Hostile Hostels: The Slums
Posted in Hostile Hostels on January 22nd, 2008 | 3 Comments »
Tags: Businesses, Urban
In the town of Amberdine there exists a peculiar little tavern known as The Slums. At first glance, it certainly appears to live up to its name; the building looks rundown, more than one window is boarded up, and it is covered with graffiti.
Things start to fail a bit upon closer inspection, though. The boards nailed to the window are too well-maintained; the paint too perfectly cracked. Even the graffiti seems less edgy, using clever half-curses to avoid the outright obscenities one would expect to find. Perhaps most damning of all– The Slums is located centrally in one of the more affluent quarters of Amberdine.
The Slums is actually something of a dinner theater. Wealthy patrons pay for the privilege of seeing a vicious bar-fight three times a night. The proprietor, Angus Greedly, allows anyone to eat for free in the central area as long as they get involved when the fight breaks out. They’re given cheap food, and much of it ends up getting wasted over the course of the brawl, but the many beggars of Amberdine gladly participate.
The actual customers are allowed to sit on the second floor, giving them a fine vantage point of the fight and much-needed distance to protect them. Angus hires several bouncers to guard the staircase, preventing the riff-raff below from trying to get upstairs. The food upstairs is some of the best you can find in the city, and Angus employs both a halfling and an elf as the main chefs.
The lower portion of the tavern is set up to encourage a good fight. There are several low-hanging chandeliers, stacks of (empty) crates and barrels, lots of wooden mugs and dishes to be thrown, etc. Angus makes a point to buy the most shoddily-crafted furniture he can for the first floor, not just because he has to replace them so often, but also because they tend to break apart more spectacularly when used as weapons.
Some of the wealthy diners will drop a bit of coin to the floor below, to bring the fight closer to them. It is also not uncommon for particularly entertaining participants to be given tips and gifts from the customers. Angus even pays a few people who have proven both to be wily and entertaining combatants, and to be good at getting a fight started.
Fighter using a dead hollowed-out goblin as a bag to hold his magic biscuits?
Wizard hurling bottles of poop and eggs instead of fireballs?
Frenzied berzerker being slowly and agonizingly drowned by a giant clam?
Time for a Madness Check.
Showing posts with label environmental. Show all posts
Showing posts with label environmental. Show all posts
Tucker's Kobolds
UNDER CONSTRUCTION
From Dragon 127, pg. 3 Tucker's kobolds
This month's editorial is about Tucker's kobolds. We get letters on occasion asking for advice on creating high-level AD&D game adventures, and Tucker's kobolds seem to fit the bill.
Many high-level characters have little to do because they're not challenged. They yawn at tarrasques and must be forcibly kept awake when a lich appears. The DMs involved don't know what to do, so they stop dealing with the problem and the characters go into Character Limbo. Getting to high level is hard, but doing anything once you get there is worse.
One of the key problems in adventure design lies in creating opponents who can challenge powerful characters. Singular monsters like tarrasques and liches are easy to gang up on; the party can concentrate its firepower on the target until the target falls down dead and wiggles its little feet in the air. Designing monsters more powerful than a tarrasque is self-defeating; if the group kills your super-monster, what will you do next‚ send in its mother? That didn't work on Beowulf, and it probably won't work here.
Worse yet, singular supermonsters rarely have to think. They just use their trusty, predictable claw/claw/bite. This shouldn't be the measure of a campaign. These games fall apart because there's no challenge to them, no mental stimulation - no danger.
In all the games that I've seen, the worst, most horrible, most awful beyond-comparison opponents ever seen were often weaker than the characters who fought them. They were simply well-armed and intelligent beings who were played by the DM to be utterly ruthless and clever. Tucker's kobolds were like that.
Tucker ran an incredibly dangerous dungeon in the days I was stationed at Ft. Bragg, N.C. This dungeon had corridors that changed all of your donkeys into huge flaming demons or dropped the whole party into acid baths, but the demons were wienies compared to the kobolds on Level One. These kobolds were just regular kobolds, with 1-4 hp and all that, but they were mean. When I say they were mean, I mean they were bad, Jim. They graduated magna cum laude from the Sauron Institute for the Criminally Vicious.
When I joined the gaming group, some of the PCs had already met Tucker's kobolds, and they were not eager to repeat the experience. The party leader went over the penciled map of the dungeon and tried to find ways to avoid the little critters, but it was not possible. The group resigned itself to making a run for it through Level One to get to the elevators, where we could go down to Level Ten and fight "okay" monsters like huge flaming demons.
