|
|
Post by Hussar on Jan 11, 2016 8:36:13 GMT -7
Just brainstorming ideas. Get the juices going.
1. Zombie dinosaurs rove out of the icy wastes.
2. Golden Sea Corsairs have become unified under a great captain and are beginning to claim their own kingdom.
3. A Bearer of the Black Book hires the party to guard his caravan as he makes a pilgrimage to a remote mountain fastness.
4. A Quodethi noble is funding an expedition into the wilderness. He has created a great ship that travels over land, powered by mastodons.
|
|
|
|
Post by beastman on Jan 11, 2016 14:26:24 GMT -7
One of the hooks I've thought about is using an overactive Mugger's Guild who brutalize a neighborhood of Quodeth and provoke the players in one way or another. This hook assumes the players retaliate and gain some renown for fighting against the muggers. The players would then be contacted by a nobleman who offers to pay them handsomely for some task. Unbeknownst to the players, the nobleman would have paid the muggers to brutalize the neighborhood as part of his search for the right men/women for the task at hand.
Though I don't have a hook to drag the players in, I've thought about Nim and how its almost entirely constructed of wood. I think an insane priest of Tiamat would be an interesting villain in Nim. He could use some ritual to call a dragon to burn Nim into the ocean as an offering to the Goddess of Dragons.
Quodeth is sort of the center of the world both because it has the most information on it in the book and because it is the greatest trade city in Thule. For this reason a thieves guild game in which the players create their own guild is probably one of the most thematic games. Clashing with other thieves guilds over territory and stealing from merchants could make up the bulk of the game, but a cursed treasure could become the center of the story.
I think setting a game in Jomur during festivities is a good opening, but I don't know where I would go from there. I've thought about the murder of a chieftain or priest of Tarhun as the opening of the game and making the players have some sort of friendship with the dead that would make them inclined to see justice. The Temple of Tiamat could be a red herring meant to throw the players off and perhaps the tribes would be rallying against Tiamat's cultists. The real murderer could be a random tribesman, or something more sinister like the Cult of Ithaqua who may or may not have infiltrated Tarhun's temple.
I guess these are almost more of summaries than hooks, but that's what I've brainstormed.
|
|
|
|
Post by egamma on Jan 11, 2016 16:55:16 GMT -7
My last game (yesterday) involved the rescue of a family in Droum. Their section of the city became overrun with undead, players hired to go in and rescue them. Ghouls, ghast, skeletons, shadows, floor by floor.
|
|
|
|
Post by maceo13 on Jan 11, 2016 20:13:17 GMT -7
I'm reading Kull stories by Robert E Howard. These are the ones he wrote before Conan and take place in a pre Catacylsmic age (before Atlantis and Lemuria disappeared). I'm taking notes and will post them in the next few days. Some are little details and some are plot ideas but hopefully they'll help spark something cool for you too.
|
|
|
|
Post by maceo13 on Jan 18, 2016 6:52:33 GMT -7
Some of the more experienced DMs may be doing some of these already but after reading some Kull stories I wrote down the following:
-Magic is used as a plot device. Even or despite a low magic setting, sorcerers can disguise themselves, control people from a distance or transport someone into another dimension. Deception is frequently used and at least for me I think I will have to consider how to use this. The heroes should not be able to detect everything. Sometimes the old witch is a beautiful sorcerer or the other way around with no way to know (or the prisoner they share a cell with is the city magician, etc.)
-Foreshadowing, dreams, premonitions and alternate realities are used. The characters could have dreams that show them possible outcomes before they reach their destination or before they leave a city for an adventure. They see themselves being killed or killing someone else. They can see the enemy being victorious. Some dreams are ambiguous and hazy and of course they represent only one possible outcome. I like this idea though and if used enough it can (hopefully) make adventures seem more unsettling.
-Some enemies are, ultimately, tragic people. The giant slug the heroes just killed looks at them with “relief” in its eyes when the killing blow is struck. The heroes learn that the person was dealing with forces or powers they underestimated or were mistakenly bargaining with. A fate the players could find themselves in.
-Use of totem animals. Plays into the barbarian totems nicely.
-“The demons, the harpies, the wolf-people, even the serpent-men…they are mostly gone now.” Good quote and gave me some inspiration for other elder monsters.
-Thulsa Doom the “mightiest of Earth’s wizards” still fights with a sword.
-For those Acquisition Inc., fans there were green flames back in the 70’s! Before Big Trouble in Little China and Chris Perkins!
-Adventures in deserts. I’ll have to look through the Thule book again but deserts IIRC are not common. I need some camels in my adventures.
-Bone Naga
-Legend that if a man is slain by a snake-man the ghost will become the snake-man’s slave.
-Possession used as a means to create assassins.
-Monsters keep fighting! Just because the heroes cut off the head it can come back up for Round 2 (or 15). There have discussions about creating boss’ that change as the fight progresses (i.e. lose enough HP and they now have one less multi attack) or change. I like this option for Thule and keeps the players on their toes.
-Sword burst into flames, the flames go out and when the smoke clears there are mysterious sigils on the sword. The sword is placed into a globe and a story or scene is played out revealing a secret.
-Items as a plot device. Monsters are defeated by an item of theirs being destroyed. Crystal eye is removed and destroyed-destroying the monster. Or a demon being vulnerable to the contents of the summoning jars placed in the room. Adds a more cinematic feel to some combats IMO.
-The undead buried in a city’s catacombs are all awakened and used by a sorcerer to try and take over the city.
Anyway-I'm going to get back to reading!
|
|
|
|
Post by egamma on Jan 18, 2016 18:23:12 GMT -7
Nice! One note about deserts; there are two "deserts" on Thule; glaciers and the ocean. Both are good analogues to the food/water/exposure challenges of the desert. And instead of camels you can have tantuans!
|
|
|
|
Post by citizenx on Dec 29, 2016 6:33:37 GMT -7
Prehistoric Syrian Camels? |
|
|
|
Post by citizenx on Dec 29, 2016 7:14:29 GMT -7
Plot Hooks I've been mulling around for my current game:
The Dreams of Power: The Lomarite Nobles have fallen under the spell of prophetic dreams of a Elven cohort to a Black Circle magician. The Elf's deranged dreams tell the rulers where to strike at enemies and future events, but a side effect is that the rulers have started to worship the strange spider god of Leng who sends the dreams. The Black Circle wizard is secretly using the dreams to learn new magical spells not from this world...and find places of power on Thule, but the Black Lotus is in short supply. The Lomarites have begun smashing idols of other gods and banning the singing of songs that don't honor the "Dream Weaver of Leng". As the worshippers and dreamers grow, the outskirts of Lomar are becoming part of the Dreamlands, allowing the terrifying Spiders of Leng to begin to weave their webs (portals to the Dreamlands) as they spread with each new prophetic lotus-inspired dream episode.
Demons of the Forest: Something has been hunting man, woman and beast along a trail through the jungle. Even headhunters and primitive tribes are afraid. An ancient serpentman beastmaster has begun stalking humans who have built a road too close to ancient ruins, the Serpentman is using a pack of Velicoraptors (or equivalent dinosaur) that follow his every command. These vicious pack hunters smell blood from miles away and move in coordinated and deadly ways, attacking caravans and travelers. The players may find themselves afoul of the ancient hunter and his traps during travel. (This is a way to get some Predator action going). |
|
