My current campaign started as a one-shot and doesn't have an overarching plot yet, but I want to start one. It's set in a very anachronistic vaguely-US town where the party work at the town's detective agency solving mysteries.
I'm running them through the Uni and the Hunt for the Lost Horn adventure right now to take a break from coming up with a new mystery every session, and I had their plot hook be that the forensic scientist/chemist at the agency (Angela, a beloved and benevolent NPC) was swamped, working weekends, and needed the party to get her cruelty-free unicorn tears for a potion or chemical mixture she needs to make.
I need help coming up with a long-term mystery for why she's doing all this extra work and what she needs the ingredient for. She's NOT an evil NPC, but she could be misguided or she's trying to save other people or something.
Some other lore if you want inspiration: - The party have just hired a new HR person (through popular vote) at the agency who could be part of this plot. Their boss, the chief of the agency, doesn't like her. - Angela and the chief are married - This world has been destroyed through war/disaster/other things ten times in the past and then rebuilt, leaving a very strange combination of fantasy and science at different levels of advancement depending on what survived each iteration of the world now that they're on its eleventh version.
Unicron tears are a very rare ingredients. any potion made with them would be exeptionally powerful. above all, unicorns are associated with purity and light, perhaps the tears, when mixed with something like daimonic ichor, would produce a potion that makes the imbiber able to cast sickening Radience at will.
perhaps the tears of the Unicron have an addictive effect
perhpas the unicorns Teresa can make a potion that, when sprinkled in a ring on the ground will ward off creatures of the night. perhaps Angela is being haunted, or taunted, or simply annoyed by a creature like this.
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Race: Not Human. that's for sure
Class: Godless monster in human form bent on extending their natural life to unnatural extremes/general of the goose horde
Alignment: Lawful Evil
fun fact: i gain more power the more you post on my forum threads. MUAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA!!!!!!
She’s on to something big. She’s seeing the outlines of something happening— the BBEG’s plan — but she can’t quite put her finger on it. Information the PCs gather will get her closer and closer. Then one day she vanishes (kidnapped because she’s getting too close or she actually figured out some important, like the identity of one of the BBEG’s lieutenants). In her notes are clues the PCs can use to rescue her.
Unicron tears are a very rare ingredients. any potion made with them would be exeptionally powerful. above all, unicorns are associated with purity and light, perhaps the tears, when mixed with something like daimonic ichor, would produce a potion that makes the imbiber able to cast sickening Radience at will.
perhaps the tears of the Unicron have an addictive effect
perhpas the unicorns Teresa can make a potion that, when sprinkled in a ring on the ground will ward off creatures of the night. perhaps Angela is being haunted, or taunted, or simply annoyed by a creature like this.
LOVE these, especially the last one.
I can totally make a plot out of Angela trying to keep a haunting from disturbing her coworkers (maybe because she somehow caused it...)
She’s on to something big. She’s seeing the outlines of something happening— the BBEG’s plan — but she can’t quite put her finger on it. Information the PCs gather will get her closer and closer. Then one day she vanishes (kidnapped because she’s getting too close or she actually figured out some important, like the identity of one of the BBEG’s lieutenants). In her notes are clues the PCs can use to rescue her.
LOVEEE this. Really draws out the ideas I’ve had brewing…
She’s on to something big. She’s seeing the outlines of something happening— the BBEG’s plan — but she can’t quite put her finger on it. Information the PCs gather will get her closer and closer. Then one day she vanishes (kidnapped because she’s getting too close or she actually figured out some important, like the identity of one of the BBEG’s lieutenants). In her notes are clues the PCs can use to rescue her.
LOVEEE this. Really draws out the ideas I’ve had brewing…
Was going to suggest something similar - some strange toxin discovered in a pool / river (unicorn tears are to purify it), birds dying of a strange disease, weird weather all linked to some BBEG's evil plot - she's trying to not only remediate the damage but discover the source as well but because it is BBEG caused the results of her tests don't make sense.... she recruits the party to help investigate....
