A selection of chance encounters that can take place in any large town or city.
Inspired by Cheka's 30 things to run away from.
“So…. Um….. your all sitting around in the inn and…..”
An old and respected fortune teller is dying of disease and seeks out the help of andventurers to secure the heir to the fortune teller's power.
Dragons are truly awesome creatures. Too awesome in a lot of ways, really. Because of their power, their magnificence and their near-immortal lifespans, a GM might hesitate to include one in a campaign as anything other than an end boss. Here are 30 non-traditional ways to bring these wonderful beasts into your own campaign.
Due to the nature of tabletop RPGs, a campaign will often start with a random group of strangers. Here are some ways to get them adventuring together, without resorting to the old Tavern trope.
"A demonic plant? Don't be daft, go research something useful to society."
"But-but the p-plant! It's evil! It must be destroyed!"
"Now the flowers bloom all year round thanks to the most holy Spirit of Urban flora. It just takes a little blood."
It was just any other day, another testament to the mundane dreary lives of the living. No one was prepared for their coming, how could they be? They entered the bodies of the living, transforming them into blood thirsty monsters, all in an instant.
What happens when the PCs run into a girl that they failed to rescue once a second time?
A large object appears in the sky, moves in a strange fashion and vanishes after abducting a lone PC. The PC is later returned unharmed, but has several traits changed on his character sheet, no memory of the event and continually has strange dreams about goblins in space wearing lab coats and holding glowing wands.
-30 Disasters by Scrasamax
I’m inviting anyone who has a short plot , set in some sort of wilderness, to post it here.
A foreigner is being chased through the streets of the town by a mob with murder in their hearts.
The adventurers are approached in some public yet semi-private place by a lean dwarf, wearing a colorful cape with black feathers rim wrapped tightly around him. What will come of this?
"Hey there, you look like a sturdy fellow! Interested in a treasure map? Only a few gold coins and this map to an ancient ruins secret room can be yours!"
A Basic Dungeon Crawl that starts with a map.
A random description pulls the players into the dangerous, scheming web of politics…
So, off again we go to slay the evil dragon… but what happens when said evil dragon is asking for a big favour with its dying breath… well, you decide…
“While traveling you stumble upon…um…you stumble upon…”
A ship, drifting through the mists, with not a soul visible on her deck. Haunted? Yes, but not the way that you might expect…
The air had grown chill the minute they descended into the strange valley, which was unmarked on any of their maps. It was so strange here, devoid of animal life and completely silent. The horses were nervous the entire journey through the vale. As they set about to collect firewood for the campfire they could hear their own voices as dim echoes through the eerie silence.
The food didn't taste anything that evening and their sleep was cold and troubled by nightmares. While they are clearing camp the next morning, one of them stumbles over a piece of stone jutting out of the ground nearby the horses. On closer inspection there seems to be runes engraved into the polished surface. The symbols true meaning is no more known among mere mortals and if they decide to dig deeper, they will discover that it is an ancient altar buried within the soil.
Any historically oriented party member will recognize the largest symbol to be the insignia of the powerful warlock who ruled this realm several centuries ago. At their departure from the area, something will seem amiss with one of the party members and all will remember the stories of the warlock's thousand curses.
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New Submissions
side-quest-ish and open-ended to be sure.