Hello my friends! Come sit down with a drink and a warm meal, we'll be here for a while, I think. I hope.
Here at the Dastardly Plotter, we offer assistance to DMs who need it, and soundboard our own ideas before going home to the donjon to face the goody-two-shoes PCs who invade it once or twice a week or so.
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Now then, lets begin:
---In my adventure one-shot, I intend to have a reagent hunt, but i am clueless when it comes to reagent quests - How does one name a fantasy ingredient? What do such fetch quests need to make a player ooh and ahh?
I'm not - nor was I ever - your "obstacle" until you've deemed me as such, nor am I your wallet, my hard earnt money is not yours by deault.
Je suis Consumer - We are the foundation, the floor beneath your rug. our support is the fate of every retail product, business, and franchise. for success you need support.
I will always miss what you were, but I will never miss what you've become.
When I first read your post, my mind jumped immediately to plants as a reagent, so I'm kind of running with that. Obviously there are other kinds of reagents that could be used.
I feel like fantasy plants are generally named after fantasy creatures -- dragon's bloodthorn, devil's teeth, hag's thistle, etc. Of course, no need to follow such conventions, but they're quick and easy. As for how to make a 'fetch the plant' quest interesting, I would suggest putting it near some sort of powerful, interesting creature. Maybe dragon's bloodthorn is only found in a cave inhabited by a young dragon, or hag's thistle in the garden of a hag living deep in the forest near town. By presenting adventurers with a powerful enemy they can't hope to beat, you encourage them to find other ways (such as stealth) to solve the problem, thereby getting them out of the hack and slash routine. However, you'll have to have the quest-giver warn the players, so they don't barrel into a fight they're not ready for. I also suggest using intelligent creatures, giving the players, if they're caught, a chance to talk their way out of the situation. Maybe after finding a group of heroes rustling around in her garden, the hag agrees to let them go -- only if they agree to carry out some task for her. This also presents players with a moral dilemma, which is always fun. And, as a last resort, if the players do decide to attack, these intelligent creatures might not fight to the death -- the dragon decides after taking a few hits that this cave, which it only recently moved into, isn't worth defending, or the hag uses her assortment of baubles to escape, vowing revenge on our heroes!
If you're running a more hack and slash game, then my suggestion would to just find something cool for them to fight, and the reagent they need is some part of that creature. Wyrmling scales, goop from a gelatinous cube, basilisk fangs, the toenail clippings of a doppleganger ... something that just gives them the excuse to fight something unique with cool abilities.
I would maybe pick the potions the team will use (let's say healing) and have them have to hunt the monsters with constituant parts. Again with healing, trolls regenerate so I'd say they are needed to get ingredients for healing potions. Continuing with that as your guiding principle. Sometimes creatures with one ability can also neutralise it, eg basilisk turn opponents to stone but have stomach acid that neutralises it so could be good for 'stone skin/barks kind type potions or antidotes to paralysis. I'll be utilising this concept myself to create new items and potions from creatures my players defeat to always remind them of what the faced and provide context to a world of magic
By the way you guys are all free to bring up your own DM ideas/issues or search for your own advice. This thread is not just about me ;)
I like the idea, which pretty much boils down to "reagents are based on a Guardian that protects it". I would need to mix it up though.
Currently I was entertaining the idea of throwing my party into a quest to fight a beholder rumored to be roaming the mountainside at night, and be given plot devices and a decent group of NPCs geared at killing beholders. In actuality they'll be fighting a Gas Spore that will explode in their faces. Seeking the antidote is what's gonna instigate and put pressure on this reagent run for a priest who claims he could help them.
I was thinking maybe a flower of some sort plucked from the Banshee's grave might be interesting as a local thing, though it will be likewise deadly.
I would imagine another sample of the spores that are afflicting them would be nice, but I would suggest to them that they could get away with not going back to that spore place if the priest can operate on one of the ill to extract a sample, which means a low chance of survival for that NPC.
That's all I got atm though, once I have more ideas I'll bring them up here.
