3-sentenced hooks [Archive] - Wizards Community

3-sentenced hooks [Archive] - Wizards Community

Post/Author/DateTime Post
dengarbountyhunter
10-01-07, 09:33 PM I love them "Steal this hook" thread, but I kind of feel that they're not "hooks" in the sense of "the few sentences that get your players want to roll some dice". It's more of a background for an adventure that is presented in those threads.

Good adventure hooks QUICKLY create a feeling in players, ranging from “whoa, that would make us rich” to “those bastards are gonna get the beating they deserve”.
The hardest part is to create such a feeling as soon as everybody’s around the table, so as to not lose the interest of the players and start the game.

So I propose a thread where you can post short (three sentences or less would be the best) adventure hooks that would immediately make you want to roll dice. Comments would be greatly appreciated too!

1) As you walk (lurch) out of the tavern, you see a gathering of people in the middle of the street. They are circled around the corpse of an orc, broken as if it fell from very high. Among the silent, confused faces, you see a wrinkled old man, his eyes gleaming in terror, whispering “By the gods… not again”.

2) As you approach the tree line, you can hear, albeit faintly, the frantic sound of many pan pipes in the distance. Suddenly, a pillar of bright blue light rises from the trees into the cloudy sky, a mile or so away, accompanied by screeches of pain and joyous cheers. A few seconds later, the night becomes completely dark and silent again.

3) You notice on the road what must have been an animal or humanoid, now beaten to red pulp. A trail of slippery slime is clearly visible on the road, coming from a nearby pond to the corpse and back into the bubbling water.

4) An increasing number of emaciated, albino cats follow you since your arrival in the strangely desert town.

5) A red dragon approaches the PCs after they have fought a random encounter, congratulates them for their beautiful victory and asks if they could come to an agreement since they are such hardy warriors. He wants them to loot a cave that is too big for him to enter. Both parties know that each will readily double-cross the other to have the whole treasure.

...
Thevail
10-01-07, 10:25 PM 6. As you gaze over the pile of treasure, you hear a faintly audible slurping sound, and the pile begins to move...
Ebonarc
10-01-07, 10:27 PM 7. The town gates lie wide open, undamaged and unattended. Entering the town, you find it completely deserted; not a single person or animal can be found. From somewhere near the town center, you hear a woman scream for help.
Thevail
10-01-07, 11:10 PM 8. the massive door finally swings wide, and you see nothing. A writhing mass of absolutely nothing...
DFoster
10-02-07, 05:46 AM 9. Every time the PCs go to a certain location (Tavern, Hospital, whatever is setting appropriate) they notice this same person watching them openly. Eventually one of the PCs is going to wander up and ask the guy what's going on...
RobbyPants
10-02-07, 10:43 AM 10) The friend you were supposed to meet at the tavern didn't show up. When you go to his house to check on him, you find him in bed appearing very ill. It visibly taxes him to merely sit up and you notice he is wearing a scarf around his neck.

11) Ever since the circus has come to town, about once a day a child has gone missing.

12) At the tavern you overhear a few young patrons daring eachother go stay out in the woods to the east of town overnight. When you ask someone about the woods, they claim they're haunted. On some nights, if you stand at the edge of town, you can see a woman wearing white walking behind the trees singing softly.

13) You are awakened by a sudden violent shaking: an earthquake! Once the disturbance settles, you go out to check the damage and find that the outer wall has several large holes. This is not a good time as the goblins in the mountains beyond have been growing in number.
Ebonarc
10-02-07, 01:13 PM 14. While traveling across the plains, you spot a caravan off in the distance. It's too far away to speak with the drivers, but close enough that you can see them. Suddenly, a massive red creature (dragon) swoops down out of the clouds, and with one swift bite, flies off with one of the carts, leaving the caravan drivers screaming in panic for help.
Thevail
10-02-07, 02:35 PM 15. The child lurches and all the while the the monotone chanting continues..
Andorxor
10-02-07, 02:49 PM 16. A old empty building at the outskirts of the town collapsed.A light was seen thought the windows of the building the night before.

