PDA

View Full Version : DM Help NPC & Plot Hook Library



Lycanthrope13
2016-05-06, 10:30 AM
I notice a lot of people posting for help with interesting NPCs and plot hooks, so I thought maybe we could start an archive to help the creative process. If you have a favorite PC, NPC, or storyline, post some general details that might offer a spark of inspiration. I'll start.

As a youth, he was accused of a crime he didn't commit.As he ran from a lynch mob, he twisted his ankle and fell. In desperation, he prayed to anyone who would listen, and something answered. He lashed out at his pursuers with powers he did not understand, and managed to just barely escape. Years of isolation, living with a price on his head, and the whispers of his mysterious, otherworldly benefactor in his ears have driven him completely insane.

Some prisoners were found dead in their cells in the castle dungeon. The cells were locked, and the guards swear that no one went in or out. Enough investigation will reveal that the old king, overthrown many years ago, was once benevolent, but then became inexplicably tyrannical, imprisoning and executing people without cause. His daughter had been turned into a vampire. He could not bear to lose her, so he constructed a secret chamber in the dungeon, where she was kept caged. He could access the chamber through a hidden stairway in his room, and he aquired food for her through a tunnel with hidden doors leading to each cell. When he was overthrown, she was left alone. It took until now for her bonds to rust away enough for her to break free. Now a feral, half starved vampire is lurking in the secret passages of the castle.

A half-elf, raised among elves, always lived in the shadow of her half sister, a full blooded elf. She realized that she would never be able to equal a sorceress with a 200 year head start on her training, and that she would be long dead before her older sister began to show signs of aging. She began the pusuit of necromancy in order to attain immortality, and the dark energies have twisted her mind, magnifying her jealousy. It's no longer enough to be better than her sister. She wants to be the very best, even if it means eliminating every other magic user from the face of the earth.

An unassuming, middle aged man devoted to the service of the god(dess) of the sun. He ministers to the people of the town, but now he is stretched beyond his limits. Some strange sickness has been sweeping the area which is beyond his skill to heal. People are stricken with fever and wracked with pains. In the final stages of the disease, the victims become violent and delusional before their hearts burst.

The old hermit is generally seen as a harmless eccentric, but in reality, he is part of a militant order of druids who view civilization as a blight upon the earth. He has vowed to displace the usurpers who claim mastery of the earth, and return the land to its natural state. To this end, he has released a plague which will decimate the human population and bring the kingdom to its knees.