I'm not - nor was I ever - your "obstacle" until you've deemed me as such, nor am I your wallet, my hard earnt money is not yours by deault.
Je suis Consumer - We are the foundation, the floor beneath your rug. our support is the fate of every retail product, business, and franchise. for success you need support.
I will always miss what you were, but I will never miss what you've become.
Any ideas on dungeons based around each class? I wanted to hide a class specific item for players to hunt down where the dungeon behaves like a the player class or requires class skills to be successful (eg Rogue would need to pick locks or use slight of hand, Barbarian would need to rage in specific locations, rangers would need to track creatures etc) any ideas?
Any ideas on dungeons based around each class? I wanted to hide a class specific item for players to hunt down where the dungeon behaves like a the player class or requires class skills to be successful (eg Rogue would need to pick locks or use slight of hand, Barbarian would need to rage in specific locations, rangers would need to track creatures etc) any ideas?
Cool idea! It might be a bit hard to pull off without some (subtle) DM Fiat. For the rogue class, especially for thieves, you could have regenerating locks with high break/hard lock-picking DC, Which means that if you want to pick the lock, you need more than just brute force, especially if it can create more locks, alternatively - A riddle in what appears to be Thieves' Cant.
A neat propmt for a druid level might be drawn from an old Harry Potter saying. "Follow the spiders" :3 and might include ancient Druidic inscriptions.
A barbarian might find herself fighting her totem animal, or face encounters that can only be solved by pure physical force. A fighter, on the other hand, might have his prowess of his weaponry put to the test through various trials, or have his stamina put to the test in a seemingly endless horde, where he must survive long enough for the exit to open, which requires much blood.
A Paladin might have to face difficult ethical questions, or even be bestowed judgment upon over the purity of his heart (or loyalty to his oath). Rangers might have to face Favored enemies, or might have to keep himself and his crew alive long enough in a particular terrain long enough for the door to open on rare intervals.
I could probably go on and on for challenges for arcanists, but the real point of all this is to appeal to what each relevant class is best at, or can do that other classes can't. With that said, don't feel bad if one of your characters solves a challenge geared towards another class - just be sure to think of a similar challenge that they might be able to help with.
Also, another alternative is not to end a class's challenge with that floor. You can let the dungeon multiclass a bit. Mixing Traps with fearsome monsters and animated spellbooks that fly aroune and cast small spells. I dunno. Maybe? I hope it helps!
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I'm not - nor was I ever - your "obstacle" until you've deemed me as such, nor am I your wallet, my hard earnt money is not yours by deault.
Je suis Consumer - We are the foundation, the floor beneath your rug. our support is the fate of every retail product, business, and franchise. for success you need support.
I will always miss what you were, but I will never miss what you've become.
Hello my friends! Come sit down with a drink and a warm meal, we'll be here for a while, I think. I hope.
Here at the Dastardly Plotter, we offer assistance to DMs who need it, and soundboard our own ideas before going home to the donjon to face the goody-two-shoes PCs who invade it once or twice a week or so.
So a few quick guidelines before we begin:
Now then, lets begin:
---In my adventure one-shot, I intend to have a reagent hunt, but i am clueless when it comes to reagent quests - How does one name a fantasy ingredient? What do such fetch quests need to make a player ooh and ahh?I'm not - nor was I ever - your "obstacle" until you've deemed me as such, nor am I your wallet, my hard earnt money is not yours by deault.
Je suis Consumer - We are the foundation, the floor beneath your rug. our support is the fate of every retail product, business, and franchise. for success you need support.
I will always miss what you were, but I will never miss what you've become.
#OpenDnD #CanceltheSub #DnDBegone.#NeverForgive #NeverForget
When I first read your post, my mind jumped immediately to plants as a reagent, so I'm kind of running with that. Obviously there are other kinds of reagents that could be used.
