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Inspired by 1001 campaign seeds, this thread is for those who just want an idea for a one-off adventure (or a few adventures) to fill in time between campaign adventures, or just for a casual game.
1. The Beacon
Yesterday, a powerful light began pulsing from a previously uninhabited region near the city. At the same time several small earthquakes have been felt in the ground. Finally, a ghostly figure has appeared to several leaders, pleading with them to..."Help me. help me or everyone will die."
The City hires the PC's to locate the source of the beacon and discover what is going on. Upon arriving at the location of the beacon, they discover it is emanating from a cave, inside which is a fantastic magical contraption the size of a city. It is guarded by constructs and traps, and the PCs are not the only ones attempting to penetrate the mystery as several local monsters and tribes of goblinoids have seen the beacon and have responded. Working their way to the centre of the the contraption, they discover the ghostly figure is a real person strapped into the machine, but it is obvious he is dying. The pc's must get him back to the city and find out what the connection is, then return with a replacement to regain control of the machine, which is causing the earth tremors and if left unchecked will cause a massive earthquake that will bury the city and the surrounding region.
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2.The corn maze
A village has billed it as a unique above ground dungeon. One of the elders has planted and raised it to lure the Minotaur and his goblin minions into there, and the novices who have already gone in have not been heard from again. The Minotaur has spent all the loot from the village on a vicious war ax(It causes bleeding), but the ones who already went in probably dropped potions or coins.
3. Rite of Passage
Each year youngsters and hopefuls in the town of Mistwatch gather to head out on the night of the last 3 nights of Autumn. This commemorates the night the abbey burned down outside of town. The old cemetery is still tended by the shambling, rotting dead and the novitiates prove their bravery by seeing who can get closest to them. This year however a group of lads went out the first night and never returned; no one is brave enough to go after them.
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4.Pushing back the river
The village of Newcastle has recently dammed a river to allow for better irrigation and fishing. Recent fishing trips, however, have not returned. A Nanban trading ship, however, was found, with no survivors and smelling faintly of gingerbread...
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5. All Bets are Off
A hundred years ago a ragtag group of adventurers banded together to save the city of Aldon from devastation. Destined for greater things these adventurers went on to become some of the most celebrated and revered heroes of all time, but the tales always made mention towards their humble beginnings.
Today the city of Aldon is awash with vagrant wannabe-heroes eager to follow the footsteps of those glorious adventurers. Mostly, they just succeed in terrorizing livestock and burning down taverns. To combat the problem, the local aristocrats gathered together to build one of the most elaborate death-trap dungeons ever conceived and spread a rumor about a "dark and terrible evil" that resides within. These nobles have made a small fortune by selling the scrying rights and managing a gambling service.
So far the survival rate has been abysmal, and no adventurers have "won" the dungeon. With the bookies typically pegging victory odds at a longshot 50:1, a tidy profit could be made if a group of underdogs were to be given an unfair advantage. The local thieves guild has seen to that, now all that's needed is the right group of schmucks to pull it off...
dot for interest. :D
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6. Caverns Deep.
A dwarf geologist believes he has located the Starstone under a sea. The merpeople at war with Sahaugans there are willing to share the meteoric iron. They want some fearless adventurers to don pearl amulets that allow water breathing, explore the deep caverns, kill the monsters, find the meteoric iron, and craft them a mighty trident of lightning.
7. The lineage
A kind-heated, small-time, barely known noble is looking for a group of adventurers to seek out what he believes could be the key to his ascension to true aristocracy. Though rigorous research he had traced his lineage to one of the ancestors of a major noble houses, that is soon to die out, with little to no hairs, and he believes he could partake in this division of their lands and wealth.
All he needs is proof, lineage papers that would tie his ancestors to theirs. And the only place he can think of, where one might find a physical, authentic copy of such an old family tree, is the ancient, abandoned mausoleum-city of Haman-trot, which is rumored to be a safe heaven for various unlawful parties, vicious humanoids and much more...