It didn't work. The kobolds caught us about 60' into the dungeon and locked the door behind us and barred it. Then they set the corridor on fire, while we were still in it.
"NOOOOOO!!!" screamed the party leader. "It's THEM! Run!!!"
Thus encouraged, our party scrambled down a side passage, only to be ambushed by more kobolds firing with light crossbows through murder holes in the walls and ceilings. Kobolds with metal armor and shields flung Molotov cocktails at us from the other sides of huge piles of flaming debris, which other kobolds pushed ahead of their formation using long metal poles like broomsticks. There was no mistake about it. These kobolds were bad.
We turned to our group leader for advice.
"AAAAAAGH!!!" he cried, hands clasped over his face to shut out the tactical situation.
We abandoned most of our carried items and donkeys to speed our flight toward the elevators, but we were cut off by kobold snipers who could split-move and fire, ducking back behind stones and corners after launching steel-tipped bolts and arrows, javelins, hand axes, and more flaming oil bottles. We ran into an unexplored section of Level One, taking damage all the time. It was then we discovered that these kobolds had honeycombed the first level with small tunnels to speed their movements. Kobold commandos were everywhere. All of our hirelings died. Most of our henchmen followed. We were next.
I recall we had a 12th-level magic user with us, and we asked him to throw a spell or something. "Blast 'em!" we yelled as we ran. "Fireball 'em! Get those little @#+$%*&!!"
"What, in these narrow corridors? " he yelled back. "You want I should burn us all up instead of them?"
Our panicked flight suddenly took us to a dead-end corridor, where a giant air shaft dropped straight down into unspeakable darkness, far past Level Ten. Here we hastily pounded spikes into the floors and walls, flung ropes over the ledge, and climbed straight down into that unspeakable darkness, because anything we met down there was sure to be better than those kobolds.
We escaped, met some huge flaming demons on Level Ten, and even managed to kill one after about an hour of combat and the lives of half the group. We felt pretty good — but the group leader could not be cheered up.
"We still have to go out the way we came in," he said as he gloomily prepared to divide up the treasure.
Tucker's kobolds were the worst things we could imagine. They ate all our donkeys and took our treasure and did everything they could to make us miserable, but they had style and brains and tenacity and courage. We respected them and loved them, sort of, because they were never boring.
If kobolds could do this to a group of PCs from 6th to 12th level, picture what a few orcs and some low level NPCs could do to a 12th-16th level group, or a gang of mid-level NPCs and monsters to groups of up to 20th level. Then give it a try. Sometimes, it's the little things‚ used well, that count.
Roger E. Moore
From Dragon 127, pg. 3 Tucker's kobolds
This month's editorial is about Tucker's kobolds. We get letters on occasion asking for advice on creating high-level AD&D game adventures, and Tucker's kobolds seem to fit the bill.
Many high-level characters have little to do because they're not challenged. They yawn at tarrasques and must be forcibly kept awake when a lich appears. The DMs involved don't know what to do, so they stop dealing with the problem and the characters go into Character Limbo. Getting to high level is hard, but doing anything once you get there is worse.
One of the key problems in adventure design lies in creating opponents who can challenge powerful characters. Singular monsters like tarrasques and liches are easy to gang up on; the party can concentrate its firepower on the target until the target falls down dead and wiggles its little feet in the air. Designing monsters more powerful than a tarrasque is self-defeating; if the group kills your super-monster, what will you do next‚ send in its mother? That didn't work on Beowulf, and it probably won't work here.
Worse yet, singular supermonsters rarely have to think. They just use their trusty, predictable claw/claw/bite. This shouldn't be the measure of a campaign. These games fall apart because there's no challenge to them, no mental stimulation - no danger.
In all the games that I've seen, the worst, most horrible, most awful beyond-comparison opponents ever seen were often weaker than the characters who fought them. They were simply well-armed and intelligent beings who were played by the DM to be utterly ruthless and clever. Tucker's kobolds were like that.
Tucker ran an incredibly dangerous dungeon in the days I was stationed at Ft. Bragg, N.C. This dungeon had corridors that changed all of your donkeys into huge flaming demons or dropped the whole party into acid baths, but the demons were wienies compared to the kobolds on Level One. These kobolds were just regular kobolds, with 1-4 hp and all that, but they were mean. When I say they were mean, I mean they were bad, Jim. They graduated magna cum laude from the Sauron Institute for the Criminally Vicious.
