I'm running a game in a heavily modified "Freeport" (Green Ronin), with a main plot centered around a heavily modified RoTRL (Paizo) background story. I've got the setting, story, and about 100 named NPCs complete. It's been quite a lot of work.
Problem is, I have one main story and no mini stories.
What I need is a BIG list of side quest materials that fit a privateer/pirate campaign setting. I'm not talking about NPC centric quests, I've got those. I'm talking random encounters.
For example (Straight from my notes):
THE BARDIC CUTPURSE:
The PCs go into a tavern where a bard is playing (basically the FIRST tavern the PCs go to). He uses “dazzle” a few times during the performance on the crowd to keep their attention. This scene can be combined with a generic NPC asking the players to do some low level task for some cash. The PCs leave. Sometime later in the session, the bard attempts to grab an item hanging off a PC and make a run for it. He will be cornered and the PCs will catch with him. The bard has already summoned his instrument. This is where the PCs learn what kind of bard it is. He’s a level 7 Demagogue bard. He has no intention of killing the PCs, he just wants to get away. He incites several members of the crowd to attack the PCs, so that he can get away with the item. When the bard performance no longer covers the attacking crowd, the attacking crowd will flee the scene. If this fails to lose the PCs, he will use his wand of silent image to create all sorts of reasons for the PCs to give up chase.
If the Bard is cornered, he will immediately surrender. He is desperate. He owes (my version of the mafia) money and is convinced that Sart is going to kill him soon (Sart, of course prefers to not do such things because dead people don’t pay back money). He’ll apologize profusely and say he’ll find a way to handle it himself.
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So in this case, I start with the simple idea of a Bardic Cutpurse. Since the campaign setting has been completely rewritten by me, I know where and how to put the idea. The problem I'm having is that the big lists of side quest I keep finding are for more kingdom based campaign settings. This game is going to run for quite a while in a "Pirate" city that's meant to be a little more on the gritty side. Traditional side quest material won't due.
Any ideas?
