Roleplaying Tips Weekly Supplemental #18 "Roleplaying Quests" This file was created from entries from the Roleplaying Quests contests held in Summer '04. Thanks to everyone who entered and who are now sharing their ideas with the Roleplaying Tips community. New entries for this file are always welcome. Cheers, Johnn Four johnn@roleplayingtips.com http://www.roleplayingtips.com @@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@ Just A Misunderstanding? ======================== From: Orbfire Ristipolku Description ----------- A town is ruled by two noble families who are in constant squabble. Recently, things have been looking better and better for the town as the rivals have settled their disputes and have decided to marry the eldest children of the families. Unfortunately, something went terribly wrong. The bride claims that the groom cheated on her just before the big day! Now the bride refuses to talk to her future spouse and the families are in chaos. The PCs encounter one of the groom's advisors mourning because of the tragedy. When approached, he will say that he is very tired of the conflict and would do anything if the dispute could be resolved by re-igniting the feelings between the bride and groom-to-be. When the PCs take this as a challenge, the advisor grows glad and suggests that they ask around at the castle, and to talk to the bride and groom. The bride-to-be tells the PCs a heart-breaking story about how she heard a woman's voice in her spouse's bedchamber the other evening and saw in the flickering shadows cast by a lantern how a lady was bending over her fiancé's body as he lay in his bed. The bride then ran off outraged and in misery, for her trust and love had been betrayed. On the other hand, the fiancé claims that nothing happened and says that he woke up from his bed just to see his bride to rush out of the room and he says that there was no other woman at all. GM Notes -------- In fact, both of the two are telling the truth. The woman they both saw is the bride's younger sister, who happened to be dressed the same way on that faithful evening and who looks very much like her older sister, especially from behind. She has secretly loved the groom-to-be for ages and was hoping to have a final moment with him before he would be married and forever lost to the young girl. The PCs will have to use all their negotiating skills when trying not to hurt anyone. If the GM wishes a dramatic and tragical aspect to this adventure he could write in a suicide plot for the younger sister just in case she happens to lose her face in front of her family and unaware love of her life. The Obstinate Merchant ====================== From: Ross Tony Shingledecker Description ----------- The characters are in need of a campaign-specific item, ingredient, or piece of information, and only Jared, the wealthy merchant, has the contacts to obtain it (as it is hidden or remotely located beyond the reach of the PCs). The catch is that Jared refuses to help the PCs because he is a fervent believer in a religion that is opposed to the PCs' religion / outlook / actions / philosophy / place of origin / race / whatever. Jared wishes them no ill will but refuses to help them. He wants for no material comfort, and he is quite secure, always traveling with armed guards. Jared is well-liked in the city, and any actions that would directly harm him would earn the PCs many enemies. GM Notes -------- The local leader of the religion might be persuaded to throw his support behind the PCs and thus get Jared's help, but only if the PCs either proved loyalty to the religion or did some great deed in its service. There are other merchants in the city who dislike Jared but are unwilling to move against him. The PCs could unite them and put severe economic pressure on Jared to relent, but that would not likely work. Bringing about institutional change in the religion so that they are not perceived as evildoers or outcasts is a tall order. Jared will obey the law, so if the PCs convince the local government that their quest is of vital security, Jared may relent. Since he doesn't have the info or item on hand, and won't--even under torture--divulge the names of his contacts, sneakery and aggression won't help the PCs unless they bribe/threaten one of Jared's employees to find out who those contacts are. Even then, the contacts would probably not deal with someone from the region directly, preferring to go through their contact, Jared, instead. How will the PCs get out of this one? The Apparatus of Wit ==================== From: Ross Tony Shingledecker Description ----------- For some reason, the PCs need to get an ancient item called the Apparatus of Wit (they could need it for a wealthy buyer, to complete a ritual, or to win someone's favor). This legendary device is capable of solving complex riddles and creating new ones based on all the riddles it has ever encountered, although it is not sentient in the technical sense. But because it could beat any mortal at the riddle game, a group of vigilante bards disassembled it (they could not destroy it) and hid the pieces. Now, the only way to get it back is to locate the bards (who used anti-divination spells to protect the pieces), persuade each one individually to divulge the hiding place of each piece without letting all of them realize that the Apparatus was to be reassembled, locate the piece, and answer the riddle that reveals each hiding place. The catch is that the answers to the riddle-locks are not known to the bards who hid each individual piece--if bard A hid Piece A, then bard B wrote the riddle locking Piece A. In this way, no single bard knows how to access any of the pieces. GM Notes -------- This is a daunting task. The bards (there are six in all, for the six pieces) are distrustful of each other and anyone asking about the apparatus. Their identities should not be hard to find, but they must be found. The bards rove, so many roleplaying encounters might be required to track them down based on clues and hints. Then they must be persuaded to give up the location (not easy--a simple 'diplomacy check' or the equivalent might not be enough, a quest for each bard might be necessary), and persuaded to give up the answer to a riddle totally unrelated to that piece, all without letting the bards know that someone plans to reassemble the Apparatus. Players could lie and say that one Bard is trying to get all the pieces, or even get two bards in a riddle contest to get some info on the types of riddles they might use. PCs might participate in riddle contests, too [side note: while players don't like riddle contests often because the GM is prepared, you can put an interesting spin on this by having a PC face off against another PC in the contest...this is often fun and enjoyable, especially if you have a mock reward (such as a ribbon) to give to the winner]. PCs could pose as historical researchers. Lying and con man techniques would be involved in this approach though. If the PCs/players are bright enough, they might be able to guess the lock riddles themselves! Either way, this is a challenging task that swords will not solve. [Side note: You could even throw a monkey wrench in and have one of the pieces already be outside its initial hiding place. Then they'd have to go back to the bard and find out who else he told, etc.] [Side note #2: If you need riddles, check out books published by the Mensa society. Many are full of riddles that make no sense whatsoever, and would be perfect for this type of quest.] The Consort's Request ===================== From: Ross Tony Shingledecker Description ----------- About a year ago, the consort of a high official/governing figure/king/whatever was found to have been unfaithful with a leading member of the court/army/bureaucracy/whatever. She was spared because of the depth to which the husband loved her, but he never really trusted her again. She recently realized that she is pregnant--with her husband's child, not from an affair, but she is afraid that her husband or others will deny the child his/her birthright because of rumors of infidelity. Secretly, she contacts the PCs and hires them to do whatever is necessary (short of treasonous acts or anything that would implicate her) to prove that the child is her husband's. By the end of the month, everyone will know that she is pregnant, and she wants a case by then. GM Notes -------- There are many ways the PCs could go about this. They could use divination spells, or some alchemical precursor to DNA testing. Once the baby is born, they could use facial similarities and such, but that doesn't really help the consort, who fears her husband's benevolence might not hold out this time. The PCs could try to get together a legal case, with testimonies from maids and guards and such that the consort never had any visitors, and when the consort and the husband could have produced a child. They could bring in experts to testify, some sort of truth spell or truth- readers who could ask the consort. If it comes down to it, the PCs could pretend to be conducting these tests, or could bully maids into false testimony, or less savory techniques. To throw a monkey wrench in, the child might NOT be the husband's...in which case the PCs might need to bribe a spellcaster to let her get away with the lying, or convince the spellcaster that it would be the best for the kingdom if such allegations were stopped. This is a less challenging but still RP-heavy encounter. Lord, Help Us ============= From: Connors Description ----------- Leading up to this roleplaying encounter should be several combats with a common menace, such as orcs. These orcs have been ravaging the local area and the common folk have been making many complaints/offers to the PCs to help them. When the players start to wonder what the local authorities are doing they will likely ask around. The new lord is young and hasn't been seen to be doing much. BUT the locals aren't displeased with him/her...they are actually quite supportive and think he must have more important things (a GM can throw in a feud with a rival lord here to and it is the rival lord's fault in the eyes of the folk of the area the PCs are in). The folk the PCs are helping will hint strongly that they have always received help and support from the local lord and his/her predecessors. The PCs should also find out that the threat is growing and that there is a strong leader of the orcs (or whoever) amassing a small army - (something too vast for the PCs to handle alone). Eventually the PCs will have to go to the lord. The lord is deep in depression and worry. He/she thinks that the local folk don't like or respect him/her. He/she thinks that he/she is failing his/her people and they know it. The lord will also associate many other minor problems with his/her misery..."I am too young, inexperienced, etc". But with a little research from guards, town folk etc the PCs should learn that this lord is competent (they won a tournament, lead small number of troops in a battle, swayed a wizard from destroying a local temple, etc, all before becoming the lord). If the PCs don't try to find out more about the lord, then you could delay them by not giving them audience straight away. Sooner or later though, the PCs need to meet with the lord. They will then need to convince the lord that the people ARE on his side and are awaiting his/her help. This will need more from a few words from a bunch of adventuring strangers. They may have to arrange something like a march to the lord's castle, or even just bring in a few rural folk to speak with the lord. Simply, the PCs need to convince the lord that they DO have the support of the people. The lord should then mass a small army themselves and battle the threatening horde. The PCs could possibly be assigned leadership positions for the ensuring war if you wish to try a miniatures battle :). OR if you wish to keep the heavy roleplaying going they could be sent to negotiate a peace with the nasty leader. Better still you could use a mission Johnn has already mentioned...find the nasty leader's weakness, true motivations, befriend him/her/it and hold off the attack until the good lord amasses his/her army. Or if the group likes subterfuge then the PCs job may to simply scout out the enemy forces, report back to the lord, and finally go behind enemy lines. GM Notes -------- This situation is solid as it provides several possibilities in the end that can be geared towards the likes of the players you have. It is also preceded by some small combat scenes. BUT the important part is the roleplaying. The information must be gained this way, and then the lord needs encouragement and convincing. To make this part harder/more interesting etc, the GM could add a few common folk who DON'T support the lord. Perhaps they plan a protest march when the PCs are trying to convince the lord of the more popular support. Maybe the lord has received a letter from a minority group that claims their grievances. The lord shows the PCs as proof that his/her position is hopeless. PCs may then have to locate this group and bring them around too...or eliminate them for the greater good of the kingdom. GM could make that threat from another lord significant and central to the idea too. What is the lord to do--most troops are protecting the northern border from this hostile lord. Well, another roleplaying option where the PCs must go and convince this rival lord that there is a greater threat at hand and the two lords need to resolve their differences now! Hey this could lead to an alliance against the evil threat if the PCs roleplay well... The possibilities are endless. And besides, this is a nice change from the common folk disliking their lord something I see so often in campaigns. It is good for the PCs to work with a good lord, which may help them bring a greater good to a larger number of people...not to mention lords can often provide good rewards...:) The Map And The Trap ==================== From: Kai Asserson Nødland Description ----------- The PCs are on their way from a large city (preferably the capitol) to a smaller town situated around a small fort. But before they head out, they plan their leave at an inn. An agent from the Thieves Guild (or some other organization that is trying to get rid of the PCs) overhears this conversation, but with a successful spot-test (or similar) they notice him eavesdropping on them. He has something that makes him stand out (tattoo, eye patch, tall, small or something more subtle), and when he notices the PCs noticing him, he quickly exits the inn and disappears into the busy streets. They travel on to the small village. On their way, they encounter a troll or something else that might shift their focus from the guy at the inn. When at the village they overhear a child fighting with a wooden sword against some imaginary foe, talking about how he will conquer the guards at the fort, and get the treasure map from the captains office, then he will take all the magical items he has hidden away (and then his mom will see how big a boy he is and give him a lot of hot chocolate). The PCs will then try to infiltrate the small fort and get out with the map unseen, they must pick some locks and disable some traps to get to the captain's office, but the office itself is unlocked, with no traps and with the treasure map laying unprotected in plain sight. And so they venture out to where the treasure is to be hidden, an abandoned farm. The treasure is inside a decaying windmill (the fans on the windmill being the x that marks the spot). When they have all enter the inside the windmill, the door behind them shuts and is magically sealed. On the boardwalk above them, a conjurer appears. All the stairs leading up to the boardwalk have been destroyed, and the beams bearing the boardwalk have all been smeared with some grease (making them almost impossible to climb) prior to the PC's