25 City Ruins Adventure Seeds

I taught my boyfriend how to play Magic The Gathering and Ive never beaten him :(( I'm not even good at my alternative gratification activity anymore!!!!!!!!

sure, that transfem might not be very good at sex, but she can totally beat your ass at yugioh, and those two activities are practically synonymous for her at this point.

Saving for later💜

Hey hello hi, this is the most important piece of media I’ve seen all month. You absolutely need to watch it.

Villain: Sigix the Dread Warden, Turnkey of the Crawling King

“ There is nothing of yours he cannot take…. days, joys, secrets. Forget hope, and let the darkness unmake you…. the shadows may be hungry, but they are kinder than Sigix” 

-Stained note found in disused cell of the howling basilica

Setup: Heavy iron boots resound through seemingly endless hallways, a nightmare landscape of mist and claustrophobia. Emaciated figures huddle in cells among the bones of the dead, and the walls and ceilings seem to always, always, be closing in, ready to swallow an intruder.  This is the domain of the Dread Warden Sigix, a recursive prison located on the plane of shadow, and dedicated as a temple to the worm god Torog, who made Sigix a saint among torturers and set him to guard these nameless halls forever. 

No crime is necessary to be imprisoned within this umbral labyrinth, as its purpose is the slow torment of the imprisoned, rather than the enforcement of any mortal or divine law. Creatures from all over the multiverse end up in there, slowly wasting away to the shadowfell’s influence between long and seemingly pointless “interrogation” sessions in Sigix’s personal chambers. 

Adventure Hooks: 

An old, crumbling door appears in  random places through the material plane, a shadowy “prisoner” begging passersby for aid to lure in the unsuspecting. 

Secret acolytes of the Crawling King know an invocation to open a gateway to Sigix’s realm, and often work covertly as gaolers or slavers, feeding their patron an occasional “snack” as tribute.  Should the party fall into the clutches of a particularly well connected and evil authority figure, they may employ one of these acolytes to give the party into Sigix’s care, confident that they’ll be unable to escape from his prison-palace. Once imprisoned, the Dread warden will never let the players go, sending dark beasts and Torag cultists after them, before pursuing them himself. 

Haunted and brokenhorned, a paranoid teifling approaches the party and pleads with them for help. She claims to have escaped from an impossible prison, and is being hunted by…. well she doesn’t know what.. but she’s sure a terrible fate awaits her. In their care she recovers slightly, but is given to terrible nightmares and paranoia. IN fact, this waif was indeed one of Sigix’s prisoners, released only as part of a devil’s bargain with her sister in the balance.  Her sister will only walk free if she finds new people to take her and her sibling’s place in the jail. Won over by the party’s generosity though, she’s suddenly VERY conflicted about sacrificing the party, and it will only take a little coaxing to reveal the truth of her situation. 

Keep reading

While exploring some different shapes and styles for laser defense bastions, I was left with the conundrum of where to put garrisoning infantry stands when the roof is mostly laser. After noodling on it, I struck upon the notion of building plinth to provide conveniently infantry-sized platforms to represent troops occupying the structure.

The layout is taken almost entirely from the official Grimdark Terrain Dominator Prison Complex Xhi build, but I wanted to try and replicate the look of the now discontinued Imperial Bastion.

We also wound up using it as a proof of concept for pre-arranging the components in Blender and exporting to a flat .STL for printing, which worked reasonably well. Some minor artifacts due do to inadequate precision arranging the parts and I'm not sure it's actually that much of a time savings over hand assembly, but the finished product is rock solid and looks great on the tabletop.

I’ve been trying to think of a setting for a nautical campaign. A vast expanse of tropical islands and waterways with the obligatory shady towns that sit on the water and temples of worship deep in both the jungle and the water. Any thoughts?

Yeknow what, fuck it, I wasn’t planning on writing a full pirate campaign anytime soon but everything’s better with pirates so lets do this!

