5lippers

Re: Interesting Fantasy Locales I'd completely forgotten about Adelfarn - nice reminder. You can't beat a good old fashioned travelling city! Anyway, another location for our herophile friends... Location: Coldside OLD: abandoned city area, warped by forgotten event Themes: Urban, roleplay, negotiation, social Description: Coldside is a nightmarish, rundown area of the city covering several streets and alleys. The buildings in the area are crumbling, misshapen remnants of their former glory. Some look like they've melted whilst others look like they were taken apart and reassembled by a madman. No one can really remember what happened to area and all sorts of rumours exist (usually involving dark magic and rogue spell-casters). Unsurprisingly, very few people inhabit the area, having been scared off by the usual rumours of people who spent the night in coldview, re-emerging as horribly changed monstrosities or not emerging at all. Recently, the city has seen an influx of people belonging to a certain ethnic group or race who are starting to settle in Coldview. This group doesn't seem perturbed by the areas evil reputation, or perhaps they just haven't heard about it yet. Hook: New Kids on the Block: The PCs are sent to investigate rumours or disturbing activities at Coldview. If sources are to be believed, the City’s newest community is kidnapping people from neighbouring communities and using them for some unknown purpose. The problem is that the sources in question can’t be trusted (maybe they’re a faction from another ethnic group with an axe to grind or some other disreputable source). However, people are disappearing and the City wants to know why. Who’s telling the truth and if the rumours are untrue, who’s behind the kidnappings and why? Complication: certain hard-line groups from the neighbouring communities are deliberately stirring up trouble – can the PCs mediate or resolve the mystery before things really kick off? Highly Unoriginal Evil Artefact Plot: Rumour has it that the misshapen, warped nature of coldview is a result of magical forces exerted by a powerful artefact rumoured to be buried somewhere under the area. Unfortunately, Evil-GM has decided the artefact's existence is a lie and nothing more than an excuse to lure the PCs into a place where an old nemesis can get some serious payback. Enjoy!

Re: Interesting Fantasy Locales Hi All, Great stuff here so far - think I need to up my game and add a few more! ;-) s.