17. No more beer in the town.Everyone must now drink water.

18. Several small shinning objects disappear and more children than usual are on the street.

19. The snows on the mountains at the horizon is visible melting,but the waterlevel of the nearby river isn't raising it is sinking

20. The old men sells you the papers of his goldmine for 500 gp and a beer,what a fool.
RobbyPants
10-02-07, 03:37 PM 17. No more beer in the town.Everyone must now drink water.
That will get the PCs off of their butts and out adventuring! :eek:
Bastion_Darkraven
10-02-07, 05:04 PM 21. As the rays of the midmorning sun stab their way through the shutters of your meager second story room at the inn, you slowly stir from your drunken slumber, trying to piece together images from the night before. After slowly wiggling your fingers and toes to make sure that they are all still there, you open your swollen eyes to assess the damage to find yourself on the cold wooden floor, clutching both your head and an egg the size of the barstool that you suddenly remember falling off of last night.
Holy_Beholder
10-02-07, 06:18 PM 22. You hear a very loud sound, like ice cracking coming from the sky. A glance upward reveals a red crack splitting across the blue. Within a minute, the entire sky shatters, leaving a red background, from which hordes of horrible looking creatures pour out.
heffroncm
10-02-07, 11:31 PM 17. No more beer in the town.Everyone must now drink water.

That will get the PCs off of their butts and out adventuring! :eek:

Especially since, this being a mideval based game, the water is usually rather bad for you. Beer was brewed mainly because the fermenting process made it safe to drink. The alcohol wasn't the point, and most beers of the time period were pretty lite.
Suzu
10-03-07, 12:03 AM 23. After spending a few hours in town, the PCs realise there are no children...
Kazuhiro
10-03-07, 12:28 AM 24. A deep thrumming sound that seems to resonate with your very bones fills the air, then suddenly cuts off. You suddenly notice a group of monsters in your midst.

25. A group of guards suddenly breaks in, yelling for everyone to return to their homes. They hurriedly bully everyone down the streets, and far in the distance, a group of soldiers marching in formation can be seen.
yellowdingo
10-03-07, 06:45 AM 17. No more beer in the town.Everyone must now drink water.That will get the PCs off of their butts and out adventuring! :eek:Especially since, this being a mideval based game, the water is usually rather bad for you. Beer was brewed mainly because the fermenting process made it safe to drink. The alcohol wasn't the point, and most beers of the time period were pretty lite.

Only if they can find and monopolize all grain reserves in a four mile radius.

26. You watch from the escarpment as a wall of rolling fire emerges from the distant woods and devours the town below you.
Ebonarc
10-03-07, 09:49 AM 27. "You find yourselves awakened from a sound sleep by screams from outside. You rush to the window and see that the entire town is in a state of chaos. Many of the buildings are on fire, and the townsfolk appear to be fleeing from a group of soldiers in black armor..."
soulnova
10-03-07, 10:02 AM 28. When moving in the wilderness, the party finds a small Kobold camp. There are only two guards watching but right now they seem chatting to each other about something important... If listen carefully you would make the words "...Mitrhil Filled Mountain..."
dengarbountyhunter
10-09-07, 10:39 AM WOW! Great work, lads & lasses! Exactly the kind of thing I was looking for: no background story, no motivations and complications, just what you would read (or periphrase) to the PCs!

Plus, if you DO want to create a full-fledged adventure, these create just the right sort of spark needed for an adventure that you can tailor yourself to your campaing.
Ebonarc
10-09-07, 10:57 AM 29. "The trail is long and quiet, and the first four days of pass uneventfully. On the fifth day, at about midday, you round a bend in the trail and find yourself face to face with a platoon of hobgoblins armed for battle, but carrying nets and bolas in addition to their standard gear. The apparent commander looks you over quickly and yells 'Those are the ones! Get'em!'"
Amon_WinterfallIV
10-09-07, 01:27 PM 30. The sky is filled with clouds. Clouds that look very much like familiar monsters (Griffins, Dragons, Sprites).

31. A Terrible fungus has killed most of a nations food supplies. Just as the PCs entire the town, they are mobbed by desperate commoners looking for food.

32. With the roaring sound of gears grinding, the Sun stops moving over the earth and remains stationary.

33. A gnomish chef has created foodstuffs that actually speed healing. Unfortunately, one of the ingredients he needs (Positive Energy Oil) can only be found from a rare flower--the White Star.
Ace the Dead
10-09-07, 01:52 PM 34. It hasn't stopped pouring for two whole days and the entire dock is underwater at low tide, as if the ocean itself wise rising.

