Adventure Hook Thread

Adoraith
Adoraith
edited October 2014 in General Discussion
Back in the oldie oldie days there was a nice little supplement called the Book of Lairs that provided simple adventure hooks for GMs. There were no maps and very few stats to speak of. Just launching points for adventure! That's the whole point of this thread! Give a one or two line adventure hook to inspire our fellow gamers! Here are a few of mine off the top of my head:

* A badly beaten rogue, fleeing from armed thugs, plants a map on one of the player characters.

* A powerful city lord is killed accidentally when a teamster loses control of his wagon. The lord is revealed to be a doppleganger.

* While traveling south, the adventurers come into a blighted, rain soaked land at the center of which lies a small village where a mother and child has disappeared each of the last 5 nights.

So what are your ideas?

"Adoraith":https://adoraith-echoes-of-epirus.obsidianportal.com/
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Comments

  • NikMak
    NikMak
    Posts: 379 edited October 2014
    - geologically scaled rectangular object has been found buried just below the surface of the moon; and you get to go and see what it is! http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/science-environment-29447159

    - the last grand master of the Shastar Vidya martial art is traveling the world seeking students worthy to learn this deadly form of fighting ... http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/magazine-15480741

    - in an experimental facility, somewhere miles form anywhere 'it' has escaped from its holding lab; the scientist have 2 hours to destroy it before the nuclear fail safes sterilise the lab and the surrounding 3 miles of desert ( http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0066769/ )

    - Harry is not well at the office today... its not a great day to be trapped in the office with him; as he has locked all the doors, and seems to have a duffle bag full of small arms... (it would be bad taste to link to the dozens of news items that this could have come from Im sorry to say)

    - you are playing football in the park when a sink hole opens up! it wouldnt be too bad, but there seems to be some sort of city down there!
    Post edited by NikMak on
  • NikMak
    NikMak
    Posts: 379
    The church has had enough of this EVIL, and you and your team of Exorcist Priests are going to purge the mountain once and for all! http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/magazine-29448079
  • twiggyleaf
    twiggyleaf
    Posts: 2,006 edited October 2014
    LOL! Well done, Dudes.

    Actually, I really don't EVER have problems finding hooks. I have so many unplayed adventures to hand.

    However, in the spirit of this thread I will put forward a nice simple one that I found today from a free KOBOLD PRESS adventure:

    Players take on the roles of “awakened ravens” who nest in a single great tree and who call themselves the GREAT UNKINDNESS. The eldest raven is beginning to sense that something is going wrong with the world, and the very future of the Great Unkindness is threatened. (Nevermore by Richard Pett c 2014 Open Design).

    I like the premise and intend to run it for my two nephews soon.

    twiggyleaf
    CURRENT CAMPAIGN: "Mysteria":http://www.obsidianportal.com/campaigns/mysteria - set in Wolfgang Baur’s MIDGARD.
    Previous CotM Aug 2012: "Shimring":http://www.obsidianportal.com/campaigns/shimring
    Post edited by twiggyleaf on

    "I met a traveller from an antique land....."

    CotM May 2016: Mysteria: set in Wolfgang Baur’s MIDGARD.

    Previous CotM Aug 2012: Shimring: High Level Multiplanar Campaign

    Inner Council Member

  • NikMak
    NikMak
    Posts: 379 edited October 2014
    @ twigs - nice, i love that one, very Gainman-esque :)
    Post edited by NikMak on
  • Adoraith
    Adoraith
    Posts: 62
    The thing about any short adventure hook is that it can easily be reworded/reworked to fit into any game platform or genre. Myself, I almost exclusively play D&D but, when I can get the players, enjoy Shadowrun and Battletech.
  • twiggyleaf
    twiggyleaf
    Posts: 2,006
    When I was younger we all used to be more experimental and tried several games but as time has gone by and it becomes more and more of a challenge to gain the upper hand over rules knowledge, I prefer to just play one system as much as possible. For many years, that was mainly D&D 3.5 for us. We tried 4e for a bit but nobody wanted to continue. In the last two years we have moved to PATHFINDER and I am most happy we did.