Lets be honest, it’s a good job GMs love what they do because they have a hard time of it, constantly having to come up new and interesting locations, diversions, NPCs, creatures and loot for their players. So let’s help them out a bit… I thought I’d start a thread where people can add their interesting fantasy locations: maybe it’s a small location that could serve as a quick diversion during a larger quest, a single room in a dungeon or something that’s going to take a few play sessions to get through. They don’t have to be really weird or outlandish, just something a bit different from the norm. If you want to add your idea as an outline or a few paragraphs, that’s fine; if you want to go all out, creating maps and stats for things, that’s fine too! Don’t forget your plot hooks! I’ve added a suggested layout below to help our industrious GMs scan for things that’ll work for them. Location: One Line Desc: Themes: Description: Hooks: Here’s a few to get things started… Location: Barfink’s Doll Emporium One Line Desc: Sinister doll shop Themes: dark, mystery Description: Barfink has been making dolls for the wealthy for a very long time. In fact, no one is exactly sure how long since the shop seems to have been there for as long as people can remember. Barfink is considered a master craftsman and his dolls are incredibly lifelike. He stubbornly refuses to share his crafting methods when asked, usually replying, “Sorry, trade secrets.” Barfink owns an elegant shop situated in a back street of one of the more wealthy districts. The shop has two downstairs rooms. The front room is the main part of the shop and includes a counter and an eclectic mix of furniture displaying all manner of dolls and marionettes. Most of the dolls are imported but a special section at the back of the room showcases the dolls that were made by Barfink. Behind the counter is a door that leads to Barfink’s workshop. Barfink lives upstairs and there’s also a cellar where he keeps his materials (apparently). Hooks: Hollow Man: You overhear a street urchin telling his peers that he heard the daughter of a minor noble has been in some sort of coma since the day after her birthday. They say it’s like she’s not there anymore and reckon that the ‘Hollow Man’ got her. It’s not until sometime later that you realise that this is the nickname the street kids use for Barfink. What happened to the girl and why is Barfink called 'Hollow Man' by the street kids? Old Ma Vickers’ Latest Hallucination: Old Ma Vickers can regularly be found wandering the streets near Barfink’s shop talking to herself. She rarely acknowledges people although, when she does, she makes little sense. One day she stops the PCs in the street, claming to have seen one of Barfink’s dolls get up and walk right out the shop. Before the PCs know it, Old Ma’s chasing after a noblewoman walking hand-in-hand with her daughter and screaming back at you, “look see! Another walking one!” Break in: Gentle Dete, the local crime boss and hard-nut has decided that he wants one of Barfink’s dolls for his daughter. The things is, he’s got 'his principles to think about' and refuses to pay for a doll (even though he could easily afford one). Dete needs someone to break into Barfink’s shop and steal a doll for him. Possible complication: Dete wants a particular doll and it’s not in the shop when the PCs get there. Location: Crossed Roads One Line Desc: Strange Crossorads Themes: wilderness, puzzle Description: You come to a crossroads with a sign in the middle. The sign indicates each of the four roads leads to a single destination. The shaft of the sign is densely inscribed with a forgotten, symbolic language. Hook: The PCs haven’t heard of any of the destinations on the sign. No matter what road or route they choose, the PCs always end up back at the crossroads. What is the crossroads and why are the PCs trapped here? Maybe if they could decipher the old language there’d be a clue? Location: Gambler’s Dell One Line Desc: Strange tournament Themes: gambling, forest, risk Description: In the middle of a forest there is an area where the trees have been felled. The stumps have been used to create tables the trunks stools that surround each table. Once a year all manner of beings gather around these tables to play a game of luck and skill. They always play for something, but it’s never money. Hook: A slave (or some other trapped/enchanted entity) approaches you and tells you about the tournament in the forest. The slave wants the PCs to play against its master, with the prize for winning being its freedom. The slave tells the players that it’ll be worth it if they win and promises to reward them. For some reason the slave is forbidden from playing the game. The slave may, or may not, be trustworthy. Possible complication: the players win the game and the slave’s freedom, but the slave immediately challenges its old master to a game stating that, should it win, it will enslave its old master in some particularly unpleasant, evil or degrading way. Should the PCs quit whilst they’re ahead or do the moral thing and join the game again to stop the slave?

Re: Help Me Populate A Creepy Hotel Nice! The Window The room with the gun contains single, shuttered window. There are tales of hotel staff who, standing outside the room, have heard the shutters rattling as if something is trying to get in. This is another reason why few people enter the room. The shutters are locked but also look like they’re stuck fast. Apparently, no one knows where the key is or has ever managed to open them. Investigation will reveal that the window looks out onto a side alley in which can be found a crazed man. The man claims to have worked as a cleaner for the hotel in the past. If asked about the shutters he will fly into an incoherent panic but, once calmed, will claim to have opened the shutters in the gun room. Apparently, the window doesn’t look out into the alley but somewhere else entirely… Key Boy Key Boy always carries an old door lock and key around with him in a battered satchel. He’s very cagey about the lock and key but, if he trusts someone enough, he will tell them that the key & lock allow him to open any door or window. He even claims that he can use the key &lock to open doors where none exist. When asked where these doors go, he clams up and changes the subject. Perhaps Key Boy’s lock & key would open the gun room shutters?

