In my young quest to post an adventure hook every day for one year, I bring you this lovely little ditty about an NPC in need…
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ADVENTURE HOOK 003
Location:
Begins in a town the PCs happen to be in, but goes into the wilderness surrounding the town.
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Situation:
The local herbalist, who also happens to be the healer in this small hamlet, is in need of components for his latest healing salve. He requests that the PCs, who are adventurers of some local renown, go into the countryside and fetch them for him.
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Problem:
The herbs are hard to find, and happen to be located in a riparian patch where giant frogs are rumored to have a nest. In this incidence, the players will find the herbs with no problem (an easy skill challenge, if you want). They will bring them back to the herbalist with no problems, and with much congratulations from the herbalist and townsfolk that rely on him. The next day, the herbalist’s home is ransacked and the herbalist is taken, along with the recently gathered herbs.
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Tasks:
The players need to
1) Inspect the herbalist’s house for any clues
2) Find out who took him
3) Find out where he is being held and get him back
4) Find out why he was taken
5) Stop any future attempts (or successes!) at kidnapping the herbalist
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Things to explore:
1) The party may find that the herbalist was kidnapped by a group of young plants (this is strange evidence that the players are faced with). These can turn out to be young greenvise vines who have been sent by their ‘mother’ to retrieve their sibling (and the person who stole it). The players have to track plants through the forest/jungle! And attempt to rescue the herbalist.
2) The party may need to bargain with the toad-lord for entry into the area of the forest where the herbalist is being held. The toads may or may not be responsible for the kidnapping.
3) The party may find that the kidnapping was a set-up by a rival herbalist that is neither as skilled nor as well liked as the PCs friend.
4) The party may find that the herbalist took a sample of his salve/poultice/new concoction and it made him hallucinate and wander off by himself, after inadvertently trashing his own home. They can find him passed out in the forest, almost becoming the prey of the local forest troll.
5) The party may have to negotiate with the frog queen to get the herbalist back. The may have to go through a tough skill challenge and bargain for his life. they may have to make a deal that no more of the special herb is taken from the frog’s land (perhaps the herb is special to them too!).
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Okay, there you have it – Adventure Hook 003! Hope you enjoyed it. Drop me a comment to let me know what you think!
Want to write a guest Adventure Hook? Let me know! Drop me an email at GamerDMSamuel AT yahoo DOT com and we’ll talk. It will also enter you in my contest and you could win a copy of Martial Power 2!
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Until next time, I wish you good gaming!
~DM Samuel
