This is for Cantoria and the 9 city nations, so if you're in my campaign STOP READING.
The first PC is a gnome sorcerer who discovered his powers after finding a mysterious red gem that fused to his body while out searching for food. I want a hidden society of the these gem sorcerers that are slowly growing but are also being hunted by some other mysterious group looking to capture or kill them etc. My PC might stumble upon or learn of this group later on and I want help trying to create a plot hook that ties him to this group temporarily at least.
The second is a half elf warlock who's patron is a 3 headed skeleton of murder, sickness, and suicide. His patron forced him to become a "champion" of his by threatening a member of his family the 3 headed skeleton captured and I want to lead clues for the PC to find an artifact that will let him control the skeleton, not the other way around.
The last is a half elf who grew up in a city his parents are not from. Basically his dad (human) was a member of a gang in a distant city who fell in love with a girl (elf) from a more privileged part of society and now they fled with their new baby (the PC) to the new city where 20 or so years later the PC is leaving to adventure. I want the gang his father belonged to be an actual blood family like a Italian mob or something, and the PC might come across the gang realizing his cousins and grandpa etc. are part of this bloodthirsty gang. They might want him to join or go retrieve his dad etc.
Help me develop this with more thought to avoid railroading or how to create an interesting plot hook that ties in nicely to random adventuring.
Can we have some information about the larger arcs of your campaign? I enjoy occasionally weaving backstory into the larger plot and it would be helpful to know what kind of journey your party is on. That said:
1.It stands to reason that your society of gem sorcerers would actively seek out their own. It's totally possible that as your party gains some renown, word of this gem sorcerer comes across the hidden society's radar and they send someone to reach out. Alternatively, renown could cause someone from the mysterious society to turn up trying to kill your PC. Interrogation and/or items found on their body post-combat could be enough to start a trail of clues that leads the party to a hideout for the evil society, and your PC could find the gem sorcerers by accident. Maybe they infiltrate the hideout and discover a gem sorcerer who is being held for torture/interrogation, and all of a sudden it's a rescue mission.
2. This seems like a long arc based on lore, and it seems like it will take the most legwork on the part of your PC to accomplish. Your biggest task will be to spark the idea of controlling the undead in your PC's mind, and if you can do that and get them investigating, the rest of the story might start to write itself. To help set them on that path, you can do things like run ally NPC clerics and have your PC witness them turn undead. You can introduce NPC necromancers that have undead minions. Run a necormancy wizard as a minor enemy, with old-ass books and notes in their keep. Sprinkle your game with allies and enemies that dabble in undeath, and hopefully your PC interacts with them out of sheer curiosity. Build libraries and weird bookstores into your cities, giving them opportunities to seek out lore. Finally, write the artifact's story. How was it forged? Who was it's original owner? Has it changed hands? How many times and how? What is it's last known location, and what kinds of books/stories/songs might make reference to it? When you have the answers to all of these questions, you can drop references to your artifact all throughout your world, and populate it with people who might have heard stories of such a thing or at least know where you might look for information.
3. I've got a gang war brewing in the campaign that I'm currently running, with the backdrop being that Gangs # 1 and 2 are currently having turf wars that are constantly happening regardless of what the party does. The PCs are completing a task on behalf of an NPC who, unbeknownst to them, is working for Gang #1. Upon completion of the task, the party will have unknowingly done some kind of harm to Gang #2, who will put a price on their heads. You could use this as a premise for your story, weaving it in after your party completes any random task that involves stealing or recovering property/killing a target/destroying something of value etc...and saying that your PC's family belongs to Gang #2. Your party could then be tracked, targeted by assassins from, and ultimately captured by Gang #2. Or they could interrogate the assassins and find out who they're working for, uncovering Gang #2's base of operations and investigating for themselves. When they get to HQ, someone in the gang can recognize your PC, maybe your PC recognizes his cousins, or perhaps there's someone your PC knows as an old friend of their father's who they have met several times growing up and thought was just an old buddy of his. Boom, you party is ankle deep in a gang war, has put you PC's father and family in danger by working for Gang #1, and owe Gang #2 a debt to undo the harm they've caused.