    I've heard some good things about D&DNext but it will take my whole group asking for it to get me to change. I love the PATHFINDER system and the way they keep on bringing out new stuff keeps it ALIVE! I have also now invested heavily in the MIDGARD books and PDFs for PATHFINDER and still have a lot of stuff still to play.

    twigs

    "I met a traveller from an antique land....."

    CotM May 2016: Mysteria: set in Wolfgang Baur’s MIDGARD.

    Previous CotM Aug 2012: Shimring: High Level Multiplanar Campaign

    Inner Council Member

  • Adoraith
    Adoraith
    Posts: 62 edited October 2014
    I mean to start a post to discuss D&D 5E but have been swamped at work. I found it to be ok. Nothing special, innovative, or new but not bad. I will be sticking with my 3.5 as I have everything ever released for the system and don't really feel the need to spend hundreds of dollars on a new edition. Anyway, I have always thought that a good system is one that doesn't get in the way of the story. I have no issues with 3.5 in that regard.

    New Hook:

    * The anguished ghost of your brother appears to you unable to speak but beckoning for help. However, when you return home you find him alive and well.

    "Adoraith":https://adoraith-echoes-of-epirus.obsidianportal.com/dashboard
    Post edited by Adoraith on
  • twiggyleaf
    twiggyleaf
    Posts: 2,006
    Nice one, Adoraith

    twigs

    "I met a traveller from an antique land....."

    CotM May 2016: Mysteria: set in Wolfgang Baur’s MIDGARD.

    Previous CotM Aug 2012: Shimring: High Level Multiplanar Campaign

    Inner Council Member

  • SkidAce
    SkidAce
    Posts: 830
    We moved over to 5e, because the escalating numbers of d20/pathfinder caused us some issues. Nothing wrong with it, but the basic elegance and bounded accuracy of 5e cause our combats to be shorter and more fluid. and the character concepts ported over well enough (mechanics took some juggleing).

    New Hook: (my koblds are highly mutable, especially in contact with high magic locations or creatures.

    Kobolds claiming the territory that contains an ancient shrine to the four winds have recently started raiding the area, and taking on pig like characteristics and a penchant for fire.

    (Spoiler) The shrine was actually the prison of a pig demon allied with Pazuzu, an enemy of the Four winds)

    (Spoiler) Have the kobolds release a wild boar coated in grease and set on fire on a narrow trail leading to the shrine.
  • Adoraith
    Adoraith
    Posts: 62 edited October 2014
    A little background for this hook. Well, this is really more of a test of moral fortitude than a hook for your players. Anyway, per the rules of 3.5 an afflicted werewolf becomes chaotic evil in hybrid and human form after failing an increasingly difficult will save each time they change shape. We have altered the rules for our game to make it more of the traditional "curse." So even if the afflicted fails the saving throw, which makes the affliction incurable, they always retain their original alignment in human form. However, in hybrid form they adopt the traditional bloodthirsty chaotic evil.

    * You are investigating the savage deaths of half a dozen residents of an urban sprawl when you discover the villain is a 9 year old orphaned girl who is unaware that she is afflicted with lycanthropy. The girl is kind but streetwise. However, each full moon or anytime she feels threatened the girl changes into a werewolf to feed.

    Its kind of a greater good vs the girl's life test. My players couldn't bring themselves to kill her and are still trying to decide how to handle her.

