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88. The Poison Bean Plot
"I thought you should know - The Mountain Rebels have taken to farming beans..." Franz was very concerned at what he had seen.
"And rebels taking up farming is a bad thing?" Duran was surprised by the suggestion.
"It is where these beans are concerned - a handfull could poison a Village Well."
DM Briefing: A Druid alerts Adventurers that Mountain Rebels are growing a poisonous plant as a crop whose seed when powdered can kill.
Unknown to anyone they are planning to poison an entire city.
Source: link
Do OWS next!
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89. Evict them with All Force
"Patriarch Altino, I realize you like to consider this city a place where people are free to gather and think their own thoughts, but these labourers and serfs outside the Guild hall calling for better wages...some of them are demanding equal shares." Guild Master Falconio was distressed. Perhaps it had something to do with the fact he had been egged on his entry into the building.
"And what do you propose Guild Master?" The Patriarch knew he would demand their dispersal. Certainly the crowd had become large over the last few days.
"Kill the first fifty and push the other seven hundred out into the countryside. We can hire others prepared to work for what little we offer them." Had they become that many?
"I will need to consider this."
A rock came through the window cementing the Patriarch's support.
DM Briefing: The Merchant Guild, objecting to mass protests by impoverished labourers unable to live off a pittance pushes the government to dispersing the protestors with force. The PCs as guardsmen are called on to kill fifty protestors and force the other seven hundred out the city gates.
Source: Link
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90. The unburied Corpse
Halek rubbed at the old brass plate that identified the contents hung around the neck of the dry remains on a chain. Karl of Jernoff. Why did that sound familiar?
"Lubik? why do I know Karl of Jernoff?" His companion looked up from prying open another coffin.
"He's under that big stone with the naked lady carving." Halek shook his head in disagreement.
"Oh no he isn't." Lubik looked up from his task and stepped around the box to examine Halek's find. Karl of Jernoff.
"Then who the hell is buried in his grave?"
DM Briefing: When a body thought to have been buried in a grave ten years before hand is discovered in an old dust covered coffin in a storage room PCs are called in to investigate the identity of the squatter in his grave.
Source: Link
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91. Big Cat stalks rural Community
"Selmo...Did you see that?" Huran the Turnip farmer looked about nervously.
"See what?" Selmo looked up from his shovel at the nervous farmer.
"It was a kind of big cat, about the size of a pony." Selmo thought that was a crazy idea.
"Where is this giant cat?" Huran was pointing a the edge of the woods that bordered his farm. Something was moving there through the shadows.
"What the hell is that?"
DM Briefing: Reports of a Huge cat roaming the rural areas and menacing livestock draw huntsmen looking to capture or kill a Lion.
Source: Link
Do one for the place that had all the animals running around after that private zoo animal enthusiast shot himself.
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92. Its the end of the World as we know it
"By the Gods!" Hauk of Freeport pointed skyward forcing Kasnsi the Barbarian to look at what had drawn his attention. There at the edge of the sky shield something huge seemed to burn like a hurled coal as it moved across the sky.
"Starfall!!" The Barbarian's recognition of this horror had evoked some long dormant race memory.
DM Briefing: A huge asteroid menaces the world as it emerges from deep space to smite life.
Source: Link
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93. A Mage's Managerie
"Yeah!" Haji's crossbow bolt exploded through the caged cat's skull and sprayed blood and gore over his fellow guardsmen.
"I'm gonna skin that bastard and have his fur hide for my bed chamber." Tavo was nauseated by the actions of this imbecile looking elsewhere at the more desperate animals which seemed to sense their end.
"Damn all Wizards..." Tavo cut the throat of a strange horse with a horn protruding from it's head killing it cleanly.
DM Briefing: Serving as City Guardsmen PCs are dispatched with others to the walled Estate of the recently deceased Wizard Selmo the Maleficent to put down his collection of starving exotic animals.
Source: Link
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94. Farmer Rescues Dog from Cave
"So this cave is how deep?" Thurn the Dwarf was interested by the idea of a cave just outside the village.
"Twenty feet. Our ferret hunting dog was at the bottom. I had to climb down and retrieve him." Jonjo the Turnip farmer was pretty impressed with his actions. Thurn smiled and patted him on the back.
"And there were other tunnels?" The farmer nodded at the Dwarf's excitement.
"Ten percent of anything of value will be yours for our right to explore it."