When I joined the gaming group, some of the PCs had already met Tucker's kobolds, and they were not eager to repeat the experience. The party leader went over the penciled map of the dungeon and tried to find ways to avoid the little critters, but it was not possible. The group resigned itself to making a run for it through Level One to get to the elevators, where we could go down to Level Ten and fight "okay" monsters like huge flaming demons.
It didn't work. The kobolds caught us about 60' into the dungeon and locked the door behind us and barred it. Then they set the corridor on fire, while we were still in it.
"NOOOOOO!!!" screamed the party leader. "It's THEM! Run!!!"
Thus encouraged, our party scrambled down a side passage, only to be ambushed by more kobolds firing with light crossbows through murder holes in the walls and ceilings. Kobolds with metal armor and shields flung Molotov cocktails at us from the other sides of huge piles of flaming debris, which other kobolds pushed ahead of their formation using long metal poles like broomsticks. There was no mistake about it. These kobolds were bad.
We turned to our group leader for advice.
"AAAAAAGH!!!" he cried, hands clasped over his face to shut out the tactical situation.
We abandoned most of our carried items and donkeys to speed our flight toward the elevators, but we were cut off by kobold snipers who could split-move and fire, ducking back behind stones and corners after launching steel-tipped bolts and arrows, javelins, hand axes, and more flaming oil bottles. We ran into an unexplored section of Level One, taking damage all the time. It was then we discovered that these kobolds had honeycombed the first level with small tunnels to speed their movements. Kobold commandos were everywhere. All of our hirelings died. Most of our henchmen followed. We were next.
I recall we had a 12th-level magic user with us, and we asked him to throw a spell or something. "Blast 'em!" we yelled as we ran. "Fireball 'em! Get those little @#+$%*&!!"
"What, in these narrow corridors? " he yelled back. "You want I should burn us all up instead of them?"
Our panicked flight suddenly took us to a dead-end corridor, where a giant air shaft dropped straight down into unspeakable darkness, far past Level Ten. Here we hastily pounded spikes into the floors and walls, flung ropes over the ledge, and climbed straight down into that unspeakable darkness, because anything we met down there was sure to be better than those kobolds.
We escaped, met some huge flaming demons on Level Ten, and even managed to kill one after about an hour of combat and the lives of half the group. We felt pretty good — but the group leader could not be cheered up.
"We still have to go out the way we came in," he said as he gloomily prepared to divide up the treasure.
Tucker's kobolds were the worst things we could imagine. They ate all our donkeys and took our treasure and did everything they could to make us miserable, but they had style and brains and tenacity and courage. We respected them and loved them, sort of, because they were never boring.
If kobolds could do this to a group of PCs from 6th to 12th level, picture what a few orcs and some low level NPCs could do to a 12th-16th level group, or a gang of mid-level NPCs and monsters to groups of up to 20th level. Then give it a try. Sometimes, it's the little things‚ used well, that count.
Roger E. Moore
Groundhog Day
A plot in which the party is caught in a time loop, doomed to repeat a period of time (often exactly one day) over and over, until something is corrected. Only the party realizes what is going on -- everyone and everything else else remembers nothing, and if not interfered with will do the exact same things every time, right down to dialogue.
Think Groundhog Day and Majora's Mask.
Great potential in D&D...ensieged city, the party is trapped inside. State of war and chaos, disaster, with many people and events happening at once. They have to, through trial and error, piece together what exactly is causing this battle, what will solve it, who the major players/events are, etc. Also good because it will allow DEATHS but not really, since the dead PC's will be back the next morning (ie The Dream).
Death = Loss of Memory?
If they died, they don't remember anything they have learned during the ordeal. But this could be a pain, as too many deaths would start clashing with unconscious metagame knowledge. Maybe it's better to just have them remember everything regardless of being dead/alive at the end.
Answer = NO
The party is approached by a man to hunt down some magical item (referred to hereafter as an orb) that will protect his city/kingdom & ensure the safety of its citizens forever.
Pretty routine, in fact, almost too routine. The party might even be suspicious of such an easy quest. Might have to have a good reason why the party is being hired, ie it's an old man, the guardian is too fierce, etc.
The dungeon crawl is relatively short and routine. There's nothing TOO crazy or too dangerous, but a good "warmup" for the real adventure to come. The guardian is challenging, but has a weakness or two that their employer advises them about beforehand. There shouldn't be any deaths. There will also be some hints dropped at something strange going on...nothing too obvious, but a slight feeling of there being more going on than appears. Examples - the dungeon being not dungeonish but instead very well kept up (too obvious?) or a door being locked on the wrong side. The party should retrieve the orb with relative ease, but it should still take a bit of time.
