The Tilted Tower

Built by the followers of the three paroled titans of creation to escape to another realm after the Primal War. The Tilted tower is fifty miles from its base to its apex, and ten miles across. The drift of the gateway and the lands has, over the eons, pulled the tower from its vertical position to it's current thirty seven degree tilt.

It looms so large over the lands that it stays illuminated for a full two hours both before dawn and after dusk.
Very few have ever scaled the uplift mountains around its base to enter any of the three half mile across entrances, fewer still have returned to tell tails of the cites and civilizations that dwell within.

Nogg, Elderly Night Door watch man

Situation: The players approach a small town after dark.

Nogg 63 Human Male , Night Guard

Stooped, elderly, with dim, watery eyes and sparse gray hair. 

Volunteered: Question 1: "Who are you, and what you be doing at this hour of the night?"

Friendly:

What do you do here?: I have been the night guard of this gate for more years than I care to count. It is my job to not admit "Strange Folk" after dark. 

What do you want?: I'd prefer to spend my nights sleeping, though I don't know that I could do that any more. 

Has/Is [NPC] been through the town: I do not know can you describe them?... 

[Thinks for a moment and answers honestly].

Can we come in?:Ey, you look honest enough, not like those [refer to a plot relevant NPC/Organization or rumor].

Confrontation:

We don't have time for this: Let us in!: Nay, "Strange Folk", must wait for dawn.

[Offer of a reasonable bribe/Toll] Oh, yes, I see no "Strange Folk" here [opens the night door and recommends an near by Inn].  

So you can be bought, wait till we tell the Capitan of the Guard: Please, no, I don't want to end up like Jenkens. [returns the bribe] He still hasn't gotten all of the pitch off. 

Physical:

Volunteered: [Slams the night door] Help, Night watch...[Runs to fetch the night watch, leaving the gate unguarded for a 1d10 rounds]. 

Consequences:

If physically confronted: Add a check to "City Guards". 

If treated in a friendly manner remove one check to "City Guards". 

Dirt, Free Man of the World

History: Hasir was a man of weath, status and influence who married into an impoverished Noble line. 

Premise: One day he was touched by a divinity and has renounced worldly wealth and power. He now lives, wandering from town to town, performing day labor for any who will pay him with a place to sleep and a bit of food to eat. After a few days he moves on leaving 99 gold coins behind. 

Problem: His spouse wants him back; The family patracrh wants the everfull purse back even more so.


Dirt/Hasir Human Male, 43, Laborer/Noble.
Appearance: A human male in his low forties, in simple plan but clean, often mended, clothes. He has dark hair and dark eyes. His voice is quite and humble.

Volunteered:

What's your name/Story: "I be Dirt, Sir, a free man of the world. I have nothing but my clothes and a strong back. "

Why do you live this way/what do you desire: "I desire only to do a days' honest work. Though some food and a place to sleep would be nice. "

Friendly:

If a discussion of Poltics/Nobility/Society happens in front of him: He will comment, aside, with accurate and insightful information. When confronted, he will fumble, applogise, and feign ignorance. 

Confrontation:

How do you know these things: I am very sorry sir, I mean no harm. (lie) I once worked for a powerful man and learned a smidgen about such things. 

What was his name, where did you come from: His name was Hasir, he was a powerfull, small minded and shallow man. 

Are you Hasir/What is your real name: Please sir, do not make me go back, that life was hollow, empty of meaning.

Physical:

Any physical assault or threat will make Dirt/Hasir cower and surrender. 

Volunteered: Don't hurt me.

Consequences:
Spouse: She is initially overjoyed at his return, but becomes increasingly upset at his new world view. Eventually she will send him away after one too many confidence of his to a peer.
Patriarch: Pleased over the return of the artifact. He may need to deal with Hasir, possibly through more violent and covert means.

An Apology and a Teaser

I must apologize to all who saw the pulled back post on the rss feed: I inadvertently published an article out of order and before it's time.

As a way to make up for it I thought I post a little teaser of my next project.

Produced with and using textures and materials provided by Fractal Mapper and released under Creative Commons, Remix - Attibuation share and share alike 3.0a license.

Need Inspiration : Look Here

The page is staring at me, it's emptiness taunting me, freezing my creative juices and dooming me to another lost hour of "Not Writing". Yes, I often suffer from blank page syndrome (a.k.a) writers block. If I move away from the computer and consult with my oracle (a.k.a. my cat Mindy) I have dozens of ideas. Then when I return to the evil blank page, I freeze. One of the best way I have found to get around it is to use a random generator to give me a starting place.

• Abulafa: 10 Word Adventure Synopsis's, Dungeon Seed, Encounter-a-day, Scenario's, Quick NPC's, NPC, One Sentence NPC's, Towns, Location Encounters and a lot more.
• Roleplaying Tips: One sentence NPC's, (non random)5 Room Dungeons.
• Asmor: Encounter Generator, Treasure Generator, Seeds, and several other very useful 4E tools.
• StolenCitadel Dungeons, NPC's, Plots, Locations, and Societies.
• Forbiden Kingdom: A simple seed generator.
• DM Tools: NPC's, Benign Encounters, Mercenary Missions, and Towns.
• WotC: Adventure seeds.
• Gozzys Dungeon Map Generator.
• Jame's NPC generator
• Dungeon's Unlimited (non-random) Map Index.
• TV Tropes:(possible mature content, and spoilers) Plots, Universal Tropes, Characters (as a plot device). Curses be upon the Chatty DM for spreading this evil, evil time sucking site to the gaming world.
• Story Spinner is a story starting generator but it can be useful for creating the "box text" of the adventure.
  

A quick "cut and paste" stab and the blank page monster is gone, and I can move forward.

Sometimes a less "gaming specific" source of inspiration is more useful to jump start my creativity, to prevent me from settling into the standard Tavern/Clearing in the Woods/Dungeon tropes. These links are good for finding new ideas, though they may take more effort on your part to turn the ideas into something "game-able".

• Random Wiki Page: The page Title or subject is the title for you next adventure, or encounter.
• Random Fliker Photos: (potential exists for encountering mature content). Possibly the second or third photo is the subject or location of the adventure.
• Quotations: Maybe the top quote documents or characterizes the motivation of the actors.
• Stuck in Customs: (non random, updated daily), The top photo is the setting of an important event.
• Random Irregular Webcomic: Mix and match the settings and dialog.
• XKCD random comic: (some mature and mathematical stick figure content)
• Word of the Day: Quotations Page, Merriam-Webster (daily updates); If you combine the two words together you might have a title.
  

Finally there are (GASP) "non-digital" methods of finding inspiration:

1. Open the Monster Manual and flip to a random monster, this will be the "Villian" of the adventure. (I got Goblin Hexer)
2. Grab a book (even non gaming) and flip to a random page, the middle paragraph indicates what the plot or focus of the adventure. (It was a pragmatic choice).
3. Grab a Campaign Setting or Adventure, either one of your own or a published one and reuse the map contained with in, but rotate it 90 degrees.
4. Start writing.
   

Grab a foreign language dictionary (I like Latin) and flip find two random words and note their meanings use that as a title for the next adventure.

Also you can just start writing what ever gibberish comes to mind. What you write may not be game related in any way but at least the blank page monster is dead.

Snork