What Da Hook Gonna Be?

[Captain Obvious]

Re: What Da Hook Gonna Be?

 

It's been forever since I've played, but the last time I ran a FH game, it was set in Nehwon, and I think I had all the characters breaking into the same house....

[CourtFool]

Re: What Da Hook Gonna Be?

 

Some great ideas. Thank you, fellow herophiles.

 

I am thinking a little tweaking could make the new Lost series into a great opener for a Fantasy campaign. Shipwreck instead of a planewreck and some mystical beast on the island.

[Markdoc]

Re: What Da Hook Gonna Be?

 

He pulls a bunch of PCs off the street and tests them by making them fight a giant ape in his garden. If they pass he dispatches them to hunt down the rogue agent. Actually he does it if they fail the test too. By doing this he is effectively giving a bunch of complete strangers with no reason to be loyal access to all manner of state secrets and a government expense account. Why would anybody do this? John le Carre it is not.

 

The "fight a giant ape in my garden" idea is kind of naff (It's hell on the petunias, for start) but I have used the idea of the captain of the guard hauling a bunch of PCs off the street and setting them a task to get a group started.

 

The rationale in this case was a murder investigation and the captain of the guard wanted to recruit newly-arrived strangers in town for several reasons:

1) he was concerned that people high up in the town's hierachy were involved in the murders (which clearly had a sorcerous component) and those higher-ups almost certainly had spies in his own corps of guards. He did not necessarily want them to know what he was doing.

 

2) If it went really high up, then perhaps it would be best if the mystery was solved "discreetly" - in which case no-one would care if his motley crew of new arrivals were suddenly "disappeared". Doing away with a half dozen city guards on the other hand, would be a bit hard to hide.

 

3) If the investigators stirred up too much trouble, he could disclaim all knowledge of them and then have them arrested and executed to shut them up.

 

To ensure their compliance, he had stolen goods planted in their rooms, in case they turned down his big payment (although as it turned out, no-one did): he revealed reason #1 to explain the whole deal to the PCs.

 

That worked OK, since once the adventure was run, I let the players find out about the possibility of being "disappeared" which led them to go on the lam together (safety in numbers and all that).

 

cheers, Mark

[CourtFool]

Re: What Da Hook Gonna Be?

 

I am sure this link has found its way on these boards before but I thought it was a great idea and worth a post.

[Reneshat]

Re: What Da Hook Gonna Be?

 

How about all the characters are thrown in prison for being suspects for the same crime. Granted, I as a general rule don't enjoy the whole working together with the authorities in a fantasy setting, because quite honestly, in a setting like that, the authorities would be horribly corrupt. Well, maybe if you had nuetral and evil characters just out to gain favor....

[CourtFool]

Good Cop Bad Cop

 

How about all the characters are thrown in prison for being suspects for the same crime. Granted' date=' I as a general rule don't enjoy the whole working together with the authorities in a fantasy setting, because quite honestly, in a setting like that, the authorities would be horribly corrupt. Well, maybe if you had nuetral and evil characters just out to gain favor....[/quote']

They would not necessarily have to work with the authorities to try to clear their names. They are suspects precisely because the authorities are corrupt.

[Guest joen00b]

Re: What Da Hook Gonna Be?

 

I am sure this link has found its way on these boards before but I thought it was a great idea and worth a post.

 

Hehe, that's funny, I really love music, all kinds, I play music, listen to it, music is always around me, and when I write campaigns, I usually fill one side of a spiral bound page for basically one night of gaming (notes are usually written as the campaign goes and I can incorporate them into the story easier), but I digress. All these pages usually have a title to them and it's always a song lyric, hehe.

 

Like for one campaign where a Flesh Golem was made (Frankenstein) the title for the night was: Turn Me On I'm Alive Tonight which is a lyric from Live Wire from Motley Crue, or Gotta Make A Mint, Gotta Make Me A Million a line from Budgies Breadfan where the adventurers found themselves in a defunct dwarven gold mine that was ready to collapse.

 

I just find it funny, and I think I am going to try that trick...

[Reneshat]

Re: Good Cop Bad Cop

 

They would not necessarily have to work with the authorities to try to clear their names. They are suspects precisely because the authorities are corrupt.

 

Which is why I said they should be suspects. My authorities being corrupt remark was actually commenting on the locals asking help from the heroes to help solve a crime, or a situation.

[KA.]

Re: What Da Hook Gonna Be?

 

One thing that can work really well is the horror movie classic:

"I trust you because you are a stranger."

 

You just have a bunch of random people, some PCs, some NPCs, on some type of conveyance. Ship, wagon, caravan.

Something happens to stop them somewhere other than their chosen destination.

(A wheel breaks and they are stuck in a town, a storm comes up and they are stuck on an island, etc.)

The locals are all weird. (some weird way of dressing, weird mannerisms, all attend the same weird church/temple)

Something bad happens to NPC. (killed in horrible way, disappears but leaves lots of blood behind, turns into a demon/monster)

Something bad almost happens to a PC the next night.

Obviously the natives are part of the problem.

The only possible allies are the strangers that arrived with you.

(Since they aren't part of the natives, they are at least somewhat trustworthy.)

By the time the current crisis is dealt with, and the ship/wagon/caravan starts moving again, you should have a group together.

 

KA.