Re: Pulp Fantasy Not sure if this is what you had in mind but “pulp fantasy” always gets me thinking along the lines of noir, weird-menace and Edgar Rice Burroughs – a quick list: Science fantasy / Diesel punk tropes Tough guys with rifles/revolvers Savannah, lost worlds, hidden temples Primitive cultures that have somehow remained hidden from the modern world. Bi-planes and trains. Beastmen, lizardmen, devolved, subterranean (and evil!) humans (rather than elves and dwarves). Dinosaurs! ‘Dark’ magic, rituals, cults. Low-level psionic abilities. Power-mad dictatorships looking to subjugate the ‘civilized world’ and ‘civilized world’ governments that aren’t much better (just better at politicking and propaganda). Detectives with a twist Conspiracy and double-dealing (with a bit more conspiracy on top) Crime syndicates and secret societies Rational throught is becomming the defacto standard with mystics and priests becomming more of a 'curiosity'. Therefore, the consensus jars with the weirder pulp aspects. S.

Re: Help Me Populate A Creepy Hotel Other Hotel Guy Other Hotel Guy, a crass cockney salesman with a penchant for loud, stripy shirts, can be overheard happily - and loudly - telling anyone who will listen: “You think this place is full of freaks? You should go check out The Four Seasons on the other side of town! Makes this place look like an accountancy firm full of the terminally normal I’m telling you! Me and [insert oddball of choice] decided we’d high tail it out of there pronto before things got really weird!” A bit of investigation will reveal that the The Four Seasons Hotel is owned by the same company as this creepy hotel, but unlike creepy hotel, the Four Seasons is actually turning a profit.

Re: Magical Engineer Commandos Hi Mostlyjoe, I’d be tempted to just run with it: it sounds like the creativity of your players stems from a love of creative problem solving rather than power gaming! In some ways, it’s great that you’ve got a group of players who show such determined teamwork! I’d agree with the suggestion that others have made: play them at their own game and foster a rivalry with an NPC team of Magical Engineer Commandos who are determined to prove that they are the most innovative, strategic geniuses that your campaign world has ever seen! You could set up some fun ‘race-for-the-prize’ type scenarios or have the rivals turn up at unhelpful times. Alternatively, you could just increase the number of problems that can’t be solved with a gadget. Probably best not to over do this though as no one likes riddle-grind. My final suggestion: perhaps you could house rule that, if a character dies, the player in question has to come up with a fresh character concept (i.e. one that doesn’t mirror their last character or another character on the team)? S.

Re: Help Me Populate A Creepy Hotel Disappearing Guests The players leave one of the hotel rooms to discover that the hotel is completely deserted. Staff and guests alike are missing and even those rats (rats!! rats!!) seem to be quiet. Helloooooooo! Where’s everyone gone? After a period of time, the players discover that all guests and staff seem to have reappeared and are going about their business as if nothing untoward has happened. The players somehow failed to notice the exact moment when everyone reappeared. When questioned, guests will look at the players as if they’re crazy. Dark Marks The players are in a room when there is a power cut. They’re plunged into both slinence and darkness but, oddly, the electronically locked door will not open: it’s stuck fast and amount of effort will open the door. The silence is occasionally punctured by the subtle but disturbing sound. After a very short period of time the lights come back on and the doors are unlocked. The players emerge into the hotel corridors to find the walls, floors and ceilings of several of them smeared in blood, filth and excrement. No one seems to know what happened (they were also locked in or elsewhere in the hotel) and all guests are accounted for.