    "Adoraith":https://adoraith-echoes-of-epirus.obsidianportal.com/
    Post edited by Adoraith on
  • NikMak
    NikMak
    Posts: 379
    The Egg

    The party are hired to transport a small-ish treasure chest from city A to City B in secret; and it feels slightly warm to the touch no matter what the weather.

    inside the treasure chest is a large egg...

    there are two things you should know about eggs, especially the very large kind:

    1 - Their mothers tend get upset when they go missing
    2 - sometimes they hatch!
  • Bookscorpion
    Bookscorpion
    Posts: 58
    this came up during a Shadowrun game and I think it would be pretty cool for a one shot horror game or part of a campaign where you can make it work through magic or whatever:

    You visit a haunted house (as in 'Halloween/theme park attraction) or a maze. When you come out again, there is one extra person with your party, behaving like he has always been part of the group. You totally know the guy. Yeah. You go way back. Except you don't and a tiny part of your brain is screaming at you that something is wrong.

    Shadowrun: The Rat's Nest - COTM  November 2014

  • NikMak
    NikMak
    Posts: 379
    the Rossetta space craft has pictured a pyramid the same size as the one at Cheops is located on the 67P/Churyumov-Gerasimenko comet which orbits the sun once ervy 6.5 years.

    it should be pointed out that this 'frequent visitor' has only been orbiting the earth this frequently scince the Feb' 1959, as it had changed course at this time (coincidentally timed with the death of Buddy Holly... ! )

    http://news.bbcimg.co.uk/media/images/78466000/jpg/_78466309_geezer.jpg
  • twiggyleaf
    twiggyleaf
    Posts: 2,006
    I like that idea, NikMak

    twigs

    "I met a traveller from an antique land....."

    CotM May 2016: Mysteria: set in Wolfgang Baur’s MIDGARD.

    Previous CotM Aug 2012: Shimring: High Level Multiplanar Campaign

    Inner Council Member

  • NikMak
    NikMak
    Posts: 379
    thanks twigs!

    here another...

    25 years from now, The Indigo Children are all grown up, and now their plans are come to fruition and operation 'Inidigo Dawn' is about to start...

    http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Indigo_children
  • NikMak
    NikMak
    Posts: 379
    Jazirat Al-Maqlab (Maqlab Island) is in the Straits of Hormuz. the British used to keep a telegraph repeater station there in the 1900s, but it was soon abandoned, as every single man stationed their went mad, and the death toll was just far to high... you can still see the old fortifications if you sail that way.

    http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/blogs-magazine-monitor-29761017
  • ketherian
    ketherian
    Posts: 203
    I've not done these for quite some time. Great idea Adoraith!

    * Along side the road lies the remains of a caravan. The broken carts and wagons are bleached of colour and empty. They lie empty, on their sides. There are no marks in the ground, nor moss growing on what should be rotting wood.
    * The cavern mouth is a gaping maw with stone teeth and a rotting stench that billows out each night, and sucks in air hungrily each morn. The local villagers say the noises have become louder recently.
    * Stars, twinkling merrily in the night sky start to fade. While it is still quite late and no new light source emerges, the stars go out one by one as you stand in the dying of the light.
    * A train screams smack-dab through the centre of a small village. The chickens, however, don't seem to notice and the train phases through them.
    * The dawn finally comes after a long cold and dark night filled with horrors. There's only one problem. The dawn is coming from the wrong direction.
  • twiggyleaf
    twiggyleaf
    Posts: 2,006
    Hey Ketherian,

    I like the one where the dawn comes from the wrong direction! Simple......but pregnant with possibility!

    twigs

    "I met a traveller from an antique land....."

    CotM May 2016: Mysteria: set in Wolfgang Baur’s MIDGARD.

    Previous CotM Aug 2012: Shimring: High Level Multiplanar Campaign

    Inner Council Member

  • cgregory
    cgregory
    Posts: 780
    The dawn coming from the wrong direction is pretty much what is happening in my pathfinder campaign right now. The players have entered a "mirror world" of the prime material. They discovered their spells, abilities and magic items are not working like they are supposed to. The paladin is just about to find out his god, Aroden, the dead God of Humanity is alive and kicking (yeah!).....and is a human purist dedicated to enslaving/wiping out all the lesser races.

    Carl
    "Devils and Dilettantes":https://devils-and-dilettantes.obsidianportal.com/

    They are among us!