The doors locked on the wrong side can even be passed off as a "Random dungeon generator said so" remark, which will make the players not think anything of it...until later. Other puzzling clues can be wall murals, or maybe a recurring symbol can be an infinity sign or OUROBOROS sign.
The party brings the orb to the kingdom.
Here is where the plot can go in a number of different paths:
a) The employer has no idea about the curse, and thinks he's honestly saving the city. There is no secrecy, the party returns, they are celebrated, maybe a feast and such, and they are honored guests and go to sleep in nice, nice rooms. The time loop now starts, either because the orb is cursed, or because there is a mishap when "installing" it.
b) The employer knows exactly what the orb does, and wants to trap the city in the time loop as revenge. He has also fooled the King, and there is no secrecy about the orb. The employer leaves town during the festivities to escape the curse, but otherwise it is exactly the same as above.
c) The employer knows exactly what the orb does, and wants to trap the city in the time loop WITH HIM INSIDE so he can enjoy everyone's misery forever. This path doesn't require a huge celebration, but it's a possible outcome - lied to the King, celebrate, go to sleep, curse starts. OR, he could get the orb, and immediately smash it on the ground, confusing the party, and he will start laughing wildly and insanely and then run off. The party should be somewhat disturbed, but they will have gotten paid, so they will either rest (it being late) or leave the city. If they rest, they are awoken as normal, but if they leave the city...not sure how that would work. Maybe they just appear in the city square? Or where the orb was smashed?
Problem with leaving the city - upon waking up they would realize something was wrong, since they are somewhere other than where they went to sleep. This idea is out.
WHAT ENDS THE CURSE?
- The death of someone, or maybe preventing the death of someone
- Some kind of personal resolution with the employer (kinda lame)
- Maybe the orb is shattered each day, which starts the time loop...it has to be protected
On the First Run Through (before the party knows what is happening)
• The morning starts off with one PC (or maybe all the PCs) waking up suddenly, inexplicably. Moments later, something loud and memorable (a bell tower crashing down, a fireball exploding nearby, etc.)
• Present at least one dilemma between two choices, and their choice ends up being wrong or at least unfortunate (so next time they can choose the other option). Example: Tanis in The Dream choosing between Laurana and Kitiara; he hesitates and they both end up dying.
• Seemingly random occurrences that, if the party remembers them, they can tailor to their purposes. IE, a lightning strike will always occur at a certain time at a specific spot, so the party can use that however they wish.
• Toss out some innocent details (names, directions, klatu verada nicto type stuff) that, if they knew the day was repeating, would be invaluabe...but since they don't suspect that, it will be a sudden challenge to try to remember. Should end up like Cam's "tell me the names of your party members." To be really blunt, along the lines of being led through a locked door and saying "it's a good thing the keyword is Apple or else I'd never remember it" and then never seeing that lock again that day. The party would likely just ignore it...until they need to open the door the next day by themselves. Like that, only more subtle and not so prominently brought to the party's attention.
• In a fight in a ballroom/dining hall, have a missed attack or shot cut a rope holding up a chandelier, which sways and tips and crashes to the floor. The party can remember this and use it next time.
• Preventable mishap - someone (like a gnome with a new device) tries to do something and horribly fails and explodes/dies/etc. The party can prevent this the next day...if they want to.
• Have a useful NPC be on the verge of doing something helpful (providing information, casting a triggering spell, etc.) but are slain before they can finish the act. Next time the party can save them (if they remember). A nice example would be an assassin death striking the NPC, and the party can intercept/sacrifice themselves to save them.
• With or without direct input from the party, events happen around them. During the first day they may find themselves acting as spectators more than once.
• At the end, everyone dies in a Major Disaster. Maybe the city explodes, maybe the big demon is summoned and kills everyone, maybe the moon crashes down upon the city, but it ends in a total death. And then they wake up at the beginning of the day...
On the Second Run Through
• The next morning, the party status is exactly the same as when the ordeal begins, ie no gained gear is kept. But they still have the knowledge of what happens. They will most likely be puzzled and try to discuss it and figure things out...BUT they are interrupted by the loud and memorable event. Or maybe the loud event is actually what wakes them up, like a guard yelling at them, a la the alarm clock in Groundhog Day.
• In any fights, the enemies take the same actions as before (in general - if they were wounded on Day 1 and stopped to heal, but don't get wounded on Day 2, then obviously they don't stop to heal...)
