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The 'Temporary' Monarch by
The monarch used to have absolute powers until the disappearance of King Henry V. A 'temporary' replacement was put on the throne to hold it until King Henry returned, and he would have only one vote on the governing council of nobles and no other powers except persuasion. More then 50 years have passed since then and everyone knows King Henry is almost certainly dead-but the nobles don't want to go back under the rule of an absolute monarch, so the kingship is only 'temporary' until King Henry V returns to take back his throne.
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Ideas - Plots November 11, 2017 |
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Money isn't everything by
Often valuables is counted in coins, jewelry and magic items. Surprise your players by offering them cheese, wine, cloth and art as rewards and payment.
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Ideas - Plots August 8, 2016 |
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Theology 101 by
A cult's theology is binding on the god involved: it is possible for that god to believe (and <b>see</b>, just like Winston Smith in 1984) that other gods are mythical, or jumped-up demons, or failing older spirits, even while those gods actually exist and thrive and act in the cosmos, even while working against him.
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Ideas - Plots June 28, 2016 |
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Theology 101 by
A cult's theology is binding on the god involved: it is possible for that god to believe (and <b>see</b>, just like Winston Smith in 1984) that other gods are mythical, or jumped-up demons, or failing older spirits, even while those gods actually exist and thrive and act in the cosmos, even while working against him.
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Ideas - Plots June 28, 2016 |
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A Game of...Saplings? by
(Apologies to GRRM and HBO)A group of northerners want to bring the Old Gods back to the south. They grow cuttings from the white trees seeking the blessings of the Old Gods on the project, and when the saplings are big enough, they carve faces in them and secretly plant them in forests all over the south, to extend the 'reach' of the Old Gods. The plan works of course, but the trees are *baby gods*, and behave as such when invoked. |
Ideas - Plots June 26, 2016 |
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Executioners need love too! by
Oazduke's Vengeful Head. The head haunts all headsman and executioners. A floating, bloody head, long separated from its body, is a particular legend among a very particular group of people, executioners, specifically those that chop heads from a block for a living. It was that infamous highway robber, Oazduke the Vengeful, who when finally captured and put to the axe, screamed his foul hex, seconds before his head flew off. 'You will know it is me when I'm through A curse on your ilk and on you! May my severed head haunt you eternal Frightening you headsmen infernal!' Years later, not one but two(!) weary, puffy-eyed, spooked, headsmen, haunted day and night by Oazduke's insufferable severed head, approach the party cleric in order to hire him to exorcise the ghost head once and for all. |
Ideas - Plots December 14, 2015 |
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Nature's Abundance by
A Druid Circle that's witnessed the polution and destruction of Mankind plans to wipe out every technological race, turning the world into a Nature Nightmare.
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Ideas - Plots July 22, 2015 |
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Insufficient Guineapigs by
You type the command into the console. 'Insufficient Guineapigs' the computer responds. Baffled, you retype the command. 'Insufficient Guineapigs' the computer replies again. You decide you should start smaller, with a simpler command. 'Insufficient Guineapigs' What does cycling the spaceship's airlock have to do with a now-extinct Peruvian rodent? |
Ideas - Plots October 25, 2014 |
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Indebted Beginnings by
Draw the party together as debtors to the local lord, king, head of the thieves guild, or mercenary clan, who is forcing them to work together to pay off their debts.
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Ideas - Plots October 17, 2014 |
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You Can't Go Home Again -- Thomas Hardy by
An adventuress, Semma, has returned to her home village, but something has gone badly wrong: it's the furtive glances, the conversations that stop when she approaches, the childhood friends who now have no time for her. She returns to the town or city and enlists your party to help her find out what's going on. The party must find out what is wrong: something (perhaps a Cthulhoid monster, perhaps a gang of vampires, perhaps just a bunch of bandits) is extorting obedience from the villagers by threatening their loved ones with at least death. Once the source is discovered, Semma and the party and a few brave yeomen (and women) must deal with the threat by finding its base and defeating it, and then deal with the remnant corrupted villagers who willingly served the Evil Force. These may prove to be the most difficult foe... |
Ideas - Plots June 19, 2014 |
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Loose Lips... by
A casual remark by one of the party about something met on a previous adventure leads to a summons to and grilling by the Mages' Guild (or equivalent), probably resulting in an expedition back to that area to recover the things for study by the Guild. The party's presence will be 'requested' for this expedition.
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Ideas - Plots April 30, 2014 |
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Walk without rhythm and you'll never learn. by
Arakis's zombie problem went largely ignored, because it was believed that the Shai-Hulud (sand worms) would effectively dispose of the undead walkers. Unfortunately the problem grew until the roving herds of sunburnt ghouls threatened the flow of spice. While observing one of the great reanimated masses over take a Harvester from the safety of an ornithopter, an Imperial Zoologists noted that the sand caked flesh eating revenants walked entirely without rhythm. Shortly after receiving this report the Bene Gesserits claimed to have a solution to Arakis's hellish resurrections. They asserted to the agents of the great houses that the worms could be drawn to the walkers using an ancient sonic weapon. According to the sisters, exposing the zombies to an antediluvian ballad composed by the great master M. Jackson would force them to step in time. |
Ideas - Plots March 13, 2014 |
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Strange Love Affair by
Ursula is a were-bear; she and Stewart, the bailiff of a rural feudal estate, are lovers, sharing all their secrets as lovers often do. Recently something has been taking livestock. *He* must deal with suspicions that a bear is involved (one has been seen nearby...): *she* must defend herself if it is revealed (perhaps by a jealous suitor, perhaps accidentally) that she is a lycanthrope. The adventurers might be called in to track the hungry beast(s) and discover her secret, but be able to reveal that the culprits are a small pack of wolves that has moved in to the area. The adventurers might earn the gratitude of both Ursula and Stewart, depending on what they reveal, and to whom.