Re: Help Me Populate A Creepy Hotel Hi All, First a confession: I haven’t been through all the posts so apologies if these are similar to previous entries… Coat Guy Coat Guy can usually be found in the hotel bar until 11:03 pm each evening, when he retires to his room. He seems like a normal enough fellow: friendly, approachable and with a vast repertoire of outrageous stories which he’s more than willing to tell to anyone who’ll buy him a drink. No tale is so outrageous as to be patently untrue though – they’re always about unlikely things that could have happened. No matter the weather, Coat Guy always wears his coat (indoors and out). At first glance his coat seems to be some sort of leather, but no amount of forensic analysis or investigation will reveal from what animal hide it is made. Coat Guy also has a seven-dial pocket watch which he checks occasionally. None of the dials look like those on a ‘normal’ watch. Occasionally, after 11:03pm, Coat Guy will have visitors who always go straight to hotel reception and ask after him. Upon asking, Hotel staff can be seen giving directions to the visitors, who then proceed to Coat Guy’s room (you presume). The strange thing is that, when asked, no one (including hotel staff), seems to know in which room Coat Guy is staying… Music Box Man One evening the players witness an anxious gentleman rush into the hotel and ask for a room for the evening. When told that the hotel is fully booked, the gentlemen becomes more agitated and says that he has to stay here because he has a really important meeting tomorrow! Reluctantly, the receptionist tells him that they do have a spare room. The room in question is 176 and the players are aware that this room has a dark and ugly reputation. The man is slightly overweight, but otherwise non descript. He clutches a music box close to his chest. If the box is opened, the players will see a pirouetting ballerina which rotates in time to the music. The following morning a woman turns up, asking after Music Box Man. He’s not answering the door and the hotel staff have to let her into the room. The room is empty apart from the music box that sits on the bedside table. The woman takes the box, claiming that it was being delivered to her. Opening the box will reveal that the box no longer contains a figurine of a ballerina, but that of a pirouetting old lady (possibly Bag Lady – see below). Come to think of it, the new owner of the music box looks very much like the ballerina in the box… Bag Lady Outside the hotel the players often bump into an unkempt lady who carries a mangy cat around in an old hemp shopping bag. She has little to do with the players other than shout nonsensical and stomach-churning abuse at them from time to time. One day, she sidles up to the players and tells them, conspiratorially, that she knows a secret before wandering into a nearby alley. If the players choose to follow her, the alley will be empty when they get there. They never see the old lady again. Sci-fi Geekette The Players seem to keep bumping into Sci-fi Geekette in and around the hotel. Sci-fi Geekette is very frail and extremely myopic but, given the opportunity, she’ll happily bore the players with sci-fi factoids. One evening she’s talks passionately about George Lucas being a prophet of a higher power, claiming that the force as shown in Star Wars really exists. The following morning, the players enter the foyer of the hotel just in time to see her forcibly eject a trouble maker out the hotel doors, from ten yards and without touching the trouble maker. Whilst the players stare agape, Sci-fi Geekette runs out of the hotel, giving the players the feeling that they’re not going to see her again. A day later, a lady called Antoinette Fhey greets the players, explaining that they’ve been the victims of a new hidden camera TV series called “Effing X!”. She gives each of the players £100 and thanks them for being such good sports before disappearing. The trouble is, no ones ever heard of Antoinette Fhey or a new TV show called “Effing X!”. Who is Antoinette, what channel does she work for and why has no one heard of her or her show? Willing Pawn The Players meet Willing Pawn in the hotel and before long he’s drunk and telling them how he’s a living game piece in a competitive game of mind-boggling complexity and scale. The only sense the players can make of Willing Pawn’s babbling is that The Game is played by the fabulously rich and powerful, he is a living piece for someone called Rook (the highest scoring player of all time) and that points are awarded to each player by The Watchers. The following morning, the players discover that a piece of essential evidence form an ongoing/current investigation has been stolen. In the place where the evidence is usually kept there is a message from Willign Pawn which reads: “Thanks Man! This is going to be HUGE! Rook owes you one but watch out for Beatrix – she’s going to be p*ssed!” Uh-oh, that doesn’t sound good… What is The Game? Who’s Rook and can the players call in their favour before Beatrix exacts her revenge? Knows-Where-You-Are-Girl Knows-Where-You-Are-Girl always seems to know where the players are, turning up at the most inopportune moments. She’s tall, moderately intelligent and could have gone far but for a narcotic addiction. The problem is, she’s addicted to a substance that a large crime syndicate monopolises; it wouldn’t be so bad but you are on the syndicate’s most wanted list. Things could get very messy if they found out about the girl’s uncanny ability…