Campaign Night, and I don't have anything prepped! [Archive] - Wizards Community

Campaign Night, and I don't have anything prepped! [Archive] - Wizards Community

Post/Author/DateTime Post
Aberlonian
01-18-07, 12:23 PM I know, I'm a bad DM :(

Tonight is game night, and I don't have anything prepared. We're doing a basic campaign, and just got finished a 3 session long dungeon crawl, so the players probably want to do something outside.

I can improvise halfway decently, but does anyone have ideas for outdoor adventures? (If it helps, the PCs just found their way out of a dungeon below a dwarven city in the mountains)
Dracon_Ian
01-18-07, 12:29 PM Go onto the main page and find the premade pdf dungeons, you'll have to try hard to get them to work, but it's the best thing to do for now.
Aberlonian
01-18-07, 01:46 PM I was looking through them, but I think the characters are kinda tired of dungeon crawls. I'm looking for a wilderness or city adventure.
Cryforge
01-18-07, 01:55 PM I was looking through them, but I think the characters are kinda tired of dungeon crawls. I'm looking for a wilderness or city adventure.
The best way to do a quick outdoors adventure is to have the PCs travel somewhere far away for a quest etc. On the way, have a few random encounters that turn out to not be so random. Have them be chased across the countryside by a specific group of raiding monsters. Have a thief steal their stuff in the night causing them to have to enter the forest. And so on...
xaqariah
01-18-07, 01:58 PM The local Baron's daughter just got engaged, and he's throwing a HUGE party, and everyone is invited.

It's planned to last three days, and the entire local community is gearing up with events, and special sales-n-the-likes.

Thing is, who is the groom-to-be? He has some secret adgendas of his own, and wooed the Baron's daughter to get closer to the family, and the secret they (and the local community) sit on.

Meanwhile, the local community neads to up its contingent og guards, for the comming events, and population surge, the PCs could hire themselves out, or just sit back, and spend their new-found loot in the great celebration.

There could be a number of skill-based events, like Archery and strength competitions, along with gambling and great food all around.

:D
Murrdox
01-18-07, 02:01 PM I drew up a great adventure awhile ago that my characters had fun with.

It involves the characters discovering a village filled with sick and dying people, and saving them from a "Mad Scientist" goblin who is experimenting with alchemy, flesh, and other goblins. Here's a basic outline of how it worked.

1) Characters encounter village. At first glance, it is deserted. At second glance, almost everyone in town is sick in their beds. Characters discover that a strange plague has affected the town over the past 2 weeks. Almost all have fallen victim. When victims are near death, strange bodily mutations occur, and they go mad, attacking all they see

2) Characters encounter a group of mutated villagers that they must kill or capture.

3) Characters discover cause of the plague is sludge that is flowing into the river upstream from the village.

4) Characters follow the sludge through a pipeline that leads to a vat of the stuff. Encounter with several larger mutants, zombie servants who are "tending" the sludge, and goblins.

5) Characters follow the source of the sludge to a small cave complex. Inside the complex are various goblins, mutants, and wardogs.

6) BBEG fight. Swillrat - goblin with Sorcerer levels, and two very large mutated ogres.

7) After Swillrat is defeated, characters can stop the flow of the mutating sludge, and will find several barrels of a purifying chemical that will purify the well-water of the village under the effects of the plague.

What I did for this adventure was come up with a "Mutated" template that I added to all the creatures. It had a minor disease-touch ability, added strength, and minus intelligence and wisdom. Most of the goblins had added levels of Rogue or Warrior to make them tougher.

This was short enough to run in 2 playing sessions.
ccerose
01-18-07, 02:10 PM Have the villagers hit up the adventures to take care of some local problems. Spiders in the grove where they pick fruit. Goblin raiders killing off livestock. A trio of hill-giants are rampaging the nearby hills. Gnoll raiders have just ransacked the village church and stole the offerings and kidnapped several of the village maidens.

It may not be possible to tie this into your current campaign story arc, but they can be fun diversions.
CyrusDuane
01-18-07, 02:19 PM Consider their histories/backgrounds and personal adventure goals (why they adventure).