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Ideas - Plots March 5, 2014 |
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Great Magic and Ruination by
With a huge number of sacrificial victims, another realm long ago secretly bound a Prince of the land spirits, Iorstonn by name, thus ensuring the fertility, and improving the magical defences, of their realm. But binding that Prince to one spot has disrupted the weather and magical patterns (ley lines?) over half the continent. Things have become bad enough that a coalition has been formed to rectify the situation, once divinations have established the cause. Your party is one of the teams assembled to do the rectification: find the binding object and steal it ('so that we can destroy it here in our realm, of course'...*) or destroy it over there. Presumably the Prince will be grateful to his rescuers and angry at the binders, but with a greater spirit like Iorstonn one can never be sure: such beings are 'tricksy'. * Of course, the rulers of our realm might want to control Iorstonn for their own ends... |
Ideas - Plots February 27, 2014 |
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Skinturner Secret Agent by
A shape-shifter of some sort has taken up a post at the War College of an enemy realm, where he secretly picks off only the most promising officer cadets, arranging bizarre accidents that gradually debase the leadership of the hostile army. In the long run, this will improve his nation's chances when the inevitable conflict comes. As a shape-shifter he can impersonate superiors and peers alike and send the target candidate to the cleverly-prepared site of his (or her?) execution. As long as he is successful, no-one will ever know about the deception--even necromancy will only implicate the one impersonated... |
Ideas - Plots January 27, 2014 |
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Cursed Summoner by
A PC Conjurer or summoner, basically any mage whose sole purpose in life is summoning creatures to aid in battles and various situations, is cursed with a hex, and needs to find a way to undo the curse...before he goes mad, or his fellow PCs throw him out of the party, or worse.Everything he/she summons, never goes away. So you'll have to figure out what the heck to do with that dire bear or fire elemental once it's done fighting the orcs for you. Eventually a caravan of bizarre creatures either annoyingly ends up following the summoner around, or they go off to cause mayhem elsewhere. Bad news for the poor spell-caster regardless. |
Ideas - Plots January 20, 2014 |
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A Killer in Town by
A vicious murder happens in a town that the party happens to pop in at. Under heavy suspicion as they are strangers, the party is forced to discover the perpetrator or have their reputations blackened, especially as more and more murders occur in the town, and mysteriously stop and restart when the party leaves to go kill off that evil necromancer who kidnapped the princess.The only problem is that a demon, possessing one of the party, is the perpetrator. And the demon makes no signs that its living in the PC's head. In fact, for all the party knows (except for the possessed person's), their companion is an evil murderer. Do they try and execute their friend as he's a vicious murderer, and no evidence points to demonic posession? Or do they flee town with him, trusting him, and have their reputations destroyed? |
Ideas - Plots September 29, 2013 |
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The Lumberjack and the Druid by
A man is arrested for mass murder and found to be insane. Piles of corpses were found on his property, neatly stacked torsos with the skin peeled off and the limbs removed. The man readily admits the work is his, though he claims he was only chopping down trees, removing their branches, debarking them, and then stacking them to season.The man may have swung the axe but it was a Druid who caused the delusion. This Druid is still on the loose and likely to repeat the crime. In time he may get more creative in his 'punishments.' |
Ideas - Plots August 26, 2013 |
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A Demon Danger. by
After the PCs defeat (or force the rapid retreat of) a villanous necromancer/demon summoner, they discover a book. This book outlines how to summon a demon whose power increases according to the size of the summoning circle used to summon it. And after the PCs examine a map of the country, they find that the layout of the cities and roads match up with the required summoning circle. In fact, the final road that would complete the circle is currently in construction.With anyone who can find out about the circle and the ritual to summon the demon able to somehow make the final road/line, and destruction of the cities and roads currently in existence out of the question (unless this is an evil campaign- that removes the moral quandary), how are the PCs going to solve this problem? |
Ideas - Plots August 17, 2013 |
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What's in a Name? by
The court wizards of Angolterre have been working for several generations to protect the dynasty. They see to it that the new monarch's names acronymically refer to a rune of protection. Once completed, the rune will make the dynasty almost invulnerable in battle, wise in counsel, etc. Unfortunately the next name, the only one that starts with the right letter, happens to have belonged to the worst monarch in living memory. Not much chance of getting the current ruler to name his child that, or for the people to put up with it if he did! What's a court wizard to do? The magic requires that the plot be kept secret of course...
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Ideas - Plots July 25, 2013 |