5e Core Story Seeds Project

Just a short introduction here...

The fifth edition has a strong emphasis on narrative and story-telling. To that end, all of the three core rulebooks are liberally sprinkled with story ideas, settings, and interesting set pieces for adventures. My goal with this post is to list them all for your ease and inspiration. (Some seeds are repeated several times (e.g. venturing into dismal ruins); I have omitted the repetitions when they don't add anything new to the list) I don't think I will be able to do this in one sitting so this post will be an ongoing project which I add to over the next few weeks.  Let us begin with the Player Handbook.

Player's Handbook

1. Explore a dark dungeon, a ruined city, a haunted castle, a lost temple deep in a jungle, or a lava-filled cavern beneath a mysterious mountain.
2. An adventure might feature a fantastic setting, whether it's an underground dungeon, a crumbling castle, a stretch of wilderness, or a bustling city.
3. A wizard walking through the streets with an animated shield guardian as a bodyguard.
4. A cult leader seeks to awaken a god who slumbers beneath the sea, a hag kidnaps youths to magically drain them of their vigor, a mad wizard labors to invents an army of automatons with a facsimile of life, a dragon begins a mystic ritual to rise up as a god of destruction.
5. He aspires to someday reclaim Mithral Hall, his homeland, from the shadow dragon that drove the dwarves out.
6. Kingdoms rich in ancient grandeur, halls carved into the roots of mountains, the echoing of picks and hammers in deeps mines and blazing forges.
7. What begins as one dwarf's hunt for vengeance can become a full-blown clan feud.
8. A dwarf might seek to restore a clan's lost honor, avenge an ancient wrong the clan suffered, or earn a new place withing the clan after having been exiled.
9. A dwarf might search for the axe wielded by a mighty ancestor, lost on the field of battle centuries ago.
10. In cities deep in the Underdark live the duergar, or gray dwarves. These vicious, stealthy slave traders raid the surface world for captives, then sell their prey to the others races of the Underdark.
11. [Elves] live in places of ethereal beauty, in the midst of ancient forests in silvery spires glittering with faerie light, where soft music drifts through the air and gentle fragrances waft on the breeze.
12. Human nobles compete for the service of elf instructors to teach swordplay or magic to their children.
13. Some might join with rebels fighting against oppression, and others might become champions of moral causes.
14. [Drow] are a race of demon-worshipping marauders dwelling in the subterranean depths of the Underdark, emerging only on the blackest nights to pillage and slaughter the surface dwellers they despise.
15. Lolth, their spider-goddess, [...] sanctions murder and the extermination of entire families as noble houses vie for position.
16. Most halflings live in small, peaceful communities with large farms and well-kept groves.
17. Migration and conquest
18. A constant hum of busy activity pervades the warrens and neighbourhoods where gnomes forms their close-knit communities. Louder sounds punctuate the hum: a crunch of grinding gears here, a minor explosion there, a yelp of surprise or triumph, and especially bursts of laughter.
19. Demagogues blame tieflings for strange happenings. 
20. Life in the wild places of the world is fraught with peril: rival tribes, deadly weather, and terrifying monsters.
21. [...] Enter long-forgotten tombs, discover lost works of magic, decipher old tomes, travel to strange places, or encounter exotic creatures.
22. Orphan raised by a hag in a dismal swamp.
23. [...] stumbled into the clutches of a hag, making a bargain for a musical gift in addition to your life and freedom, but at what cost? 
24. Seeking holy relics in ancient tombs.
25. [...] study esoteric lore, collect old tomes, delve into the secret places of the earth, and learn all they can.
26. Chasing away lies.
27. Hunt the evil monstrosities that despoil the woodlands.
28. Inspire fear in the common folk, either to keep those folk on the path of righteousness or to encourage them to offer sacrifices of propitiation.
29. Stealing from the rich, freeing captives
30. Oppose cults of Elemental Evil and others who promote one element to the exclusion of others.
31. Lead raids against [aberrations (e.g. beholders or mind flayers)j or undead (e.g. zombies and vampires)]
32. Drive off a trespassing monster.
33. Serve as spies or assassins at the command of their leader, a noble patron, or some other mortal or divine power.
34. Protecting their neighbours from monsters or tyrants.
35. Accomplish a greater mission than merely slaying monsters and plundering their treasure.
36. Merely slaying monsters and plundering their treasure.
37. Delve into an ancient ruin or dusty crypt.
38. Seek absolution
39. Evil forces slaughter helpless villagers
40. An entire people turns against the will of the gods
41. A thieves' guild grows too violent and powerful
42. A dragon rampages through the countryside
43. Hunting the orcs [they know] are planning a raid
44. Hunting the monsters that threaten the edges of civilization-humanoid raiders, rampaging beasts and monstrosities, terrible giants, and deadly dragons.
45. Defend the outskirts of civilization from the ravages of monsters and humanoid hordes that press in from the wild.
46. Scams and heists.
47. Infiltrating ancient ruins and hidden crypts.
48. Exterminate the enemies of your deity.
49. Seek a greater understanding of [a] magical force.
50. Piece together arcane secrets to bolster their power.
51. Baleful spirits require exorcism.
52. Portals to other planes must be closed.
53. Recover some stolen gems.
54. Negotiating with the beggar prince.
55. Take on a hobgoblin army.
56. Doing some jobs on the side for the local thieves' guild
57. Uncover dark secrets and sinister plots

Lovecrafting DnD 5e: Part 1

Second post.  I'm thinking of overarching things.  Big things--some of them bearing tentacles.  So what I'm going to do for you is write a few posts on making your DnD campaign Lovecraftian. You know... H.P. Lovecraft? Cthulhu?