• Start chaining, ie on Day 1, Bob dies before he can lead them to the prison. On Day 2, they save Bob and he leads them to the prison, but is then eaten by a dragon before he can say the unlocking phrase to get into the prison basement. On Day 3, they save Bob, then avoid the Dragon, but then Bob is attacked & killed by an escaped insane prisoner, etc.
Bonus: Just to screw with the players, slightly bend the rules. For instance, on Day 3 or 4, an item they find during that day unexpectedly comes back with them the next morning. This should confuse them, and if it's a key item, all the better!
Bonus: Have multiple possible branching storylines. For example, they can go with Bob the guard, or with Phil the Wizard, or with Sue the princess, OR go fight the invaders...etc. Drawback: an AWFUL lot to keep track of to accurately repeat on subsequent days.
Bonus: Maybe they are not the only ones caught in this curse? They could find someone who is actually doing something different each day, for whatever reason. Or maybe their goal is to find a person trapped in the curse.
Bonus: Have an NPC named Connors - "Phil? Phil Connors??"
Bonus: Have a mystery woven into the day's events, that the party can slowly decipher piece-by-piece.
Bonus: (if death = loss of memory) When the ordeal starts, have one or more party members know what is going on already, but the others don't because they have died on a previous day's attempt. Problems = the party members who already know what's going on, WON'T actually know what's going on other than the premise. Bad idea, now that I think about it more.
Bonus: Have NPCs named the same as the characters in the movie. Phil, Rita, Ned...maybe just the first two. Or not.
Bonus: Work in the Sealab 2021 Doppelgangers quote! Something about Queen Doppelpopolos.
Murphy: "Nice try, doppelganger!"
Quinn: "What? No! We're not doppelgangers!"
Murphy: "Save it for Queen Doppelpopolous!"
Carlos: "Sweet dreams, doppelgangers!"
DM NOTE: Maybe have pre-set "results" for NPCs, like dice rolls except more generic, like success, success, failure, success, failure...then if the party interrupts the actions of a certain NPC, their destiny is still somewhat preordained.
DM NOTE: Why are the PCs the only ones unaffected? Maybe because they were the ones who handled the orb? If the employer smashes the orb as in c) below, they were exposed to its magic, which would explain things. Or maybe it's because they aren't native to the city?
DM NOTE: Have some method of tracking in-game time, because certain events can be scheduled to happen at specific times.
--------- ANOTHER OPTION -----------
The party is hired to investigate a cursed city, or a city that has suddenly ceased all communication, or fetch an item reputed to be in this legendary ghost city, WHATEVER. They enter the city & discover it's full of people (where does the time loop start?) and also get trapped in the curse.
But why is this happening? Maybe once the party figures out the solution/cure, the city and all the people fade away? This could be the result of a mission too, ie get rid of / investigate the cursed city, maybe to obtain some artifact. Then after the city fades, the artifact is the only thing left. Along similar lines, is the city real but in purgatory? Do they pass on once the party resolves the curse? Or are they not even real, and it's just a magical effect/curse?
Think Groundhog Day and Majora's Mask.
Great potential in D&D...ensieged city, the party is trapped inside. State of war and chaos, disaster, with many people and events happening at once. They have to, through trial and error, piece together what exactly is causing this battle, what will solve it, who the major players/events are, etc. Also good because it will allow DEATHS but not really, since the dead PC's will be back the next morning (ie The Dream).
Death = Loss of Memory?
If they died, they don't remember anything they have learned during the ordeal. But this could be a pain, as too many deaths would start clashing with unconscious metagame knowledge. Maybe it's better to just have them remember everything regardless of being dead/alive at the end.
Answer = NO
The party is approached by a man to hunt down some magical item (referred to hereafter as an orb) that will protect his city/kingdom & ensure the safety of its citizens forever.
Pretty routine, in fact, almost too routine. The party might even be suspicious of such an easy quest. Might have to have a good reason why the party is being hired, ie it's an old man, the guardian is too fierce, etc.
The dungeon crawl is relatively short and routine. There's nothing TOO crazy or too dangerous, but a good "warmup" for the real adventure to come. The guardian is challenging, but has a weakness or two that their employer advises them about beforehand. There shouldn't be any deaths. There will also be some hints dropped at something strange going on...nothing too obvious, but a slight feeling of there being more going on than appears. Examples - the dungeon being not dungeonish but instead very well kept up (too obvious?) or a door being locked on the wrong side. The party should retrieve the orb with relative ease, but it should still take a bit of time.
