[D&D 4E] Seeds of Adventure!

Hexmage-PA

Let's share adventure seeds! I keep a list on my computer for inspiration, and I'm always looking for others' ideas online. If we get enough we could put the adventure seeds on a d% table like the 3E books did.

The Big List of RPG Plots is a helpful resource.

1) An inmate in the city's prison is actually a predatory shapeshifter. The creature escapes from its cell at night, devours a fellow inmate, and then returns before it is found out.

2) The local mirabicaries' (magic item sellers) guild is offering a major discount on magic items for anyone who brings down the bandits that robbed a guild member's store.

3) An unusually menacing umbpleby controlled by a band of fey thieves is stalking merchants who travel through the forest.

4) A group of renegade dragonborn conscripts has turned to banditry.

5) A strange glow emanates from the ruins of a fey-pact warlock's castle. A miniature forest has taken root in the ruins (a dungeon-forest, if you will) and is inhabited by malevolent fey.

6) A band of vengeful satyrs is roaming from village to village and luring villagers to a festival in the countryside. The satyrs plan to use their magical music to turn the drunken party goers into crazed berserkers and use them to take revenge on a logging community.

Bok Choi

I was flipping through the Draconomicon last night and got this idea:

A cleric hires the party to stop an evil [COLOR] dragon, however it turns out that the dragon is actually a follower of Bahamut and the cleric is actually part of Tiamat's church.

It seems like that would be mentioned in the hooks that are in the book but I didn't really read through the entire thing. It could be a pretty good heroic tier adventure and might server as a good way to get new players into the game, since, hey: dragons. On the other hand its sort of plot/politic heavy so it might be a little off putting for people with no background.

Mike Danger

I stole these from the "Eberron Adventure Seeds" thread on rpg.net (these were my favorites). Any terrible spelling is the author's or authors'.

A Luxury airship cruise becomes a nightmare when, in shades of Alien, a Tomb Spider is discovered on board.

A gang of changelings adopted the face of one of the PCs for fun. (It's their "thing" to all imitate one person with a distinctive face each week). Soon, three of them have turned up dead through horrible misadventures. (Beheaded by falling glass pane. Trampled by frightened horses. Six foot iron bar through the stomach from a construction accident. Hit by a falling Syberis shard in Khorvaire.) All signs indicate something's up and the rest of the gang turn up at the PC's house demanding an explanation.

A letter arrives for the PCs, inviting them all to a Tea Party in Metrol, Fallen Cyre's capitol. The guest list also includes close associates of the PCs who, if investigated, have all gone missing in the past week.

During the Last War a lightning rail carriage crashed whilst riding a route absent from official maps. The crash occured deep within the tunnels of a mountain range that the route penetrates. The cargo and it's destination are one of the most horrific and best kept secrets of the war.

Megazver

Nice.

Hexmage-PA

- A small group of beholders is abducting people and transforming them into half-beholder slaves.

- The mischievous gnomes that oversee the city's yearly "Scarytown" event have been replaced by disguised spriggans and korreds.

- The king has inexplicably become enamored with a foreign pincess and threatens to destroy her kingdom if she doesn't wed him.

- A small territory in the Feywild has been caught up in the endless plotting and counter-plotting of several fomorian kings (which was itself instigated by an even greater strategist).

- An odd lunar event causes the rats of a certain city to temporarily gain sentience and a rudimentary understanding of the city's workings, resulting in the vermin making a much bigger nuisance of themselves than normal.

samurai6966

- A small group of adventurers come to a town. They are broke and they see an ad on the town's bulletin board. A librarian is asking for someone to get a magical book from the near by ruins. He says he pays well. But not all things meet the eyes.

Edit:

I thought about the magical book being called "The Book of Shadowed Souls". It could raise an army of demons and undead and had a powerful spell on it that would keep anyone from opening it. When the adventurers return to the librarian, they find him dead and fight a power swordman/mage (I came up with this idea before the swordmage came out for 4e.) They would lose but not died and would follow him around the country trying to stop him from releasing the spell before the Fall Festive that was like 2 months from then. The Fall Festive would be the day that the spiritworld and the real world would be at the closes. And all holy spells like that on the book would be at its weakest.

