having been foiled sends minions to search for them which sets the scene for them trying to grub out a living after such a start to whatever happens after.

'bout as far as ive gotten with planning it

 

[The_Gneech]

Now that I recount it, I guess I am a little proud of the hook. =]

Actually, I like it a lot! I may steal it.

-The Gneech

 

[Turanil]

This is the beginning of a campaign im designing for my first real DM run, although it will be awhile till i run it properly.

The PCs awake all fuzzy, chained together with lots of other ppl on benches on either side of a long hallway in a sandstone underground room, with guards walking around. THey barely get a hold of their situation when all the prisoners are marched out into an arena where they are thrown immediatly into a very random gladiator match. fortunately for them most of the ppl are just peasants. They all grab cruddy weapons out of a troph and start annihilating each other in order to survive. Before the PCs die (being some of the few survivors) the evil lord of this country/city state calls a stop to it. HE comes and puts them onto a mission for him saying they are his slaves and should they attempt to escape his control device (eithe ra spell or device) will kill them (ie leaving his lands).

at the same time they all remember where they were previously in their perosnal RP,. having been captured soon after their last memory. This evil lord subdues revolt in his city state with great gladitorial matches. He sadistically revels in people being thrown into a life/death situation with no idea how they have ended up their and the animal survival instinct it causes in them.

Meanwhile they are given basic gear and sent on some foul mission for their master. At some point early one (at most after their first or second missionf or him) they encounter a resistance whjo offer to help them escape. Depending on the party i thought this could either lead into acampaign revolving around toppling their former master, or they could even just head off in another campaign, having freed themselves with the help of the resistance. Of course the evil lord (possibly a sorc?), having been foiled sends minions to search for them which sets the scene for them trying to grub out a living after such a start to whatever happens after.

'bout as far as ive gotten with planning it

Just a few comments:

1) If the evil lord comes in person, I would say it's just a local baron, not a full emperor. An emperor (normally) doesn't come to speak with lowly slaves, even if he comes to get a look at the gladiatorial combats. However, it may be a good idea to have a minion of the emperor, so it basically multiplies the nemesis the adventurers will have to contend with. That is: okay, they killed the evil slave-lord, but now the emperor (who didn't know nor care about them) is PERSONALLY displeased, and he is much more powerful! (be it in terms of political and personnal power.)

2) Have the PCs suffer an ethical dillemna: they must kill people who are terrified (remember the movie gladiator when Maximus enters his first gladiatorial fight?). Some of these peasants have families, are afraid of death, and plead for being spared; some of them attempt to flee rather than actually fight. (D&D is evil, I can tell you! ) NOW a good point with this: the PCs will notice in the arena, a guy who slays the poor peasants without a second thought, totally mercilessly and unconcerned by them. This is a plot device! He survives as much as the PCs do, and likewise gets his own mission to do for the evil lord (but a different one). HENCE, the PCs will encounter that guy again in the future, in some ambiguous and unclear situation, but will remember his behavior in the arena, and that are clues of his evil (even if maybe he considers himself an enemy of the evil lord).