New adventures

[Nealomage]

So I have been the GM for... About ten days. Are next session is in two weeks and naturally I need to create an adventure.
I do not want to play a premade adventure and relish the challenge of creating my own.
The party consists of a dwarven paladin, human druid, human ranger, and finally a half long sorcerer. The setting will take place in the Inner Sea, not sure where though.

I am basically asking for advice as to how to start up an idea for my new adventure. I am currently blank on ideas.

Thanks

[Nealomage]

Sorry halfling sorcerer

[Melvin the Mediocre]

PC's win a ship in a gambling game. Once the hand is over, everybody clears out. NPC's start keeping their distance from the PC's and eventually they are told to get their ship out of port. No one will sign up as crew.

At first everything is awesome, in fact the ship is amazing with many magical properties. (Anywhere from faster to can submerge or fly.)

Then a devil shows up. It turns out that the PC's must sacrifice a demihuman every full moon, or they will be teleported back to the ship which will sail them to hell.

[Melvin the Mediocre]

The local noble's house is on fire, PCs are nearby. While everyone is busy putting out the flames, PC's notice someone running from the house with a cloth bundle. Turns out, the fire was a distraction while someone kidnapped the noble's baby.

[Joshua Goudreau]

Check out this article:

PathfinderWiki.com/Varisia

The first thing that you read that gets your imagination running can be the basis for your adventure. Perhaps goblins have been hitting Varisian trade caravans or the elusive Sandpoint Devil is in need of slaying.

Once you have the hook let your imagination do the rest. Find a foe for the party, probably a low CR monster such as goblins or kobolds, and then let the hook lead you into a story about how said low CR adversary is involved in the plot that caught your eye.

Varisia is a fantastic place to set a campaign because it is chock full of plots and sites and hooks that you can grab and run with.

[Melvin the Mediocre]

It is almost time for the midsummer's eve feast, and the townsfolk can't wait for the traditional dragon's tail. Sir Awesomesauce even delivered a fresh tail last night before travelling on. But alas! Kobolds have stolen the regal recipe, and the PCs must get it back in time for the master chef to prepare his greatest dish ever.

[Melvin the Mediocre]

Plague and sickness have been breaking out in all the nearby villages. PCs are hired to find out why. Eventually they find an evil druid beleives disease is nature's way of thinning the herd and fighting civilization. S/He has been using animals like rats to spread sickness to kill off the villages.

[Dosgamer]

If you haven't ever experienced the "you find yourself in a roadside inn" trope then you need to use it at least once. It's a classic!

PCs don't know each other from Adam, but are bonded together by some unforeseen circumstance that only their mettle and abilities can remedy.

In my last usage of this tried-and-true beauty I had a slaver enter the inn disguised as a soldier, round up all the able-bodied (i.e., PC's plus 2 slavers disguised as travelers) and march them off out of town in search of bandits reported to be in the area. You could either run the slaver ambush or turn it into a fiasco (as I chose to do) where the slavers' plans get turned on their ear by something completely unexpected (in my case a necromancer happened along his waiting companions, killed them, and then raised them as plague zombies who attacked him/PCs when they showed up at the ambush site).

Have fun!

[VRMH]

A not-evil wizard has crafted and sold a definitely evil magical item, but has a change of heart. He wants the item brought back to him or destroyed.

[Mythic Evil Lincoln]

Flip through the bestiary and find your boss monster.

Choose logical minions for the boss monster.

Choose a cool encounter location.

Decide how this monster has interacted with the setting in a way that creates a situation that MUST be dealt with... by the PCs.

Do a "dress rehearsal" putting the PCs in their starting position, and create a few hooks to get them where they're going.

Write down anything cool that occurs to you during the dress rehearsal. Plot twists, relevant rules lookups, powers to remember to use, etc.

Ask yourself "if this is a TV show/movie, what should happen in this scene/episode. Write those down. Find a way to work them in, and if you can't, keep them in your pocket in case the chance arises.

Then, play!

[Nealomage]

Wow these are all amazing. Thanks for the great advice, love the idea about the ship!