DiscoGobbo

A local druid has unearthed a priceless discovery: A viable Seed of the Tree of Life. The PCs are enlisted to escort it to specific location linked to the Feywild, in hopes that it will sprout a new Tree. Of course, numerous forces (malevolent and otherwise) seek to harvest the Seed for their own devices. Furthermore, along the way the Seed takes on a life of its own, changing the land around them in bizarre ways, thus raising questions about the nature of the PC’s task. Will the PC’s struggles bear fruit? Or are they merely sowing the seeds of destruction?

Terrendos

Our young heroes have been recruited as the linchpin in a complicated strategy to overthrow an evil dictator. While the rebellion attack's the dictator's army en masse, the party must take a separate path to assassinate the dictator's hired mercenaries and their commander before they can be brought to bear on the field.

Iron Weasel

Mike Danger wrote: »

A letter arrives for the PCs, inviting them all to a Tea Party in Metrol, Fallen Cyre's capitol. The guest list also includes close associates of the PCs who, if investigated, have all gone missing in the past week.

I jotted down a similar idea a while back:

The PCs are taking an overnight Lightning Rail to [LOCATION]. When they awake the next morning, the train has stopped and the other passengers have vanished. Looking outside the PCs see an abandoned (?) and dilapidated rail station, with a battered sign swinging lazily in the hazy morning light: METROL

kuhlmeye

The city guard discover a child near the entrance to the ruins near the city. The child, near death, tells the guards of the treasure he/she saw deep in the ruins, but how, just as he/she was reaching for a nice [TREASURE], everything went black. The only other thing the child can remember is the red glowing eyes.

EDIT: Iron Weasel, yours reminds me of The Langoliers. Somebody should make an adventure based off the Langoliers.

Mike Danger

Oh man, Weasel, that's magnificent.

Denada

-The PCs find an inn for an extended rest. The next morning they step out through the front door, only to step in through the back. Every door behaves in the same way, taking them to another random room in the inn, preventing anyone from being able to leave. As they work with the other guests to discover what's behind this, they find that not everyone is who they appear to be...

-A malfunctioning Final Messenger has targeted one of the PCs by mistake, and refuses to leave him alone. If the PCs want any hope of having a restful night's sleep, they need to decode the broken message and fulfill a strange warforged's last request.

-Rival kobold gangs have been expanding their territory for years. Now, the town of Villageburg is caught in the middle. The PCs are called in to settle things once and for all, but how will they do it?

Iron Weasel

- An [ITEM] that the PCs recovered during their latest adventure bears a strange engraving. Upon further inspection/research, the engraving appears to be a crude but effective map to a location deep inside [LAND OF MYSTERY AND DANGER]. What awaits the PCs where X marks the spot?

- Unbeknownst to the heroes, a family heirloom or trophy that one of the them possesses is the final component that [VILLAIN] needs to complete their [NEFARIOUS SCHEME].

- The heroes blunder through a magical gateway into a world where they are the monsters. Can they find a way home before the world's heroes kill them and take their stuff?

- During a climactic battle with [VILLAIN], the heroes are [TURNED TO STONE/BANISHED TO ANOTHER PLANE/LOCKED IN STASIS]. Returned to life/freed by [A MYSTERIOUS STRANGER], they find that [VILLAIN] has succeeded in their evil plot and the world has changed for the worse. Can the heroes find a way to make things right?

kuhlmeye wrote: »

EDIT: Iron Weasel, yours reminds me of The Langoliers. Somebody should make an adventure based off the Langoliers.

I was not familiar with the Langoliers until today. My idea is less original than I thought - I'm such a hack!

Denada, I read your first idea and immediately started humming "Hotel California ".

-edit- And I just thought of how much fun your Kobold idea could be if the heir to one of the clans was secretly courting the heiress of the other ...

Two clans, both alike in inequity,
In fair Villageburg, where we lay our scene.

For expanded turf do they break to new mutiny,
And kobold blood makes kobold claws unclean.

From forth the fatal eggs of these two foes
A pair of scaled lovers take their life!