35. A man dressed in black robes with human skulls on the shoulders bursts into the tavern the PCs are currently and slams the door shut. He has time to scream, "Help me," before the wall behind him begins to melt.

36. There is a large clocktower in the center of the village square where last night there was nothing.

37. A phalanx of clearly well trained and well armed gnolls march into town and simply block the largest road with a shield wall. They don't appear to speak common.
DM_Shonuff
10-09-07, 02:41 PM 38. The small town you've been in for weeks has given you wide berth being a strange adventurer. The townsfolk do not seem to even want to speak to you when you pass them on the street. Last night, a large severed head of a buffallo was put on your doorstep and strange glyphs surround the head in it's own blood.

39. You are in a town and a thin man in exotic clothes approaches you. He asks for you by name, and when you nod, he hands you a scroll. You open the scroll, penned by a close relative, who has died and left you an estate in the next region.

40. Camping in a deep dark wood for a few nights, you sleep fitfully and awake to an earthquake. When you crawl from your makeshift tent, you see where there used to be woods, now stands a large ruined tower.

41. Decius the Hempmaker has lost his only son Frek. Under twenty years, he is not sure where the youth could have gone in such a large city. Decius tells you of his competition, Grottel the ropemaker has been making slight threats to Decius and his business.

42. Your party comes back from its most recent adventure, packs full of gold and treasure. Upon entering the city, the party notices it cannot enter. Gates are sealed and a small encampment of tents outside fly the banner of the region king. The guards tell you of a curse that fell the town around the same time your party felled the owner of your new horde.

43. Upon clearing a dungeon, you find a preserved head of a pixie on the end of a wand. A macabre stick that seems to speak to you mentally. Every night you have dreams of a band of black clad humanoids slaughtering faeries in a neighboring wood near a familiar landmark. The wand demands you heed it's warnings.

44. The village of Strongfalls has a landmark waterfall in it's region. Majestic and serene, it provides the town and three more downriver with water. After a full moon, the waterfall has stopped and the water is flowing UPWARDS. A small cave can be seen behind the waterfall in the rock face.

45. Across the great river, Moosehead, from the village of Turnik, you can see a large ammount of tents being erected. No flags have flown yet, but nothing is done during the day. When you wake up, more tents are up and now even wooden structures are going up.
Ebonarc
10-09-07, 02:54 PM 46. "'It wasn't my idea!' screeches the leader of the hoodlums who jumped you. 'It was the boss's! He's got plans for this town and he can't have you...'

He stops speaking suddenly, and you find a crossbow bolt in his back. Looking around to track the shot, you see a shadowy figure on a nearby rooftop, slinking away out of sight..."

It breaks the 3 sentence rule, but it works.
Mark_Aged
10-09-07, 05:18 PM 47. Traveling though the forest, the party comes across a pool filled with dead Nymphs, the water dyed red. A blackguard standing next to the pool is snickering to himself, staring insanely at the dead Nymphs.

A :cookie: to dengarbountyhunter, for making one of the best threads ever. This has given me an idea of what to do for a whole campaign.
PhantomTrain
10-09-07, 05:38 PM 48. Nine months to the day after the worst hurricane on record, every of-age female in the village wakes up very pregnant.

49. Everyone in town likes a good game of cards, but there is one man who no one can seem to beat. In fact, ask around and you'll find that it seems he leads a charmed life. So why did he show up at their room last night and try to hire the PCs to kill him?

50. This morning, the graveyard was gone. There was a note on the bare patch of earth where dozens of graves had once been marked by gravestones. "Be back shortly".
SeptimusMagistos
10-09-07, 05:44 PM 47. The mountain seems to be moving...
Yodaman23
10-09-07, 06:02 PM 48. People in town have been found cut cleanly in half in the middle of the street. At sunrise another person, seemily random is found dead. The only witness reports seem to acuse death himself, but that can't be right.
Ebonarc
10-09-07, 06:32 PM 53. "As you wonder why you decided to travel with night approaching, the path passes by a small, apparently abandoned stone tower. Without warning, several lights begin flickering in the tower's windows, and you hear beastly howls emanating from within. The forest to either side of you is now filled with pairs of small, glowing eyes, and the beastly howls from the tower are coming closer..."
Adric_the_Commoner
10-10-07, 01:04 AM 54. As you spend the night in a quiet and off-putting town, it slowly dawns on the cleric that everyone in town is undead. Not evil, not hungry for flesh, just undead. And every single one of them refuses to acknowledge that fact.
JohnnyWeird
10-11-07, 09:27 PM 55. "Yup, the clock says it's past noon. Why hasn't the sun come up?"
BruteSquad01
10-12-07, 01:58 AM 56. "The Lord of Hate will come again, and his Wrath shall burn the hearts of the living. His minions will pour across the land, and none shall escape the tide of destruction..."

