d12 Stuff to Start With
1 Hang out in a tavern and ask about work and rumours
2 Go to town square and look for a noticeboard or ask town criar or gossip
3 Get into a fight with local crime guild or cult
4 Meet a pressgang and get surprised recruited to sailoring
5 Go to prison, learn old crook secrets, escape and profit
7 Hear about a murder hobo camp growing wildly with gold rush fever, dungeons in them thar hills!
8 Visit the temple, which often needs people to find cults or lost relics
9 VIsit a local magician they often need strange items not in the shops
10 Explore local ruin or haunted house
11 Ask local sherrif if any bounties or rewards on offer
12 VIsit a bank, guild or town hall and ask for work
My games are mostly sandbox and driven by players i just make the world and tables. Its always good to have boss guys flee so you have enemies later. Marvel films kill villains off with 50 years of lore too soon. Especially wizards. They know to turn invisible and flee and come back with new goons.
I avoid backstory and prefer it be earned but:
Family Obligations
In a game with civic life or a knight's family is a great way to make party united and have NPCs in their lives. In other games not so much but a player might want to roll a family up. In Oriental Adventures, this was a cool feature and I have some tables that might help. Players might prefer autonomy and no baggage.
Shared Service
Parties all meet, employed already helps but this could be a school or a guild or a temple. They might all leave the job together or be employed by a wizard or school that wants dungeons uncovered or whatever purpose you require. You can assume players have met and maybe killed some giant rats in a basement or something risky already.
Childhood Friends
Similar to family, but the party is the family. Perhaps they have been apart learning their character classes. They might grow up in a village, a town, a castle or homeless sewer children.
Forged by Fire
Met through an incident or a common tragedy. A battle of some kind, lost loved ones to some faction, robbed or kept poor by an aristocrat. Through separate similar events or a single one the party work together in a world they mistrust and is out to get them. Some common enemy seeks them and sends encounters often their way. Make random encounters linked to the enemy and give them lots of goons and secrets. The enemy can lurk in background and remind party they exisr between adventures. Party may realise they need money and experience to beat the foe.
======================
Recent Theros Game D&D5/24
The party had cleared out most of a dungeon but two doors that were warm and had rumbling volcanic sounds beyond. It was a forge temple built into a temple. They had brought back scholars fromthe city to loot the library and smiths from their basion to loot the forge. There seemed to be the modern priests covering archaic temple art. Comicus reading the library ancient and modern script and translators' notes determined the older artwork was another god being hijacked by a current god.
So the party got ready (8th Lv(
Hypolytus the centaur bard
Chiron the centaur monk
Omiros the satyr priest of light god
Comicus the scholar philosopher wizard
Finally found rules so monk cannot drag 24 ton statues around with a wrestling move. Thankfull you have to be able to lift someone to drag them. I wish all the rules on wrestling in one spot as this took us a year to find. Players agle to fight 200hp monster now.
The combat began with the satyr priest soaking up damage while others blasted the two 20 foot tall golem guards guarding a door with moon beams and magic missiles and arrows. The monk hung back with his elemental powers, lashing the golems from outside their heat aura. As the priest soaked potentially hundreds of damage points with his high AC and disadvantage to being hit from his light priesthood. The centaur got in a few hits with his magic trident and mostly was mostly burned by scalding metal blood and heat aura. He also was healing the party the whole time. After first golem fell the one guarding the other door joined in.
So in the smaller door with one golem they found a room with vents with tripos seats over them for oracles to get high off volcanic fumes. A bit of ritual junk and incence. The other romm with two guards was a huge chamber of lava with a walkway to a platform in the middle of the lave with a collossus of bronze with a hammer and spear standing over it. So the party sent the monk and the satyr to run in and steal some magic items on a bench. The colossus threatened them with wrath of Hephastium and ordered them to return the items and apologise. It threatened the wrath of their god.
They got:
helm of protection and see invisibility
+1 shield protects you from petrification
+1 sword each blow does +1 pt bleed damage for ten rounds or until treated with first aid
+3 spear that returns
+1 sword +15 necrotic on a nat 20 roll and weilder gets them as temp hp
Players discused the curses of the collosus who now stradled the walkway over lava and had hands waiting to grab any intruders. Heroes chatted abit and were reuctant to give back. The party did some divinations and the priest confirmed their was an older god but didnt forbid him from messing with the older god. The wizards efforts seemed to indicate taking the stuff was a good thing. They already had some gods getting angry at them so thought cash of selling loot worth it.