The doors locked on the wrong side can even be passed off as a "Random dungeon generator said so" remark, which will make the players not think anything of it...until later. Other puzzling clues can be wall murals, or maybe a recurring symbol can be an infinity sign or OUROBOROS sign.
The party brings the orb to the kingdom.
Here is where the plot can go in a number of different paths:
a) The employer has no idea about the curse, and thinks he's honestly saving the city. There is no secrecy, the party returns, they are celebrated, maybe a feast and such, and they are honored guests and go to sleep in nice, nice rooms. The time loop now starts, either because the orb is cursed, or because there is a mishap when "installing" it.
b) The employer knows exactly what the orb does, and wants to trap the city in the time loop as revenge. He has also fooled the King, and there is no secrecy about the orb. The employer leaves town during the festivities to escape the curse, but otherwise it is exactly the same as above.
c) The employer knows exactly what the orb does, and wants to trap the city in the time loop WITH HIM INSIDE so he can enjoy everyone's misery forever. This path doesn't require a huge celebration, but it's a possible outcome - lied to the King, celebrate, go to sleep, curse starts. OR, he could get the orb, and immediately smash it on the ground, confusing the party, and he will start laughing wildly and insanely and then run off. The party should be somewhat disturbed, but they will have gotten paid, so they will either rest (it being late) or leave the city. If they rest, they are awoken as normal, but if they leave the city...not sure how that would work. Maybe they just appear in the city square? Or where the orb was smashed?
Problem with leaving the city - upon waking up they would realize something was wrong, since they are somewhere other than where they went to sleep. This idea is out.
WHAT ENDS THE CURSE?
- The death of someone, or maybe preventing the death of someone
- Some kind of personal resolution with the employer (kinda lame)
- Maybe the orb is shattered each day, which starts the time loop...it has to be protected
On the First Run Through (before the party knows what is happening)
• The morning starts off with one PC (or maybe all the PCs) waking up suddenly, inexplicably. Moments later, something loud and memorable (a bell tower crashing down, a fireball exploding nearby, etc.)
• Present at least one dilemma between two choices, and their choice ends up being wrong or at least unfortunate (so next time they can choose the other option). Example: Tanis in The Dream choosing between Laurana and Kitiara; he hesitates and they both end up dying.
• Seemingly random occurrences that, if the party remembers them, they can tailor to their purposes. IE, a lightning strike will always occur at a certain time at a specific spot, so the party can use that however they wish.
• Toss out some innocent details (names, directions, klatu verada nicto type stuff) that, if they knew the day was repeating, would be invaluabe...but since they don't suspect that, it will be a sudden challenge to try to remember. Should end up like Cam's "tell me the names of your party members." To be really blunt, along the lines of being led through a locked door and saying "it's a good thing the keyword is Apple or else I'd never remember it" and then never seeing that lock again that day. The party would likely just ignore it...until they need to open the door the next day by themselves. Like that, only more subtle and not so prominently brought to the party's attention.
• In a fight in a ballroom/dining hall, have a missed attack or shot cut a rope holding up a chandelier, which sways and tips and crashes to the floor. The party can remember this and use it next time.
• Preventable mishap - someone (like a gnome with a new device) tries to do something and horribly fails and explodes/dies/etc. The party can prevent this the next day...if they want to.
• Have a useful NPC be on the verge of doing something helpful (providing information, casting a triggering spell, etc.) but are slain before they can finish the act. Next time the party can save them (if they remember). A nice example would be an assassin death striking the NPC, and the party can intercept/sacrifice themselves to save them.
• With or without direct input from the party, events happen around them. During the first day they may find themselves acting as spectators more than once.
• At the end, everyone dies in a Major Disaster. Maybe the city explodes, maybe the big demon is summoned and kills everyone, maybe the moon crashes down upon the city, but it ends in a total death. And then they wake up at the beginning of the day...
On the Second Run Through
• The next morning, the party status is exactly the same as when the ordeal begins, ie no gained gear is kept. But they still have the knowledge of what happens. They will most likely be puzzled and try to discuss it and figure things out...BUT they are interrupted by the loud and memorable event. Or maybe the loud event is actually what wakes them up, like a guard yelling at them, a la the alarm clock in Groundhog Day.
• In any fights, the enemies take the same actions as before (in general - if they were wounded on Day 1 and stopped to heal, but don't get wounded on Day 2, then obviously they don't stop to heal...)
• Start chaining, ie on Day 1, Bob dies before he can lead them to the prison. On Day 2, they save Bob and he leads them to the prison, but is then eaten by a dragon before he can say the unlocking phrase to get into the prison basement. On Day 3, they save Bob, then avoid the Dragon, but then Bob is attacked & killed by an escaped insane prisoner, etc.