arrival. This gives him a tactical advantage, and before the battle commences he gives his regards from the head of the Thieves Guild, saying that this is the last time they will escape their wrath (or something less cheezy.... Ooh! I know! The Thieves Guild is known for giving their victims, or the bodies of their victims, a lily. When the PCs enter the windmill they notice a lily on the floor right in front of them, then the door slams shut. Aw man! Why didn't I use that!). GM Notes -------- The players don't know that the man who eavesdropped on them at the inn is working for the Thieves Guild (though they will probably suspect it), nor do they know that he has ridden with all haste to the village that he overheard they were going to, where he sets the trap with the help of the captain (who also works for the Thieves Guild). If the players would talk to the kid they overheard talking about the treasure, they would find out that the captain himself started these rumours. The kid will also mention the weird men he saw the captain speak to outside the gates. If the players investigate further, they will hear of a man who heard a secret but is not telling anyone. The players may confront this man and either lure the secret out of him or intimidate it out of him (it should come to the PCs attention, under the confrontation with him that he is afraid of drowning, ('No no no, I`d rather drown *shudder* then tell you this secret'). The secret he was hiding was that he overheard the captains speaking with two men, one he describes as the man who eavesdropped them at the inn, the other as a wizard of seemingly above average power ('well he ain't no hedge wizard, that's for sure'), and that the wizard is preparing a trap in an abandoned windmill, ('he said: ' I've got the tactical overhand as long as they don't get to on the boardwalk, but trust me, they wont'. Don't remember more than that though'). Now if the players go to the windmill, they might look for an alternate entrance, and will find some easily climbable vines leading up to a window giving them entrance to the second-level boardwalk, eliminating the wizards tactical advantage. This quest might be most suitable for a group with a rogue, or a rogue-like person, with the abilities to open locks. Make the 'treasure' something that your players like, if not gold, then perhaps a small pet dragon, or the captain's secret diary. If the players don't investigate and plan to barge directly into the windmill, explain the eerie surroundings of the windmill, and let them arrive at the windmill at dusk (unless they desire otherwise). My players didn't investigate, and as a result one of the players almost died (that foolhardy sorcerer, always charging directly into combat!) but still, I would've given the players more xp if they investigated first, even if this gave them an easier battle, but hey, that's just me. Dark Paradise ============= From: Edgar Downing Description ----------- Eliminate toxic waste facility on jungle that is turning local creatures into monsters. The Planet is a jungle/rain forest known for its beautiful birds and sunsets and is commonly a major tourist attraction. It has been used illegally for toxic waste dumping by Nirvana Corporation, who has set up shop in an abandoned resort. GM Notes -------- Nirvana were originally co owners of the major resort on The Planet, but were removed for embezzling money. Since then they have begun dumping toxic waste into the jungle in an attempt to ruin their former partner's business. Savior ====== From: Edgar Downing Description ----------- SRC Savior was responding to distress call from a salvage vessel called the Hathaway which was suffering from drive malfunction. Shortly after arriving at the solar system Alephi 7, the SRC activated its own distress beacon as well as sending a garbled transmission about hostile forces killing everyone. Alephi 7 is well known for its highly unstable sun which emits random solar flares and radiation emissions, some of which are powerful enough to obliterate a starship. Fortunately such deadly buildups are easily detected a few hours in advance. GM Notes -------- Hathaway was salvaging a derelict vessel which had developed a deadly strain of fungus that attacks and dissolves plastic, as well as drives people insane--it destroys their brains reasoning capabilities. It is only contagious to people by ingestion. The crew of the Hathaway while salvaging had their auto chef and several other key components of their vessel contaminated. Then after eating food from the auto chef they went insane and began attacking each other. Some of the surviving crew members, upon realizing that their drive system was either damaged by the fungus or the insane crew members (as well as their radio), proceeded to activate their distress beacon. (To heighten the tension and suspense, the GM can always have a lethal solar flare building up only a scant hour or two away.) The Conquest ============ From: Nick Maggs Description --------- A human lord broke a peace treaty and annexed a large area of forest and wilderness. His peasants are currently clearing it and turning it into farmland. This has angered the natural denizens, among them a tribe of wood elves. There has already been bloodshed, but it is clear that the elves are outnumbered and outclassed. The human lord seems to be fantastically wealthy and is constructing a string of keeps to secure his gains. He has a powerful army of mercenaries, all well equipped. GM Notes -------- The source of the Lord's power is his money--without it he can't pay the mercenaries, or pay the masons constructing the forts. A heavily guarded pay chest runs from keep to keep across the annexed land, but its origin is back in the lord's original kingdom. In the lord's territory is an old mine, once abandoned but now re-opened. This is the source of the wealth. The mine is played out, but one of the galleries has broken through into dwarven tombs. The lord is ruthlessly looting these, providing him with fantastic wealth. The mercenaries in the lord's army are being paid with dwarven coin, and equipped with dwarven weapons. PCs could potentially sign up as mercenaries and discover that the wealth is of dwarven origin. The mercenaries are only loyal as long as the gold lasts. With a reduced supply of coinage the human lord would be more inclined to look at alternate ways of resettling his people and would be more likely to negotiate with the elves. He currently considers them to be little more than savages, in need to civilization. His own land is overcrowded and in need of the fresh farmland. If the dwarves found out that their ancestors are not resting easy, the elves would have some unexpected support. The PCs could collapse the gallery preventing the flow of gold from the tombs. If the PCs are a more bloodthirsty group, they could organize the elves into a guerilla force targeting the construction of the keeps and the pay chests. A Night(mare) in Hell ===================== From: John Gallagher Description ----------- The PCs wake up covered in blood, and no memory of how they got that way. They are all in a large sitting room, with a fireplace, sofa, chairs, etc, but the room is in shambles. After a moment they realize that they have no memory of ANYTHING, not their name, not where they got their clothes, and certainly not how they came to be covered in blood and holding a blood-soaked makeshift weapon, like a kitchen knife, fireplace poker, etc. Each PC rises to his feet from behind a piece of furniture...and sees a room full of strangers all climbing to their feet, all blood spattered, all of them wearing similar tattered heavy burlap shirts with steel rings set in it (remains of a straitjacket) and all carrying knives and fireplace pokers, etc... Also scattered about the room are the corpses of several people. One woman was wearing a torn and ragged white uniform of sorts, one wore a lab coat and carried several strange instruments and hypodermic needles. Investigation shows that the remaining victims didn't seem to put up any fight at all. One grins maniacally, as if his killer was a welcome friend. Exploring the large-ish house reveals a couple dozen more bodies, all murdered brutally. Several of the victims had been locked behind barred doors. Several more uniformed women are found. And an office, with a locked cabinet containing potent doses of anesthetic drugs. The kitchen, with bodies of kitchen workers strewn across the floor, is obviously a cafeteria style kitchen, made to serve large numbers of people. Documents found in the office reveal that this place is an asylum for the violently insane. Should the PCs bother to count, they will find that the number of inmates logged in the records is equal to the number of non-uniformed corpses PLUS the size of the party. In other words, 4 PCs plus 26 inmates' corpses equal the 30 inmates mentioned. The records should also mention (if there are 4 PCs) four particularly violent inmates, who seem immune to the anesthetics and barbiturates used to keep the other inmates in line. And then, of course, the corpses start rising to their feet to seek revenge on the PCs, who apparently murdered everyone in the asylum. GM Notes -------- This adventure works best if your players have never actually seen the PCs they are playing. So I planned it as the first adventure in a campaign, where I made the PCs for the players. I had planned to hand out blank character sheets and let the players fill in stats and skills as they discovered them. The truth here is that the players are trapped in a shared nightmare. A number of supernatural creatures that feed on fear have combined their efforts to trap the entire party in one dream. In order to do this, the creatures have to inhabit the dream with the PCs, and they have to play the parts of all the undead monsters the PCs encounter. To escape, the PCs have to realize they are dreaming, and destroy the 'head' dream weaver. The dream 'monsters' can be destroyed, but the actual dream weavers don't die unless the PCs are aware that they are dreaming. Give these creatures powerful illusion powers, but only the head creature should have any serious physical attack capability. Death in the Desert =================== From: Alec Voelker Description ----------- The PCs are starting off to travel into the desert with a large caravan. Before the caravan leaves, a small man sells all the people water before the caravan sets off into the desert. Three days later everyone falls strangely ill. This illness lasts for two days, then everyone passes out. The PCs awake in a walled in closure where lush trees and greenery surround them. They are taken before an old man and he explains that he is the king of the area and has rescued the PCs from the desert. The king is very forgetful and he leaves every thing up to his vizier, whom he trusts completely. The vizier is a cruel man that delights in torture. The PCs must espouse the vizier without falling into disfavor. GM Notes -------- The vizier uses the king like a puppet. All the guards are controlled by the vizier. The neat twist to this plot is that the king is nowhere near as old as he portrays, and he is as cruel as the vizier. The PCs must free the people of the kingdom from under the evil king and his vizier. Kidnapped? ========== From: Ryan Rank Description ----------- After a few reputation building adventures, the PCs are contacted by a local rich man. This man is not royalty, but still rich. His daughter has been kidnapped and he wants the characters to go find her. Fairly standard fare thus far... After looking high and low, the characters only get one lead: Dreamscape. "Dreamscape" is a separate article and is much too massive to insert into a simple adventure premise. There is a mystic in a city that can send them to Dreamscape. And because the PC's don't know anything about Dreamscape, it will be difficult to find the mystic that can send them there. The lead could take the form of a man who heard about Dreamscape, and that you can go there and find out where to find just about anything (within reason). But the risk of going there is usually greater than the reward. After getting out of Dreamscape, the PCs will have to go a relatively long distance to get to the daughter. (insert small side adventures and other encounters here). When the PCs find her they will discover that she was not kidnapped but ran away because of the verbal and physical abuse brought onto her by her father. Decision time. Should the PCs return the girl and get the reward, having to live with sentencing the poor girl to living with her abusive father. Or should the PCs let her go? Both decisions have repercussions. If they let her go, they have an angry rich man after them, and a rich man can hire really good mercenaries. If they chose to take her (she can be coerced), she will insist on going a certain way. It will be a somewhat fast route, only adding a small amount of time to the trip. But it will take them through a cemetery. It does mot matter if it's during the day or night, they will not get jumped by anything. One of the PCs will see a tombstone with her name on it. And next to it, they will see her father's. Those two tombstones are from over 200 years ago. What is going on? If there are any questions about this, she will claim that those tombstones are from ancestors of hers. She wanted to pay her respects. Any psychic/magical characters will not detect anything particularly wrong with this. She is, however, hiding something... The rest of the trip will go uneventfully and they will get back to her home. GM Notes -------- The two are caught in an endless loop. 200 years ago, the father failed at a ritual to make himself immortal. The ritual involved the sacrifice of his daughter. Every (fill in the blank) years, history will repeat itself. He will sacrifice his daughter and it will all start over again. This time, though, the characters can stop it. If they keep her alive, the loop will be broken. But it won't be as easy as that. The father is a big bad demon. He also has many guards in his complex that will help him in his cause. If the loop is broken, everything around the PCs will disappear, including the money they were paid. So, what is the motivation for keeping the girl alive? It is almost inevitable that one of the characters in the group will get attached to her. The disappearance after saving her will allow for some very good role playing opportunities, as will the decision of whether to bring the girl back or not. Lost Souls ========== From: Jean De Blacque Description ----------- The player characters are mages with no connection, requiring that every player plays an introduction game first. After a MIB team kills the first character another player gets attacked and 'luckily' shrugs off the attack. In any case when he kills or escapes he will find a matchbox with name of a club and other names including the first player killed as his name is ticked, his name is also included on the match box. Now everyone has a common goal, avoiding death. GM Notes -------- Game is designed with WoD system and Mage: The Ascension reflection. Characters are hunted because they all carry barabbi souls which complicates the situation as their soul is corrupted and there is no coming back. Should they embrace their darker natures? Search for a thin chance at redemption or try to hide when everyone in the supernatural world may be hunting them? In extended way, this game will include a lot of possibilities and an in game ethical debate. The first player is actually one invited by the GM, who unlike the players knows he is marked to die. The club is also a cover for a technocratic expedition. Hero Worship ============ From: Julia Pope Description ----------- One or more of the PCs has attracted the attention of a star-struck kid who wants to grow up to be "just like them." This can have some benefits in town, of