Unicron tears are a very rare ingredients. any potion made with them would be exeptionally powerful. above all, unicorns are associated with purity and light, perhaps the tears, when mixed with something like daimonic ichor, would produce a potion that makes the imbiber able to cast sickening Radience at will.
perhaps the tears of the Unicron have an addictive effect
perhpas the unicorns Teresa can make a potion that, when sprinkled in a ring on the ground will ward off creatures of the night. perhaps Angela is being haunted, or taunted, or simply annoyed by a creature like this.what if some sort
LOVE these, especially the last one.
I can totally make a plot out of Angela trying to keep a haunting from disturbing her coworkers (maybe because she somehow caused it...)
what if some sort of chemical explosion opened a temporary portal to *insert lower plane* and a daemon slipped through, it isn't "here" enough to attack her, but it can try to influence her into making that chemical explosion again...
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Race: Not Human. that's for sure
Class: Godless monster in human form bent on extending their natural life to unnatural extremes/general of the goose horde
Alignment: Lawful Evil
fun fact: i gain more power the more you post on my forum threads. MUAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA!!!!!!
She's a game version of an AI bot and has 'hallucinated' various elements of what she shares with the characters. She's dreadfully wrong about something - a few things actually - and presents them as fact and important.
There are tons of plot hooks that could be tied into these activities. Keep in mind that you don't have to tell the players what is going on, you can just feed them the small pieces of what they observe in game.
1) The head of the agency has noticed some troubling signs and is wondering if these could be indications of another attempt to destroy their civilization again. He thinks 10 must be far more than a coincidence even if they appear unrelated. He asks Angela to create a specific alchemical mixture that the chief believes might be able to answer his question.
This could tie into a more over arching plot about why the civilization has been destroyed 10 times and is now on its 11th iteration. Even if each of those appears to have causes that are either well known or unrelated, there is still the possibility that someone or something desires the complete destruction of the civilization and so far just hasn't succeeded, perhaps because they want it to appear like the civilization destroyed itself.
2) Angela is doing work on the side for a government agency. The head of the detective group knows of course but it is otherwise secret. The HR rep that was hired is actually a spy who wants to get a close look at what Angela is doing and possibly arrange for an "accident" if it looks like she might be successful in whatever task she is doing for the government. (I don't know the lore of your world but it could be drugs, corruption, evil cult influence, or any number of possible magic or mundane things that could be going on.
3) The boss and Angela are having trouble having a baby and she really wants a special potion that might solve their problem.
There are really an infinite number of options for what could be going on that would fit the clues the players have observed ... it is just up to you to figure out what fits your world and NPCs.
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My current campaign started as a one-shot and doesn't have an overarching plot yet, but I want to start one. It's set in a very anachronistic vaguely-US town where the party work at the town's detective agency solving mysteries.
I'm running them through the Uni and the Hunt for the Lost Horn adventure right now to take a break from coming up with a new mystery every session, and I had their plot hook be that the forensic scientist/chemist at the agency (Angela, a beloved and benevolent NPC) was swamped, working weekends, and needed the party to get her cruelty-free unicorn tears for a potion or chemical mixture she needs to make.
I need help coming up with a long-term mystery for why she's doing all this extra work and what she needs the ingredient for. She's NOT an evil NPC, but she could be misguided or she's trying to save other people or something.
Some other lore if you want inspiration:
- The party have just hired a new HR person (through popular vote) at the agency who could be part of this plot. Their boss, the chief of the agency, doesn't like her.
- Angela and the chief are married
- This world has been destroyed through war/disaster/other things ten times in the past and then rebuilt, leaving a very strange combination of fantasy and science at different levels of advancement depending on what survived each iteration of the world now that they're on its eleventh version.
:)
Unicron tears are a very rare ingredients. any potion made with them would be exeptionally powerful. above all, unicorns are associated with purity and light, perhaps the tears, when mixed with something like daimonic ichor, would produce a potion that makes the imbiber able to cast sickening Radience at will.
perhaps the tears of the Unicron have an addictive effect
perhpas the unicorns Teresa can make a potion that, when sprinkled in a ring on the ground will ward off creatures of the night. perhaps Angela is being haunted, or taunted, or simply annoyed by a creature like this.
