Post/Author/DateTime	Post
TalonofTiamat 12-26-05, 12:11 PM	I've been trying for 2 weeks to think of an adventure for my PCs and have nothing. I really need some help. Right now, the PCs are in a very primitive area of the world, and they just got out of a difficult dungeon. Suggestions?
Board_Rider 12-26-05, 12:30 PM	I don't know what levels they are but have you checked the free adventures in the "Downloads" section of this sight? Sons of Gruumsh is a good module if ya want to pay.
tsuyoshikentsu 12-26-05, 01:43 PM	Here's what I always do (and why I get beat up a lot): Read fairy tales. As many as you can. Grimm and Arabian Nights work especially well. I have gotten more adventure inspiration from those two combined than ANYWHERE. I'm currently working on the Golden Bird from Grimm as a one-shot.
Azezel 12-26-05, 02:26 PM	Well - I hate to be the one to say it, but the 'One Hundered Adventure Ideas' table on pages 44-45 of the DMG is for exactly this situation - grab your d% and get cracking. Yes I know it's not as easy as that, but you knew the risks when you became a DM. I just tried it myself, I rolled a 61 'An Island at the centre of the lake is actualy the top of a srange, submerged Fortress'. Actualy, this is a bit cooler than most of the ideas on 44-45. Five minutes thought and I've refined the idea a little. Since your PC's have just finished a dungeon crawl they probably wont fancy another right away. Therefore - the Fortress is not full of monsters and traps, but is actualy full of puzzles. It has four floors (rry inside) and solving four puzzles on each floor allows the PC's to reach a central room - inside the room they pull a leaver and the Fortress rises from the water. xp all round and the party has a stronghold to boot. Your players will congratulate you on a top-hole adventure (one whose type they have not experienced before I suspect) and everyone's happy. All thanks to Azezel and the random adventure table. My work here is done...
MinusInnocence 12-26-05, 03:08 PM	That was inspiring. Yeah, there are tables like that in Heroes of Horror and Lords of Madness, too. Anyway, when you mentioned they were in a primitive environment and had just finished up a pretty tough dungeon crawl... maybe they need a place to call their own so they can lick their wounds and count their GP? Setting up a camp and erecting defensive structures could be the order of the day. Then, run an encounter where they have to defend the location until a set period of time; perhaps the walking dead in this region all wake up at the same time and attack until sunrise, or whatever. Alternatively, a primitive area is perfect for some sort of super-predatory beast to stalk the PCs. I've always enjoyed the concept of monster-slaying, sword-swinging, egotistical maniacs being hunted by something intent on killing and eating them. Of course, one of the best ways to do this is to have a white dragon stalking them through a blizzard in the tundra; but a fiendish dire tiger or maybe even an abberation is fine too. Remember, the primary source of tension in adventures like the ones I've described is being cut off from civilization. Just like in horror movies these days, the first thing that has to happen to the group of hapless teenagers is that they realize their cellphones won't work until the crisis is over. The realization the PCs are all alone and that, if they fail, no one will ever know what happened to them can scare the hell out of even the players, if you play your cards right.
TalonofTiamat 12-27-05, 11:15 AM	Well, first I should thank Azezel and MinusInnocence for the great ideas. Unfortunately, I can't use the sunken fortress one because of a lack of lakes or similar bodies of water. The druid in the party also plans on building them a fortress using his uber druidness so I could have them defend that, but it will take a while for it to be built in game time and I don't have anything for the others to do in that time. I like the idea of them being hunted down, but I'm not sure what to have hunt them down, they're all around 10th level and I can't think of anything off the top of my head that would fit the situation. I'll look through my books and see if I can find anything, any suggestions would be helpful.