course, where the child might be induced to carry messages, run errands, and other relatively harmless pursuits, but is likely to lead to trouble when the PCs leave - this kid is really too young to go out on adventures. GM Notes -------- The kid has to be persuaded not to follow them, for his/her own safety. Convincing him/her to stay home could be a major task. If they try to rationalize or make promises (i.e. "you can come with us when you're older"), they can convince the kid for a short time. Yet the child will seek out a spell- caster that is willing to transform him/her into the seeming of an adult, or a magic item that can accomplish the same goal. The child then tries to join the party as a new adventurer. Curses! ======= From: Michael Schmidt Description ----------- One or more members of the party have been cursed. In order to lift the curse they must retrieve a particular item from an evil dragon whom lives a short distance away. There's a catch, however; the dragon must give them the item willingly. They can not kill the dragon to take it, nor can they use magic or other means to compel the dragon to comply, (though they can use magic or other means to otherwise trick the dragon). GM Notes -------- The item in question happens to be very dear to the dragon, and the heroes will need to convince him not only to give it up but avoid being killed in the process! Power Corrupts ============== From: Julia Pope Description ----------- A famed champion of the land, a veteran of many battles, who was always been known as a just and fair individual, has lately become erratic and perhaps even dangerous. The PCs are asked to find the cause of this sudden change of heart without hurting the hero, who is still vastly popular with the common folk. GM Notes -------- As the PCs look into the matter, they can learn that the old hero recently acquired a new magical weapon. This item is malicious, chaotic, and very intelligent, and is slowly taking over the mind of its owner. The key to helping the hero is to get the weapon away from him/her without violence, even though the weapon will resist every effort to be separated from such a powerful vessel. The warrior will be wary, even paranoid, of potential theft and trickery on behalf of the PCs. Secret Vows =========== From: Julia Pope Description ----------- At the wedding of an important noble, a female peasant steps forward to object, claiming that she and the noble in question were already married in a secret ceremony. She asks the PCs to help prove the truth of the matter by seeking out the only witnesses and persuading them to speak out. GM Notes -------- The noble's family, not wanting to see their family member lawfully married to a commoner, will seek to quash the PCs' efforts by threatening/bribing the witnesses, and perhaps, as a last resort, threatening/bribing the PCs themselves. And what about the noble's own feelings - were the couple really in love and the noble was pressured into an aristocratic match, or do they regret their hasty elopement and seek to put it behind them? If it turns out that the couple is truly in love, are the PCs willing to risk incurring the displeasure of a powerful clan to help them be together? All The World's A Stage ======================= From: Michael Schmidt Description ----------- While travelling through a nearby kingdom, the party is arrested on false charges and brought before the 8-year-old King. The Child-King offers to let them go only if they agree to entertain him by acting out his favourite story as a play. If they refuse, or if they displease him, they will be beheaded! GM Notes -------- The King's uncle is behind the trumped up charges, and is in fact the one who planted the suggestion of the punishment in the King's ear. He plans to convince the King to star as the lead character in the play, and has arranged not only for the boy to die for real in the climactic death scene, but for the heroes to be framed for the murder. The Negotiators =============== From: Michael Schmidt Description ----------- The heroes have been invited to a party at the palace celebrating the return of the crown Prince from the war with their enemy, the neighbouring kingdom, (where the Prince was held prisoner for months). At the height of the festivities, the Prince produces a magical bomb and declares that he will kill everyone if his father does not sign a treaty giving rulership to the enemy. He further explains that the device can detect the use of magic, that if anyone attacks him he will detonate it, and that attempting to disarm him will cause the bomb to detonate if it is not also disarmed in a specific way. The heroes will have to talk him down and negotiate the release of the hostages, and themselves! GM Notes -------- The Royal Vizier and the court doctor have both already determined, and declared, that it is in fact the real Prince. No one realized that he was brainwashed during his time in the enemy camp, and truly believes what he is doing is right. The Prince's enemy 'handler' is also present in disguise, and knows the commands that will not only release the Prince, but set him off as well. The King Is Dead...Long Live The King! ====================================== From: Julia Pope Description ----------- The mausoleum of a great leader from a former dynasty, upon being opened for its once-a-century cleaning and maintenance, is found to be empty. The PCs are hired by the current ruler to find where the body went. GM Notes -------- The body has been stolen by a group who are dissatisfied with the present ruler, and who wish to raise the great leader from the dead. If the PCs don't manage to prevent them from achieving their goal (assuming they even want to - maybe the present leader is a real dud!), this could cause civil war as some people join the great (formerly-deceased) ruler and others' side with the rightful, if less- celebrated, monarch. And what if the great leader turns out not to be that great after all? Child's Play ============ From: Julia Pope Description ----------- The PCs come across the tomb of a long-dead princess, who was buried with many magical, semi-sentient toys that can walk and talk to keep her company. The toys, after so many centuries in disuse, ask that the PCs rescue them from their boredom and give them to living children. GM Notes -------- If the PCs take the dolls, the princess's spirit will haunt them or haunt the new owners of the toys. The haunting will be harmless but annoying, until the PCs find some way to keep the Princess entertained in the afterlife. She's a spoiled brat, but also very lonely. Persuading the magical toys to return to her is an option, but might be difficult once they've had a taste of freedom. Another option might be to find her some ghostly playmates. And yet another option would be to figure out how to put her spirit to peaceful rest. The Chosen One ============== From: Julia Pope Description ----------- The last cleric of an ancient deity is searching for a long- prophecied disciple who will be able to revitalize and save their faith, becomes convinced, due to certain portents, that one of the PCs is this person. GM Notes -------- Well, maybe they are and maybe they aren't. If they believe they are the chosen one, are they willing to undertake such a life-changing step as becoming a priest of a religion no one else follows and then trying to revive it? But if they're not, then they could try to find out who is the rightful disciple and put them in contact with the persistent cleric, if s/he can be shown to have made an error. Cowboys and Orcs ================ From: Michael Schmidt Description ----------- The party is riding along a country road when they spot in the distance the first farm they've seen in days. They also notice a thick column of black smoke rising into the air, and the foul smell of burnt flesh on the wind. Getting closer they see two orcs standing next to the small fire in the farm field. When the orcs see the party they ready their weapons, an axe, and a two-pronged spear. GM Notes -------- These orcs are the actual owners of the farm. They are peaceful, and fled their tribe to live a solitary existence off the land. The father and son are standing next to the burning remains of their only cow, which died from illness. They speak almost no common, and will defend themsleves if attacked (the father is a level 2 fighter, the son is only a level 1 warrior). There are two female orcs in the nearby farmhouse. The mother watches her husband and son from the kitchen window (witnessing the arrival of the party with fear) while her young daughter plays on the floor behind her. Who Are You...? =============== From: Doug Kallies Description ----------- This scenario will work best if one or more of the PCs has an NPC contact that they are very familiar with (mother, father, spouse, close friend, etc.). The aforementioned PC(s) receive an urgent message from their contact asking them to come quickly as something is not right at home. When the group arrives, they find the village beset by a plague. Villagers are wasting away from a disease that rots and hollows them from the inside out. The disease resists all forms of natural and magical healing. Furthermore, after some investigation and at the urgings of the contact that summoned them there, the PCs find out that prior to the illness being contracted, infected villagers seemed to be acting very strangely. They would be crass and cruel and not at all like themselves. Around this time, the PCs contact will suddenly start to exhibit behavior that does not match his normal persona. As their relative/friend begins to waste away from the strange disease, the PCs begin to notice strange behavior amongst themselves, and the rogue isn't feeling too well... GM Notes -------- About a week before the PCs were summoned, the people from the village witnessed a meteor shower one evening. With that shower, arrived a Doppelganger Plant (see Ravenloft: Denizens of Darkness by Sword And Sorcery). The Plant is using its Mind Bondage ability to transform the townsfolk (and possibly some of the PCs) into Podlings and is feeding off of their life forces. The slow degeneration of their contact and the mix of duplicity and paranoia should allow for some excellent role- playing opportunities before the PCs finally find the clearing in the nearby woods that the plant has taken root in. If played well, the scenario should have the actual players looking behind them in uneasiness as they leave. Not Without My Pooky ==================== From: Jeff Lucarelli Description ----------- Shortly after arriving in a new town, the PCs hear about a large troll living under a bridge, harassing passersby and scaring the town's children. The mayor of the town asks the PCs to get rid of it, offering the PCs copious (or even ridiculous) amounts of flammable liquid and torches to do the deed. GM Notes -------- The troll in question is very powerful, but he doesn't want to kill anyone. PCs who question the mayor or the townspeople will find out that, even if the troll is scaring children and yelling at travelers, he hasn't _hurt_ anyone. But the troll is very mean and will cruelly make fun of people who approach him (including the PCs). The troll is upset because local children have stolen his best friend, Pooky -- a small, mud-encrusted doll made of straw that wears a little pair of pants. Over My Dead Body! ================== From: Jeff Lucarelli Description ----------- The PCs are surprised to find a week-old dead body lying in the middle of the road. The body sits up, surprised to see the PCs staring at him. The undead man begs them not to kill him (again) and asks them for their help. GM Notes -------- The undead creature is a revenant, a man risen from the grave to avenge his own death. The revenant was formally a prestigious knight who was killed by his wife and his lord so that they could be together. The revenant wants the PCs to help him expose the murder, bringing the wife and lord to justice and allowing him to rest in peace. But it won't be easy. The PCs will need a lot of evidence for their word to be believed over that of the much beloved lord and his new lady. And The Floods Rolled In... =========================== From: Jeff Lucarelli Description ----------- The PCs find an isolated, flood-ravaged town during a voyage. The remaining townspeople beg for the PCs' help in rebuilding. GM Notes -------- There is nothing sinister going on -- the farm town has just been extremely unlucky over the years. Due to the weather- related deaths and emigration, there aren't enough able- bodied people left to rebuild the town. And there is much to be done here: rotted houses need rebuilding, people still need rescuing from the deeper parts of the flood, walls to prevent future floods need to be built, people need healing, etc. The town's entire crop was lost as well, so the PCs need to secure enough food for the town to survive the coming winter. Or should the PCs concentrate on helping the remaining townspeople move to a less accident- prone town instead? Some people can be pretty stubborn when asked to move... A Good Stiff Belt ================= From: O.G Description ----------- Drokk the half-orc barbarian makes a decent living working for a traveling bare-knuckles fighting show. It's a small affair, one wagon, a tent, and a makeshift ring. The PCs observe the tent being set up in the morning and a crier announcing that, for a small admission, the townsfolk can see the fights that night, and that Drokk will take on all comers. That night, the PCs will be approached by Drokk's manager, a wry old gnome, who begs the party for their help. Drokk can't find his lucky belt and is refusing to fight without it. The townsfolk are getting restless, and he doesn't know what to do. He asks the party to go talk to Drokk to convince him to fight, or somehow fix this situation before it gets any more out of hand. GM Notes -------- Drokk should be several levels higher than the average PC (or at least appear that way - this can be scaled for higher level PC's by making it a Gladiatorial event in a city with the gnome running a school instead of a show). Drokk should be played as a gentle, simple-minded giant of an half-orc (think Herman Munster). There are a number of ways the situation can be resolved. A persuasive party member can convince Drokk that they have an even luckier belt, and that he can use it (good luck on getting it back, though). A deductive party will find by talking to Drokk (after much prying is done - he's already worked up and prone to tantrums) that the belt is little more than a worthless length of rope (one of the locals who was hired to help set up the tent wrong used it to secure the tent flap open). A strong fighter could fight the first match of the evening to prove to Drokk that he doesn't need his belt to win (this will also most likely result in the PC losing his belt to Drokk in the process). Challenging Drokk's courage will only result in that particular PC being dunked in a large half barrel of water that Drokk keeps to cool off in after his fights. At any rate, if the party succeeds, they are given free admission and free refreshments. A good haggler may be able to whittle a few silver or gold out of Drokk's manager, perhaps even a portion of that night's till. The gnome travels constantly and can provide much news about surrounding lands and current events (re: adventure hooks). If a fighter stood in for a match and won, they will be paid and possibly offered a job on the under-card. More importantly, they now have a lifelong friend of Drokk, who may well return at a later date to join the party as an NPC or possible henchman. A possible variant to the above storyline (for a more confrontational party) is that one of the men challenging Drokk in the evening knows about his lucky belt and paid someone to steal it. The party would have to deal with a group of toughs