... so sayeth the Prophecies, in part.
Archon-John
10-12-07, 03:11 AM 57) [A bit of background information - was running Ghostwalk alternative setting the way it should be run - with the Knights of the Quiet as murderous psychotics, after the players saw them assasinate a politically connected ghost on the street and found a token entitled 'The Knights of the Quiet - Saviors of Manifest'. They then raided a knight stronghold and freed a few ghosts... that being said...]

Unknown freed ghost - 'Greeting adventureres, I am Cho-Galen. You have freed me from my unlawful confines. I would like to thank you for being the saviors of Manifest. (Ghost disperses, not being in Manifest)

58) You see many sets of leaves snap from the ground, totally engrossing your lead guide's dog. Horrifyingly, the enormous plant begins to extrude a thin covering of hair. Your guide examines it - from a distance, before catching a bird and tossing it inside. The plant snaps shut, begins to grow wings, and flies away, towards the nearest town.

59) All divine magic has stopped. The head cleric in the kingdom left on a quest to discover what has been preventing the magic. 8 months later, you arrive in a small thorp - looking for the same answer, when you see the cleric. Later that night, she unleashes powerful divine spells to save the village from an attack, begins crying, and disappears... The grass around the area the spell was cast in has turned into bone.

60)The characters are teleported out of there homes and lives and find themselves in a plains. They have no equipment, but there are piles of loot set aside for each one of them. They will quickly notice that although there is much plant life here, there are no animals to be found anywhere.
Mark_Aged
10-14-07, 10:03 PM 61. After leaving the inn, the party spots a sleeping black dragon, right outside. No one seems to think it's out of place. It wakes up, walks over to the party and says: "You guys got any ale?"
TonyPa
10-15-07, 03:46 AM 62. After a low growl, the largest mountain lion you have ever seen comes sauntering out of the bushes with its ears flat, looking at you with a snarl. Suddenly a gnome follows behind it and hits it with a quarterstaff, yelling "NO BOB... NOT FOOD ok... not food!" The cat rolls its eyes, flops down on the trail, and pouts.
JackSnape
10-15-07, 06:13 PM 63. Every year for the past 100 years one person has disappeared from the villiage. Now they're all back but they're not the same (undead perhaps.)

64. Inevetables are hunting the local brass dragon for breaking various laws during his trip to mechanus. The PCs must chose sides in the good/good battle.

65. The remains of a pirate ship have just been discovered not far off shore. Who knows what might be sunken with them?

Mostly I wanted to bump this thread back onto page 1.
JohnnyWeird
10-15-07, 07:45 PM 66. "What do you mean, 'someone stole the church'?!"
Chahir
10-15-07, 08:08 PM 67. The emaciated man rants and preaches at the mob, his horribly scarred face illuminated by their torches. The impure must be cleansed, he screeches, their screaming souls cast down to be the playthings of the ten kings of hell. Suddenly, he turns his bloodshot towards you, his lips curling in a deranged grin...
Ebonarc
10-21-07, 10:47 AM 68. "The harvest festival seems to be in full swing, and you spend most of the evening enjoying yourselves. A few hours past sunset, you are standing outside a local tavern when two figures run past, the first an middle aged man, the latter wearing a hooded cloak that hides his or her features. The man screams for help before ducking down an alley, the hooded figure in hot pursuit."
Tovec
10-21-07, 04:21 PM 64. Inevetables are hunting the local brass dragon for breaking various laws during his trip to mechanus. The PCs must chose sides in the good/good battle.

Um.. thats good-law not good-good.

69. You go and visit a dying friend. He appears to be dying of an illness that no one recognizes except for him. He asks you to hunt down something called the "Gods-Eye Root" to cure him. As you leave you feel a little weak but chalk it up to feeling badly for your sick friend.