Bonus: Just to screw with the players, slightly bend the rules. For instance, on Day 3 or 4, an item they find during that day unexpectedly comes back with them the next morning. This should confuse them, and if it's a key item, all the better!
Bonus: Have multiple possible branching storylines. For example, they can go with Bob the guard, or with Phil the Wizard, or with Sue the princess, OR go fight the invaders...etc. Drawback: an AWFUL lot to keep track of to accurately repeat on subsequent days.
Bonus: Maybe they are not the only ones caught in this curse? They could find someone who is actually doing something different each day, for whatever reason. Or maybe their goal is to find a person trapped in the curse.
Bonus: Have an NPC named Connors - "Phil? Phil Connors??"
Bonus: Have a mystery woven into the day's events, that the party can slowly decipher piece-by-piece.
Bonus: (if death = loss of memory) When the ordeal starts, have one or more party members know what is going on already, but the others don't because they have died on a previous day's attempt. Problems = the party members who already know what's going on, WON'T actually know what's going on other than the premise. Bad idea, now that I think about it more.
Bonus: Have NPCs named the same as the characters in the movie. Phil, Rita, Ned...maybe just the first two. Or not.
Bonus: Work in the Sealab 2021 Doppelgangers quote! Something about Queen Doppelpopolos.
Murphy: "Nice try, doppelganger!"
Quinn: "What? No! We're not doppelgangers!"
Murphy: "Save it for Queen Doppelpopolous!"
Carlos: "Sweet dreams, doppelgangers!"
DM NOTE: Maybe have pre-set "results" for NPCs, like dice rolls except more generic, like success, success, failure, success, failure...then if the party interrupts the actions of a certain NPC, their destiny is still somewhat preordained.
DM NOTE: Why are the PCs the only ones unaffected? Maybe because they were the ones who handled the orb? If the employer smashes the orb as in c) below, they were exposed to its magic, which would explain things. Or maybe it's because they aren't native to the city?
DM NOTE: Have some method of tracking in-game time, because certain events can be scheduled to happen at specific times.
--------- ANOTHER OPTION -----------
The party is hired to investigate a cursed city, or a city that has suddenly ceased all communication, or fetch an item reputed to be in this legendary ghost city, WHATEVER. They enter the city & discover it's full of people (where does the time loop start?) and also get trapped in the curse.
But why is this happening? Maybe once the party figures out the solution/cure, the city and all the people fade away? This could be the result of a mission too, ie get rid of / investigate the cursed city, maybe to obtain some artifact. Then after the city fades, the artifact is the only thing left. Along similar lines, is the city real but in purgatory? Do they pass on once the party resolves the curse? Or are they not even real, and it's just a magical effect/curse?
The Caper
A team of criminals get together to do something, most likely carry out some kind of crime. They are usually distinct, interesting characters each, and may be polar opposites of the good characters.
Possible uses: the players play this team of criminals fully, then later "discover" the crime(s) as their real characters. It provides a nice change of pace when roleplaying, as the players can play different personalities with different motivations and goals than their regular characters.
Has potential to flesh out and individualize NPCs/villains more dramatically than the DM doing so, as each player may lend their own unique touches to the villain they play. Also potentially drawback, as a character meant to be serious might end up being portrayed as a buffoon...
Possible uses: the players play this team of criminals fully, then later "discover" the crime(s) as their real characters. It provides a nice change of pace when roleplaying, as the players can play different personalities with different motivations and goals than their regular characters.
Has potential to flesh out and individualize NPCs/villains more dramatically than the DM doing so, as each player may lend their own unique touches to the villain they play. Also potentially drawback, as a character meant to be serious might end up being portrayed as a buffoon...
Mirror Universe
Alternate reality, where alternate versions of the main characters exist. Through some bizarre circumstance, they cross over to the normal universe, or the normal characters cross over to the alternate one.
Sometimes the alternate characters are evil twins (Justice Lords), other times they're just alternate selves (Fullmetal Alchemist).
In D&D, this has many possibilities. The easiest would be having the evil twins be enemies, or even just having one party member's evil twin be an opponent (especially a smart one who "knows how they think.")
Another option would be a temporary team-up, where they work with their alternate selves to avoid some major catastrophe that affects both realities. Or for a twist, to fight their evil twins, they have to work with the GOOD twins of their regular enemies. (IE, Justice League working with alternate reality good Luthor, to fight the Justice Lords.) You could take this even further by having the team-up members be a mix of real and alternate selves, but that might be too confusing.