Sigh.

Everyone wait while that dude in the back gets up to speed.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/H._P._Lovecraft

oh and we probably need a picture of Cthulhu

I'm going to write this specific post on general considerations for a Lovecraftian campaign and then I'm going to look at how we can apply that to the 5e published adventures.

The last boring thing I need to do is let you know I'm going to be riffing off this article by some guy named Cook.

http://www.wizards.com/dnd/article.asp?x=dnd/dx20020329x

So... the world of HP Lovecraft.  Alien Elder Gods. Madness. Chanting subhuman cults. The end of the world. Fun stuff right? DnD has a long history of incorporating Lovecraft's writing. Waaaay back in 1e it gave us fun stuff like a few puddings based off of Shaggoths and Mind Flayers.  Who can forget the Cthulhu mythos fiasco too?  Fast forwarding to 5e we have shout outs to Lovecraft in the Warlock class.

Clearly his work is filled with stuff we can rip off for our own pleasure. But how?

Going back to the article I posted from Monte Cook we see there are two ways we can use Lovecraft for our campaigns.  I'm going to argue there are more but let's start with those two.

First, you can use Lovecraft's work in a creature feature way.  The world you are gaming in isn't a crapsack Lovecraftian cosmos but it does have Lovecraftian creatures and elements. I guess we could call this partial Lovecraft or heroic Lovecraft. It's the style you see in Marvel or DC comics when they bring in a big bad like Shuma-Gorath. You just find Lovecraftian monsters like Shaggoths or an elder god worshiping cult and plunk them down in your campaign for a change of pace. It's fun and allows you to hint at darker things without committing yourself to a full Lovecraftian campaign. Easy-peasy.

Second, you can run the crapsack full Lovecraftian cosmos. The universe is mind bogglingly old and uncaring. The gods are alien intelligences of immense power and unfathomable motivations. Humans (and whatever other races you might include) are microbes. They don't matter apart from being a nice light snack.

At first glance, such a campaign world might not seem too appealing to set your 5e games. D&D is a heroic game and much of the system reflects that. Having the players be physically and mentally fragile runs contrary to fighters who can walk away from 100 foot drops and wizards who can chuck 9 levels of death at you.

The second way has a lot of nuance to it. It's probably best to say it consists of numerous substyles that depend on how bleak you want your campaign to be. Of course, you are free to adjust the bleak knobs throughout the campaign--though dialing back from a bleaker setting would be difficult.

At the happiest least-bleak end, you have a cosmos that is ultimately Lovecraftian, but only at a distance. It can appear as any other fantasy campaign; the Lovecraftian elements are mostly passive and hidden. This style matches the cosmos of Robert E. Howard's Conan the Barbarian. Howard, a friend of Lovecraft, drew some inspiration from Lovecraft's mythos--one of the most obvious references being the cannibal god Yog who is obviously a nod towards Yog Sothoth. This style of campaign is very similar to the creature feature one with the exception that you have the horrible truth of the universe as a card up your sleeve to use as extra flavour for the background. The idea of flavour is a perfect analogy to distinguish this style from creature feature and bleaker substyles. Creature feature is an occasional dish you serve to your players. Happy Lovecraft is a constant seasoning you use in all your games but isn't the meat or potatoes. The Lovecraft cosmos is always lurking in the background, but is only ever experienced as a regular stream of hints or insinuations. The players would have to push very hard to get a short glimpse of the true nature of the universe. It would have to be the climax of one or several long term campaigns. The world wouldn't change after it, but the after effects for the characters would be devastating. Death. Madness. Corruption. Transformation. Such an ending might be a good way to end a long term campaign with high level characters and start again with a new team. Primarily, the happy Lovecraftian cosmos is a transitory one. It gives you the freedom to draw on Lovecraft's mythos like the creature feature one, but also gives you the flexibility to shift to a much darker campaign.

The next substyle of bleakness would be the active but hopeful campaign world. The Lovecraftian elements are a central feature rather than being a part of the background machinery. What sets this campaign apart from the bleakest campaign is that the characters can make a real difference in the world. Ultimately, the world will always be a Lovecraftian nightmare, but the players can either decisively overcome the Lovecraftian elements in their world or at least forestall them. In short, the good guys can win. The fish cult of Cthulhu can be eradicated, but they will be back for future generations.

This brings us to the final sort of substyle: the hopeless Lovecraftian world. The world is headed towards a Lovecraftian apocalypse and there is no stopping it. Lovecraftian elements are overt in the game. Frankly, this is a survival game similar to Chaosium's Call of Cthulhu, but set in a fantasy world. The bulk of the campaign will have the players dealing with and trying to survive the Lovecraftian elements. It will be filled with twisted subhumans, fanatical cults, forbidden tomes, eldritch locales, and mind bending revelations. This sort of game play demands the characters be much more frail than the same characters in a mellower campaign. You would be well advised to use the sanity point, terror, and insanity systems from the DMG. You might also consider making the characters physically frailer by adjusting the rest system to restore less hit points, and switching the character generation system to one that produces lower stats. Magic should also be riskier and more sinister. Gaining levels in a spell casting class or even casting a spell might require a Wisdom saving throw to avoid loss of sanity points. Everything comes with a cost.

Conclusion

I've covered two possible sorts of Lovecraftian campaigns, but there are numerous others as well. In future posts I'll be looking at the Cthulhu post apocalyptic campaign and the Dreamlands campaign.