Make a list of them if you don’t already have it. (You’ll need it for the rest of the campaign)

Once you have that list, simply think “What here in front of me makes sense to encounter them in the forest”.

Character raised near here? Family needs help!
Druid/Ranger that protects the wilds? Fey need help!
Character hunted by someone/some group? Now is the time to ATTACK!
Character has been looking for something, and doesn’t know where it is? SURPRISE ! or “A CLUE”!

If you think about the character traits and history, combined with the personalities of the players, the adventure will write itself.

Stumped? Think about the items they just took out that dungeon you mentioned. Then figure our which one is cursed, and how and why it is cursed. If you have access to copies of “Knights of the Dinnertable” magazine, you can go to the extreme of Carvin Marvin….

A well played cursed magical item is often an adventure by itself!

Good luck, though I am sure you will do fine
JerBar
01-18-07, 02:19 PM When the PCs go to spend the loot they picked up in the dungeon have every NPC they meet either ignore them or act like they hate/fear them. Even merchants do not want to deal with them and will not buy the heavy items they wanted to convert to quick cash. As the PCs run around town (or whatever they do) drop hints that someone has been spreading rumors about them. Rumors like the PCs doing nasty things to anyone who deals with them, or that anyone who takes money from them dies. Let them spend nearly a whole session trying to figure out why they are suddenly so hated. Of course in the end they should find out the source and be given the chance to extract revenge (unless the culpret is able to get away.)

It might be a fun little side adventure, the reward of it will be that they can now spend their loot.
pres_man
01-18-07, 02:22 PM Just got out of a dungeon? Great they spend the night outside, as they are breaking camp suddenly they get attacked by ... (maybe hill giants or ogres or something), send lots of weaker creatures at them instead 1 or 2 stronger ones. Do this at the very start of the session. Wham, everybody is in the action. After the fight, they search around and find a dwarf stuffed into a bag. After reviving him, they learn he had just discovered (insert something of interest), and the ogres/giants were trying to get him to tell them where it is. Now it is guarded by more creatures and their pets (wolves or bears or something), as well as a few traps. Take it from there.