So the people who had come to help loot temple who considered occupying it did not want to with a collosus trapped inside who could destroy the complex. So they all fled. The part considered fighting it but while in lava it healed 8d6 a round from heat.
They were not interested in exploring mines in the mountain so went noth east planning to see the giant king and possibly steal a cow.
They saw domen and stone idols in the eastern woods. The bard who gre up here said it was all normal druid stuff or the old folk who lived before the current settlers. They saw a hillfort of earthworks and decided to visit and on the way a pack of 5 wingless griffon-like creatures attacked. But the wizard pulled the sword that let him speak to lions. He made peace with creatures and they sat and cooked a meal and fed the beasts. The beasts said their was a bad giant on the mountain who kept delicious sheep. The party offered to kill it and the beasts offered to join them but one who went home to lair.
So each player had a temp pet monster, and they went to the top and saw a tall female giant. Her proportions seemed normal and her flesh had a mottled purple grey colour. Her proportions were normal, unlike the other simpleton giants, and nobody knew what she was. She had a pet spider too, and they were cooking 3 sheep impaled on a branch over a fire. The priest satyr went to chat and she seemed pleased to see them. He asked why and she said her father Geryon, wants the heroes punished and foresaw they would come here. She has camped here hoping to kill the party and get her fathers aproval. So a fight started and they fireballed her twice, hurting her a bit. Griffon beast killed her pet spider and hurt her.
Her staff emitted a purple scythe blade of magic and she began pummeling the priest. They managed to hit him for 38 damage and other attacks missed. The party kept her on the ropes but she teleported and instilled fear in them and took out the wizard with a necrotic bolt that healed her. This was a worry and was a concern her powers caused instant death if brought you to zero but that was her scythe. The players won and found her frightening and tricky. They ate the roast sheep with their griffon beast allies and and celebrated. The allied beasts planned to move here.
She was a death giant from Bigby's book. I hope to use this books' lairs in future as lots of giants in my games ahead as they invade Geryon's kingdom and search the mysteries of these older gods. Aparently the priests have suppressed knowledge of older gods.
Next time they will loot the giant and continue north.
My games are mostly sandbox and driven by players i just make the world and tables. Its always good to have boss guys flee so you have enemies later. Marvel films kill villains off with 50 years of lore too soon. Especially wizards. They know to turn invisible and flee and come back with new goons.
I avoid backstory and prefer it be earned but:
Family Obligations
In a game with civic life or a knight's family is a great way to make party united and have NPCs in their lives. In other games not so much but a player might want to roll a family up. In Oriental Adventures, this was a cool feature and I have some tables that might help. Players might prefer autonomy and no baggage.
Shared Service
Parties all meet, employed already helps but this could be a school or a guild or a temple. They might all leave the job together or be employed by a wizard or school that wants dungeons uncovered or whatever purpose you require. You can assume players have met and maybe killed some giant rats in a basement or something risky already.
Childhood Friends
Similar to family, but the party is the family. Perhaps they have been apart learning their character classes. They might grow up in a village, a town, a castle or homeless sewer children.
Forged by Fire
Met through an incident or a common tragedy. A battle of some kind, lost loved ones to some faction, robbed or kept poor by an aristocrat. Through separate similar events or a single one the party work together in a world they mistrust and is out to get them. Some common enemy seeks them and sends encounters often their way. Make random encounters linked to the enemy and give them lots of goons and secrets. The enemy can lurk in background and remind party they exisr between adventures. Party may realise they need money and experience to beat the foe.
======================
Recent Theros Game D&D5/24
The party had cleared out most of a dungeon but two doors that were warm and had rumbling volcanic sounds beyond. It was a forge temple built into a temple. They had brought back scholars fromthe city to loot the library and smiths from their basion to loot the forge. There seemed to be the modern priests covering archaic temple art. Comicus reading the library ancient and modern script and translators' notes determined the older artwork was another god being hijacked by a current god.