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8. Saving Needlefall
Once the diminutive wood of Needlefall, though modest in size, was a haven for the Syldanan; a loose confederation of eldritch smiths from all walks of life. When the group was outlawed by the old empire as dissidents ad traitors Needlefall was discovered and infiltrated by a coven of hags. In time the Syldanan shrine-forge was extinguished and the tomb of guild was corrupted by the crones.
Those days are long gone, as is the coven but the Needlefall has been a haven of the undead for a century. Now a new Syldanan, a blind female elf named Tisha Everblade, has arrived and claims to have a way to reignite the shrine-forge. She'll need brave adventurers though to explore the tomb to retrieve a critical piece of the rite: an amulet of minor artifact power. Once found the fumes from the forge will be powerful enough to rid the place of its ancient curse.
The adventure then is simple. Step one is to get Tisha to the ruined shrine-forge. Once there she'll stoke the fire and open the tomb. From there the party must enter the crypts, locate the amulet and return within an hour's time. Of course, the undead aren't the only concern. Recently kobolds have been seen in the vicinity of the Needlefall. They have for years now been seeking out sources of smithing knowledge for their own nefarious schemes, but now it appears they've discovered some of the secrets of the Syldanan.
9. Big Time
A tribe of desert giants have done the unthinkable - they have broken the gnolls stranglehold on slavery in katapesh. Although too large for the city, the desert giants have set up an over large tent city just outside of katapesh borders. They have a collection of slaves from all races, and have become well known for treating them as fairly as possible- and the slaves are quite loyal as a result. The gnolls are none to pleased at this development, and have started hiring mercenaries of low moral character to attack giant slave caravans when possible. In turn, the desert giants have begun hiring mercenaries of their own, supplemented by the occasional slave soldier. The PCs have been hired by one party or another and are in the midst of their duties when they discover the slaves are only loyal because they inhale a will - draining/mild euphoria inducing incense the giants have been a burning around their slaves unknowingly. What will they do with this knowledge...?
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10. The Canopy
The towering giants of the Eldwood have been quiet for years. The upper canopy is still as dark as ever but now a safe and well-traveled road passes under its thick shadows. Recently however whole caravans have gone missing; only the carts themselves remain.
The trees themselves have not awakened and the canniest trackers cannot find a single mark of passage. It is suspected then that the attacks are coming from the dense thicket of branches and leaves above. The PCs have been hired to find these new brigands and end their depredations.
Depending on the level of the party it may be simple goblins or fey, or instead there may be a host of moss trolls and other powerful branch-dwellers serving the will of some powerful dark force.
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11. Deja Vu
The mage Yarlos always dwelt heavily upon her mortality and her limited time in this mortal coil. Surely her existance upon this plane could be magically extended, even if by unnatural means, but such finite consolations were a pale imitation of her true desire: an eternity of joy and decadence, free from all worries and cares and the perversity of undead form. So she developed her final spell and in a great ritual cast it over all the surrounding lands. A sphere of fog seemed to surround the countryside, and anyone attempting to leave would merely stumble back into the realm somewhere else. Anyone entering would find their passage unhindered. Few thought much of it; the occasional eccentric magical display was part of the price of having an Archmage as resident and protector. Little did they know, everyone who stepped within the realm in that time was to be trapped forever in Yarlos' prison.
Seven days passed, and then the true purpose of the spell awoke. Time sped backwards to the original casting of the spell. All things done in the past seven days were undone, and no one had any recollection of it. This includes Yarlos herself, though as the designer of the spell she is aware that she exists in a time loop. To keep herself from being depressed at the prospect of eternal repetition, the spell causes random fluctuations in her mood with each cycle. In some cycles she is introverted and spends her time reading in the library; in others she is psychotic and rains death and destruction upon the peons below. Save for the variations of her own behavior, however, everyone else is doomed to repeat those seven days for all eternity.
After an unknowable number of cycles, a few individuals within Yarlos' prison have "awoken". They no longer forget the passing of time between each cycle, and while the spell resets their bodies they are free to grow in experience and knowledge. Can they find a way to break the spell of Yarlos? Or will they slowly go insane as the ravages of time erode their now-unprotected minds?