Campaign: Scoundrels of the Sundered Isles

The Priests debate as to how our hearts may be weighted against its bearer’s sins.. but we Sailors no Better: ‘tis not sin our hearts are weighed against, ‘tis coin, as only coin could get a man to sail out to the edge o’ the bleedin world and gettim to stay ‘ere long enough to get to sinnin in the firstplace. 

-Overheard at The Last Hurrah Tavern

Setup:  The Tropical waters of the Tourmaline Sea have been a flurry of activity over the past century and a half, as natives and settlers from three different continents work together to reclaim land once lost after a half-millennia of supernatural darkness rendered a large chunk of the mainland uninhabitable. Most people deserted the Sundered Isles ( their name derived from a mistranslation that they were “Sun-Dead”) fearing the raiders and plagues that issued from that calamity, and they stayed away even after the sun returned, letting the gentle creeping of green reclaim the once barren rocks. 

Ever hungry for expansion, civilization makes its first tentative steps into these dangerous lands, with ports popping up all along the coast and archipelagos, the first wave of resettlement of a land once thought consigned to oblivion. 

All is not peaceful however, as powers both foreign and continental strive to establish dominance in this new frontier, with settlers, traders, and foolhearty sailors caught in the clash between. Discover the Mysteries long buried in darkness and sunken beneath the crashing waves, as you and your party strive to make your way in the Sundered Isles

Campaign Start

Captives of the Villainous XROC Merchant company and on their way to do hard labor in one of a number of debt-colonies, the party is miraculously saved when a tremendous wave crashes against the ship where they are imprisoned, shattering it upon the coastline and giving them the chance to escape together through the island.   There they find themselves Port Calmayne, a prosperous trade hub where the party can get their sea-legs under them while determining the best course of action and evading the Company. 

Early Game: 

A Priestess of the sea god has work for the party, neverminded that she’s a “retired” pirate, and the job involves helping a group of smugglers exterminate some monsters they accidently imported from the continent 

Investigate the haunted manor of an old Commodore, recover a treasuremap, and perhaps acquire some funds by looting through his hold treasures. Don’t get shot by a ghost while you’re at it. 

Earn the Respect of the local sailorfolk by diving for treasure into shark infested waters. Hidden among the bones of a great dragon are tokens that prove the party’s skill and sea-blessed luck, earning them passage on any ship going anywhere in the Sundered Isles

Mid Game: 

Make your way to Greenveil Lagoon, hidden home of all true pirates and the Bretherin Court. Help reunite an old salty-dog pay respects to his long departed crew, or start treasurehunting for the world’s most skilled but unlukiest mapmaker. 

Hunt ruins for a fabulous relic, then defend it in a ship-duel from a mystic privateer intent on taking it back.  When a job goes bad, it goes bad, and it’ll take all the party’s skill as sailors to evade this tenacious ( and seemingly omniscient) foe. 

Sign on With the Monster Hunting Crew of the Leviathan’s Bane, travel to the most dangerous corners of the archipelago, fight creatures that break ships between their coils, learn how to cook seamonster

Explore an ancient, eternal lighthouse, used as a lair by an eccentric pyromancer. Help a wayward celestial find their misplaced chariot of fire and learn clues as to the darkness that overtook the mainland so long ago. 

Late Game

The Merchant company that enslaved the players wants control over trade in the Sundered Isles, and is willing to unleash a madwoman in order to get it. This renegade pirate is obsessed with becoming the terror of the high seas, going so far as to overthrow the brethren court that keeps order among the Isles’ freebooters, and even unleash a vampire on the populace in hopes of becoming one herself. 

Venture into the lush jungles and overgrown ruins of the continent, and meet the fallen demigod who caused the devastation in the first place. Now little more than an eccentric old lizardfolk, this seemingly benign evil has many stories to tell, and more than a little wickedness still in him. 

The Wave that set the party free was only the herald to a true upset, as over moths an entire new archipelago of islands emerges from the seafloor after millennia in the depths.  Dotted with ruins and artifacts of a long dead civilization, these new isles draw fortunehunters into a clash with the merfolk exiled by the sudden rising of their home, all the while an ancient power wakes, looking to assert itself over the world once again. 