Post/Author/DateTime	Post
dengarbountyhunter 10-01-07, 09:33 PM	I love them "Steal this hook" thread, but I kind of feel that they're not "hooks" in the sense of "the few sentences that get your players want to roll some dice". It's more of a background for an adventure that is presented in those threads. Good adventure hooks QUICKLY create a feeling in players, ranging from “whoa, that would make us rich” to “those bastards are gonna get the beating they deserve”. The hardest part is to create such a feeling as soon as everybody’s around the table, so as to not lose the interest of the players and start the game. So I propose a thread where you can post short (three sentences or less would be the best) adventure hooks that would immediately make you want to roll dice. Comments would be greatly appreciated too! 1) As you walk (lurch) out of the tavern, you see a gathering of people in the middle of the street. They are circled around the corpse of an orc, broken as if it fell from very high. Among the silent, confused faces, you see a wrinkled old man, his eyes gleaming in terror, whispering “By the gods… not again”. 2) As you approach the tree line, you can hear, albeit faintly, the frantic sound of many pan pipes in the distance. Suddenly, a pillar of bright blue light rises from the trees into the cloudy sky, a mile or so away, accompanied by screeches of pain and joyous cheers. A few seconds later, the night becomes completely dark and silent again. 3) You notice on the road what must have been an animal or humanoid, now beaten to red pulp. A trail of slippery slime is clearly visible on the road, coming from a nearby pond to the corpse and back into the bubbling water. 4) An increasing number of emaciated, albino cats follow you since your arrival in the strangely desert town. 5) A red dragon approaches the PCs after they have fought a random encounter, congratulates them for their beautiful victory and asks if they could come to an agreement since they are such hardy warriors. He wants them to loot a cave that is too big for him to enter. Both parties know that each will readily double-cross the other to have the whole treasure. ...
Thevail 10-01-07, 10:25 PM	6. As you gaze over the pile of treasure, you hear a faintly audible slurping sound, and the pile begins to move...
Ebonarc 10-01-07, 10:27 PM	7. The town gates lie wide open, undamaged and unattended. Entering the town, you find it completely deserted; not a single person or animal can be found. From somewhere near the town center, you hear a woman scream for help.
Thevail 10-01-07, 11:10 PM	8. the massive door finally swings wide, and you see nothing. A writhing mass of absolutely nothing...
DFoster 10-02-07, 05:46 AM	9. Every time the PCs go to a certain location (Tavern, Hospital, whatever is setting appropriate) they notice this same person watching them openly. Eventually one of the PCs is going to wander up and ask the guy what's going on...
RobbyPants 10-02-07, 10:43 AM	10) The friend you were supposed to meet at the tavern didn't show up. When you go to his house to check on him, you find him in bed appearing very ill. It visibly taxes him to merely sit up and you notice he is wearing a scarf around his neck. 11) Ever since the circus has come to town, about once a day a child has gone missing. 12) At the tavern you overhear a few young patrons daring eachother go stay out in the woods to the east of town overnight. When you ask someone about the woods, they claim they're haunted. On some nights, if you stand at the edge of town, you can see a woman wearing white walking behind the trees singing softly. 13) You are awakened by a sudden violent shaking: an earthquake! Once the disturbance settles, you go out to check the damage and find that the outer wall has several large holes. This is not a good time as the goblins in the mountains beyond have been growing in number.
Ebonarc 10-02-07, 01:13 PM	14. While traveling across the plains, you spot a caravan off in the distance. It's too far away to speak with the drivers, but close enough that you can see them. Suddenly, a massive red creature (dragon) swoops down out of the clouds, and with one swift bite, flies off with one of the carts, leaving the caravan drivers screaming in panic for help.
Thevail 10-02-07, 02:35 PM	15. The child lurches and all the while the the monotone chanting continues..
Andorxor 10-02-07, 02:49 PM	16. A old empty building at the outskirts of the town collapsed.A light was seen thought the windows of the building the night before. 17. No more beer in the town.Everyone must now drink water. 18. Several small shinning objects disappear and more children than usual are on the street. 19. The snows on the mountains at the horizon is visible melting,but the waterlevel of the nearby river isn't raising it is sinking 20. The old men sells you the papers of his goldmine for 500 gp and a beer,what a fool.