Only she can cast banishment to cast you out. What about the time mages who come to research time loop related spells. Then there are those with fatal genetic defects who would rather stay.
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Only she can cast banishment to cast you out. What about the time mages who come to research time loop related spells. Then there are those with fatal genetic defects who would rather stay.
Time travel is always weird; everyone has a different idea of how it works or should work. I had a certain idea in my head that her spell would work like a super-position of timelines. On the inside of the time loop, everyone experiences the iterations sequentially (though their memories are wiped each time). However, these iterations are actually occurring simultaneously in a super-position. No matter how many iterations occur inside, exactly seven days total occurs on the outside. In order to allow the timelines to desynchronize like this, Yarlos must make sure that nothing can leak from the inside of the spell to the outside. So if anyone were to teleport out, the time loop would be ruined. This means banishment is a big no-no and Yarlos has certainly made fail-safes to prevent such situations.
With regards to time mages, that's the reason why Yarlos kept the duration relatively short. People from the outside have only 7 days with which to discover, investigate, and tamper with her spell. If they don't succeed in breaking it within seven days, then they never will. Because her timeline has already reset at least once, no one from the outside can possibly interfere now.
Few people would actually be aware that there ever was a time loop. Yarlos' spell goes up on day 1, and for seven days nothing gets out. At the end of seven days, the spell ends and the time-lines rejoin. On the outside world, seven days have passed normally. On the inside, there have been an unknown number of "loops". The final iteration (the one where the PC's break the spell) is the one that rejoins the proper timeline.
I think you're supposed to assume that her magnum opus trumps mere conventional spells, Goth Guru.
Nothing short of a Wish, Miracle, Gate, or Disjunction spell would stop it. It's moot, since the PC's shouldn't have access to any such spells.
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13.
Several river nymphs used to help the village by keeping the river supplying their water clean. Lately foul things have begun floating in the river and the water has become rancid and poisonous. The village has sent several persons to go check in with the nymphs, but only one has returned mumbling incoherently, bleeding from multiple, what appear to be humanoid bite wounds. His only dicpherable words were ... nymphs...corrupt...necromancer... followed by an attempt to bite the guardsman holding him. Luckily the town priest an extremly old man was nearby, and quickly blasted the hapless scout with a greater undead turning.
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14. The Dark Times
Intro:
The adventure starts with the party traveling by caravan to a growing out-land city that is currently under attack by goblins, hobgoblins, and some Ogres. The party will enter the fight and defeat one of the Ogres which in turn changes the moral of the attacking troop. The party is of course rewarded for their heroics with a free weeks stay at the main hotel (all you can eat and drink). While in the tavern the party over hears a gnome talking about treasure in an old pirate ship in the north swamp. While in the swamp the party will come across an ancient grave yard that contains a black stone monolith with old rare elvish runes on the bottom. The runes speak of an eternal night. If translated and spoken aloud a beam of black light will shoot into the sky causing black clouds to spread blocking out the daylight.
Hook: A Mohrg is demanding tribute so certain citizens tempt the unaware with free treasure in the swamp. The citizens have been capturing goblins and hobgoblins as sacrifices. The Mohrg now has a taste for human and elf and makes his way into town to feed. The party will end up fighting the Mohrg when they come back from the swamp.
Main Plot:
The town has been trying to reinforce its wooden exterior walls with stone walls. They have been quarrying stone from what has turned out to be holy ground to goblins and hoblins; hence their attack. Word comes from the quarry that they have broken through to some large cavern system (Known as Stonesky). With the party's growing fame in the town they are asked to investigate the uncharted caverns. Meanwhile, the monolith's cloud continues to grow covering the countryside in darkness. This turns out to be a Drow prophecy where they return to the surface and enslave the world. The party will discover in the mushroom forests, Drider guard posts, living spider towers that they need to reclaim a Dark Scepter to thwart the Drow from summoning the Spider-God (completing the prophecy).