DM Briefing; A farmer rescues his dog from a 20 feet deep limestone cave on the edge of his farm. The cave itself begins to draw the interest of Adventurers.
Source: Link
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95. Quake destroys Village
"Help! is anyone there?" Hans was pinned under a beam. The last thing he remembered was the Building shaking to the ground.
"Yes...now shut up and dig your self out if you can...I'm pinned down by a bloody beam." The Voice seemed close.
DM Briefing: A Quake levels a community. This is an opportunity for Adventurers to play hero an pull Villagers from the rubble.
Source: Link
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96. Blood-soaked madmen in Rooftop Siege
"Ya shan't take me alive ya bastards!" Han Bin stood precariously on the roof of the gable-house waving a small dagger, the blood of his victim moist on his skin.
A Guardsman leaned out a window of an adjacent building.
"I have a clear shot." Gregor looked down the stock of his crossbow at the madman as his commander moved about behind him.
"Take it."
DM Briefing: PC Guardsmen are called out to deal with a group of men covered in blood on the roof of a building.
Source: Link
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97. Ghost hunters go missing
Guardsman Dalvo leaned against the door frame of the old house.
"I'm just saying that If you hear from your Daughter or Son in law, just let me know...Its urgent we speak with them." Anya Qaterno stared at the other man who had popped by with the 'Guardsman'. He looked more like a thug than a member of the guard.
DM Briefing: Known Ghost hunters vanish from their home and are thought to be on the run. The Town Guard want them to surrender to arrest so they can have words with them. PCs who are members of the town Guard may be called in as the legitimate search for these missing people.
Source: Link
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98. Wizard requests a Black Rhino
"These great beasts are known to live on the Bloody Plains. I will pay you a million gold coins if you can find one and return it to me alive." Hondo choked on the size of the Bounty.
"A Million gold coins? For a million gold coins I will bring you a whole damn herd." The Wizard smiled at the suggestion.
DM Briefing: A wizard offers a million gold pieces bounty to the first to find a Black Rhino and return it to him alive. Unfortunately the Species is extinct in the wild.
Source: Link
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99. Stolen Beer Kegs discovered on Lake Shore
"Kegs were found concealed in woods near the lake shore. It is now apparent that we have a problem. Over the last decade we have lost upward of two dozen boats shipping Beer. That collection of barrels amounts to one fifth of our losses shipping across the lake." Guildmaster Halma stroked his beard. The people they would hire to investigate this would have to be bought in from outside.
"I might have heard of a group. They were involved in a piracy investigation at the Port of Suddeer." Gregor smiled. Yes. They would be ideal for the task.
DM Briefing: Ninety Two Kegs of Beer thought lost during their shipment by lake Boat are discovered concealed on the lake shore. PCs are called in to investigate Lake Piracy.
Source: Link
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100. Humans massacred by Elves
"Commander Selestrya! Ignite the siege weapons. If we get this right we can flush these damn humans out of the village and straight into the Gauntlet General Astynil and his hunters have established on the far side." Commander Selestrya nodded and barked a command to the ballista crews. No more stinking humans on elf lands.
DM Briefing: Over a hundred villages occupied by Humans across a forested region are massacred by fanatical bands of Elves resulting in the slaughter of four hundred thousand Humans.
Source: Link
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EMPIRE TODAY Issue 2
This issue will focus on adventure ideas involving Castles and Communities. I will also do some maps and post an appendix of links for each adventure idea at the end.
1. Castle under Construction
"Out of the way Pek!" Kail turned to face the loud mouthed idiot accosting him only to be bumped aside by a group hauling a stone block on a sled.
"What?" The foreman of the workers wasn't going to tolerate any violence from Kail - especially considering he was in the way of their castle building efforts.
"Don't lie there you Pek. Back to work!" Kail nodded in agreement. He was here to learn the faction they represented and infiltrate the labor force not get involved in a fight.
DM Briefing: Some unknown faction begins construction of a Castle in the forested hills near a community. The PCs are asked to infiltrate the work-site and learn as much as they can.
Source: Link
Wow. Good work.
This is perfect for Eberron campaigns.
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2. Prison Siege
"All right! We want out! That's all you gotta do!" Talbot screamed the words down the hall toward the collection of gathered guards.
Prisoner Laconi whispered in his ear.
"We got hostages! Let us go and they wont be harmed."