to get it back. Bounty Hunters ============== From: Marcus Clay Description ----------- A group of bounty hunters called The Nine hunt and kidnap high-powered PCs for anyone willing to pay their exorbitant fees. They are specialists in their field, like a Doppelganger SpyMaster, or a Nightshade Shadow Dancer, where their class skills play off their inherent abilities. They travel around on a flying ship called the Cortogan, which is mostly a modified slaver ship. Their prices allow kingdoms and villains the means to deal with a region's hero, or securing their bid for the throne, or what have you. GM Notes -------- This idea is mostly a vehicle for high-level PCs to have a form of a challenge in any campaign. Simply create 9 maxed out creature/class combinations and bring them in unexpectedly. If the PCs can be fantasy super heroes, then they need super villains. It would also be an idea to develop weaknesses for the PCs and have the villains know it and try to exploit it. Escape from Elves! ================== From: Marcus Clay Description ----------- A unique group of elves (ice, fire, etc.) have been released from their prison and they need to make more sacrifices to their demon-god in order to free the rest of them. They plan on freeing their legions of armies first and then taking back the land they once inhabited, which involves laying siege to a major city nearby. The PCs were taken prisoner and are about to be sacrificed! GM Notes -------- This is actually a spin on the Lord of the Rings story, because there is also an unknown clan of Good Goblins nearby that can help stop the siege, or if the PCs work fast enough, stop the elves from freeing their brethren. There is really a chance to roleplay if there are any elves or half-elves in the party. A Witch ======= From: Andre LeJeune Description ----------- The PCs happen upon a dirty, black haired, ten year old girl. She is being dragged and shoved along by a group of angry villagers. The villagers will acknowledge the PCs as their betters and humbly recount the situation. The girl's disposition has changed lately and she is blamed for all sorts of odd happenings. The plan is to take her to the closest pond and dunk her until the truth is discovered. The PCs would understand this practice normally ends in the death of the subject. GM Notes -------- The villagers are in trouble no matter what the PCs do. The girl is a doppelganger that has already disposed of the real girl. This doppelganger is a particularly powerful, depraved, and sadistic member of his race. He is tormenting these poor people by playing on their fears and superstitions. He was about to force them to commit this horrific act upon a child. Then, he planned to play dead and visit madness and death upon them later that night. The PCs will suffer a similar fate if they insist on taking the child into their protection. Birthright ========== From: Andre LeJeune Description ----------- A petty noble, flanked by his distressed mother and sisters, employs the PCs to capture and return his disturbed brother who refuses to accept his ascendance to the manor. The losing brother insists he has been robbed of what is his. The winning brother is saddened but insists he must accompany his brother to the capitol so the King may peacefully resolve the situation. The common people, as well as the gentry, side with the reigning brother. GM Notes -------- The losing brother is, in fact, the first-born. By normal practice, he should be the new ruler. The older brother is rash, hotheaded, and not well suited to rule. The younger brother is calm, decisive, and able. The mother is worried about the future of the kingdom and talked the younger son into usurping the throne. The older brother would tragically fail to survive his trip to the capitol. The younger brother would not kill out of evil, but from an end to the strife that may continue for years to come. Lovers' Tiff ============ From: Spikey Description ----------- The peace between two Lands (Houses, tribes or factions) depends upon an arranged union: a uniting of the warring factions through the marriage of the Daughter of side A to the son of side B. The marriage goes ahead, and the party is invited by past acquaintances (a possible reason to assemble a new group), and the two kingdoms are united in joy. All standard political fare surely? Well, not since the Princess discovered her husband to be was a philanderer. Through fair means or foul, she has heard that the goodly Prince (or heir) has been far too friendly with a member of her household (ladies in waiting, maid, etc.). The party is required to prove or disprove the man's fidelity. Should he be proven inconstant, the alliances will crumble and war is inevitable. GM Notes -------- The Prince is honest and good, but guileless. Those who wish to destroy the alliance have set him up with a love philtre and a lady of easy virtue and only showing him the path to true and freely given love can the situation be resolved. Of course, the enemy will no doubt offer great rewards if the evidence can be made to point towards their own goals. The party becomes the last hope for peace. Alternative Lovers' Tiff ======================== From: Spikey Description ----------- The wedding has not yet happened and looks as though it never will. The Princess has fallen for a paladin, a hero of hunky chest and chiseled chin. She refuses to go on with the marriage even though, until a week ago, the husband-to-be was the apple of her eye. The pair had been best friends since infancy and lovers for as long as they understood such emotions. However, the newcomer has swept the poor girl off her feet and now the alliance seems doomed. The task of the party is to play matchmakers between the star-crossed lovers. GM Notes -------- The paladin is a womanising oaf, but one whose companions (a bard and a thief) are adept at covering up. The party needs to gather evidence of his darker nature, his impregnation of several serving wenches, and his less than charitable attacks on poor, defenceless leprechauns. If any of this evidence is gathered through force or co-coercion, it will fail. The princess is so blinded that she will rationalise a forced confession as simply that: falsely given in return for survival. Gross Incompetence ================== From: Steve Davies Description ----------- Thieves and vagabonds have been crossing into the kingdom and creating havoc in a distant region. The King sent a group of men-at-arms to deal with the situation. When they did not return, he sent his youngest son and another set of men-at-arms on a 'Character-building' mission to deal with the situation. The problem is there has been no word from the son, and complaints are still coming back from the realm of disorder. The King wants the party to bring the son back, solve the problem, and if possible, make the son look good. GM Notes -------- The core problem is a basic one of rounding up the bandits, finding a leader, and working out a deal. The problem is that the son, having 'finally' gotten out of the 'bloody' castle, is leading a life of disolution in a local inn. The original men-at-arms were captured, with some of them joining the bandits, some heading back home, and others hiding out in the hills. Good luck turning this all into a hero story for the son. Daemon of Conflict ================== From: Spikey Description ----------- The area is plagued with a spirit that feeds on conflict and competition. Whenever a conflict occurs, whether this is haggling over the price of cotton in the bazaar or an attempt to strike a foe, the ground rumbles and the beast roars. Whenever a violent act is taken, the expected result does not occur. Swords seem to do no damage; fires set in anger burn nothing. GM Notes -------- The creature was raised by a local cabal of Magicians in an attempt to protect the area from bandits and invaders, but the spell has not gone to plan. Now the beast is infused with the very earth and plants, seething from every cross word and every blow struck. These mages are now bound to the beast and struggle to keep it weak. To do this they absorb the blows and wounds inflicted around the countryside themselves, because as much as the anger and violence feeds it, it requires only a handful of deaths to break free. The more wounds they take, the less they are able to restrain the beast. By the time the party learns of what is going on, some mages might have already died and will need to be replaced. Success itself might cause many new problems. What if all those wounds absorbed by the mages suddenly return to their intended victims? (The 'food' of the creature/spell can be tweaked for each campaign, depending on what the GM wishes to exclude. It's interesting to define more detailed causes such as certain branch of magic that the party relies upon too much or something as simple as 'metal weapons'.) Insurgent ========= From: Michael Anderson Description ----------- The characters are hired, asked, or ordered to escort the six-year-old daughter of an executive cross-country. The executive is in the employ of a powerful corporation (let's call it RSI), and is being actively recruited by another powerful corporation (let's call it Trexel). The executive has been relocated to the east coast (or wherever cross-country is), and wants his family to join him. However, because of a genetic problem with the daughter's eardrums, the daughter cannot fly (the pressurization in the airplane as it reaches altitude causes her extreme pain). The executive is under constant watch by RSI security so that he does not defect to Trexel, and so that Trexel does not try to 'grab him'. RSI is concerned that Trexel may try to snatch his daughter to force him to defect to their company. If asked why RSI Security doesn't do the escort themselves, they will say that RSI is running a child across country but this child is a decoy, while the child the characters are taking is the real daughter. RSI gives them a map to follow and a series of safe houses where they should report each evening. RSI warns them that there is a possibility that Trexel Corporation may see through the decoy maneuver and launch an attack on them. All they have to do is get her from one end of the country to the other. GM Notes -------- The girl is not actually the daughter of anyone important. Rather, she is one of many participants in a prototype study of a new chemical weapon. The girl has had a cybernetic device implanted in her chest cavity. The device is a very sensitive chemical bomb in early development. RSI is interested in seeing how well it travels, but they don't want to risk any of their own personnel (or important personnel if the characters work for RSI). The weapon is the ultimate stealth device; send a child into an area with a parent. Guards and soldiers would not suspect them, and then detonate the child. (Sick, but that's how corporations think in cyberpunk worlds.) There are still a couple of kinks to work out. The device is extremely sensitive to pressure at altitudes higher than 12000 feet (the characters' map takes them through lowland passes, avoiding any high mountains), so it cannot be flown across country. Pressure builds up in the device and must be released every twenty-four hours. This happens each night at the safe houses (disguised as a physician examining the girl as the father wants to be sure that no harm is coming to her as she travels). If this does not happen, the device has an increasing chance of detonating every hour past twenty-four. (GM can decide, but I used 5% per hour). As the pressure builds, the girl will start to experience discomfort and cry out for her box (the machine that relieves the pressure). The child should bond with the characters early on. She should be pouty and upset with being stuck with the characters at first. This will hopefully trigger the standard human response of wanting to be liked, and trying to get the child to like them. However, as time goes on and events unfold (see below), the child should grow attached to the characters and begin to express affection and love. The child should start saying things like: 'I wish you were my dad/mom', 'My parents never spend any time with me, but you are lots of fun.', 'I feel safe with you.' Play on the characters' heartstrings. Get them to love the child. Trexel Corporation is actively seeking to steal the prototype. They have a number of spies in the RSI organization, and know that the characters have the prototype. However, they also don't want to expose their personnel to the dangerous device, so they have hired a number of mercenaries to try and capture the girl. As the journey begins, these mercenaries start attacking the characters. At first the characters might believe that it is just roaming pirate gangs that can be found in the area, just one of the dangers of travel in a cyberpunk society. But as time goes on, the attacks will be more coordinated and professional. After each attack the child should bond more and more closely with the characters, and during each attack the child should cry out plaintively for help. Each night the characters report to the safe house, but it should eventually be made clear that there are people at the safe house who are moles in the organization. At some point it would be good if the characters could be encouraged to decide to stay away from the safe houses, and abandon their RSI issued vehicles (perhaps they find a tracking device). Of course, if they don't go to the safe house, the pressure will build up and the girl will cry for her box. This might be a good point for the characters to not only discover that they are transporting a human bomb, but also to realize that if they don't perform some kind of emergency procedure (something with garbage bags and rubber bands) to relieve the pressure, the bomb could go off, killing them, the child, and spreading nasty chemicals for miles around. If the characters decide to leave the child, have her cry and plead. Of course the characters can leave, but then for the rest of their lives they will carry that guilt. If they decide to relieve the pressure, make the maneuver relatively simple. Perhaps they and the child receive some minor chemical burns (these can be treated at the safe house). At this point they are forced to return to the safe house at least one more time. They could opt to get out of the contract here, but if they try, RSI will offer them more money, or threaten them. Eventually the characters will get close to their destination, at which point the child will cry to not be separated from them. She will talk about the horrible condition of her life; the constant surgery, the captivity, etc. She will beg them to set her free. There are many options at this point, the characters could find an underground surgeon to remove the device; they could complete the mission; they could take the child to Trexel and try and negotiate for her release in exchange for the technology, etc. When I played this scenario with my group, they wound up being captured by Trexel. The girl was taken, and they were imprisoned in a nasty maximum-security prison on trumped up charges. They eventually escaped, and much later on were hired again by RSI to raid a Trexel facility to steal some technology. They were experts at this kind of thing. However, when they got there, they discovered that the technology that they were to steal was the child from before and several others like her. Of course, there was a teary reunion with a lot of: 'Oh! I knew you guys would come and rescue me! Don't ever leave me again!' To Speak, Or Not To Speak ========================= From: mike b Description ----------- The local police have apprehended an infamous kidnapper. He/She's kidnapped many children and the police are worried. They want to find out where the children are, but the kidnapper is a mage, and any attempts to get him/her to talk might end up with him/her casting a spell on them. GM Notes -------- The kidnapper's child was put up for adoption by the authorities and so the kidnapper/mage has been going through the village for weeks, taking children he/she thinks might be his/her child. Out of about a dozen children taken, none on those have proved to be the person's child. Upon capture, the kidnapper showed the police that he/she is a mage also and the authorities have yet to question him/her. Time is running out and the children might die if the police don't find out where they are soon, but the fear of being cursed, hexed, or otherwise having a spell cast is keeping them from questioning the kidnapper. The Four Horsemen ================= From: Arasan Nayamu Description ----------- In the middle of a desert, in the middle of nowhere and in the middle of the night, four men woke up and found themselves lost, with no memories of the past few weeks, and not a lot of provisions, nor the means to travel. The four men shakily agreed to befriend one another with feelings that they've known each other for some time but couldn't place a finger on where or how. A chance caravan took this party of four men to a nearby city in exchange for a little bodyguard power. An old, but direly eccentric, merchant-entertainer gnome named Solvor Shrillseeker eventually hired the party to round up some recently lost property. Four foals (baby horses) were stolen from him the night before and he'd gladly pay to get them back. His simple-minded half-orc guard Jrak, in protest to Solvor screaming at him, said that he was told to watch the horses and he did! He watched the thieves take the horses right out of the city! The party went off into the desert with a guide. They discovered the foals in an old abandoned temple that had been sealed with puzzles and traps of all sorts. They were incredibly surprised to find that the foals consisted of a baby unicorn, a baby pegasus, a baby nightmare, and a baby hippogryph. The thieves however, were nowhere to be seen or heard. This puzzled the party for some time. Then one of my players came up with an idea. 