So the party got ready (8th Lv(
Hypolytus the centaur bard
Chiron the centaur monk
Omiros the satyr priest of light god
Comicus the scholar philosopher wizard
Finally found rules so monk cannot drag 24 ton statues around with a wrestling move. Thankfull you have to be able to lift someone to drag them. I wish all the rules on wrestling in one spot as this took us a year to find. Players agle to fight 200hp monster now.
The combat began with the satyr priest soaking up damage while others blasted the two 20 foot tall golem guards guarding a door with moon beams and magic missiles and arrows. The monk hung back with his elemental powers, lashing the golems from outside their heat aura. As the priest soaked potentially hundreds of damage points with his high AC and disadvantage to being hit from his light priesthood. The centaur got in a few hits with his magic trident and mostly was mostly burned by scalding metal blood and heat aura. He also was healing the party the whole time. After first golem fell the one guarding the other door joined in.
So in the smaller door with one golem they found a room with vents with tripos seats over them for oracles to get high off volcanic fumes. A bit of ritual junk and incence. The other romm with two guards was a huge chamber of lava with a walkway to a platform in the middle of the lave with a collossus of bronze with a hammer and spear standing over it. So the party sent the monk and the satyr to run in and steal some magic items on a bench. The colossus threatened them with wrath of Hephastium and ordered them to return the items and apologise. It threatened the wrath of their god.
They got:
helm of protection and see invisibility
+1 shield protects you from petrification
+1 sword each blow does +1 pt bleed damage for ten rounds or until treated with first aid
+3 spear that returns
+1 sword +15 necrotic on a nat 20 roll and weilder gets them as temp hp
Players discused the curses of the collosus who now stradled the walkway over lava and had hands waiting to grab any intruders. Heroes chatted abit and were reuctant to give back. The party did some divinations and the priest confirmed their was an older god but didnt forbid him from messing with the older god. The wizards efforts seemed to indicate taking the stuff was a good thing. They already had some gods getting angry at them so thought cash of selling loot worth it.
So the people who had come to help loot temple who considered occupying it did not want to with a collosus trapped inside who could destroy the complex. So they all fled. The part considered fighting it but while in lava it healed 8d6 a round from heat.
They were not interested in exploring mines in the mountain so went noth east planning to see the giant king and possibly steal a cow.
They saw domen and stone idols in the eastern woods. The bard who gre up here said it was all normal druid stuff or the old folk who lived before the current settlers. They saw a hillfort of earthworks and decided to visit and on the way a pack of 5 wingless griffon-like creatures attacked. But the wizard pulled the sword that let him speak to lions. He made peace with creatures and they sat and cooked a meal and fed the beasts. The beasts said their was a bad giant on the mountain who kept delicious sheep. The party offered to kill it and the beasts offered to join them but one who went home to lair.
So each player had a temp pet monster, and they went to the top and saw a tall female giant. Her proportions seemed normal and her flesh had a mottled purple grey colour. Her proportions were normal, unlike the other simpleton giants, and nobody knew what she was. She had a pet spider too, and they were cooking 3 sheep impaled on a branch over a fire. The priest satyr went to chat and she seemed pleased to see them. He asked why and she said her father Geryon, wants the heroes punished and foresaw they would come here. She has camped here hoping to kill the party and get her fathers aproval. So a fight started and they fireballed her twice, hurting her a bit. Griffon beast killed her pet spider and hurt her.
Her staff emitted a purple scythe blade of magic and she began pummeling the priest. They managed to hit him for 38 damage and other attacks missed. The party kept her on the ropes but she teleported and instilled fear in them and took out the wizard with a necrotic bolt that healed her. This was a worry and was a concern her powers caused instant death if brought you to zero but that was her scythe. The players won and found her frightening and tricky. They ate the roast sheep with their griffon beast allies and and celebrated. The allied beasts planned to move here.
She was a death giant from Bigby's book. I hope to use this books' lairs in future as lots of giants in my games ahead as they invade Geryon's kingdom and search the mysteries of these older gods. Aparently the priests have suppressed knowledge of older gods.
Next time they will loot the giant and continue north.
No comments:
Post a Comment
I love and welcome feedback but not spambots
Good feedback and suggestions inspire me to write more