DM Briefing: A Prison riot escalates into an 8 hour long siege involving hostages. The PCs can be sent in to rescue the Hostages or negotiate.
Source: Link
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3. Fire in the Sewers
Albet stopped dead in his tracks as the fountain of fire erupted from the sewer Well.
"By the gods! Fire! Fire!" His screams roused the populace in a panic but just as it had come the fire was gone. Only once the infernal heat had subsided did he approach the edge of the hole to look down...
"What the gods was that?"
DM Briefing: Fire explodes from the access points of the sewers beneath the city of Dhurnt. Some witnesses suggest it was like a mini-volcano of molten magma and others think it was the discharge of fireball spells. What ever is going on is a threat to the community because much of the older sewers are timber and will collapse in if they burn.
Source: Link
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4. Killer at the Crossroads
The Crossbow bolt tore through Vinter Haas as he emerged from his shop into the street to discern the nature of the commotion.
"That's Right! I am Arago the Black! Fear My name!" Franko the Carter took a bolt in the chest having proven unable to reach the murderer before the madman could reload and was hurled backward by the force of it. People were fleeing for their lives while others poured into the crossroad at the heart of the Community.
DM Briefing: PCs are confronted by a Killer who has taken up residence at the crossroads that dominates the community. He has already killed and injured a half dozen people before the PCs are sent to take him down.
Source: Link
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5. Riot in Marketplace
Soal Egers was pushing through the crowd in the Market Square toward the distant stall selling smoked fish when it happened.
"Are you trying to cheat us? What is this rubbish?"
"Down with the Merchants!" The voice was quite loud.
There was an explosion of timbers as someone was thrown through a stall to the left of Soal, a hand grabbing him, a fist impacting, a timber thrown or simply swung, and suddenly the crowd's mood changed.
The Violence exploded across the marketplace in a hundred places.
DM Briefing: Two hundred people become embroiled in a riot in a market square as others flee the violence.
Source: Link
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6. Rival Priests of Rival factions fight
The Black-robed Cleric stepped in front of the broom being brushed furiously across the floor toward him by a grey-robed priest.
"What are you doing?"
"I'm sweeping the floor." Esca slapped the Black-Robed Cleric's feet with the brush of his broom, "And you are in my way."
"This is our part of the Temple grey-robe!" Surdal pushed the young cleric with the broom backward...
DM Briefing: Priests of different factions of a church begin fighting over the cleaning duties. The Whole affair degenerates into a violent fight between priests.
Source: Link
I favoritted your thread, your writing is excellent and you definately proved that the "ripped from the headlines" TV writer trope can be used to equal effect by a DM. Your best hook by far is the river sacrifice hook though some of the others off the highlight reel include your bit with the murders 100 miles apart, and the forgewry hook could lead to quite a bit of fun chasing down a criminal who used all those letters of credit for something sinister...
That said some of these are thin at best for adventure hooks, particularly the natural disasters. Much like the news you are sourcing from allot of this is interesting news that may very well be a "well that's unfortunate" reaction form a PC. Unless they are very high level what is a group of adventurers to do about an earthquake or tidal wave? Other weak hooks include the farmer dying of a bee swarm, one fireball later problem solved...
On issue three...
They are supposed to be sufficient to give you leeway as DM. You take what you want from them. If you want you could stick them in a History of my adventure world for the Year Almanac.
Yeah just finished reading issue 2 working thru 3. In case I wasn't clear about this in my previous post, I do admire your work. That said as a writer that desires to get into game design myself, I take very little from feedback like awesome work, keep 'em comin' and wanted to provide some constructive feedback.
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Yeah just finished reading issue 2 working thru 3. In case I wasn't clear about this in my previous post, I do admire your work. That said as a writer that desires to get into game design myself, I take very little from feedback like awesome work, keep 'em comin' and wanted to provide some constructive feedback.On issue three...
They are supposed to be sufficient to give you leeway as DM. You take what you want from them. If you want you could stick them in a History of my adventure world for the Year Almanac.
Most are just campaign level events. When a Quake levels a city, or a bushfire sweeps a region - it is purely to change in the campaign. Others are a more focused event - like investigating murders, fighting smugglers and so forth.
Love this thread. I also pull my ideas from the news - probably why my campaigns are so grim.
I thought the fortune teller and blood bricks was so bizarre. Truth is stranger than fiction.