Azezel 12-27-05, 11:50 AM	My pleasure TalonofTiamat - I'm actualy not disapointed that you cannot use my idea - I'm going to use it m'self. As for your PCs being hunted down, I suppose you have concidered the obvious - a Ranger. Table 4-19 on page 122 of the DMG has a 20 pick-up-and-play ranger NPCs. I'd go for a level 13-15 ranger, Defeating him will be a significant challenge depending on the number of PCs and cohorts in the party, so they will have to think their way out. The level 15 Ranger in the DMG has a direwolf companion. Now I suppose the party must have killed a few of these in the past - so Ranger-boy is hunting down the people who killed his companion's family. It'l give the Druid a chance to match his wilderness skills against a ranger, which should be fun. It'll give the rest of the party a nice mystery - to whit: who is this chap and why is he hunting us? Again - this is only five minutes work and needs no little polishing, but you're welcome to it if itfits your game.
metamind 12-27-05, 02:27 PM	reanact the crusades. Never failed me :)
TalonofTiamat 12-28-05, 01:08 PM	I think I might have found something to have hunt them: The nightmare beast from the MM2. Although, the Ranger idea might fit better. What do you guys think?
PenderGrass 12-28-05, 01:17 PM	Whatever you do - don't run the game "just because." This is a sure way to ruin a game night. Make sure you have an idea you are motivated to run and that you have it planned out to the point where you feel comfortable (if you feel comfortable winging it with just the slightest idea of what is really motivating you, then you run it - if you like maps and detailed NPCs, then wait until they are done) with everything in it. Every DM has their own comfort level, just make sure to have met yours before starting the game. Believe me, your players will appreciate a longer wait if that means a better game. Just don't get bogged down in the "not-good-enough-syndrome" either. :dragon: ****
M3 12-28-05, 01:29 PM	Have the characters leave the Dungeon but under the effects of a curse/insanity (shared hallucinations). They all see each other normally but the rest of the world is viewed as if it is filled with undead. Everyone they interact with appear to be zombies ect... A riddle to lift the curse only causes them to discover, after much hack/slash and running, that they are the ones affected and all the rest just victims of their insanity. Think of all the spin off adventures from good aligned crusaders seeking to vanquish these "evil doers." The roleplaying required to make amends ect... Holy quests, atonements, ad infinitum... (If you use this adventure all I ask is that you have an NPC named Void interact with the party in some small way) Let me know if you like the idea....
TalonofTiamat 12-28-05, 04:52 PM	Gah! If only I'd heard about that idea earlier M3. It is so fitting, but they've already gone back and talked to the chief of this tribe they're friendly with, so it's kinda late to spring the insanity thing on them. I'll keep the idea in mind though.
MistWolf 12-28-05, 10:56 PM	Gah! If only I'd heard about that idea earlier M3. It is so fitting, but they've already gone back and talked to the chief of this tribe they're friendly with, so it's kinda late to spring the insanity thing on them. I'll keep the idea in mind though. No, it's not too late. The insanity starts off with everything seeming to be perfectly normal, then things inthe corners of their eyes are... well, out of place. And it get worse form there..... I think a rival tribe moving into the area would work. Another thing that will make the Ranger a bigger challenge is to give him the characters' racial type as a favored enemy, and arm him with bane weapons. He doesn't just come in and attack them, he studies them and actually comes into their camp and talks with them. It'll be more personal that way when things get wicked up a bit
M3 12-29-05, 12:24 AM	Have the next magical portal they go through transport them to the world of the dead....their world whilst they are insane =)
Morotis 12-29-05, 12:36 AM	I've found Ideas for campaigns in the bible, the old testament, not the new one, the old one... :shifty: Whay is everyone looking at me like that...
TalonofTiamat 12-29-05, 10:39 AM	No, it's not too late. The insanity starts off with everything seeming to be perfectly normal, then things inthe corners of their eyes are... well, out of place. And it get worse form there..... Hmmm... I like it! Thankyou so much!
