Friday 24 November 2017

Mysterious Patron Hooks








Patrons often employ adventurers and send them on quests. Many have their own secrets. Many hire adventurers or sponsor murder hobos for all kinds of reasons. patrons are handy to motivate adventurers and can eventually lead to more adventures and revelations. I'm not a huge fan of the heist+betrayal trope which is especially played out in SF games. In FRPG the patron mostly wants the party to enter a dungeon and rob monsters which isn't so awful. Many gifts are in fact adventure seeds. Many of these are quick adventure seeds. In shadelport many magicians like to spy on adventurers and broadcast as illusions to audiences. The Baron's Dungeon Games are the most popular and best knows with a viewing chamber designed for elites in the palace and other more common ones throughout the city. The common man gets to see puppet show and actors versions only.

Im working through my old request lists and finding them less ambitious to my own stuff.

d10 Means of secrecy and delivery
01 Urchin messengers who know nothing
02 Animal messenger like a pigeon or dog possibly a familiar
03 Messages just appear in adventurers room by magic
04 Has a agent sworn to secrecy
05 Uses a merchant or tavern keeper or shop owner
06 Thief slips note into pocket where to collect goods
07 Courier service with no return address
08 Strongbox in bank vault
09 Strange cowled figure who does not speak
10 Clerk from a lawfirm who knows nothing


d10 Patron Goals
01 To destroy minions and plans of a rival schemer
02 To mould adventurers into a force for good deeds
03 To recover relics and documents for some scheme
04 To disturb the order and shake up long stagnant forces
05 To undermine the economy and social order with cashed up murder hobos
06 To recover goods and knowledge for scholarly interest
07 To recover artworks and treasures desired for a collection
08 To clear our haunted places to occupy with own minions 
09 To have some entertainment
10 To gain favours from important people

d10 Patron is really...

01 A horrid cult leader
02 A shapeshifting creature in disguise
03 A noble scheming against rivals
04 A wealthy status hungry merchant
05 A charitable wealthy noble
06 A rich scholar
07 A former adventurer
08 A powerful priest
09 A publisher seeking lurid tales to print and sell
10 A wizard seeking arcane secrets


d100 Hooks from a Patron
01 Map to a cave system location
02 Map to a dungeon complex location
03 Map of a dungeon level
04 Map of a secret temple
05 Map of a ruined castle
06 Map to a haunted house location
07 Map to pirate treasure
08 Map to a secret cult shrine
09 Map to a hidden crypt
10 Map to a secret gang headquaters

11 Deed to a haunted townhouse
12 Chest belonging to missing adventurers

13 Book belonging to ancient wizard
14 Sea chest belonging to missing sea captain
15 Deed to a seaside cottage
16 Deed to a forgotten farm house
17 Deed to a family crypt
18 Puzzlebox belonging to sorceror unopened
19 Box of unopened old potion bottles and papers
20 Box of old posters with maps scrawled on back in charcoal
21 Box with a magic mouth delivers riddle
22 Strange glowing crystal
23 Scroll with a history spell and a rusty dagger
24 Scroll with s Speak to dead spell and a human hand
25 Scroll with invisible writing
26 Scroll with coded message
27 Scroll with prehuman writing
28 Stone tablet with ancient script
29 Talking skull in a box
30 Box with a chicken brooding a monster egg
31 Kobold in a sack who knows dungeon location
32 Address of a old murder hobo who knows secret dungeon entrance
33 Address of a former slave who spent years lost in the underland
34 Address of a sea captain in sailors home who visited a strange island
35 Deed to a mine where miners all disapeared
36 Spirit in a bottle seeks resolution to murder and betrayal 
37 Painting an night spirit maid enters dreams seeking aid against injustice
38 Talking goat knows location of evil cult but nobody believes him
39 Pair of doves, once young lovers betrayed by evil uncle
40 Orc slave who knows where local orc tribes live and a dungeon
41 Scrawled map with passwords for cultist meetingplace in sewers
42 Squat green demon idol with recognisable coastline and sat on bottom
43 Diary of subterranean explorer
44 Wooden board with orc treasure map carved on surface
45 Map showing local monoliths and several marked with evil symbols 
46 A pamphlet telling wild exageration of party recent adventure
47 Contract tender notice from assassins guild mentioning party
48 Erotic caricature of party member from lurid underground press
49 Defamatory cartoon print of party being sold in market from famous character artist
50 Directions to satirical puppet show about adventurers
51 Strange black seal that fits into slot in prehuman sculpture in ruined wall nearby
52 Report from secret police spy indiating party being watched
53 List of guild master names with crosses through them and dates
54 Location of a thieves guild on back of wanted poster for gang
55 Tickets to see a monster vivisection in wizard school
56 Tickets to front seat of a execution
57 Tickets to a stage show
58 Two for one meal voucher at posh reseraunt
59 Crate of wine bottles of exotic foreign wine
60 Address of drug house where lotus eaters lay about in smokey haze
61 Lease for tiny shop or alehouse for d4+1 years 
62 Key that opens locked sewer entries near city walls
63 Family tree with note on back indicating sole survivor to be sold at an auction
64 Note indicating previously unknown sibling of character lives
65 Will naming character in old sealed letter written 20 years ago
66 Dark elf map showing several tree forts in the dark forest
67 Potion that reveals past life and location of treasure to drinker
68 Painting of the party with gilded frame
69 Lease for 4 years of large loft of warehouse/apartment building on harbour
70 Deed for a small 16 man sailing boat in drydock with one month paid fees
71 Location of sinkhole and notes on local disapearances
72 Token to see a particular prostitute in a noble whorehouse
73 Bottle with old island map inside
74 Turtle plastron with native carvings of islands
75 Huge gilded key that looks like from a palace
76 Map of known world with unknown islands marked on by later person
77 Map of known world showing a huge landmass and larger coastlines
78 Map showing unknown buried tombs in known location 
79 Tattooed mummified severed hand of a wizard
80 Portrait of noble from long ago spitting image of a character
81 Portrait of handsome youth character finds alluring, lover from a past life
82 Arrow that always points same direction and vibrates as draw closer to target
83 Crate of delicious popular beer and ket to brewery back door 
84 Mummy in a crate of serpent man that a cult wants badly
85 Ivory Idol in box that cult need back to call demon master
86 Relic of a church will be very grateful for return and offer healing magic
87 Crate with monster statue that a cult is trying to awaken to life
88 Crate with cocoon of catfishman wizard hibernating for thousands of years
89 Crate with statue of ancient woman actually petrified with stone to flesh scroll
90 An old book of seamonster and fishmen sightings on the coast
91 An old book mentioning dungeons that might still be found
92 An old book with family trees that disprove title of a current noble
93 Suicide note of youth naming horrible villain who ruined many lives
94 Collection of prehuman coins and map of a building site in city
95 Letter describing someone finding a brick mine near a village
96 Notice of a ship on treasure expedition needing senior crew
97 Notice of men needed for expedition into mountains
98 Note of praise from secret admirer with 1000gp
99 Key and address for storage locker in warehouse
100 Mummified shaman curled up in box with tattooed map of wasteland location

4 comments:

  1. Replies
    1. cool i was unsure of this one a old request
      also request for mysterious enemies stuff

      Delete
  2. This will come in handy when I'm feeling lazy as a GM . . . which is always.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. pretty much point of this blog
      pre thought out stuff to generate sandbox stuff on fly

      Delete

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