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## 5 Second Hooks

General questions, debates, and rants about RPGs

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Omegonthesane
  Prince
  Posts: 3625
  Joined: Sat Sep 26, 2009 3:55 pm

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Post by Omegonthesane » Thu Jul 04, 2013 8:10 pm

A cabal of mad sorcerers are performing a ritual to 'update' the setting to 5th Edition.

> Kaelik wrote:Because powerful men get away with terrible shit, and even the public domain ones get ignored, and then, when the floodgates open, it turns out there was a goddam flood behind it.

Zak S, Zak Smith, Dndwithpornstars, Zak Sabbath, Justin Bieber, shitmuffin
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Cynic
  Prince
  Posts: 2776
  Joined: Fri Mar 07, 2008 7:54 pm

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Post by Cynic » Fri Jul 05, 2013 5:09 pm

> Omegonthesane wrote:A cabal of mad sorcerers are performing a ritual to 'update' the setting to 5th Edition.

This has to be a larp session where the players bombard the dm with paper magic missiles.
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The last Dragon has been killed by half-dragons born of Zeus-style dragon seductions. You are secretly harboring a wyrmling and the dragon hunters have figured it out. Run or kill the half dragons.

> Ancient History wrote:We were working on Street Magic, and Frank asked me if a houngan had run over my dog.

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hyzmarca
  Prince
  Posts: 3909
  Joined: Mon Mar 14, 2011 10:07 pm

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Post by hyzmarca » Sun Jul 07, 2013 12:31 am

The mad archmage Walter has transformed the local castle into something called a theme park.
Last edited by hyzmarca on Sun Jul 07, 2013 12:32 am, edited 1 time in total.
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erik
  King
  Posts: 5847
  Joined: Fri Mar 07, 2008 7:54 pm

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Post by erik » Sun Jul 07, 2013 2:18 am

The mad gnome wizard has been kidnapping a score of villagers at a time and putting them inside his dungeon full of crazy traps.
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Cynic
  Prince
  Posts: 2776
  Joined: Fri Mar 07, 2008 7:54 pm

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Post by Cynic » Mon Jul 08, 2013 2:12 am

The mad lich-king has terraformed his dungeon into a village and polymorphed & awakened all the monsters. Do you accept their headsman's quests or kill them all?

> Ancient History wrote:We were working on Street Magic, and Frank asked me if a houngan had run over my dog.

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rampaging-poet
  Knight
  Posts: 473
  Joined: Sat Oct 23, 2010 5:18 am

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Post by rampaging-poet » Tue Jul 09, 2013 5:52 am

You can lift the curse on the village, but...

- ... you'll need a vial of Pure Hope to do it.
- ... the warlock's spirit will haunt you instead.
- ... it will have to wait until the demons are banished.
- ... a genie noble will pay far more if you ignore it.
- ... it will strike you in the process.
- ... you have already fallen victim to it.
- ... the villagers have begged you not to.
- ... you cannot cure those already affected.
- ... it may be too late.
- ... think of what you could learn if you studied it instead!

> DSMatticus wrote:I sort my leisure activities into a neat and manageable categorized hierarchy, then ignore it and dick around on the internet.

My deviantArt account, in case anyone cares.
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rampaging-poet
  Knight
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  Joined: Sat Oct 23, 2010 5:18 am

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Post by rampaging-poet » Tue Sep 03, 2013 3:56 am

A powerful wizard cursed the village because...

- her crystal ball has been stolen.
- someone cut down his favourite tree.
- she's been possessed by a fiend.
- his advances were spurned by the mayor's daughter.
- she wants to build a tower on the town square.
- local hedge wizards have undercut his business.
- she needs to attract adventurers to the area.
- he mispronounced the name of the village he really wanted to curse.
- the villagers mocked her when she last visited.
- he can. There's no point in learning Evil magic if you're not going to use it, right?

> DSMatticus wrote:I sort my leisure activities into a neat and manageable categorized hierarchy, then ignore it and dick around on the internet.

My deviantArt account, in case anyone cares.
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...You Lost Me
  Duke
  Posts: 1854
  Joined: Mon Jan 10, 2011 5:21 am

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Post by ...You Lost Me » Tue Sep 03, 2013 4:08 am

> ... think of what you could learn if you studied it instead!

Can you explain how this is a plot hook?

> DSMatticus wrote:Again, look at this fucking map you moron. Take your finger and trace each country's coast, then trace its claim line. Even you - and I say that as someone who could not think less of your intelligence - should be able to tell that one of these things is not like the other.

> Kaelik wrote:I invented saying mean things about Tussock.

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Avoraciopoctules
  Overlord
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  Joined: Tue Oct 21, 2008 5:48 pm
  Location: Oakland, CA

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Post by Avoraciopoctules » Tue Sep 03, 2013 4:21 am

Players gradually uncover more and more curse magic that is vaguely useful. But to do so, they need to keep the villagers pacified and stop heroes that want to break the curse prematurely.
I could spin that into 3-5 sessions easily. Maybe the curse was placed by a powerful demon, and you'll learn it's true name if you manipulate the curse in just the right way.
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rampaging-poet
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  Joined: Sat Oct 23, 2010 5:18 am

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Post by rampaging-poet » Tue Sep 03, 2013 4:31 am

It's really more of an unusual way to skip the "cure the curse" plot hook than a plot hook itself, but it immediately suggests several other complications. First, the villagers will be almost as mad at you as they are at whoever cursed them. They can't do squat to a powerful wizard, but it's really bad for your reputation. You might also have to prevent a second group of adventurers from breaking the curse while you're still studying it. It's also a reasonable starting point for fetch quests (you've unlocked the secrets of the curse, but you need Chemical X to duplicate it!). Finally, several of the other things on that list could apply to studying the curse as well as breaking it.

> DSMatticus wrote:I sort my leisure activities into a neat and manageable categorized hierarchy, then ignore it and dick around on the internet.

My deviantArt account, in case anyone cares.
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