RobbyPants 10-02-07, 03:37 PM	17. No more beer in the town.Everyone must now drink water. That will get the PCs off of their butts and out adventuring! :eek:
Bastion_Darkraven 10-02-07, 05:04 PM	21. As the rays of the midmorning sun stab their way through the shutters of your meager second story room at the inn, you slowly stir from your drunken slumber, trying to piece together images from the night before. After slowly wiggling your fingers and toes to make sure that they are all still there, you open your swollen eyes to assess the damage to find yourself on the cold wooden floor, clutching both your head and an egg the size of the barstool that you suddenly remember falling off of last night.
Holy_Beholder 10-02-07, 06:18 PM	22. You hear a very loud sound, like ice cracking coming from the sky. A glance upward reveals a red crack splitting across the blue. Within a minute, the entire sky shatters, leaving a red background, from which hordes of horrible looking creatures pour out.
heffroncm 10-02-07, 11:31 PM	17. No more beer in the town.Everyone must now drink water. That will get the PCs off of their butts and out adventuring! :eek: Especially since, this being a mideval based game, the water is usually rather bad for you. Beer was brewed mainly because the fermenting process made it safe to drink. The alcohol wasn't the point, and most beers of the time period were pretty lite.
Suzu 10-03-07, 12:03 AM	23. After spending a few hours in town, the PCs realise there are no children...
Kazuhiro 10-03-07, 12:28 AM	24. A deep thrumming sound that seems to resonate with your very bones fills the air, then suddenly cuts off. You suddenly notice a group of monsters in your midst. 25. A group of guards suddenly breaks in, yelling for everyone to return to their homes. They hurriedly bully everyone down the streets, and far in the distance, a group of soldiers marching in formation can be seen.
yellowdingo 10-03-07, 06:45 AM	17. No more beer in the town.Everyone must now drink water.That will get the PCs off of their butts and out adventuring! :eek:Especially since, this being a mideval based game, the water is usually rather bad for you. Beer was brewed mainly because the fermenting process made it safe to drink. The alcohol wasn't the point, and most beers of the time period were pretty lite. Only if they can find and monopolize all grain reserves in a four mile radius. 26. You watch from the escarpment as a wall of rolling fire emerges from the distant woods and devours the town below you.
Ebonarc 10-03-07, 09:49 AM	27. "You find yourselves awakened from a sound sleep by screams from outside. You rush to the window and see that the entire town is in a state of chaos. Many of the buildings are on fire, and the townsfolk appear to be fleeing from a group of soldiers in black armor..."
soulnova 10-03-07, 10:02 AM	28. When moving in the wilderness, the party finds a small Kobold camp. There are only two guards watching but right now they seem chatting to each other about something important... If listen carefully you would make the words "...Mitrhil Filled Mountain..."
dengarbountyhunter 10-09-07, 10:39 AM	WOW! Great work, lads & lasses! Exactly the kind of thing I was looking for: no background story, no motivations and complications, just what you would read (or periphrase) to the PCs! Plus, if you DO want to create a full-fledged adventure, these create just the right sort of spark needed for an adventure that you can tailor yourself to your campaing.
Ebonarc 10-09-07, 10:57 AM	29. "The trail is long and quiet, and the first four days of pass uneventfully. On the fifth day, at about midday, you round a bend in the trail and find yourself face to face with a platoon of hobgoblins armed for battle, but carrying nets and bolas in addition to their standard gear. The apparent commander looks you over quickly and yells 'Those are the ones! Get'em!'"
Amon_WinterfallIV 10-09-07, 01:27 PM	30. The sky is filled with clouds. Clouds that look very much like familiar monsters (Griffins, Dragons, Sprites). 31. A Terrible fungus has killed most of a nations food supplies. Just as the PCs entire the town, they are mobbed by desperate commoners looking for food. 32. With the roaring sound of gears grinding, the Sun stops moving over the earth and remains stationary. 33. A gnomish chef has created foodstuffs that actually speed healing. Unfortunately, one of the ingredients he needs (Positive Energy Oil) can only be found from a rare flower--the White Star.