Hook 2:In the same caravan that the party arrived to the town so did an anti-paladin who has stolen the Dark Scepter from the Grey Elves vault. As an agent of the Drow, he has knowledge of a secret door into Stonesky. The party must battle the anti-paladin and the leader of the Drow next to a tower made living spiders (which is their way out of Stonesky)
In a nutshell.. (And this was before the campaign setting came out)
By the way, the part I really love about this adventure is that the party causes the entire calamity!
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15. Celestial Tonic
The adventurers have just stopped at a wayside inn or tavern to rest from their adventure(s), or simply get out of the weather.
An elderly lady distracts the barmaid taking a second or third round of drinks to their table (set perception dc how you deem appropriate) She drops sprinkles of dust in each drink. Once the players retire to their room, their dream that night becomes a nightmare construct foreshadowing what is about to happen. (Almost like they get one shot to experience an upcoming particularly nasty fight to help them become better prepared.)
If a player notices what the old lady did, and decides to confront her, she claims innocence. She is also well known, and respected by the locals, so this could be bad for the players. Should it be forced she can simply send them into the dream construct via spell cast directly upon them. All watching it will look like the players passed out. The staff will lay them in a common room together, and on into the nightmare.
The players are in no real danger in the nightmare construct, if they die, they simply wake up. Although if any manage to survive the entire encounter you may allow them to keep something they acquired in the dream that will help them in the coming battle.
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16. Talkers
The characters hire on to a caravan bringing supplies to a town. The name of the town is Verboten. Any spellcasters in the party are given permits to cast necromantic spells if they want them. DC15 local knowledge to know all necromancy spells are forbidden in that town. When they reach the town, as sunset nears, they find all the residents waiting to unload the wagons and leave town. Most buildings are partially dismantled, the town hall is boarded up in layers, and there is a charred wood pillar still standing in a now cold bonefire.
Characters have a half hour to question people and search. The mayor and his son will of course say nothing, but anyone else brought to friendly will admit Jonus, a cleric of Pharasma, was burned at the stake for speaking with the dead. a DC15 rumor is that the mayor's son (John)killed the butcher's son (Johnny)because the baker's daughter (Cathy)was in love with Johnny, not John. DC20 rumor that Cathy ran off into the woods with Johnny's corpse. Two ghouls that look like Cathy and Johnny are directing the undead army attacking the town each night. In the ashes in the town square are bone fragments, one of which is a slightly charred jawbone. The Jawbone: minor artifact that turns all remains within 6 miles into appropriate leveled undead that talk in a spooky voice. Note that this is greater speak with dead, no mouth or voice box are required. Only the cleric of a death god can destroy it with a remove curse. In the lead wagon is a strongbox. Inside are 6 vials of alchemist fire, 6 of holy water, and 3 full bottles of Efreeti Brandy. Note that 100 proof Efreeti brandy burn like lamp oil and sterilize wounds. There are 5 doses per bottle. The wagon master has the key, but he will escape in the lead wagon, empty except for the mayor, his son, and the town treasury, at the ten minute mark. The strong box has a standard padlock on it. There are 4 wagons left.
The attack: As the sun begins to set, the survivors pull out of the town, and the undead attack. Start with a few waves of zombies chanting, "Were dead, were underfed, and we won't go back to bed!" If the characters are higher level, add a squad of ghouls, ghasts, and maybe change the lovers to vampires and throw them at the wagons. Any undead turned will go after the lead wagon. Just when they are out of the woods, literally, they come upon the lead wagon, shattered, with the occupants being torn apart by assorted ghoul templated animals(Level appropriate). The town treasury consists of 1253 gold coins, 4 diamonds worth 5000 gp. each, and a contract suggesting the mayor sold his soul to a devil to get his position, all in a standard chest.
17. The leaping prince
A group of adventurers comes across a young grippli down on his luck and in big trouble with local street folks. The man screams that he is no grippli, but a human and a nobleman at that, brought into this body and to this place through some bizarre magic and treason. He pleads the adventures to help him, find a way to lift the curse and find his way home, where he can confront his treacherous brothers and return the lands that are righteously his. All he has to offer now is but a single black pearl and his family crest, but he swears on his nobility and honor, that he will open his vaults and armories, and will allow the adventurers to take as much gold and arms as they can carry, if only they help him out.