'Friends? I know this is crazy... but what if... *we* were the thieves?' (Nailed it! I couldn't believe it! No one had ever figured it out before when I had been talking about the plot to my family and friends. My wizard player nailed it and despite being flustered as a new DM and having to redo the plot a bit, I was so proud of him!) They decided to look for some clues that explained why they had stolen the foals in the first place. They discovered a crypt that led underneath the above ground temple and into what was really the abandoned temple underground: a vast maze of catacombs and old hiding places for a clearly ancient persecuted people. When they emerged from their dungeon crawl, they found to their utter horror that the foals had been stolen again and blood was spattered on the walls of the rooms where they had been kept. The guide, an apprentice of Solvor, went back to the city to tell Solvor of what has happened and brought Solvor back with him. Solvor was confronted by the party and he admitted that he had blocked their memories and left them in the middle of the desert. He said the blockage would dissipate in a few days and that he was just having a bit of fun with the party and had no idea that things would turn out like this. The party had their way with Solvor, scaring him a bit with threats and dilluted poison. Now they *really* wanted to see why they had stolen the foals. By this time a few days had passed and their memories started to come back to them little by little in a reversed method. They remembered stealing the foals. They remembered traveling the desert together. They remembered leaving the confines of a cave and so they headed toward where they thought the cave was. Sure enough, there was a cave, and after a rough battle between a harpy flock and a wemic pride, the client appeared. He was part wemic and part lammasu. He was a guardian of the desert named Elijah. Well, that's the name he said you can call him anyway. Elijah healed the party of their wayward memories instantly and they finally remembered everything. They stole the foals because he had summoned them and asked them to steal the foals from Solvor for him. Elijah knew that Solvor was treating the horses decently and would normally not get involved with a thievery. But, as they say, desperate times call for desperate measures. Solvor was holding the foals for someone else and Elijah did not by any means wish for them to go back into the hands of this someone: a pit fiend. This devil, not caring to take care of the foals, gave the responsibility to Solvor because he was gullible and could be bought. Solvor used the foals for his entertainment booth; showed them off in the bazaar of the desert city for money. As long as the foals stayed pure and unharmed, the devil didn't have a problem with this, but Solvor was contracted to give them back to him after a certain amount of time. He was also cursed not to say anything. After contacting a friend, Elijah had hired the party to steal the foals. The foals were then stolen and hidden away in the temple and sealed in their respective rooms by Elijah's great magic. The party went back to the city to rest up and Solvor caught them with the help of Jrak, blocked their memories, and left them in the desert to either await the vultures or come back to the city and do exactly as they had done. The party told Elijah that all was in vain due to Solvor's meddling. Elijah forgave Solvor and gave him the new task of helping the party out instead of causing mischief. After healing Solvor of his curse, Solvor was able to tell the party where the pit fiend was holing up: in a volcano on an island. (The city was a seaport on the edge of the desert, like Lut Gulein in Diablo II.) The friend of Elijah's arrived the next morning and he turned out to be a silver elf with a silver mask covering half his face. He suddenly took charge of the party and they headed for the island. When they got there they found that the pit fiend had the foals tainted with his devil's blood by injecting it into them magically and then dipping them into flaming pits of green fire! They emerged from the pits of flame in cages and the foals were now adults-evil, adult versions of themselves. (Even the nightmare was pure evil, whereas before he was just an angry, frightened baby.) The silver elf, who called himself Osprey until now, confronted the pit fiend who was called Y'kntarr. Osprey transformed into his true form of a huge silver dragon named Amberderium, killed the pit fiend and in turn, the pit fiend killed the silver dragon. As the dragon and pit fiend were fighting, the party battled evil versions of themselves (sort of dopplegangers) and rescued the foals by talking gently to the evil adult mythical horses. The foals remembered who they were and transformed back into innocent mythical foals once again. Then the volcano blew (of course) and the party rescued the wild elven villagers of the island from the flowing lava and they all sailed off into the sunset on their ship. The Surreptitious Lockpick ========================== From: Steve Davies Description ----------- The Prince of the realm visits the mausoleum of his ancestors every month or so to pay his respects. The mausoleum is in an untraveled part of the cemetery. Last month he noticed some footprints and scuffmarks in the dirt. Two nights ago he noticed that the lock had been left askew and it looked like the metal had been scraped. He placed guards, but they have not noticed anything, and the lock is obviously being handled. The Prince wants the PCs to find out who is tampering and why, and then stop it. GM Notes -------- The mischief is being committed by a local master thief who has sweet-talked the old woman who brings the guards their dinner. As a result, he is able to place a sleeping drug in their ale putting them to sleep. The guards are too afraid to tell the lord what is happening. The thief has a long-standing grudge against the Prince (something about fees not paid for services rendered) and plans to get into the mausoleum and do two things: paint graffiti that is easily visible from the outside, and steal a family ring from one of the corpses. That ring will be used to place blame on the Prince for some evil act that the thief will commit. The Troll Path ======================================= From: Steve Davies Description ----------- The local lord is mad because his stonemasons are behind schedule building what should be a simple wall, and in addition, they are asking for more money and complaining bitterly about the unnatural happenings. The lord wants the problem to go away. GM Notes -------- There is a path, clear to anyone who looks (which the masons have not done, 'We're masons, not rangers!') that the trolls take every night. This path can be followed back to their lair. The problem is how to change the troll's path, get them to stop tearing down the wall, or change the lord's plans. Winterberries In Snow ===================== From: Steve Davies Description ----------- The Queen loves winterberries, and while pregnant with her first child (and hopefully the royal heir) she craves winterberries. Unfortunately, it is high summer. The King offers a handsome reward for anyone who can bring the Queen winterberries. GM Notes -------- A little consultation with herbalists will reveal that in cool climates, like the tops of mountains, the winterberry can be picked all year round. The catch is (you knew there was a catch, didn't you?) winterberries dissolve into liquid after only a couple of days in temperatures above freezing. So, the heroes need to go into the mountains, get the winterberries and a whole bunch of snow, and bring the whole lot back to the Queen before the snow melts. Excommunication =============== From: Steve Davies Description ----------- The head of the largest local church hires the heroes to discover and reveal the sins of a local loudmouth. GM Notes -------- The local loudmouth is pointing out places where the church is not following its own guidelines, and where it is corrupt. The church has decided that it is time to excommunicate him and is looking for enough evidence to go ahead with the ceremony without too many questions being asked. The loudmouth is no saint, having been a mercenary and adventurer in earlier life, so finding 'dirt' on him will not be a problem. In the process, the party should also find some dirt on the church, or church leaders. Calm the Vortex =============== From: Steve Davies Description ----------- A swirling vortex has formed in the center of the busiest harbor in the land, effectively shutting down the harbor and bringing trade to a standstill. Everyone, from merchant to noble to clergy to peasant, wants the vortex to end. GM Notes -------- Someone has dropped a powerful and heavy magical item into the harbor. The direct-force way of attacking it risks pulling characters into the vortex and whatever perils it contains. Ships will not put to sea to help. Exploring the history will lead the heroes to the lad who pushed the item into the sea, as revenge on an unfaithful love, without realizing what he'd done. Recalling the Messenger ======================= From: Steve Davies Description ----------- The King mistakenly thought that one of the neighboring kingdoms was raiding his lands. He dispatched a messenger declaring war. Unfortunately, he found out the day AFTER the messanger left on the fastest horses that the kingdom was not responsible. He wants the heroes to stop the messenger at all costs. GM Notes -------- Since the messenger is heading to the blamed kingdom, he must go through the lands in which the raiding is going on. There, he is captured by the bandits and possibly rescued by the rival kingdom. Secret Admirer ============== From: Steve Davies Description ----------- A young noble has intercepted a message, written in a distinctive round hand, that reveals a lady's infatuation with him. The problem is he cannot tell whose handwriting the letter contains. He wants the heroes to discreetly find the authoress. GM Notes -------- While the intrigue of getting writing samples from a large local noble population can be fun in itself, there are several twists possible, including gender-switches, or a code in which specific noble names are switched for others -- so the letter is not about the person named in it. Deathbed Friend =============== From: Steve Davies Description ----------- Someone important is dying but wants to see his oldest friend one last time before he goes. The heroes are pressed to find the friend. GM Notes -------- The last time the friend had been seen was many years before as he was entering the service of a traveling illusionist. It is believed that he took up the traveling life, but has not been seen in these parts for some time. Caravan Duty ============ From: Bobby Nichols Description ----------- The local lord who hired the PCs is the law in the area. The PCs are told that the famed crystal staff of high muckety-muck has been stolen. Sources say that the staff is being smuggled out in the caravan of Rutrik the Merchant. Due to political affiliations and such, (the noble is married to Rutrik's sister, and Rutrik is the illegitimate son of the king of the area), the noble cannot actually prosecute, seize the caravan, and search it. The noble is hiring the PCs to join the caravan, find the staff, find the perpetrators of the crime, and return the staff to the noble. If Ratrik is behind the theft that knowledge is valuable, but the PCs are not to antagonize Ratrik under any circumstance. Who's Next Door =============== From: Bobby Nichols Description ----------- A gang of rogues has recently formed and they are plotting their first job. What exactly they are planning on is dependent on how much impact you want this gang to have on the PCs. For example, the gang is planning on robbing the moneylender where all the PCs keep their money. Or they are planning on mugging the brewer who is rumored to be rich as Midas. In any case, a PC sees suspicious characters lurking about, entering an abandoned building, and then leaving later. The rogues do not appear to be doing anything overtly wrong, but if challenged, they might attempt to bluster their way free of any entanglements. GM Notes -------- The rogues are confident about accomplishing their job. After the score though, they become very nervous and scared and any little noise will scare them into flight. It Really Bugs Me... ==================== From: Bobby Nichols Description ----------- Aski, a farmer from the outskirts of town, comes screaming into town about giant bugs and how they are eating his crops. This is a case of crying wolf, as the farmer is something of a pessimist and too many people have been taken in by his pleas before. Aski is laughed at and made fun of by the other townspeople. Any who ask about Aski will be told that he does this every now and then just to get attention. "Aski probably saw a large grasshopper," they laugh. Unfortunately for the town, Aski isn't mistaken or exaggerating this time. A large bug-like creature (an ankheg for example http://www.opengamingfoundation.org/srd/srdmonstersa.rtf) has moved into Aski's barn and given birth to a whole spawn of smaller bug-monsters. If the bug monsters aren't taken care of quickly, all the fields around town will become infested with the little horrors. Farmers' Drug ============= From: Nick Maggs Description ----------- A deadly and addictive drug is causing huge amounts of suffering in the PCs hometown. The drug is coming into the town from a neighbouring region. Attempting to stop the drug couriers is not an option as they have the 'bought' the local law enforcement agency within the town. The PCs must attempt to get to the root of the problem and eliminate the supply of the drug. GM Notes -------- Desperately poor