Denada

I like those last two a lot Weasel. A++, would read again.

Edit: And now that song is stuck in my head. Thank you sir.

Utsanomiko

An astral sailer/spelljammer crash lands in a nearby city and all hell breaks loose there as the ship's surviving crew kicks ass and take names. They are few in number but elite in training and otherworldly equipment. A fluke traveling accident or a precursor to a full invasion? That's for the DM to devise, as well as what corner of fantasy/sci-fi fiction the ship hails from; Aberrants? Gith? Giff? Wookiees? Modrons? Space Marines? Some race your group agreed would never show up in any of your campaigns? Just run with it.

psolms

A Luxury airship cruise becomes a nightmare when, in shades of Alien, a Tomb Spider is discovered on board.

making this a little more interesting:

The world's largest luxury airship is about to sail on its maiden voyage. The PCs catch wind of a [Terrorist Group working for the ship's rival] plan to destroy the ship, killing countless innocents. The PCs must secure tickets for the voyage (providing a nice intro setting with some small fetch quests, etc) and stop the plan.

sort of like the titanic, with some corporate espionage thrown in.

Hexmage-PA

- An alicanto is a bird-like elemental that feeds on gemstones. One has been sighted in the wilderness, leading to speculation that a source of valuable gems must be located nearby. Several groups are trying to track the alicanto and let it lead them to the gems, including a small band of xorns.

Iron Weasel

- The headmaster of a powerful and influential school of magic has died under suspicious circumstances. The school's top teachers and masters have started / are about to start an all-out war to succeed the headmaster, and the conflict threatens the nearby town/kingdom/world.

Denada

-One of the random goblins in [the last dungeon] was the son of a wealthy and influential goblin king from [somewhere else]. Word of the prince's death at the hands of the PCs has reached the goblin king, and the only way to prevent a devastating war from breaking out is to slay the dragon that's been harassing the goblin kingdom.

Terrendos

-The party has been threatened by a powerful wizard who can manipulate the flow of time. In an attempt to stop the heroes from defeating him, he has sent his own servants back in time to kill them during their earlier adventures. The group must travel back in time and aid their younger selves without being seen by them, lest the planes collapse in on themselves in a temporal paradox.

-The party has accidentally stumbled upon the betrothal ceremony of two trolls from rival tribes. The two trolls are convinced that their parents will never let them be together, and ask for the PC's help. Unbeknownst to any of them, the parents know about the wedding and intend to use it to unite the two tribes and attack the nearby village.

Hexmage-PA

- A crafty group of outlaws hiding out in a mausoleum uses rituals to keep themselves safe from the undead haunting the place. Undead ward keeps their camp safe, while corpse gate affords them a quick getaway.

samurai6966

(The adventure Im playing right now, Thanks to Burning Organ!)
- A group of people are on a ship that is hijacked. Taken as prisoners on the pirates' ship, they break out as the pirates are partying and fight the crew and take over the ship. With the remaining crew, they sail the ship, looking for place marked on a mysterious map, while the local government and other pirates hunt down the legendary pirate vessel.

Some parts add because we haven't got that far but it looks like that is the way the story is turning.

Hexmage-PA

- A strange mirabicary recently came through and sold magical earrings to a small number of noble ladies. For a time the earrings enhanced their beauty; now, however, the earrings have corrupted the ladies, turning them into creatures similar to hags. The cursed women rely on magic to hide their hideous countenances and are now gifting the earrings to their unaffected peers, jealously hoping to rid the city of beauty and spread evil.

- An entrepreneur in a sinister city is abducting beggars to use in grafting experiments. He hopes to create a successful business that provides cheap grafts for those who desire them. Although most of the people who are used as guinea pigs are disposed of below the laboratory, a few escape to prowl the sewers and back alleys in a state of madness.

Iron Weasel

How many are we up to now?

Anyway, here's a couple more:


- A princess has been kidnapped and will be sold at a slave auction on the frontier. Worse yet, a long-time enemy of the royal family intends to buy her as a cruel insult. Her family's fortune tied up due to [WAR/FAMINE/STOLEN TAXES], it falls to the heroes to quickly acquire [A TON OF MONEY] and use it to outbid the villain. The auction is set to begin [VERY SOON], so there's no time to waste. But what happens when [A MYSTERIOUS THIRD PARTY] appears at the last instant with a bid that blows everyone else out of the water?