DMK69 12-29-05, 04:59 PM	As a lot of my PCs have only played 3rd Edition, I like mixing in some of the old 2nd Edition stuff as well. You could always get a 2nd to 3rd Edition conversion with a Google search of something like I3 Pharaoh and beef up the monsters. Something that shouldn't be too difficult to do since there is quite a bit of traps and puzzles in this module and it takes place in a very desolate location. :cool: If you plan on stalking the party....you could always throw Elric Of Melnibone in there wanting some magical weapon they found that belongs to him. You didn't say the fight had to be fair, did you? haha Here is a link.... http://www.angelfire.com/games4/doctorwhoeyespy/d20elric.html Of course, there is always....1001 Epic Level Adventures to get some ideas..... http://boards1.wizards.com/showthread.php?t=113432
potlessrainbows 12-29-05, 05:25 PM	I've found Ideas for campaigns in the bible, the old testament, not the new one, the old one... :shifty: i think thats a great idea! ;)
potlessrainbows 12-29-05, 05:28 PM	Have the characters leave the Dungeon but under the effects of a curse/insanity (shared hallucinations). They all see each other normally but the rest of the world is viewed as if it is filled with undead. Everyone they interact with appear to be zombies ect... A riddle to lift the curse only causes them to discover, after much hack/slash and running, that they are the ones affected and all the rest just victims of their insanity. Think of all the spin off adventures from good aligned crusaders seeking to vanquish these "evil doers." The roleplaying required to make amends ect... Holy quests, atonements, ad infinitum... (If you use this adventure all I ask is that you have an NPC named Void interact with the party in some small way) Let me know if you like the idea.... love the idea and will use it. any other info on this npc named Void or just anyone?
TalonofTiamat 12-29-05, 08:12 PM	I've found Ideas for campaigns in the bible, the old testament, not the new one, the old one... :shifty: Whay is everyone looking at me like that... This is a good idea, I may use it in the future. As soon as I get a copy of the Old Testament.
BaneBlade 01-03-06, 10:01 AM	I used to go to the video store and look for the worst low budget movies I could find, then read the description on the back of the box. The movies may suck, but the story is usually something that would spark an idea or something I could just blatantly steal. And that is why you pick bad 'B' movies, less of a chance that the party has seen it. They might think it kinda lame if the adventure you give them is to take a magical ring across the world to destroy it in a volcano. But if they are travelling across country and find some mutilated bodies near a cabin, and are suddenly set upon my huge werewolves, thier only hope for survival is to hide in the cabin and hold them off for the night...then you might have something. (Dog Soldiers btw).
Gnome_Dragon_Disciple 01-03-06, 11:06 AM	I used to go to the video store and look for the worst low budget movies I could find, then read the description on the back of the box. The movies may suck, but the story is usually something that would spark an idea or something I could just blatantly steal. And that is why you pick bad 'B' movies, less of a chance that the party has seen it. They might think it kinda lame if the adventure you give them is to take a magical ring across the world to destroy it in a volcano. But if they are travelling across country and find some mutilated bodies near a cabin, and are suddenly set upon my huge werewolves, thier only hope for survival is to hide in the cabin and hold them off for the night...then you might have something. (Dog Soldiers btw). That's all well and good, but I've noticed that many gamers are the exact people that are MOST likely to be familiar with B-movies... Just to prove the point, a cookie to the first person who can give me a brief synopsis of the following three movies without consulting IMDB.com: Day of the Triffids Plan Nine from Outer Space Army of Darkness *cough* In any case, many people will be entirely oblivious to a ripped off storyline provided you rip it off from the right source. Try to rip off more from sci-fi than fantasy. For some reason replacing "parsecs" with "days by horse" and "alien" with "monster" is enough to throw most people entirely off the trail. Pull something out of context and change a few names and bingo... instant "inspiration". Or if you just need to get your creative juices flowing, try reading existentialist philosophy dissertations, HP Lovecraft fiction, or visit a science museum while thinking "What would Tordek think of this place?" Or you can google "writer's block." As it turns out, writers (crafty little devils...) have developed exercises to stave off creative juice clotting, and some even have exercises that can be used by DM's too! Who'dve thought we'd- erm... THEY'D be so darn clever? :P