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Art 

Adventurous Locale - The City of Sunsets

Adventurous Locale - The City of Sunsets I came up with a sort of trade hub for the Upper Planes and wanted to get my thoughts written down somewhere - why not here? #ttrpg #dnd #planescape

I’m trying to get a few new ideas written out and somewhere visible for people to give me feedback. This is the first one. Somewhere close to one of the Upper Planes of existence sits a strange and unnamed demiplane – a world sandwiched between two impenetrable stone disks. Around its edges slowly pass falling reddish stars, giving the world a sunset glow at all times; once one star dips below…

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Trans clue memory unlocked:

My whole 7th grade had to learn how to Swing dance. We all had opposite gendered partners to dance with, and kept the same partner as each Gym Class went by. The girls got these sweet coloured poodle print skirts to wear during the dance routines. I was jealous of them. I loved the poodle skirts. I didn't understand why I enjoyed them so much because wearing them was for girls, so they weren't for me. Clearly.

The labyrinth streaches infront of you. You are lost. Which way do you choose?

Go into the light.

To the weird squeaking from the right.

Is someone there at the left corridor?

…are those whispers?

Venture into the dark.

Stay.

Warning.

Entering the labyrinth can be too fearsome for some people. If you cannot stand dark or tight places please do not go forth. No sounds, mild jumpscares ahead.

My Favorite Fantasy Tropes

MONSTER TROPES!

A deadly monster with a terrifying appearance bonds with a small child with its life.

An injured hero comes upon a monster, or a hero comes upon an injured monster and they understand each other. Giant vicious-looking monsters that answer to names you would give to a pet dog.

A character rescues or spares the life of a wounded or infant monster; later th fully- healed/matured creature returns the favor.

The horrifying eldritch creature that's been stalking the heroes turns out to be benevolent and actually, trying to protect them from something deadlier.

HERO TROPES!

The hero is the secret heir to a throne. It may be that he was whisked away and hidden as a child, his parents sent them away or were killed, etc.

There's someone in power in your book who might be described as "pure evil." This can feed into the "Good vs Evil" trope listed further down this list.

The hero refuses to give into the dark magic and instead ascends to a new level of power. This may change their hair to their dream color.

The hero falls in love with a princess/prince who turns out to be working with the real Dark Lord and killed her whole family just to rule the kingdom.

SETTING TROPES!

Pseudo-medieval European setting especially in places like the British Isles, France and Germany.

A library full of secret, lost, important knowledge. The characters may have to travel to this library, or they may stumble across it for some kind of revelation.

Ancient Japan/Chinese royalty setting where clues about the mystery is given out in subtle, secretive ways. Plus, the hero can't travel outside the palace.

A fantastical world can hide in plain sight without being discovered. When the secret is unmasked by the hero, he is trust into the world. Now, there's no going back.

CHARACTER RELATIONSHIP TROPES!

The characters involved don't know they're soulmates for part of the book but feel drawn to each other.

Twisting the original dynamic between characters from legends, myths and folklore

Semi-humanoid/ multi-race characters bonding with monsters/people of other race like elves, dwarves, goblins, etc.

Enemies-to-lovers

Marriages of convenience based upon political/power dynamic leverage

The main character(s), with a ton of romantic tension, must, for some reason, share a bed.

DARK FANTASY TROPES!

Magic is eveil and often The Corruption. Blood magic, human sacrifice and forsaken children are commonplace.

Magical artifacts with bad omens/curses attached to them. They require a grievous price in order to wield.

The gods are all assholes who pass time eating prayer chips and drinking soul-booze while placing bets and trolling the helpless mortals.

Organized religion of the country is Corrupt Church or Religion of Evil. The leader is totalitarian and strange cults prevail.

The dead find staying buried a little boring and resist any and all attempts to keep them buried, short of cremation or dismemberment.

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