Post/Author/DateTime	Post
Aberlonian 01-18-07, 12:23 PM	I know, I'm a bad DM :( Tonight is game night, and I don't have anything prepared. We're doing a basic campaign, and just got finished a 3 session long dungeon crawl, so the players probably want to do something outside. I can improvise halfway decently, but does anyone have ideas for outdoor adventures? (If it helps, the PCs just found their way out of a dungeon below a dwarven city in the mountains)
Dracon_Ian 01-18-07, 12:29 PM	Go onto the main page and find the premade pdf dungeons, you'll have to try hard to get them to work, but it's the best thing to do for now.
Aberlonian 01-18-07, 01:46 PM	I was looking through them, but I think the characters are kinda tired of dungeon crawls. I'm looking for a wilderness or city adventure.
Cryforge 01-18-07, 01:55 PM	I was looking through them, but I think the characters are kinda tired of dungeon crawls. I'm looking for a wilderness or city adventure. The best way to do a quick outdoors adventure is to have the PCs travel somewhere far away for a quest etc. On the way, have a few random encounters that turn out to not be so random. Have them be chased across the countryside by a specific group of raiding monsters. Have a thief steal their stuff in the night causing them to have to enter the forest. And so on...
xaqariah 01-18-07, 01:58 PM	The local Baron's daughter just got engaged, and he's throwing a HUGE party, and everyone is invited. It's planned to last three days, and the entire local community is gearing up with events, and special sales-n-the-likes. Thing is, who is the groom-to-be? He has some secret adgendas of his own, and wooed the Baron's daughter to get closer to the family, and the secret they (and the local community) sit on. Meanwhile, the local community neads to up its contingent og guards, for the comming events, and population surge, the PCs could hire themselves out, or just sit back, and spend their new-found loot in the great celebration. There could be a number of skill-based events, like Archery and strength competitions, along with gambling and great food all around. :D
Murrdox 01-18-07, 02:01 PM	I drew up a great adventure awhile ago that my characters had fun with. It involves the characters discovering a village filled with sick and dying people, and saving them from a "Mad Scientist" goblin who is experimenting with alchemy, flesh, and other goblins. Here's a basic outline of how it worked. 1) Characters encounter village. At first glance, it is deserted. At second glance, almost everyone in town is sick in their beds. Characters discover that a strange plague has affected the town over the past 2 weeks. Almost all have fallen victim. When victims are near death, strange bodily mutations occur, and they go mad, attacking all they see 2) Characters encounter a group of mutated villagers that they must kill or capture. 3) Characters discover cause of the plague is sludge that is flowing into the river upstream from the village. 4) Characters follow the sludge through a pipeline that leads to a vat of the stuff. Encounter with several larger mutants, zombie servants who are "tending" the sludge, and goblins. 5) Characters follow the source of the sludge to a small cave complex. Inside the complex are various goblins, mutants, and wardogs. 6) BBEG fight. Swillrat - goblin with Sorcerer levels, and two very large mutated ogres. 7) After Swillrat is defeated, characters can stop the flow of the mutating sludge, and will find several barrels of a purifying chemical that will purify the well-water of the village under the effects of the plague. What I did for this adventure was come up with a "Mutated" template that I added to all the creatures. It had a minor disease-touch ability, added strength, and minus intelligence and wisdom. Most of the goblins had added levels of Rogue or Warrior to make them tougher. This was short enough to run in 2 playing sessions.
ccerose 01-18-07, 02:10 PM	Have the villagers hit up the adventures to take care of some local problems. Spiders in the grove where they pick fruit. Goblin raiders killing off livestock. A trio of hill-giants are rampaging the nearby hills. Gnoll raiders have just ransacked the village church and stole the offerings and kidnapped several of the village maidens. It may not be possible to tie this into your current campaign story arc, but they can be fun diversions.
CyrusDuane 01-18-07, 02:19 PM	Consider their histories/backgrounds and personal adventure goals (why they adventure). Make a list of them if you don’t already have it. (You’ll need it for the rest of the campaign) Once you have that list, simply think “What here in front of me makes sense to encounter them in the forest”. Character raised near here? Family needs help! Druid/Ranger that protects the wilds? Fey need help! Character hunted by someone/some group? Now is the time to ATTACK! Character has been looking for something, and doesn’t know where it is? SURPRISE ! or “A CLUE”! If you think about the character traits and history, combined with the personalities of the players, the adventure will write itself. Stumped? Think about the items they just took out that dungeon you mentioned. Then figure our which one is cursed, and how and why it is cursed. If you have access to copies of “Knights of the Dinnertable” magazine, you can go to the extreme of Carvin Marvin…. A well played cursed magical item is often an adventure by itself! Good luck, though I am sure you will do fine
JerBar 01-18-07, 02:19 PM	When the PCs go to spend the loot they picked up in the dungeon have every NPC they meet either ignore them or act like they hate/fear them. Even merchants do not want to deal with them and will not buy the heavy items they wanted to convert to quick cash. As the PCs run around town (or whatever they do) drop hints that someone has been spreading rumors about them. Rumors like the PCs doing nasty things to anyone who deals with them, or that anyone who takes money from them dies. Let them spend nearly a whole session trying to figure out why they are suddenly so hated. Of course in the end they should find out the source and be given the chance to extract revenge (unless the culpret is able to get away.) It might be a fun little side adventure, the reward of it will be that they can now spend their loot.
pres_man 01-18-07, 02:22 PM	Just got out of a dungeon? Great they spend the night outside, as they are breaking camp suddenly they get attacked by ... (maybe hill giants or ogres or something), send lots of weaker creatures at them instead 1 or 2 stronger ones. Do this at the very start of the session. Wham, everybody is in the action. After the fight, they search around and find a dwarf stuffed into a bag. After reviving him, they learn he had just discovered (insert something of interest), and the ogres/giants were trying to get him to tell them where it is. Now it is guarded by more creatures and their pets (wolves or bears or something), as well as a few traps. Take it from there.