Another option that would be less encounter-based would be meeting their alternate selves, who are fundamentally the same except for a major, major difference which isn't learned until after teaming up with them for a while. Maybe they're willing to execute in cold blood, or intensely religious, or even VAMPIRES (or werewolves.) But important to note that despite these differences, they are not dealbreaking, ie the party reaction should be one of shock and "what do we do now?" and not "They're monsters, kill them!"
Finally, another option that simplifies things by eliminating the need for two groups is having the party end up in their alternate selves' bodies. (Maybe the alternates end up in THEIR bodies, but maybe their minds just disappear for awhile.) Party has to deal with strange world, strange friends, and unknown EVERYTHING. Makes for an interesting mini-adventure. Sample: JLA ending up in alternate bodies in Rock of Ages storyline.
Sometimes the alternate characters are evil twins (Justice Lords), other times they're just alternate selves (Fullmetal Alchemist).
In D&D, this has many possibilities. The easiest would be having the evil twins be enemies, or even just having one party member's evil twin be an opponent (especially a smart one who "knows how they think.")
Another option would be a temporary team-up, where they work with their alternate selves to avoid some major catastrophe that affects both realities. Or for a twist, to fight their evil twins, they have to work with the GOOD twins of their regular enemies. (IE, Justice League working with alternate reality good Luthor, to fight the Justice Lords.) You could take this even further by having the team-up members be a mix of real and alternate selves, but that might be too confusing.
Another option that would be less encounter-based would be meeting their alternate selves, who are fundamentally the same except for a major, major difference which isn't learned until after teaming up with them for a while. Maybe they're willing to execute in cold blood, or intensely religious, or even VAMPIRES (or werewolves.) But important to note that despite these differences, they are not dealbreaking, ie the party reaction should be one of shock and "what do we do now?" and not "They're monsters, kill them!"
Finally, another option that simplifies things by eliminating the need for two groups is having the party end up in their alternate selves' bodies. (Maybe the alternates end up in THEIR bodies, but maybe their minds just disappear for awhile.) Party has to deal with strange world, strange friends, and unknown EVERYTHING. Makes for an interesting mini-adventure. Sample: JLA ending up in alternate bodies in Rock of Ages storyline.
Race for the Sword
Setting: Urban marketplace, city square, etc. - open area with a central locational feature such as a statue, bridge, pool of water, etc.
PC's either are in possession of, or are on the trail of a magical sword. Might be good in combat, might be needed for other needs, whatever. If they are in possession of the sword, maybe they are taking it to whoever requires it. If they are seeking it, perhaps they are just about to confront whoever has it.
A rogue/invisible stalker grabs the sword, and up above, an accomplice uses an air elemental or telekinesis spell to grab the sword and lift it through the air (across the entire marketplace) towards them.
Someone (possibly the PC's, or if they don't react in time, yet ANOTHER group out to seize the sword) disrupts the sword's transport, making it fall...right into/onto the central location feature.
The theft, which so far has been subtle and low key, erupts as the party and the thieving group(s) break cover and race to get the sword, fighting each other, struggling with the crowd of people who are now bustling about trying to get away, and dealing with the central obstacle itself, ie climbing the towering statue.
Notes: Obviously, the item doesn't have to be a sword. It doesn't even have to be a weapon, but making it a weapon makes the desire to get it twofold, since it is required for X purpose AND it will help or even outright end the current fight.
PC's either are in possession of, or are on the trail of a magical sword. Might be good in combat, might be needed for other needs, whatever. If they are in possession of the sword, maybe they are taking it to whoever requires it. If they are seeking it, perhaps they are just about to confront whoever has it.
A rogue/invisible stalker grabs the sword, and up above, an accomplice uses an air elemental or telekinesis spell to grab the sword and lift it through the air (across the entire marketplace) towards them.
Someone (possibly the PC's, or if they don't react in time, yet ANOTHER group out to seize the sword) disrupts the sword's transport, making it fall...right into/onto the central location feature.
The theft, which so far has been subtle and low key, erupts as the party and the thieving group(s) break cover and race to get the sword, fighting each other, struggling with the crowd of people who are now bustling about trying to get away, and dealing with the central obstacle itself, ie climbing the towering statue.
Notes: Obviously, the item doesn't have to be a sword. It doesn't even have to be a weapon, but making it a weapon makes the desire to get it twofold, since it is required for X purpose AND it will help or even outright end the current fight.
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