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18. The Curse of the Stench
A hapless band of adventurers has returned to town with a unique witch's curse; the Curse of Stench. The foul odor will reek from their skin until either they are killed or cleansed. The trouble is no mere soap and water or simple Prestidigitation will do the trick. What's worse is that every animal or person they come in contact with will spread the blight until the entire town is consumed by stench. Their only hope, besides a powerful remove curse, is one of the herbal remedies of Lilly Greentongue. She has all she needs save the Moss of Dragonspit, a rare black lichen known to grow on the south face of stone shrines scattered throughout the Bleakmoss. These shrines are erected at the edge of pools of stagnant water or feted bogs. She is looking to hire a band of adventurers to venture into the moors and retrieve as much of the moss as they can. She has provided them a vial which they must first catch a bit of water in from one of the shrine bogs, then fill with the moss and return to the herbalist before three moonrises have passed on the first sample taken, lest the batch go sour. Its a matter of life or STENCH!
19: Water War An evil druid has rallied a local group of treants into raiding caravans that carry supplies to a forest-bordering small town that harvests timber that has hit on hard times as their water supply comes from an underground spring that turns into the river that carries the logs down stream and has been cut off by an earthquake caused by the druid. A wizard has been into the caverns beneath the town, attempting to use magic to redirect the sprig that fuels the river, but has not been seen in a week. He is presumed dead or captured by the druid. The party members have to locate the wizard and kill the druid. A noble has promised a great reward, possibly even a marriage into his line.
I'm fixing the numbering on this topic.
20.TREE OF LIFE
plot
you have heard of a tree's sap can bring someone back to life. It is called the TREE OF LIFE. you travel deep in the forest of death. the tree of life is in the middle of it. it block by high level monsters and when you get there you find out you can only get 1 vial per person
I'm fixing the numbering. GM's are going to need to roll on this when PCs lose too many levels to continue an adventure path.
21.Almost Everybody Loves a Clown
The ringmaster of a circus hires the characters to find their missing clowns. Turns out they stole a magic spellbook and turned each other into funny animals. Now they cannot change each other back.
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22.Little Red Torture Chamber
Goblins are missing from their village. One Gob has escaped and returned with a tale of horror. Some humans are trying to force Goblins to (shudder) read and write. Warty only escaped by volunteering to go out and clean the erasers. You can play as a party of Goblins, or as the mercs. hired to free them. You get bonus xps for using trickery and not harming the well meaning would be teachers.
23. Fire at the Rusty Copper
The Rusty Copper was the oldest inn and tavern in the Northern Reaches. The owners were proud of their long and colorful history of amazing performances of theater and performing arts in their outdoor amphitheater right outside its doors. Bards, Skalds, adventurers, and travelers from across the realm have rested or performed inside its hallowed halls.
Just as you arrived in town however the great building caught fire in a great wash of flame that could be seen for miles around the neighboring countryside. Pressed into service to contain the blaze, you find yourself standing shoulder to shoulder with people you do not know in an ultimately futile gesture to save this priceless local attraction.
Instead of thanks when the inferno ultimately does burn itself out, the local baroness has decided that adventures, artists, and travelers just like you are to blame for this calamity. She has coldly decreed that all "outsiders" are to be conscripted into service until the Rusty Copper is rebuilt.
The work is tiring and the enforcement of the baronesses mandate by her guards can be quite brutal. But there are other ways to serve the town if you look hard enough. Word is that this fire wasn't an accident, but arson. The townsfolk here look almost as oppressed as you do now. What can they tell you about the town and its icy cold leader?
Do you yourself even care? One should be able to escape the work details if you are skillful and crafty enough. The one thing you do know though is that you will need allies here if you are to get out from under the thumb of this oppressive ruler.
What will you do?