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                       XCom: Defiance - Campaign of the Month November 2016

     

     

  • NikMak
    NikMak
    Posts: 379
    Something required the exhumation of a body... but the body was gone!

    Subsequent investigation reveals all of the bodies in this particular cemetery are missing (dun, dun, Daaaah!!!)

    (tip - dont leap to a super-natural explanation on this one straight away, something as simple as a corrupt mortician boosting his income to supply 'research materials' is more than creepy enough!)
  • cgregory
    cgregory
    Posts: 780
    Random seemingly normally law abiding people have committing robberies (bank, jewel, etc). An investigation turns up a couple of similarities amongst them. None of those that escaped immediate capture have the money or jewels on them. They all claim to be doing it for Love. Investigation of their homes reveal they all have an interest in roleplaying games. Further investigation finds they all use frequent the same forum; one recently hit by a spam bot featuring Vashikaran, a powerful astrological tool to get the desired person under your control. Could the website linked in the spam be controlling peoples emotions through powerful matras?!? What horrible side effects could the sadhak (controller) be experiencing from perverting the use of Vashikaran?

    Figured I'd have some fun with the spam. :)

    They are among us!

    image

                       XCom: Defiance - Campaign of the Month November 2016

     

     

  • NikMak
    NikMak
    Posts: 379
    Nice :)
  • NikMak
    NikMak
    Posts: 379 edited December 2014
    just played this one, it was a hoot :)

    the party are under going a dream quest to determine which of them will be promoted (to whatever position of power seems best for your game)

    however they have all forgotten its a dream quest, including what the objective of the quest is! (i.e. start it off as a normal session, and dont tell them they are dreaming)

    TIP 1 - things should get (slowly) weirder and weirder until they figure out they are in a dream
    Tip 2 - figure out a standard 'wake up' clause (death in the dream is usual)
    Tip 3 - make sure they can figure out the quest in the dream somehow, or at least can complete it 'by accident'
    Post edited by NikMak on
  • twiggyleaf
    twiggyleaf
    Posts: 2,006
    Yup!

    twigs

    "I met a traveller from an antique land....."

    CotM May 2016: Mysteria: set in Wolfgang Baur’s MIDGARD.

    Previous CotM Aug 2012: Shimring: High Level Multiplanar Campaign

    Inner Council Member

  • NikMak
    NikMak
    Posts: 379
    one of our armouries is missing

    http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-africa-30512185
  • twiggyleaf
    twiggyleaf
    Posts: 2,006
    Frightening in real life, isn't it, NikMak?

    twigs

    "I met a traveller from an antique land....."

    CotM May 2016: Mysteria: set in Wolfgang Baur’s MIDGARD.

    Previous CotM Aug 2012: Shimring: High Level Multiplanar Campaign

    Inner Council Member

  • NikMak
    NikMak
    Posts: 379
    very! you cant make this stuff up (you know, apart form the extra bits I make up)
  • ketherian
    ketherian
    Posts: 203
    Conversations overheard on the street:
    * But it's not really a CAT burgler is it? Sure it goes after gems and gold and such, but it left a whole liter of milk untouched!
    - CAT burgler Dave, not Kitten burgler!
    * She heard a noise, a crack of thunder she swears, and there he was. She saw him stealing her jewlery. And then she swooned!
    - Lucky for her that she wasn't on the stairs!
    * Torn asunder it was! The paper cover for the window was just gone.
    - And on such a rainy night!
  • NikMak
    NikMak
    Posts: 379
    http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/technology-30575104

    is the internet becoming too dangerous to connect to?
  • ketherian
    ketherian
    Posts: 203
    We just got a copy of the "Girl with the Dragon tatoo". So I thought it would be fun to write up a parody "The dragon with the girl tattoo" as an adventure.... but a little googling found that this already exists as a parody (http://www.amazon.ca/The-Dragon-With-Girl-Tattoo/dp/0575100915).
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