- A horrible creature has infiltrated a house of healing and turned the patients into monsters. The heroes arrive to [SEEK TREATMENT/RETRIEVE OR DELIVER AN ITEM/VISIT A FRIEND] and find themselves in the midst of a medical nightmare. Diagnosis: Terror!

- A village thought wiped out by a mysterious plague has miraculously recovered thanks to the efforts of [A STRANGE OUTSIDER]. What is the secret of the Stranger's power, and what unspeakable price was exacted from the villagers?

- The people of Villageburg have a dreadful secret: long ago, their ancestors made a terrible bargain with [A POWERFUL MONSTER]: they must sacrifice one child each year to slake the monster's thirst, or see their village destroyed. To maintain fairness, the child to be sacrificed is decided by the luck of the draw. This year, the Chief's child's name came up. But rather than sacrifice his blood, he has kidnapped [A CHILD RELATED TO A PC] and intends to sacrifice them in his child's stead. Will the PCs slaughter the villagers to save "their" child, convince the Chief to give up his son after all ... or will they risk their lives against the deadly monster?

Hexmage-PA

I believe we're at 43. Let's keep it up!

Iron Weasel

- The PCs have a secret (or not-so-secret) admirer: a determined but woefully untalented young bard. He produces an endless stream of (terrible) songs, stories and poems about the heroes, unaware that the roll of blank parchment / the quill he's using is actually an ancient relic of awesome power; whatever he writes becomes real. Can the PCs survive his dreadful fan fiction?

inspired by an old episode of Xena: Warrior Princess

Hexmage-PA

- Flail Snails on a (Lightning) Rail.

Iron Weasel

- A small village is being harrassed by a type of monster usually considered to be unintelligent or even "mindless" (ex: zombies, anything of animal intelligence). When the heroes investigate the monsters' lair, however, they discover that this particular group are completely sentient - and that their motivations are as unusual as their intellects. How will the PCs react when there's more to the "threat' than meets the eye?

- While sailing [THE OCEAN/THE ASTRAL SEA/THE PLANE OF WATER], the heroes' vessel is swallowed whole by a creature of truly monolithic proportions. The PCs must escape, but to do so they will have to venture into the body of the beast, braving not only its dangerous (and disgusting) bodily functions but its army of "antibodies", as well.

- The players have unknowingly been chosen as pieces in an elaborate game being played by the gods. Shenanigans and mayhem ensue when it turns out that one of the divine beings doesn't like to lose.

Hexmage-PA

Iron Weasel wrote: »

- The players have unknowingly been chjosen as pieces in an elaborate game being played by the gods. Shenanigans and mayhem ensue when it turns out that one of the divine beings doesn't like to lose.

I'm imagining a scenario based on The Color of Magic.

Party:"Yeah, we beat the goblins!"
DM:"A group of trolls fall out of the sky! Roll initiative!"
Party:"But we're only first level!"

Hexmage-PA

- A developing mining town in the middle of a desolate swath of desert is facing mounting troubles. The original prospector who founded the town had to be imprisoned after stumbling into the town square in a mad frenzy. Kruthiks have come to infest the mine itself and are even beginning to emerge closer to the town. A small battalion deployed from an allied city to bring order back to the town was just recently wiped out by a pack of bulettes. What is the connection between these disasters, and what can be done to bring these troubles to an end?

- The party finds an old book filled with blank pages. Each day after it is acquired a prophecy appears concerning the next day's events on a formerly empty page. The prophecies seem to be linked, but what will happen if the PCs attempt to fulfill the prophecies each day until the book is filled?

Iron Weasel

Hexmage-PA wrote: »

Iron Weasel wrote: »

- The players have unknowingly been chjosen as pieces in an elaborate game being played by the gods. Shenanigans and mayhem ensue when it turns out that one of the divine beings doesn't like to lose.

I'm imagining a scenario based on The Color of Magic.

