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[dnd-inspiration]

inspired by the scariest words my dm has ever said to me and the subsequent coolest (AND SCARIEST) scene of my life

[dnd-inspiration]

In the forest runs a small brook which dries up around this time of year. As you travel along the brook, you find a small stump covered in moss. The stump's roots clutch small stones engraved with strange symbols you can't quite make out. As you examine the stump, you notice a small hole in the top of it where the rings converge. It looks almost like a keyhole. At the bottom of the stump, between two roots is a hole just big enough to fit your foot into. You imagine that the stump is slightly hollow on the inside. You look around for something to drop in the top hole and find a small bone in the brook bed, it seems to call to you in an otherworldly fashion. You pick up the bone and insert it into the hole in the top of the stump. As you do so, the stump grows from the ground. What was once a stump just barely larger than your head now towers above you, easily as tall as five men. The small hole between roots is now a gaping maw revealing stairs descending deep into the earth, you have no idea what ruins could be lying beyond...

[dnd-inspiration]

Fishing village where using any tool besides your hands is taboo for religious reasons. A man’s arm was bitten off by a creature they’ve never encountered before. Some locals are making or obtaining poles and upsetting the local god.

[dnd-inspiration]

People get sick after a local meat shop cuts corners and tries new ingredients. Hopefully unrelated, some people have gone missing recently...

* Shop targets your party for some fresh meat and to sell their gear for extra profit

* Locals who love the shop have the shakes.

* Have your players investigate the shop, see whats going on, and be able to save someone before they get chopped.

[dnd-inspiration]

Farmer rustlin’ cattle through town for better grazing accidentally brings monsters with him who figure out people taste better than cows.

[dnd-inspiration]

Themed inn rooms. The murder room is an actual murder room. 

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You’re being paid to trail a boat to a prime fishing spot. Turns out the location is a trap, and the lead boat ambushes you for your goods and fish.

[dnd-inspiration]

Base camp for a big climb to get to a well sought after place. Fill it with all sorts of perma NPCs. People who can’t make the climb, people who want to sell things to make the climb easier, guides, etc.

[dnd-inspiration]

Mountain being carved into the visage of a god angers a different god or the forest itself. They want to carve the mountain for good graces as they’ve had a string of bad luck for a few years.

[dnd-inspiration]

Underwater city made of shipwrecks. Above it is the sea of unpredictability. It can be calm one moment and raging the next. Set in literally the world’s worst possible location, it is the only route boats can take when going from one continent to the next. Sailors hope and pray for safe passage. 

[dnd-inspiration]

Inn idea: Your Only Option or “YOO”. Run by a young girl barely of age who looks very stressed and tired. Name is Andrine “Andy” Schurn. Wants no bullshit. Rent a bed or get out. Prices are prices. Keep an eye out for her parents, payment on information that leads to their whereabouts or safe return. Parents can be found on a quest and returned safely, or not, and you will be rewarded with free room when needed provided they have empty beds. Cost: 50 silver / night. You get a bed and a foot locker. Guard your own shit. Share a large room with 12 other beds.

[dnd-inspiration]

You are cursed with dreams of being tormented by tomorrow’s horrors. But the dreams are annoyingly vague, and not that helpful.

[dnd-inspiration]

Bar Idea: Horny and Hammered. Ran by Susie and Samuel Rothshirt. All drinks are served in hollowed out horns of various monsters. Cheap prices, shitty booze, and run by a couple. Man and wife. Wife is always looking to offload work onto others and send them on side quests. The man is a sucker for the ladies and tries to flirt, but he never rolls well and his wife laughs it off and gives him shit. They love each other very much but are sarcastic fucks. Things to order:  Ginger Ale. Ale with a whole ginger root in it. Very alcoholic. The root soaks up extra booze, eat it to get even more hammered. Mind Flayer’s Moscow Mule. Like a regular Moscow mule, but red and has little bits of jello shots in it. Whats a Moscow? Who knows. Green barrel ale, black berry wine, generics. Sludge with a Grudge. A mix of anything left over from last night. Will absolutely wreck you. Cheapest drink.

[dnd-inspiration]

A quest to investigate a missing caravan. They were transporting dangerous magics, a new black powder that destroys and mutates all it touches. A ways down the road you find a wagon pulled over and empty save for a small pup. If the players untie the dog it’ll jump up and run in the direction of its owner, who is down the road a few hundred feet around a corner. He along with his two partners are trying to calm down two horses and bring them away from an abandoned and decrepit looking caravan. There are two horses still hooked up to the wagon. They’re slumped and leaning in towards each other, bloated and sickly. Black powder can be seen scattered around them and the wagon. Investigating the back of the wagon will reveal a few boxes lined with lead and filled with powder. One box is open with the lid nowhere in sight. If your players get close to the slumped horses they will bite and kick and eventually try to charge, spreading the black powder. 

(I’ve been using this black powder in my campaign and I’ve been treating it like magic radiation. It’s been really fun to try to work out how to clean up, how to avoid it, how its changed life for people, and given me all sorts of new monsters to play with.) Bonus encounter: You will come across a set of bandits who look a little worse for wear. They’re a bit red faced, a little boozed up, and ready to gut you for your valuables since they’ve quote “Had a fookin’ day”. One of the lads looks a bit redder than the others, and is carrying a small purse made of weirdly enough lead or iron? Turns out they tried to raid the caravan mentioned above. One man is missing an arm, having dipped it in the powder trying to find something of value.

[dnd-inspiration]

The [last name] family uprooted themselves from an old strange country into a younger, fresher country with plenty of land and people. The first generation to settle is now old and has made a name for themselves. Their farmland is vast and sits on the outside of town beside a comfortable forest. They’re known as a strange  but kind family. The old country taught them how to farm well, and soon their crops produced enough for the town twice over. The abundance of food, large family, and good fortune allowed the family to expand and sell to other towns. All of their early mornings and back breaking days paid off, allowing the grandparents to rest on the porch while their children and grandchildren work the fields. The town holds little to know ill will towards the family despite being outsiders. Most are grateful for the relatively cheap and abundant food. A few small time farmers are unhappy about being muscled out of the market, but they are typically won over with tea and old family recipes. The sanctimonious parents and preachers are not fond of the family, oftentimes telling children to keep away from the farm due to their strange charms and parties.

[dnd-inspiration]

Echo Woods is a dense thick of trees that open up into a neat hunting / grazing ground. The ground is so large echos can be heard from miles around. A pair of elk can sound like an entire herd. A local man knows the woods like the back of his hand, and takes people on guided tours for hunting. He has noticed the woods being...off… lately. He can’t quite describe it, but he knows there is something new in the forest. Its messing with his game, his livelihood, and he wants it gone. He tried tracking it to a part of the woods, but got a nasty wound from a random boar. He killed it, of course. But he’s laid up for a few weeks and needs to rest before the season starts. He says the beast can be tracked by x scent, to x spot. The woods normally have x, y, and z animals to look out for. 

[dnd-inspiration]

A town surrounded by thick trees so close together that their only means of getting in and out is going through the trees. Its slow and dangerous to navigate through, but manageable for most adventurers.