local farmers are growing the drug. They need the extra income generated from the drug sales to pay the crippling taxes inflicted on them by the local landowner. The landowner would come down very hard on the unfortunate farmers if he found out that a deadly narcotic was being grown on his land. The farmers growing the drug are victims as well. The real villain is the landowner, but other than imposing impossible taxes he has done nothing wrong. The PCs need to find away to convince the farmers to stop growing their deadly crop - but still make ends meet. An added complication could come from the drug dealers who are making a very nice profit by acting as middlemen in the distribution of the drug. I used this scenario in an oriental setting. The drug distributors were Yakuza, while the landowner was a samurai who would have happily slaughtered the peasant farmers if he found out that they were dishonouring him by growing the drug crop. I hooked my PCs by having several of their contacts and trainers become dependant on the deadly narcotic. Get The Bad Guys ================ From: Angela K. Robertson Description ----------- A local sheriff who provides protection to the local town against the constant threat of invading 'bad guys' hires the party. (The bad guys can be orcs, trolls, thieves, or whatever.) After some time of regular duty with standard combat encounters with the bad guys, another member of the sheriff's team goes missing. The party is sent by the sheriff on a search mission to find the traitor and bring him/her back into custody. GM Notes -------- The 'traitor' really did switch sides to assist the 'bad guys.' As it turns out, the sheriff has been harassing them to gain access to some protected resource (this can be land, gold, etc.) and to win support from the town. The bad guys fight back to protect their resource as well as their lives. The party eventually meets up with the traitor in a secret 'bad guy' hideout and has to decide which side to believe. The Song ======== From: Darryl Description ----------- The Captain of a ship requests you to provide a cure for his twelve-year-old son. While sailing the Strait of the Mystic Singers (first time for the son who is in his first year as a galley boy upon the ship), the crew prepares to cross through the area by placing wax over their ears to protect them from the singing of the sirens who live in the caves on the shore of this strait. The boy was busy cleaning the galley floor and was overlooked when the wax was passed out. Next thing the boy knows, the First Mate is lifting him out of the waters into a rowboat. He had dove from the ship and was swimming for the shore where he heard the singing coming from. Now back home, the boy is never content and tries to find a way back to the sirens. The Captain shares with you that the way to get near the sirens is to wear wax over the ears. A song by a bard tells the story of a siren that once removed the charm from a Prince but the song does not tell how. GM Notes -------- The sirens are beautiful women who capture men with their voices. They can only give birth to girls, so to reproduce they must lure men to themselves (if this aspect of the quest becomes important a short mention by the GM could cover it or play it as a single brief emotionless encounter by the siren). Any man who clearly hears them singing will come to live with them, be totally devoted to their wishes, and will never leave, kind of like a pet dog. Few men last more than one year in the cold and wet caves, with most dying during the harsh winter. Sirens have no desire for constructed homes so no man builds one. This being the life of a siren, they do not develop an emotional bond for a man but view him as a brief necessity and enjoy his assistance and physical warmth for as long as he is alive; at death they eat him. Sirens are wary of all people because they are known as "husband stealers" and "men killers." They are aggressive towards women because the songs do not charm them. As for a cure, a siren only has to touch you and choose to withdraw the effects of the song. Once this is done, the person will never be affected by their singing again. They will know the sirens are uncaring creatures and avoid them (if resentment is strong, the character might choose to try and eradicate them - another plot). Keep Them Talking, I'll Get Help ================================ From: mike b Description ----------- There are two (fantasy) enemy armies about to clash on the field. The big one belongs to the enemy, and the smaller army belongs to a friend of the PCs'. The larger army would slaughter the smaller army, but the PCs, who are helping their friend lead the army, in all chivalry, must speak with the enemy leaders about peace conditions (think Braveheart or Troy). The larger army is bent on either taking the land from the small army or battling them because they know they can win. The PCs know that an ally army is moving closer and will be there to help them in a little while. The PCs also know that, to get enough time for the ally army to get there, they must keep the enemy leaders talking for as long as possible. GM Notes -------- Basically, if you keep the enemy leaders there for long enough, the allies will hopefully show up and help out. A good thing is to get the enemy generals talking about their children and families and stuff, so the PCs will less likely kill them. It creates an internal struggle in the PCs and makes them think that their enemy is more human. But, as soon as the enemy army arrives, they can have a battle. So there's hack-n-slash and roleplay. I Always Die At Weddings ======================== From: jon grilli Description ----------- The PCs are hired by a local, rich, and powerful nobleman to escort his betrothed from her home to his. When they arrive they find that guards will also accompany this very beautiful young lady from her own home. (Note: the guards should be powerful enough that the PCs can't take them in a straight up fight.) As they travel from her home to the nobleman's, the girl is always crying and despondent and doesn't speak to anyone. When the PCs finally get around to asking her what's wrong, she tells them that, as ancient tradition has it, immediately after she is married she will be sacrificed for the good of the land. The PCs now have to figure out a way to talk the guards into going a different way so as to buy time, slow down the caravan some other way, and hopefully, talk the nobleman out of the sacrifice. GM Notes -------- Ok, this is the classic story of saving the doomed princess. In real world history, human sacrifice such as this was sometimes practiced to ensure victory in battle or good crops. Anywho, an important part of the plot is to make sure the PCs are heavily outgunned/magicked/whatever by the guards from the girl's homeland so they can't just kill them and set her free. They should be able to talk the guards into a 'short cut', buying themselves and the girl sometime. If they're really bold and clever, they may be able to pull a switch, substituting one of themselves for the girl, letting her go free, then finding a way out of it. Alternatively, once they get to the nobleman's place, they could really pour it all on and try and convince him that the sacrifice is a bad idea. For a twist, when it comes right down to it, have the nobleman and the girl actually be totally in love, but they both realize the sacrifice has to happen for everything to be ok; the sacrifice wedding happens and the PCs helplessly watch a tragic love story. Which Hero's Which? =================== From: jon grilli Description ----------- A local noble is throwing a celebration and everyone is invited; except the players. The celebration is for a group of local hero/adventurers in honor of their recent victories. As the players inquire about this group, they find that those being celebrated are being rewarded for deeds that the PCs actually accomplished. As part of the celebration, the nobleman is about to outlaw all other adventuring groups as vigilantes. The players must find a way to convince the nobleman and townspeople that they are the real heroes. GM Notes -------- This one has the potential to be both serious cloak and dagger roleplaying and have some comedy thrown in with mistaken identities and such if your group goes for that kind of thing. The plot anchor is that the nobleman throwing the party for the fake heroes and trying to outlaw the PCs is in on it. He is aware the PCs are the true heroes and he wants them gone so he can pull some nefarious deeds of his own, so he hires a group of nobodies, maybe traveling bards, to be the local heroes. The PCs, after finding out about the party, need to find a way into the place under the nose of a house guard, ideally without weapons. Maybe the PCs could pose as caterers, or some such. If they try to break in, you lose the RP element and it's a combat thing. A fun moment might be when the PCs try to convince the locals that they themselves have actually done the heroic deeds, especially if they are relatively fresh off the road; beat up, dirty, maybe injured. Heroes don't look like that! Money Trouble ============= From: Jeff Gillis Description ----------- One of the close NPCs to the party has got himself into a little bit of a debt problem-he's borrowed money from the local moneylenders. Normally, the party could just go out and fight some encounters or do some dungeon crawl to come up with the coin, but there is only a short time left to come up with the money before their friend goes missing. GM Notes -------- Their friend has tried to call in favors from all his friends but to no avail (or there is a friend who could help them but he needs some convincing since he had a fallout with the NPC a few years back). The moneylenders are too big to fight it out with in such a short time before their friend goes missing. They could go to the moneylenders to convince them to hold off, which could in turn lead into another quest to get them to delay. The PCs could try some con ideas to make some fast cash or even possibility try to find someone to gamble with. If the time is short the PCs won't be able to resort to combat but will need to find some way to delay or make quick cash some other way. Mediation...Large Scale ======================= From: Ross Tony Shingledecker Description ----------- Two huge armies (representing nations, kingdoms, wizards' colleges, merchant factions, rival galaxies, or whatever) are on the brink of a terrible war. If the war commenced, as a majority of people in both parties believes is inevitable, thousands will die fighting, and tens of thousands of others will perish from disease, famine, looting, and the other horrors of war. As a last ditch effort to keep the peace, the leaders of the two factions request the PCs to mediate between them (or among them if there are more than 2 factions). Perhaps the PCs are famous across the world/galaxy, perhaps they were chosen because of their neutrality, perhaps they were chosen for their past deeds as conflict mediators, perhaps they were chosen by lot to ensure a fair mediation, but for whatever reason, the job is theirs--prevent a war. GM Notes -------- Obviously, how the PCs should go about this would be specific to the factions about to engage in war, but here are some general strategies: declare immediate moratorium on conflict/contact, set up a 'neutral zone' (Romulans?) or Demilitarized Zone (real history?), meet with leaders separately, hold a summit, set up a sort of tribunal where each side presents their case, set up a negotiation where each side brings list of demands and concessions they're willing to make (preferable with the rulers present so decisions and compromises can be made swiftly), go on a goodwill tour of the areas to drum up popular support for peace, participate in a trade of personnel/technology/knowledge, maybe even of nobles' children or the like (so that the 'us and them' situation becomes an 'us and them on this side, us and them on that side' deal), combat dehumanizing (or de-elvenizing or whatever) propaganda, propose an alternate threat (like space pirates or a third encroaching army---shadier PCs might actually create an alternate threat for this purpose), point out the horrors/scars of the last war, force everyone to read 'All Quiet on the Western Front' (a very nonpolitical, nonpacifist, but VERY antiwar book written by a WWI German soldier, later banned by Hitler because it taught that war was bad), or any of a multitude of other tactics. Look to history as an example. If the PCs fail, have the war happen anyway, and make it every bit as horrible as was threatened. Monkey Wrenches that might disrupt the PCs efforts: demagogues stirring up popular support for war (shadier PCs might assassinate them), people who claim the PCs really work for one side or the other, people dredging up past information about the PCs to support a wild claim, people resenting outside influence, units of the military associated with a faction going rogue and attacking anyway, units of anyone's factions crossing the wrong border, proof of espionage/assassination on the part of one of the factions, agents of an (apparently) neutral party trying to stir up unrest (like a third merchant house that stands to gain if the other two fight to the death), one faction demanding something that the other refuses to compromise on, a surprise attack by someone, or any of other numerous aggressive things. Look to history for examples. Innocent Until Proven Guilty...With a Twist (And Not the Lemon Kind) ==================================================================== From: Ross Tony Shingledecker Description ----------- Paul has been arrested for the brutal murder of a local woman, and all the clues point to him as the suspect, but for whatever reason, the PCs try to find him innocent (he might be paying them, they might owe him a favor, they might be his younger brother). The only thing Paul has going for him is the alibi of his friend Luc, and alibi that proves true with polygraph tests, Zone of Truth spells, or whatever is appropriate. GM Notes -------- This cliché scenario is interrupted by a surprise: Paul and his accomplice Luc DID commit the murder, and their alibi (that they were at a deserted local place [the creek, the Jeffries tubes, Deadman's Bluff, whatever] using some sort of illegal drug or engaged in some other minor illegality while 'having fun') holds true because it is, with the small omission that their 'fun' was the murder of the woman. They agreed to frame a neighbor, but Luc double-crossed Paul and framed him instead. Paul hasn't revealed this because their alibi is the only thing keeping him from the gallows/firing squad/airlock/whatever. Luc promises the PCs to do everything he can to help prove his friend's innocence, all the while directing them towards more and more evidence against Paul (what that evidence is depends on the technology level of the world and the nature of their CSI/equivalent [could be diviners]). Eventually, either the PCs decide that Paul is clearly guilty, or Luc 'breaks down' and confesses that he saw Paul do it but is covering for his 'friend'. Either way, the PCs now face a dilemma--do they stand behind their employer/relative/favor-holder/whatever and search for counter-evidence, even though they know he's guilty, or do they let him hang? Perhaps in their search for counter-evidence, they discover Luc's more-than-bystander role, and implicate him..or implicate something/one else entirely. Either way, this quandary forces the players to decide a lot about their characters and their motivations---even a paladin might give a murderer another chance if it's his brother (and in the modern world, we hardly see the job of a court-appointed DA as 'evil', because the chance that the guilty walk is better than having an innocent punished)--but furthermore, this affects all sorts of