Party:"Yeah, we beat the goblins!"
DM:"A group of trolls fall out of the sky! Roll initiative!"
Party:"But we're only first level!"

I cannot tell a lie; Rincewind was on my mind when I wrote that one.

Hexmage-PA

- The lowest depths of a massive prison have been altered by a planar manifest zone. The party must quell a riot in the upper levels, fend off demons in the lower levels, and find a way to close the manifest zone. The deeper the PCs travel into the prison the more it begins to warp into an aspect of the Abyss (torture devices or methods of execution could get pretty wicked).

Hexmage-PA

I feel sorry for you if you know where I got the idea for this adventure.

The Defiled Asylum

An alienist (as in psychiatrist) has gone mad himself due to the influence of a Far Realm entity. The alienist has killed several patients and coworkers at the asylum and is using their residual psychic energy to open a gate to the Far Realm. Surviving inmates, undead victims and summoned aberrant creatures now haunt the asylum.

A number of heads from freshly killed victims are mounted on metal poles. Cables run from the heads to a strange machine that the alienist had discovered. The villain also draws power from these heads (thanks to a cable he has inserted into his own skull) and can spend their energy to gain various benefits, such as regaining HP or utilizing limited-use powers. The PCs can sever the villain's connection to these heads by destroying them with an attack (medium defenses due to psychic shielding), disconnecting the cables linking them with Thievery or Athletics (with Thievery the easier option), disrupting the necrotic energy keeping the brains active using Religion or Nature, or removing them with Athletics.

Hexmage-PA

- A kingdom famed for its warriors is being attack by a goblinoid horde. Because the renowned warrior king has fallen under the influence of a magical disease he is unable to lead his troops. His two daughters have set out to meet the goblinoid armies instead. The women are half-sisters, one fully human and one a half-elf. The two warrior princesses have never quite seen eye to eye, and their inability to cooperate is severely hindering their ability to command an army. Can the PCs reconcile the sisters, or will they have to usurp command to save the kingdom? If the latter, will the royal family be grateful for a victory or incensed at the disrespect shown to them?

Pygmalion

-A simple plot goes horribly awry when the train leaps the railroad and sinks under its own weight into the soft featureless desert sand that surrounds the track. Beneath lie the Ruins of Adventure, infested by random encounters and oddly winding corridors, and where did all these dire bats come from anyways? All becomes clear when the players find a mine car and ride it out to where it reconnects with the original railroad. The tracks lead to a foreboding castle where they discover that they have run out of time for the night. A hasty series of teleconferences over the following week leads to the castle being burnt down along with the orphanage next door. The party then fights amongst themselves over the jewel encrusted Hope Dolly which is somehow destroyed in the process, to universal recrimination. Somehow they all level and go on to the next adventure, where they all die in the prologue and have to find a new DM.

illgottengains

The PC's check in at hotel california. Bizarre planar encounters ensue. The PCs must find the steely knife and stab the beast with it or they can never leave!

Starcross

The PCs wake up and find there is a new member of the party. He knows all sorts of things about them and the adventures they've been on and is adamant that he's been with them since the start. Everyone they've ever met remembers him as a part of the group.

Terrendos

Starcross wrote: »

The PCs wake up and find there is a new member of the party. He knows all sorts of things about them and the adventures they've been on and is adamant that he's been with them since the start. Everyone they've ever met remembers him as a part of the group.

Did you get that idea from the Star Trek TNG episode Conundrum? Because that was one of my favorites.

Speaking of which...

The party keeps getting deja vu when going about their typical day, until near the end of the day they fight an insane but very powerful wizard guy. As they're about to win, they get sent back in time to the start of the day with no memory of the past experiences. The party must figure out how to break themselves out of the time loop the insane wizard created if they don't want to spend an eternity in a Groundhog Day scenario.

Pygmalion

Time Loops? That's just the lazy DMs way of reusing an encounter over and over again. Gee, that sounds like fun.

I like pandemic disease. Let's run a campaign around that.

Terrendos

I would rule that the PCs would remember about where each encounter took place and avoid or mitigate them.

Pygmalion

I hate time travel in games. It never works right.