Ace the Dead 10-09-07, 01:52 PM	34. It hasn't stopped pouring for two whole days and the entire dock is underwater at low tide, as if the ocean itself wise rising. 35. A man dressed in black robes with human skulls on the shoulders bursts into the tavern the PCs are currently and slams the door shut. He has time to scream, "Help me," before the wall behind him begins to melt. 36. There is a large clocktower in the center of the village square where last night there was nothing. 37. A phalanx of clearly well trained and well armed gnolls march into town and simply block the largest road with a shield wall. They don't appear to speak common.
DM_Shonuff 10-09-07, 02:41 PM	38. The small town you've been in for weeks has given you wide berth being a strange adventurer. The townsfolk do not seem to even want to speak to you when you pass them on the street. Last night, a large severed head of a buffallo was put on your doorstep and strange glyphs surround the head in it's own blood. 39. You are in a town and a thin man in exotic clothes approaches you. He asks for you by name, and when you nod, he hands you a scroll. You open the scroll, penned by a close relative, who has died and left you an estate in the next region. 40. Camping in a deep dark wood for a few nights, you sleep fitfully and awake to an earthquake. When you crawl from your makeshift tent, you see where there used to be woods, now stands a large ruined tower. 41. Decius the Hempmaker has lost his only son Frek. Under twenty years, he is not sure where the youth could have gone in such a large city. Decius tells you of his competition, Grottel the ropemaker has been making slight threats to Decius and his business. 42. Your party comes back from its most recent adventure, packs full of gold and treasure. Upon entering the city, the party notices it cannot enter. Gates are sealed and a small encampment of tents outside fly the banner of the region king. The guards tell you of a curse that fell the town around the same time your party felled the owner of your new horde. 43. Upon clearing a dungeon, you find a preserved head of a pixie on the end of a wand. A macabre stick that seems to speak to you mentally. Every night you have dreams of a band of black clad humanoids slaughtering faeries in a neighboring wood near a familiar landmark. The wand demands you heed it's warnings. 44. The village of Strongfalls has a landmark waterfall in it's region. Majestic and serene, it provides the town and three more downriver with water. After a full moon, the waterfall has stopped and the water is flowing UPWARDS. A small cave can be seen behind the waterfall in the rock face. 45. Across the great river, Moosehead, from the village of Turnik, you can see a large ammount of tents being erected. No flags have flown yet, but nothing is done during the day. When you wake up, more tents are up and now even wooden structures are going up.
Ebonarc 10-09-07, 02:54 PM	46. "'It wasn't my idea!' screeches the leader of the hoodlums who jumped you. 'It was the boss's! He's got plans for this town and he can't have you...' He stops speaking suddenly, and you find a crossbow bolt in his back. Looking around to track the shot, you see a shadowy figure on a nearby rooftop, slinking away out of sight..." It breaks the 3 sentence rule, but it works.
Mark_Aged 10-09-07, 05:18 PM	47. Traveling though the forest, the party comes across a pool filled with dead Nymphs, the water dyed red. A blackguard standing next to the pool is snickering to himself, staring insanely at the dead Nymphs. A :cookie: to dengarbountyhunter, for making one of the best threads ever. This has given me an idea of what to do for a whole campaign.
PhantomTrain 10-09-07, 05:38 PM	48. Nine months to the day after the worst hurricane on record, every of-age female in the village wakes up very pregnant. 49. Everyone in town likes a good game of cards, but there is one man who no one can seem to beat. In fact, ask around and you'll find that it seems he leads a charmed life. So why did he show up at their room last night and try to hire the PCs to kill him? 50. This morning, the graveyard was gone. There was a note on the bare patch of earth where dozens of graves had once been marked by gravestones. "Be back shortly".
SeptimusMagistos 10-09-07, 05:44 PM	47. The mountain seems to be moving...
Yodaman23 10-09-07, 06:02 PM	48. People in town have been found cut cleanly in half in the middle of the street. At sunrise another person, seemily random is found dead. The only witness reports seem to acuse death himself, but that can't be right.
Ebonarc 10-09-07, 06:32 PM	53. "As you wonder why you decided to travel with night approaching, the path passes by a small, apparently abandoned stone tower. Without warning, several lights begin flickering in the tower's windows, and you hear beastly howls emanating from within. The forest to either side of you is now filled with pairs of small, glowing eyes, and the beastly howls from the tower are coming closer..."