other dealings the PCs might have. If they turned in someone who did them a favor, no matter how guilty, people might be less willing to do them favors. If they were related, their family might shun them for betraying 'the family' (and their last name doesn't have to be Corleone for this to happen). And if they were hired and turn the man in, I for one wouldn't hire them to defend me, innocent or guilty, because of their track record. Their are ramifications if they spring him, too, especially if he commits another murder and they are blamed for allowing him to roam free. Even if he lives out a crime-free life, he and the PCs might fall under general suspicion or mistrust as fallout from their actions. Tough choice. Lost In Time ============ From: fanagann Description ----------- This quest requires some preparation, and free space in your world. Let's assume you have a kingdom called "Koarchion", from three sides surrounded by a frozen sea. Koarchion should have a short border with another kingdom- Palchorn. Everyone in your world should know that five years ago something happen (they don't know, what), and Koarchion closed this border isolating itself from the other world. Nobody had entered or get out of it for this period of time. The border between those kingdoms was protected from the Koarchion side with soldiers, who during years changed into a huge army, and the Palchorn is afraid, that Koarchion is planning a war. So they search for help (our players) to form a special group, and investigate, what is happening inside Koarchion. Make this group as small as possible. It should be hard for them to find way in, but it's up to GM to give them enough clues and more then one option to choose. I use my example in which one of the great mages of Palchorn creates a portal somewhere inside a forest in Koarchion. As they enter the portal they will hear some voices talking about time, flow, trip (think about something. Maybe it's a vision? Something can happen when they go out of the portal. Read further for more information). Then something odd happens (portal suddenly closes, and it shouldn't), and players realize, that they can't return. So they try to understand, what is going on. GM Notes -------- GM should make all he can to make them think, that they moved in time, and don't know in which time they are now. The cities should be ruined, and there should be a lot more females then males in them, because there is a war with Palchorn (someone from this group can remember, that years ago there actually was a war. This will add more confusion). Roads are unused, covered with grass. And another trick: there isn't something like a calendar, and nobody remembers actual date, because they don't care. Few people know the day of the week, fewer the month of the year, none the year itself. Think about other elements and details that can confuse players. The ruler may organize faked battles in the cities, and even burn parts of them to prove, that war is really going on. The truth: Five years ago in mountains of Koarchian very rare minerals have been found. They are the most valuable ones, and everyone seek them as they have magical power (or something else). So the ruler of this kingdom decided that he will keep al those goods for himself, but he doesn't want his population to rise against him. So he started a little mystification. He closed the border, and spread news inside Koarchian, that Palchorn started a war. Officially: everyone now work to maintain the army. All volunteers and soldiers are on the border. And those valuable minerals are used to buy equipments and hire mercenaries. In fact they are stored by the ruler, and everyone work only to provide food for the soldiers, which live peacefully without effort, so they like it, and doesn't want to change it. Every volunteer, who doesn't accept fact, that there is no war is killed. The ruler using his powerful mages shortened duration of seasons, and increased growing speed of plants, so people have to work harder to increase mining rate of minerals, and every great mage in the kingdom is imprisoned, because he could sense this magic power. That means the time looks like is flowing faster. Everybody who actually knows which date truly is (and there are only few of them) will think, that war lasts for 6 years, not 5 (this will make players think, they moved a year in future, and make more complications). All other little details, and twist in that plot should make players more confused and mystification more reliable, so think about it, and add as you wish. It's up to GM how they will learn the truth, and make this mystification public (and if someone ever believes them). At the end, they have to find their way to escape. When mystification ends, ruler of Koarchion will try to save himself by truly starting a war. So players will have to stop it, because it will be their fault! Game Within A Game, Or The Microcosm (Shorter, But Cooler) ========================================================== From: Ross Tony Shingledecker Description ----------- This RP Encounter is sure to test a player's RPing ability to the utmost, while being potentially lighter in nature and less stressful than most...although by affixing a penalty to failure, this encounter can be deadly serious as well. The gist is simple: make the CHARACTERS play an RPG. It could be a dream sequence, a sort of illusionary enchantment, a VR game, a tabletop adventure, or a Holodeck experience, depending on the gameworld. In fact, you could even mix genres with this game, having Cyperpunk characters play a VR game of D&D. The trick here is that players don't assume a new persona for this game-within-a-game, they assume the persona of their current character as he or she assumes a new persona. So, Player Bob's weaselly computer hacker character JoJo always wondered what it would be like to be strong and hunky, so when JoJo's hacked team enters the FantasyRealm simulation, he chooses a fighter-type base character to move through the simulation with. Within this context, you can run any sort of game you want. GM Notes -------- This can be an excellent way to relive stress after a long, brutal, draining adventure, or in the middle of one to give players a break...for example, a group of Call of Cthulu investigators combating an infestation of parasitical mindcontrolling worms in Washington DC (the worms are, of course, taking over government officials)are forced to halt their efforts by the Fourth of July Weekend, in which millions of tourists flood the town and all government members are too high profile to kidnap, interrogate, or 'remove'. So the investigators relax for the weekend by playing a good old adventure game--tabletop D&D 1st Edition. *grin* In fact, you could use this as a reward...every time the group completes a major objective in the fight against the parasites, they give themselves some time off--to play this campaign...thus, two campaigns occur simultaneously, and each player has to keep tract of the primary character's ambitions and goals, the goals that character has for the 'fictional' secondary character, and the ambitions/goals that the primary character has ascribed to the secondary character. How cool is that? Also, this can be a way to give characters playing high-level characters a chance to play low level ones just for a bit, or vice versa. A way to make it a dark, stressful experience if by attaching a failure condition--for example, a group of adventurers in a D&D setting run afoul of a powerful lich, who toys with the characters by capturing their bodies and forcing them into a dream state, assigning each to a dreamCharacter quite unlike himself, and assigning them an objective ('Enter the dreamTemple's sanctuary and perform the dreamRitual in 3 dreamDays...') and a failure condition ('...or you will never leave the dreamWorld and your bodies will be mine forever! MWAHAHAHAHA!'). Freaky. The Untouchable =============== From: fanagann Description ----------- Someone important in the city is dying because of poison, which is known to attack after three days and kill this person. The city is searching for the antidote, but it's hopeless. I leave background information to GM, but this poison was created specially for this occasion, and will need alchemist to create antidote, which can take weeks. So, there is only one option, one item which can help. It's the "Key of Life". A necklace with a symbol of life placed on a little icicle-like blue-black gem. Whenever someone holds it with his hand - he can't die no matter what (wounds heal immediately, he can breathe under water, don't have to eat or drink, spells negative effects doesn't affect him and so on) and all items he owns (weapon, clothes) can't be destroyed. If that dying person could grab it for some period of time - someone will have time to create antidote or after does three days poison will vanish. But there is only one glitch: someone owns this artifact, and this isn't person you would normally talk with. GM Notes -------- This person (call him: Hadari) have found this artifact a year ago, and he knows how to protect this item. He has tied his left hand holding the Key of Life, with a rope, so even when he sleeps - he won't release it. Before that, he hired a mage to cast a spell on his hand, so when anybody touches it - he will know it, and if asleep - will wake up. Players have to find a method to take this necklace from him. But he is VERY cautious - if he suspects that somebody is behind any trick - he can just wait even for a weeks (he don't have to eat). So he must think that this was an accident and there is nobody near, or somebody has to make him lose his carefulness somehow (maybe by drinking beer contest? But he isn't so stupid!). Clues: he is a physically weak person (you can trap him in a hole which requires both hands to get out of. When you see him trying to get out - frost him or paralyze. Then necklace is yours), He likes to show off (make him do something reckless which requires both hands, and he shouldn't know that at the beginning, then do as above) Think about other ideas, and remember - they have only three days, and he is VERY suspicious. He can't know that this is a trap! The Last Heir ============= From: Joachim de Ravenbel Description ----------- The PCs have just (unwittingly) killed the heir to the throne. His youngest brother (or sister or whatever) left the kingdom three months ago on a spying mission in an hostile land. In order to redeem themselves, the PCs must find the new heir and bring him home or be banned forever. GM Notes -------- lots of possibilities here... What if... ...the heir turned traitor ? ...the heir never went to said land ? ...has been turned in a frog ? (hmmm... well...) ...lots of politics during the PCs absence... They might wall find their own country in civil war when (if) they come home with the heir... It's All Relative ================= From: Michael Erb Description ----------- A long-estranged family member shows up unexpectedly wanting to mend ties and become part of their brother/sister/cousin/son/daughter's life once again. Their motives are sincere and they terribly miss the relationship, but old habits die hard and things are still strained between the family members. GM Notes -------- The visit comes shortly before a player character is supposed to undertake a quest or adventure, and the relative wants desperately to know 'what you are doing with your life' and hopes to shadow the PC on their mission. Their outlook on life should be quite at odds with that of the PC however. For example, if the PC is a fighter, the relative may be a priest or pacifist. If the PC is a mage, the relative may not consider such bookish behavior to be a 'real man's work' or may be anti-magic altogether ('It's of the devil, I says!' while Mom is hurling spell components down a well). The PC may also spend more time protecting their family member than doing their job. Regardless, it will be up to the player to decide how important family is and whether the two can find common ground and rebuild their relationship. The Case of the Mirthful Murderer ================================= From: Beckett Warren Description ----------- The PCs come to a village tavern and meet a friendly Canine-humanoid (Gnoll, wolfen, etc.), Lupe, who buys the party a round. He should be played as a hard-drinking, yet jovial fellow, always ready with a joke or one liner. This presents a comedically minded GM an opportunity to break out a few jokes. "How many orcs does it take to kidnap a child? 12, one to do it 11 to write the ransom note." (http://www.delving.com/jokes.html has some fantasy themed jokes). Two important points must be made during this encounter, that Lupe is a pretty good guy, and that he drinks to the point of obliteration. At some point in the evening Lupe should make an inappropriate joke to a passing NPC. The NPC should take offense and demand an apology or "satisfaction." The PCs should try to defuse the situation, as Lupe should be quite drunk and belligerent. This offers an opportunity for role-playing or diplomacy rolling. After the matter seems to be resolved the party should retire to their quarters for the evening. The next morning the PCs will hear from the innkeeper that their friend seemingly killed the NPC he quarreled with the night before in a most gruesome fashion. The body was found with bite and claw wounds, and the sole witness saw what had to have been Lupe. The Innkeeper should say something to the effect of "I never would have thought he had it in him" to plant the seeds of doubt of Lupe's guilt in the party's mind. Lupe is being held in the village stocks until his hanging in three days. Lupe is in fact not the killer; a wealthy lycanthrope merchant/moneychanger is the true culprit. The PCs can freely speak to Lupe who is on display in the middle of town. He will acknowledge the fact that he was blacked out, and seem to be truly remorseful. He had never killed anyone before and will make a comment that he knew drinking would be his downfall. Should the party question the witness he or she will maintain that though it was dark, and the murder happened at some distance away, it was unmistakably a dog-man, and who else is a dog-man besides Lupe? In the course of the investigation clues should slowly point away from Lupe, toward the merchant-killer. A witness may have seen Lupe return home, drunk out of his mind, but there was no blood on his fur or clothing; the victim may have had a gambling problem and owed money around town, particularly to a merchant or money changer; if the guilty party is questioned he or she may be short and shifty with the PCs, yet acknowledge a disdain for Lupe; etc. GM Notes -------- If the werewolf killer seems too trite, the murder may be a psion with animal affinity (claws) and cast a suggestion upon the witness. This could also serve as an introduction to a story arc in which many of the powerful merchants and nobles of the land belong to a lycanthrope cult, becoming a source of villains for the PCs. Valarax's Gold ============== From: Chris Young Description ----------- Valarax is a merchant who is just about to make his big break, and everyone who's anyone knows it. The only problem is that his last shipment caravan was found ruthlessly slaughtered en route to its destination and the entire shipment stolen. All of the persons found were simply slaughtered, except for the adolescents and young adults. Each adolescent has a different Necromantic Rune carved into the flesh of their face, inked with what appears to be golden ink. The caravan has been arranged into the symbol of a deity, which is believed to be evil. When the PCs return to town, Valarax is being chewed out by a man who claims to be an associate of Valarax's buyer in the caravan's destination city. As the shipment will not be delivered, the buyer wants Valarax to give him back his money. Valarax, however, can't do