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24. Runaway Bride
The PCs are quickly summoned by the local lord. His son was recently betrothed to a very wealthy merchant's graceless, braying daughter. The son ran away with his not-so-secret lover (your choice between a plain but charming stablemaster's daughter or a handsome guardsman if you want something very different). They fled into the nearby forest, which contains an area that the locals do not go because it is infested with goblins, fey and other creatures. The PCs must track the lovers, make sure no harm comes to either and bring them back in time for a banquet.
Complications?
1.The lovers have become separated. The commoner is being chased by a band of vicious kobolds (led by a sorcerer) and the PCs come upon this chase first. They must rescue the commoner who can point them in the direction of the fey who have captured/taken a liking to the noble.
2. The PCs can try to fight the dryads/etc or the fey will give the noble back if the party if the PCs retrieve a lost magic flute from the kobold lair.
3. The kobolds are just grunts for a green dragon and their lair is just the outer levels of the dragon's lair.
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Pretty sure none of my players are reading this, so here's the adventure hook I'll be using in a game I'll be running in the new year:
25. Enemies of the Faith
A conniving nobleman has recently been appointed High Inquisitor of Salbourgh, and seeks to use his office to destroy his political enemies. House Relgan, unaware of the plot against them, hosts a grand banquet to which all their extended family, friends, business associates, and even employees were invited - including the PC's. During the party the inquisition arrives to raid the estate, arresting everyone and planting evidence of a heretical ritual. The PC's escape in the confusion of the raid, but they and all the others who slipped the inquisition's grasp are now marked as public enemies. The PC's must find the evidence to expose the corrupt inquisitor and clear the names of all the accused before the ecclesiastic court.
26. What reality hath wrought.
The far realm (or whatever equivalent) is beginning to seep into reality and the PCs must stop it by thinking not just outside the box, but outside of reality too
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27. Training Wheels
The ChooChoo family of gnomes has repaired the ancient interdimensional railroad tracks, engine, and 3 cars. They need protection as they seek a route to a gem mine on another planet. It's a steam engine so they have to keep their eyes open to sources of burnables and water. When they get there, the gem mine is infested with plague zombies.
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29. Fool's Gold
A shady character sells the PCs a treasure map. Unbeknownst to our would be heroes the shady character is an evil necromancer on a recruitment drive and the map leads them straight into a trap. But if by some miracle they do survive the necromancer's undead hordes they can recover the gold of his previous victims.
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30. Going all in.
On a dark night in a seedy tavern a card game with a rich nobleman takes a strange turn and the PC's win big on an extremely unlikely hand. So big in fact that the nobleman does not have the cash to settle the account. Instead he offers to sign over the deeds to his family estate. The PCs travel to the estate to find a large impressive looking gothic castle that was abandoned years ago in great haste. As the PCs venture deeper into the castle they uncover bizarre secrets including those no mere mortal was ever meant to know...
31. The original family tree.
There is a sheepskin with the first humans created by Titans and the next 5 generations displayed as a tree. As it became an artifact when Aroden had it, it is truly indestructible. Your party is hired to go look through ancient, burned down, ruins. You are not alone.
32. The crystal wands
Seven crystal wands made from clear gemstones were created by the gods to slay the really big monsters. Each can cast one color of each prismatic spell. 3 spells, 3 times a day, equalling 9. Each user can only wield one at a time unless they have dual wielding. These are artifacts so godlike monsters are not immune. A deity hid them in a nasty dungeon to protect themselves from them, but he recently joined the pantheon and need them to be found and used against a world threatening monstrosity.
Design notes: I originally thought of this for Ponyfinder and Discord, but it can be used for any permutation. Crystal wands aid to hit with rays and add to spell DCs. With these wands, it's +1 per wand currently being wielded. Each wand has an appropriate side effect for the being that claims it, for as long as they own it. Green is emerald, red is ruby, ect.
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33. Race Around the World
Two eccentric wizards find themselves in a deeply personal dispute, and agree to resolve the matter with a race around the world. Of course, it would be beneath them to actually compete against each other, so the contest will be by proxy. Each wizard will select a team and provide them with an airship. The first team around the world wins. Of course, the rules of their contest are obtuse and filled with loopholes, and the wizards fully intend to use every technicality to thwart their rival team. When the party answered a call for adventurers willing to race around the world, they had no idea what they were signing up for...