Race: Not Human. that's for sure
Class: Godless monster in human form bent on extending their natural life to unnatural extremes/general of the goose horde
Alignment: Lawful Evil
fun fact: i gain more power the more you post on my forum threads. MUAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA!!!!!!
King Of TVs.
The NPC could be accident prone, accidentally ruining the lab with a haywire experiment. They are working weekends for free to pay off the damages
Best Spells: https://www.dndbeyond.com/spells/2190706-applause, https://www.dndbeyond.com/spells/2047204-big-ol-switcheroo, https://www.dndbeyond.com/spells/2188701-cerwicks-copper-cables
Best Feats: https://www.dndbeyond.com/feats/1512461-soapbox-revised
Best Monsters: https://www.dndbeyond.com/monsters/3775489-jar-jar-binks, https://www.dndbeyond.com/monsters/3860024-spare-ribs
She’s on to something big. She’s seeing the outlines of something happening— the BBEG’s plan — but she can’t quite put her finger on it.
Information the PCs gather will get her closer and closer. Then one day she vanishes (kidnapped because she’s getting too close or she actually figured out some important, like the identity of one of the BBEG’s lieutenants). In her notes are clues the PCs can use to rescue her.
I'm not harvesting those....
LOVE these, especially the last one.
I can totally make a plot out of Angela trying to keep a haunting from disturbing her coworkers (maybe because she somehow caused it...)
:)
LOVEEE this. Really draws out the ideas I’ve had brewing…
:)
Was going to suggest something similar - some strange toxin discovered in a pool / river (unicorn tears are to purify it), birds dying of a strange disease, weird weather all linked to some BBEG's evil plot - she's trying to not only remediate the damage but discover the source as well but because it is BBEG caused the results of her tests don't make sense.... she recruits the party to help investigate....
what if some sort of chemical explosion opened a temporary portal to *insert lower plane* and a daemon slipped through, it isn't "here" enough to attack her, but it can try to influence her into making that chemical explosion again...
Race: Not Human. that's for sure
Class: Godless monster in human form bent on extending their natural life to unnatural extremes/general of the goose horde
Alignment: Lawful Evil
fun fact: i gain more power the more you post on my forum threads. MUAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA!!!!!!
King Of TVs.
Paying off Student loans
Is having an affair and using work as an opportunity to meet up.
Busy Season and its mandatory overtime.
Close to a deadline for a project and needs to get it out ASAP, so all hands on deck.
Working for that Christmas bonus.
Needs Bail money for idiot boyfriend/child/cousin/boss
She's a game version of an AI bot and has 'hallucinated' various elements of what she shares with the characters. She's dreadfully wrong about something - a few things actually - and presents them as fact and important.
View my StartPlaying.Games profile to see my games!
There are tons of plot hooks that could be tied into these activities. Keep in mind that you don't have to tell the players what is going on, you can just feed them the small pieces of what they observe in game.
1) The head of the agency has noticed some troubling signs and is wondering if these could be indications of another attempt to destroy their civilization again. He thinks 10 must be far more than a coincidence even if they appear unrelated. He asks Angela to create a specific alchemical mixture that the chief believes might be able to answer his question.
This could tie into a more over arching plot about why the civilization has been destroyed 10 times and is now on its 11th iteration. Even if each of those appears to have causes that are either well known or unrelated, there is still the possibility that someone or something desires the complete destruction of the civilization and so far just hasn't succeeded, perhaps because they want it to appear like the civilization destroyed itself.
2) Angela is doing work on the side for a government agency. The head of the detective group knows of course but it is otherwise secret. The HR rep that was hired is actually a spy who wants to get a close look at what Angela is doing and possibly arrange for an "accident" if it looks like she might be successful in whatever task she is doing for the government. (I don't know the lore of your world but it could be drugs, corruption, evil cult influence, or any number of possible magic or mundane things that could be going on.
3) The boss and Angela are having trouble having a baby and she really wants a special potion that might solve their problem.
There are really an infinite number of options for what could be going on that would fit the clues the players have observed ... it is just up to you to figure out what fits your world and NPCs.