Hi everyone. Can you help me develop this low level one shot adventure idea and make it more complete? This idea started when I heard the Charlie Daniels band song "Legend of Woolie Swamp" recently. The story needs a lot of help but I think it has potential.
The party is approached by group in a swamp to steal an item from a monster or else kill him. The monster is a frog like humanoid creature, ugly. Looks like a bad guy.
The monster is (pick one or add your own) -guarding a bridge, prohibitng people from crossing -sinking boats in a river. -Protecting the swamp from loggers? -Actually a prince and this is his ancestral land? -Guarding an ancient treasure from the original group
If the party talks to the monster he gives them an alternative deal and a different version of the story. Perhaps they then turn on the original group that hired them.
Thanks in advance, Velstitzen
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Velstitzen
I am a 40 something year old physician who DMs for a group of 40 something year old doctors. We play a hybrid game, mostly based on 2nd edition rules with some homebrew and 5E components.
What are the abilities of this monster? Looking at the 2024 monster manual, which you might not use based on your signature, the Bullywug warrior or sage comes to mind as a good starting point.
What are the alignments/goals of your player characters and the NPCs? i.e., what motivates your players to steal this item? Are they being offered money or some other reward, or are they stealing the item to help the group that needs it? For the group that wants the item, are they a suffering tribe of swamp dwellers who need the item to fend off some disease, monster, or other problem, or are they a greedy group of researchers who want the power of an ancient artifact for themselves? For the monster, I like the idea that it might reveal the situation to be morally gray than one would initially think. If the PCs are money/reward motivated, it simply offering a reward greater than the initial group's offer would probably be enough, but if the party is more moral, then perhaps the monster is fulfilling some ancient duty or trying to keep a dangerous artifact out of the wrong hands. This opens up ways to settle the issue without combat.
Finally, I think the most important thing here is to figure out what the item is/does. Is it a relic that holds cultural significance for the group? Is it a powerful magic item? Is it simply worth a lot of money?
A bullywug type critter is actually what I envisioned. And yes, I often do make up monsters as opposed to using ones right out of the books
My players are new as are the characters so I don’t know what makes them tick yet. Usually, PCs are financially motivated and magic items are a step up from gold.
I think guarding an artifact or locale that the initial group of humans is seeking for nefarious purposes seems the best of my initial thoughts.
if you can add to this for a more cohesive story, I would appreciate it!
Rollback Post to RevisionRollBack
Velstitzen
I am a 40 something year old physician who DMs for a group of 40 something year old doctors. We play a hybrid game, mostly based on 2nd edition rules with some homebrew and 5E components.
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Hi everyone. Can you help me develop this low level one shot adventure idea and make it more complete? This idea started when I heard the Charlie Daniels band song "Legend of Woolie Swamp" recently. The story needs a lot of help but I think it has potential.
The party is approached by group in a swamp to steal an item from a monster or else kill him. The monster is a frog like humanoid creature, ugly. Looks like a bad guy.
-guarding a bridge, prohibitng people from crossing
-sinking boats in a river.
-Protecting the swamp from loggers?
-Actually a prince and this is his ancestral land?
-Guarding an ancient treasure from the original group
Thanks in advance,
Velstitzen
Velstitzen
I am a 40 something year old physician who DMs for a group of 40 something year old doctors. We play a hybrid game, mostly based on 2nd edition rules with some homebrew and 5E components.
Things to consider based off my initial thoughts:
What are the abilities of this monster? Looking at the 2024 monster manual, which you might not use based on your signature, the Bullywug warrior or sage comes to mind as a good starting point.
What are the alignments/goals of your player characters and the NPCs? i.e., what motivates your players to steal this item? Are they being offered money or some other reward, or are they stealing the item to help the group that needs it? For the group that wants the item, are they a suffering tribe of swamp dwellers who need the item to fend off some disease, monster, or other problem, or are they a greedy group of researchers who want the power of an ancient artifact for themselves? For the monster, I like the idea that it might reveal the situation to be morally gray than one would initially think. If the PCs are money/reward motivated, it simply offering a reward greater than the initial group's offer would probably be enough, but if the party is more moral, then perhaps the monster is fulfilling some ancient duty or trying to keep a dangerous artifact out of the wrong hands. This opens up ways to settle the issue without combat.
Finally, I think the most important thing here is to figure out what the item is/does. Is it a relic that holds cultural significance for the group? Is it a powerful magic item? Is it simply worth a lot of money?
Hope this helps!
A bullywug type critter is actually what I envisioned. And yes, I often do make up monsters as opposed to using ones right out of the books
My players are new as are the characters so I don’t know what makes them tick yet. Usually, PCs are financially motivated and magic items are a step up from gold.
I think guarding an artifact or locale that the initial group of humans is seeking for nefarious purposes seems the best of my initial thoughts.
if you can add to this for a more cohesive story, I would appreciate it!
Velstitzen
I am a 40 something year old physician who DMs for a group of 40 something year old doctors. We play a hybrid game, mostly based on 2nd edition rules with some homebrew and 5E components.