I feel like fantasy plants are generally named after fantasy creatures -- dragon's bloodthorn, devil's teeth, hag's thistle, etc. Of course, no need to follow such conventions, but they're quick and easy. As for how to make a 'fetch the plant' quest interesting, I would suggest putting it near some sort of powerful, interesting creature. Maybe dragon's bloodthorn is only found in a cave inhabited by a young dragon, or hag's thistle in the garden of a hag living deep in the forest near town. By presenting adventurers with a powerful enemy they can't hope to beat, you encourage them to find other ways (such as stealth) to solve the problem, thereby getting them out of the hack and slash routine. However, you'll have to have the quest-giver warn the players, so they don't barrel into a fight they're not ready for. I also suggest using intelligent creatures, giving the players, if they're caught, a chance to talk their way out of the situation. Maybe after finding a group of heroes rustling around in her garden, the hag agrees to let them go -- only if they agree to carry out some task for her. This also presents players with a moral dilemma, which is always fun. And, as a last resort, if the players do decide to attack, these intelligent creatures might not fight to the death -- the dragon decides after taking a few hits that this cave, which it only recently moved into, isn't worth defending, or the hag uses her assortment of baubles to escape, vowing revenge on our heroes!
If you're running a more hack and slash game, then my suggestion would to just find something cool for them to fight, and the reagent they need is some part of that creature. Wyrmling scales, goop from a gelatinous cube, basilisk fangs, the toenail clippings of a doppleganger ... something that just gives them the excuse to fight something unique with cool abilities.
I would maybe pick the potions the team will use (let's say healing) and have them have to hunt the monsters with constituant parts. Again with healing, trolls regenerate so I'd say they are needed to get ingredients for healing potions. Continuing with that as your guiding principle. Sometimes creatures with one ability can also neutralise it, eg basilisk turn opponents to stone but have stomach acid that neutralises it so could be good for 'stone skin/barks kind type potions or antidotes to paralysis. I'll be utilising this concept myself to create new items and potions from creatures my players defeat to always remind them of what the faced and provide context to a world of magic
By the way you guys are all free to bring up your own DM ideas/issues or search for your own advice. This thread is not just about me ;)
I like the idea, which pretty much boils down to "reagents are based on a Guardian that protects it". I would need to mix it up though.
Currently I was entertaining the idea of throwing my party into a quest to fight a beholder rumored to be roaming the mountainside at night, and be given plot devices and a decent group of NPCs geared at killing beholders. In actuality they'll be fighting a Gas Spore that will explode in their faces. Seeking the antidote is what's gonna instigate and put pressure on this reagent run for a priest who claims he could help them.
I was thinking maybe a flower of some sort plucked from the Banshee's grave might be interesting as a local thing, though it will be likewise deadly.
I would imagine another sample of the spores that are afflicting them would be nice, but I would suggest to them that they could get away with not going back to that spore place if the priest can operate on one of the ill to extract a sample, which means a low chance of survival for that NPC.
That's all I got atm though, once I have more ideas I'll bring them up here.
I'm not - nor was I ever - your "obstacle" until you've deemed me as such, nor am I your wallet, my hard earnt money is not yours by deault.
Je suis Consumer - We are the foundation, the floor beneath your rug. our support is the fate of every retail product, business, and franchise. for success you need support.
I will always miss what you were, but I will never miss what you've become.
#OpenDnD #CanceltheSub #DnDBegone.#NeverForgive #NeverForget
Any ideas on dungeons based around each class? I wanted to hide a class specific item for players to hunt down where the dungeon behaves like a the player class or requires class skills to be successful (eg Rogue would need to pick locks or use slight of hand, Barbarian would need to rage in specific locations, rangers would need to track creatures etc) any ideas?
I'm not - nor was I ever - your "obstacle" until you've deemed me as such, nor am I your wallet, my hard earnt money is not yours by deault.
Je suis Consumer - We are the foundation, the floor beneath your rug. our support is the fate of every retail product, business, and franchise. for success you need support.
I will always miss what you were, but I will never miss what you've become.
#OpenDnD #CanceltheSub #DnDBegone.#NeverForgive #NeverForget