Adric_the_Commoner 10-10-07, 01:04 AM	54. As you spend the night in a quiet and off-putting town, it slowly dawns on the cleric that everyone in town is undead. Not evil, not hungry for flesh, just undead. And every single one of them refuses to acknowledge that fact.
JohnnyWeird 10-11-07, 09:27 PM	55. "Yup, the clock says it's past noon. Why hasn't the sun come up?"
BruteSquad01 10-12-07, 01:58 AM	56. "The Lord of Hate will come again, and his Wrath shall burn the hearts of the living. His minions will pour across the land, and none shall escape the tide of destruction..." ... so sayeth the Prophecies, in part.
Archon-John 10-12-07, 03:11 AM	57) [A bit of background information - was running Ghostwalk alternative setting the way it should be run - with the Knights of the Quiet as murderous psychotics, after the players saw them assasinate a politically connected ghost on the street and found a token entitled 'The Knights of the Quiet - Saviors of Manifest'. They then raided a knight stronghold and freed a few ghosts... that being said...] Unknown freed ghost - 'Greeting adventureres, I am Cho-Galen. You have freed me from my unlawful confines. I would like to thank you for being the saviors of Manifest. (Ghost disperses, not being in Manifest) 58) You see many sets of leaves snap from the ground, totally engrossing your lead guide's dog. Horrifyingly, the enormous plant begins to extrude a thin covering of hair. Your guide examines it - from a distance, before catching a bird and tossing it inside. The plant snaps shut, begins to grow wings, and flies away, towards the nearest town. 59) All divine magic has stopped. The head cleric in the kingdom left on a quest to discover what has been preventing the magic. 8 months later, you arrive in a small thorp - looking for the same answer, when you see the cleric. Later that night, she unleashes powerful divine spells to save the village from an attack, begins crying, and disappears... The grass around the area the spell was cast in has turned into bone. 60)The characters are teleported out of there homes and lives and find themselves in a plains. They have no equipment, but there are piles of loot set aside for each one of them. They will quickly notice that although there is much plant life here, there are no animals to be found anywhere.
Mark_Aged 10-14-07, 10:03 PM	61. After leaving the inn, the party spots a sleeping black dragon, right outside. No one seems to think it's out of place. It wakes up, walks over to the party and says: "You guys got any ale?"
TonyPa 10-15-07, 03:46 AM	62. After a low growl, the largest mountain lion you have ever seen comes sauntering out of the bushes with its ears flat, looking at you with a snarl. Suddenly a gnome follows behind it and hits it with a quarterstaff, yelling "NO BOB... NOT FOOD ok... not food!" The cat rolls its eyes, flops down on the trail, and pouts.
JackSnape 10-15-07, 06:13 PM	63. Every year for the past 100 years one person has disappeared from the villiage. Now they're all back but they're not the same (undead perhaps.) 64. Inevetables are hunting the local brass dragon for breaking various laws during his trip to mechanus. The PCs must chose sides in the good/good battle. 65. The remains of a pirate ship have just been discovered not far off shore. Who knows what might be sunken with them? Mostly I wanted to bump this thread back onto page 1.
JohnnyWeird 10-15-07, 07:45 PM	66. "What do you mean, 'someone stole the church'?!"
Chahir 10-15-07, 08:08 PM	67. The emaciated man rants and preaches at the mob, his horribly scarred face illuminated by their torches. The impure must be cleansed, he screeches, their screaming souls cast down to be the playthings of the ten kings of hell. Suddenly, he turns his bloodshot towards you, his lips curling in a deranged grin...
Ebonarc 10-21-07, 10:47 AM	68. "The harvest festival seems to be in full swing, and you spend most of the evening enjoying yourselves. A few hours past sunset, you are standing outside a local tavern when two figures run past, the first an middle aged man, the latter wearing a hooded cloak that hides his or her features. The man screams for help before ducking down an alley, the hooded figure in hot pursuit."
Tovec 10-21-07, 04:21 PM	64. Inevetables are hunting the local brass dragon for breaking various laws during his trip to mechanus. The PCs must chose sides in the good/good battle. Um.. thats good-law not good-good. 69. You go and visit a dying friend. He appears to be dying of an illness that no one recognizes except for him. He asks you to hunt down something called the "Gods-Eye Root" to cure him. As you leave you feel a little weak but chalk it up to feeling badly for your sick friend.