This is for Cantoria and the 9 city nations, so if you're in my campaign STOP READING.
The first PC is a gnome sorcerer who discovered his powers after finding a mysterious red gem that fused to his body while out searching for food. I want a hidden society of the these gem sorcerers that are slowly growing but are also being hunted by some other mysterious group looking to capture or kill them etc. My PC might stumble upon or learn of this group later on and I want help trying to create a plot hook that ties him to this group temporarily at least.
The second is a half elf warlock who's patron is a 3 headed skeleton of murder, sickness, and suicide. His patron forced him to become a "champion" of his by threatening a member of his family the 3 headed skeleton captured and I want to lead clues for the PC to find an artifact that will let him control the skeleton, not the other way around.
The last is a half elf who grew up in a city his parents are not from. Basically his dad (human) was a member of a gang in a distant city who fell in love with a girl (elf) from a more privileged part of society and now they fled with their new baby (the PC) to the new city where 20 or so years later the PC is leaving to adventure. I want the gang his father belonged to be an actual blood family like a Italian mob or something, and the PC might come across the gang realizing his cousins and grandpa etc. are part of this bloodthirsty gang. They might want him to join or go retrieve his dad etc.
Help me develop this with more thought to avoid railroading or how to create an interesting plot hook that ties in nicely to random adventuring.
Can we have some information about the larger arcs of your campaign? I enjoy occasionally weaving backstory into the larger plot and it would be helpful to know what kind of journey your party is on. That said:
1.It stands to reason that your society of gem sorcerers would actively seek out their own. It's totally possible that as your party gains some renown, word of this gem sorcerer comes across the hidden society's radar and they send someone to reach out. Alternatively, renown could cause someone from the mysterious society to turn up trying to kill your PC. Interrogation and/or items found on their body post-combat could be enough to start a trail of clues that leads the party to a hideout for the evil society, and your PC could find the gem sorcerers by accident. Maybe they infiltrate the hideout and discover a gem sorcerer who is being held for torture/interrogation, and all of a sudden it's a rescue mission.
2. This seems like a long arc based on lore, and it seems like it will take the most legwork on the part of your PC to accomplish. Your biggest task will be to spark the idea of controlling the undead in your PC's mind, and if you can do that and get them investigating, the rest of the story might start to write itself. To help set them on that path, you can do things like run ally NPC clerics and have your PC witness them turn undead. You can introduce NPC necromancers that have undead minions. Run a necormancy wizard as a minor enemy, with old-ass books and notes in their keep. Sprinkle your game with allies and enemies that dabble in undeath, and hopefully your PC interacts with them out of sheer curiosity. Build libraries and weird bookstores into your cities, giving them opportunities to seek out lore. Finally, write the artifact's story. How was it forged? Who was it's original owner? Has it changed hands? How many times and how? What is it's last known location, and what kinds of books/stories/songs might make reference to it? When you have the answers to all of these questions, you can drop references to your artifact all throughout your world, and populate it with people who might have heard stories of such a thing or at least know where you might look for information.
3. I've got a gang war brewing in the campaign that I'm currently running, with the backdrop being that Gangs # 1 and 2 are currently having turf wars that are constantly happening regardless of what the party does. The PCs are completing a task on behalf of an NPC who, unbeknownst to them, is working for Gang #1. Upon completion of the task, the party will have unknowingly done some kind of harm to Gang #2, who will put a price on their heads. You could use this as a premise for your story, weaving it in after your party completes any random task that involves stealing or recovering property/killing a target/destroying something of value etc...and saying that your PC's family belongs to Gang #2. Your party could then be tracked, targeted by assassins from, and ultimately captured by Gang #2. Or they could interrogate the assassins and find out who they're working for, uncovering Gang #2's base of operations and investigating for themselves. When they get to HQ, someone in the gang can recognize your PC, maybe your PC recognizes his cousins, or perhaps there's someone your PC knows as an old friend of their father's who they have met several times growing up and thought was just an old buddy of his. Boom, you party is ankle deep in a gang war, has put you PC's father and family in danger by working for Gang #1, and owe Gang #2 a debt to undo the harm they've caused.
"To die would be an awfully big adventure"