An icky sideline plot to a forest adventure.

I'm trying to think of alternatives for game-openings, to replace the standard 'meet up in a tavern' or 'adventuring group applying for a job' techniques. I know these can be easy ways to get people playing, but I'm certain there are more interesting ways...

I don't know if I posted about it before, but I have always wanted to run an adventure set in a library. The following is a sketch of an unusual premise and a possible plot-hook.

The Despotic Queen of Shiant has decreed that a competition will take place in the month of Oconerry. She will have built a labyrinth through which the contenders must pass in order to win the ultimate prize: her hand in marriage.

A mysterious quarry. Feel free to suggest explanations - it's just an eerie thought that struck me that I intend to play with.

Carmo keeps a shop in the backstreets of Erezi. It's not often visited, Carmo makes people feel...uneasy. Even the veterans of the Erezi underworld are uncomfortable being alone with Carmo. But they need to buy their traps from somewhere...

The characters are stranded on an island, where a wizard, corrupted by the powers of the first Blue Book, has been killed by his own magical experiments. They will discover the awful truth that lurks in his subterranean workshop, and a seed of evil will be sown...

She has everything: stunningly good looks, sharp brains and oodles of power: she's going to be a Queen. The only drawback is that she doesn't want to be a Queen.

Although it can be a distraction, it can also add atmosphere to an adventure to have music playing in the background. Here are some pieces I'd recommend for different situations.

Dragons, being huge and meaty, are the ideal habitat for countless unpleasant parasites.

An impressive citadel in the Askharnn mountains. Their prohibitive laws on travel during the Winter months can be a problem for pilgrims and wanderers.

Creepy, Crawley, Buzzing, Digging, Biting, Building, Sticking, Jumping, Clicking, and all the other things these small things do.

The silver necklaces whose inset gems display the status of the wearer.

The mystery of fyre is one which has much occupyed my studies and the studies of men before me. ... I have concluded that fyre is the product of Fyre Antes.

Professor J Klewlise, "On the nature and origin of fyre" (1542)

"When our barbarian ancestors first arrived on the plains of our homeland, they found them covered in dust inches thick. They named them Muranvan, the Dusty Plains and armed with spades they cleared the dust heaving it off the edge of the world. For they had been chasing the Prey for long aeons up the face of the cliffs at the edge of the world, and in the chase had tired of their nomadic ways. They wanted a stable home. So they founded Takvanak, the City on the Plains. In the long silence after they had cleared the dust from Muranvan, rang out the deep and unforgettable tones of the Iron Heart, Saekeri, and the barbarians knelt and felt resounding reverence."

- The Saekeran, book 1 verse 1.

Hathalfar holds the writhing troll down with his gloved fist and sword. The beast squirms at the touch of metal. 'How far is Kolm?' he demands for the third time. 'I said! A long way away,' replies the troll.

A (fairly sketchy) outline of a one-off adventure I ran based around the (time-honoured/hackneyed) Tunguska Event of 1908. As such it is quite specific (hopefully not hackneyed) and will probably best serve as a specimen for dissection to get those parts you can use in your own adventures. But then this is an Ideas Guild after all...

A disembodied hand enthralled by an evil wizard to fetch books for him.

Archaeologists have long wondered about the origins of 'cup and ring-marked stones', the mysterious rocks found on deserted tracts of moorland bearing markings resembling small shallow pits with concentric rings and dating to the Bronze-age.

Following a discussion we had on the site, I thought we could start up a thread to post the pre- and post-apocalyptic effects of a comet/minor planetary impact on a campaign world.