this, as he was counting on that last shipment to be his big break in the merchant biz. The Associate, now known as Kartan, Blandrug's lackey, threatens Valarax with death, and storms out. Valarax hires on the PCs to go adventuring and recover his gold. The GM can insert whatever adventures or side treks he wants here, but Valarax needs enough currency of some type to total 30,000 gp, only in currency. The next time the PCs return to town, they find Valarax murdered, with another Necromantic Rune carved in gold in his face. A note, apparently from Blandrug, says that he hopes Valarax liked his "little present; it's made of the same material you owe to me." When the group investigates Blandrug in the next city (preferably a ten day's travel away), he has been murdered as well, again with a Necro Rune, as have all his shop assistants. The difference is, only Blandrug is marked. The only one left alive is the bag loader, and he's a basket case now. Have the PCs be the targets of numerous thieving attempts for no apparent reason. Late one night, a letter arrives telling the PCs that they had better get out of town and mind their own business, or they'll be next. It's signed Deveran Dawnscryer. Deveran Dawnscryer, however, is a local hero, a Paladin of the highest order. He couldn't be such a meany! Next, have the players consult a sage. They will find that four of the items you placed in their treasure are the keys to stopping an evil ritual involving the complete incantation the Necromantic Runes form! And almost have all the runes! The PCs then enter the undercity to find the BBEG, which turns out to be Valarax, who was really a cleric of an incredibly evil deity. He's going to perform the ritual to destroy the souls of the city's inhabitants, which he will use to create an unstoppable army made of golden warriors. All he needed was 30,000 more gp. Unfortunately, he had to fake his own death to get out of town before Blandrug caught on, and thus had to wait for you to be killed and have his thieves take your gold and items, but since that didn't work, he'll just invoke the power of his deity and kill you all. Or maybe not, he just can't decide (CN alignment). It is completely possible to roleplay and change his mind. He might even turn himself in! If the PCs defeat Valarax in combat, his soul suddenly powers the single golden warrior golem he already made, and it attacks them. If the PCs survive, they earn the gratitude of the city, and many riches besides, but the 30,000 gp of Valarax's Gold must be turned over to the church of a good deity for safekeeping (all the good deities's churches are competing over who gets the gold, another roleplay encounter). GM Notes -------- Valarax needs to keep his identity secret at the start. The large part in between the events to advance the story may be broken up by returns to town, but if the PCs try to visit Valarax, he is either not in, or ill, and his scribe asks the group to return when they have the money. Other than that, the GM can alter or add anything or he wishes. The Mind of a Guardian ====================== From: Chris Young Description ----------- All of the city watch/guards are going on strike. They refuse to accept orders and demand that a variety of valuable crystals be turned over to them, or they will all leave and never come back. The guards have been seen entering the sewers, all sorts of back alleys, and secret passages at night. The King has deployed spies to discover what the guards are up to, but nothing has been found out as none who enter after guards return. The King hires the PCs directly to find out what's going on, but not to remove the source of the problem. All of the guards are stockpiling the items they gain in front of a strange door in the sewers. When asked about the door, the King claims no knowledge of it or the strange sigil upon it. GM Notes -------- The guards are being mind-controlled by a powerful illithid that wants four large crystal artifacts, called the Tetra Quadron, from the King's vaults. He also wishes to control castle servants and the King's spies, as none of the guards gain access to the deeper places in the castle. The only real reason the illithid wants the Tetra Quadron is because he likes shiny items, and he wants to get them without bloodshed, as he is a conscientious objector. The King actually does know what the door is about, and knows that an illithid is trying to get the Tetra Quadron, as it contacted him telepathically. Problem is, he is extremely paranoid that this could get out to the public, and that they would force him to give up his great magic items to rout the illithid. He refuses to allow the PCs to kill the thing though, as he is a pacifist. He wants to find a way to get the illithid out, keep his items, and make more money at the same time. Now the PCs will have to convince him otherwise. Why the King is so greedy about them, and what the artifacts' powers are, is left to the GM to customize for his/her campaign. The Mining Dwarves ================== From: Chris Young (An Idea from a Friend) Description ----------- What the PC group knows: the old dwarven mine has been abandoned. One day the usual tenday messenger went up the mountain to the dwarven mine, and they were gone, no message, no farewells, no nothin'. This would have disturbed people but for the healthy metal works trade coming from the new human realm to the east. Eventually, human settlements sprung up even more on the mountainside, and there's even a village of reformed trolls occupying the first level of the old mine. Everything's just wonderful now. What the PCs don't know, and may find out in short order: the dwarves have disappeared, but aren't extinct or dead in any way, contrary to popular rumor/gossip (though hundreds of years usually makes things old). They simply found something better to mine than iron and mithril: a mithril alloy! Back on level ten of the old mines, the dwarves discovered an underground river that led to an even larger complex of caverns that were home to frogmites, even more mithril ore, and a water dragon. Since then, the frogmites live comfy lives by providing the dwarves with fish to eat, the dwarves have made weapons, armor, and all manner of other things with the new metal they can make by having the dragon breathe on the mithril. The dwarves have no idea why this works, but they intend to capitalize on it by re-entering the outside world and making war to take back their mountain! With their new armor and weapons (some even enchanted!) no one would be able to stop their dominion! Only a few problems: 1. The humans already suspect that something fishy is going on in the old mines. 2. Humans are resilient buggers and wouldn't appreciate the dwarves attempting to rout them from the homes their ancestors kept for almost a thousand years now, but would definitely like that new alloy for themselves. 3. The reformed trolls want to keep their homes too. So, how to stop the dwarves? The PCs will have to become the central diplomats between the dwarves & friends, the human settlements, and the mercantile troll village. Eventually, a peace treaty may be wrought, but otherwise things could get bloody in a hurry. GM Notes -------- The frogmites definitely don't want to lose their easy life. The dwarves want to keep their mountain and their metals. The humans want money and could be willing to set up trade agreements. The trolls will insist on being the go-betweens for the humans and dwarves. The dragon is, as of now, True Neutral. When the dwarves free it as part of their agreement, it becomes Chaotic Neutral, with a main goal of finding out what the heck went on in the last thousand years or so. If any of the PCs look particularly scholarly or elven, or both, it may just ask them for information. If the dragon is angered, it might take the dwarves' side in the ensuing conflict, or be manipulated to fight for the humans. It might not take any side and simply blast everyone. It's up to the GM. The players have a total of 72 hours of consecutive game time (consecutive sessions) to eliminate the threat and save everyone. If that fails, they must fix the problem after war has already started. The only combat involved should be the monsters inhabiting other levels of the mines (both old and new). The main focus should be diplomacy and roleplaying here. Excelsior Atrophic (Glory Slowly Wasting Away) Of The Noble House Of Damren =========================================================================== From: Chris Young Description ----------- The noble house of Damren has lived in Waterdeep for as long as anyone can remember. They aren't truly a house of note, except for one thing: ten years ago, the then 9 year old daughter of Augustus Damren disappeared in the fire that consumed the old family manor. Her body was never found, and magical attempts to find her all failed, save for one thing: Saria Damren was still alive, somewhere. Now it is ten years later, and suddenly Augustus is plagued with nightmares and fears of a slowly gathering darkness consuming his waning house's power and life. He hires a group of adventurers to find his daughter, who he is confident is still living in Waterdeep or the immediate area surrounding it. He wishes to pass the leadership and power of the house over to her, and to apologize for not being able to find her in the house when it was burning. He is only a shell of the imposing, charismatic man he once was, and is slowly wasting away along with the glory of the house. GM Notes -------- The source of the slowly gathering darkness in Augustus's mind is many scrolls of Nightmare spells-from the secret cache of angry pyrokinetic sorcerer Saria Damren. She believes that her father did not care enough for her to rescue her, and, seeing his outwardly happy life later on, believes he never cared about her. She wants to make him suffer for that... or so she tells herself. In truth, Augustus is a broken man, and Saria just wants to know that her father loved her, and still loves her now. (Her mother died when she was 6, so she was kind of sad about that too.) After questing for Saria's whereabouts in the undercity, the PCs will most likely have to help the troubled family patch up their emotions and lives, and most likely prevent Saria from burning down the manor with Augustus inside. There's only one catch. If the PCs don't prevent the fire, the Order of Magists and Protectors will hold them responsible for the fire, and the PCs may end up being fined or incarcerated. Guilty! ======= From: Chris Young Description ----------- A local half-orc has been convicted of a heinous crime, and will hang at the gallows in two days if no evidence against his death can be presented and verified. Ruling Council members will need talking to, shady characters investigated, every lead thoroughly yet frantically searched! Remember, only 2 (two, dos, deux) days! GM Notes -------- Whether the half-orc is innocent or guilty is only the surface here. The truth is that no matter what evidence is found, the magistrate that presides over the city's court is highly corrupt, and is being paid off by the thieves guild. The half-orc angered them by causing an agent to bungle a job, so they've decided to let the dirty orc share their fellow's fate. Investigation of the guild also reveals numerous links to other figures of wealth and/or import in the city and the surrounding countries. The thieves' guild is actually running a good bit of the continent! What is done with this information is up to you! Brokering the Deal ================== From: Chris Young Description ----------- The PCs have been enlisted as assistant brokers/accountants/enforcers for the next deal to be cut by the wealthiest merchant in the area. He wants their help to ensure that no funny business goes on. Unfortunately, the merchant has lost his voice. To that end, he is going to have the PCs be the bargainers at the location for the business deal. They will have to actually cut a deal with the buyers and make sure that they meet the quota set by their employer. Once his quota is filled, the PCs are free to go. GM Notes -------- There's nothing sinister going on here, no GM ulterior motives. It does, however, help to have someone that knows economics and accounting in the group so that you can get the best bang for your buck (or gold piece). It's also a great way to introduce shady/flamboyant characters, all of whom might have something going on, or a job that needs doing by a group not adverse to shady dealings. Here are some examples: Fendar Cresk (LE Human Ari 3): A greedy man who likes silk more than even money; is also a liason with the cult of Vecna (Shar for FR). Dumanum Groob (N Gnome Ftr1/Rog4): With maxed ranks in disguise and bluff, plus the aid of a Hat of Disguise, Dumanum is always impersonating this or that noble/watch member/festhall dancer/etc. He enjoys shopping and walking away with other peoples' orders. Lipaur Drithtaniel (CG Elf Rog3/Wiz5): An agent of the city's rulers, Lipaur spies on those who engage in shady merchant dealings in the city. He is a no nonsense person, and strikes first and hard when necessary to prevent catastrophe. Elg Pendruckle (LN Halfling Exp4/Rog2): A wagon repairman who also cuts purses. His main foible is his love of (whatever the wealthy employer of the group sells). He'll do anything for it. He also hates Dumanum Groob, as he lost a shipment of parts due to him. If he finds out Dumanum is in the shop, he'll stop at nothing to expose him. Doom and Gloom, Scene the Second ================================ From: Chris Young Description ----------- That pesky Doomsayer's prison sentence has been served, and he's back at it again (doomsaying, that is). Only this time he's got some help in the form of small Despair Motes, incorporeal creatures from the Plane of Shadow that feed off the negative emotions of mortals. Once again he must be stopped, only this time the souls of the people are at stake! GM Notes -------- The Doomsayer still abhors combat, and his allies cannot combat. Each Despair Mote is the soul of a person who died with despair in their hearts, so each one has a story to share, if only someone would ask them! Anyone who gains enough negative levels to kill them (from the Motes) becomes one through a mutation of the soul. If the problem isn't rectified, the Doomsayer might just rule the WORLD! Mua ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha! Ahem... The Eldritch Knight in Spite of Himself ======================================= From: Chris Young Description ----------- Adan Blackfoot has lived in seclusion on the Elemental Plane of Air for years now, hiding from a diabolical man. When she is killed for her sorcerer's blood, her soul is dragged down to the Nine Hells. Now her family has hired the PCs to bargain with the Archdevil for their daughter's soul. Her widowed husband demands to accompany them, and is allowed to, but at the warning to the group that he is touched in the head from his wife's death. GM Notes -------- Adan's husband will attempt to attack the Archdevil as soon as the party arrives to bargain. He is killed in short order, and now the PCs must bargain for two souls instead of one. Problem is, they only have enough to free one soul! Eco system ========== From: Spikey Description ----------- This one is the opposite of the standard monster hunt. The reason for the set up is due to the unmitigated success of local monster hunters. They have decimated the local population of trolls (replace with any monster you want) so completely that the eco-system is suffering. Without these natural predators, everything is out of whack. Rodents are multiplying, herbivores too. Rodents eat the wheat and plant life that isn't eaten by the herbivores. This is bad news for the local community, so bad that they actually wish the trolls (or whatever) were back. The occasional lost traveler doesn't seem half as bad in comparison