1. The Beacon:
This is the plot to an episode of Babylon 5.
Just throwing it out there.
36. Deeds In the Great Hall
Jarl Ivarr Bronze-Eater has grown old and feeble, leaving no heirs to inherit the great treasure he accumulating during his days as a Viking and adventurer. To determine who should claim his mead hall and treasure, the ailing Jarl has announced a grand competition to be held within his hall. Tests of strength, bardic competitions, and even duels against captive monsters will be held. The adventurer who most impresses Jarl Ivarr will be named heir to all he owns.
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37. Collective Bargaining
Fofik Mill, built to dam Fofik Channel (a river of modest size and disposition) turns trees into books with waterwheels and pounding pistons. Or at least, it used to.
Fofik Mill employs several hundred goblins. They make ideal workers. They're eager to please, are easily cowed, and their illiteracy makes them easy to dupe. They also fit places adult humans can't. Ever since the recent legislation barring child labor, Fofik Mill's workforce has been mostly green and pickle-eating. They get sidetracked sometimes, and there is the constant fear of fire, but all things considered, the humans and goblins coexisted profitably.
However, when the shareholders attempted to test a theory they'd developed (that the stupid green idiots who aren't very bright would probably keep working even if no one was paying them) things devolved into anarchy. The goblins closed the doors of the mill, barred them, and rigged the inside and outside with traps. Neither paper nor personnel has come through those doors in either direction since then, and the shareholders have had enough. They've hired the PCs to evict the goblins.
Without causing damage to the mill.
Or lighting it on fire.
Or lighting it on lightning.
Or causing damage to the mill.
Oh, and they'd like to avoid bad press coverage if at all possible. There are people in the newspaper who've hated them ever since the incident with all the children and all the labor, and they'll be looking to make any charges stick. So do try not to massacre the goblins, or you'll likely be hanged as assassins.
38. Of All the Misfortune
Stories tell of a blessed grail from ages past, that grants the heart's desire of any who drink of its cup. Sadly, the stories neglect to mention that the grail inflicts horrific misfortune upon the entire realm every time a wish is granted. The grail has been uncovered, and in that short time there have been earthquakes, pestilence, a contagion of madness, the passing of baron's entire extended family, and the arrival of all manner of brigands, wolves, and monsters to the region. Oh, and a local scholar believes that a permanent gateway to the abyss is forming nearby.
The grail needs to be reclaimed, and soon, before it brings disaster upon the world! The PC's must follow the conspicuous trail of NPC's who have had their wishes granted by the grail, all the while surviving (and perhaps rectifying) the catastrophes the grail has left in its wake.
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39. The Vanishing Women
Women are going missing within the city. The first three victims were paid little attention because of their lowborn status, and who can tell whether they disappeared or just run off or died of their poverty in a gutter somewhere, as yet undiscovered? You know how it is with these peasant types. But now a member of the minor nobility has fallen victim, arousing the concern of the upper class.
With four presumed victims within a fortnight, danger for the populace seems imminent. The Guard has increased patrols, but the city will remain on edge until the perpetrator is caught. Under the assumption that they are facing a repeat killer, they have used the prior disappearances to narrow down a likely region for the next victim as well as a "type" based on certain characteristics of the past victims. They want to set a snare for the criminal, and need a woman capable of posing and defending herself in a struggle... A fit job for one or more of the PCs.
There are plenty of possible complications to solving the mystery, not the least of which is that there are multiple murderers: the simulacra of a wizard who is abducting the women for necromantic purposes. These may be simulacra of the wizard himself (ordered only to abduct when the wizard is solidly in public for an alibi) or of other beings. The public may not even know of the wizard's magical nature. If a simulacrum is unable to escape, it has orders to dispatch itself via coup de grace, which will likely leave no more than a pile of ice and snow to apprehend. And just what are the women being abducted for? Their ultimate fates will vary according to the tolerances of your table.