Ideas

A city the heroes visit is in a crisis, the king and queen are getting a divorce. Who shall rule? The inhabitants of the city take sides by tying a red or blue ribbon to their swords, sticks etc. Whose side will the Pcs take?

A plague is spreading trough the lands, the plague is actually an old woman carrying a stick. She walks from farm to farm spreading the plague. Can the PCs stop her without getting infected.

The Macabre style of architecture is common in ancestor venerating societies, or societies that have been afflicted by a long term period of loss of life. The style is best noted for its use of a morbid and gruesome, skulls and bones, severed limbs and the like. It also alternately honors the spirits of the dead with stunning works of art, and mocks death through caricature and comedy. Macabre is the common architectural style in Ozea.

In a small, genetically isolated region it is not uncommon for the locals to have three arms. The third arm is generally a second right arm that is a good bit weaker than a normal arm and is generally held against the chest. This hird arm is most often used to carry small things, though some of the more skilled craftsmen have learned little tricks with their third arm.

What if dragon-sightings and evidence of such was treated with the same skepticism and mockery as modern UFO sightings? More for a low magic world where dragons 'dont' exist.

In an area albinos are considered to be evil mystics and locals ward themselves against them by turning their backs to them to avoid being mesmerized. Suddenly the angeliclly pale loner with white hair and violet hued-eyes is suddenly an outcast, and his companions are treated as if they have been mystically bonded into his service, and could be treated with attempts to intervene or given the same stony treatment. Expect poor quarters, no hospitality and to pay twice as much for everything.

The PCs encounter a strange set of artistic drawings done on the ground as they pass through a city. It has been done in chalks and no one saw who did it. Wizards might recognize the writing within the colored square as an obscure and dead language with a message stating that a prominent wizard and a retired bard have discovered how to populate Arcadia with the spirits of the dead!



Is it a local hoax, or are the PCs crossing the path of a very deranged and possibly dangerous mage?

In a savage area, the bodies of the dead are cremated, and their ashes are placed in a hollowed out pod like a gourd or a coconout and tossed into a river to bring good luck to the tribe.

A tribe of barbarians appear wearing necklaces of bear claws and great cloaks of brown fur. They are physically much larger than normal humans, much stronger, and shrug of the most vicious of wounds. They call themselves the Aklak after their totem spirit.

- From the Inuit word for Grizzly Bear

Enraged by the violation of the Peace Pool and the Whalebone Forest, a dead leviathan has risen from the bottom of the ocean and now hounds ships around the port where the stolen jewels went to land. It capsizes ships and devours sailors whole, spears protuding from its dead and crab-eaten hide.

A massive trebuchet constructed by the reigning tyrant, it can hurl the heaviest loads of any trebuchet to date and is the most destructive, non-magical weapon currently in existance. The Thought of Warwolf setting up on their lawn has quelled many a rebellion.

An alloy of iron and iridescent meteoric metal, also known as shadesteel. Weapons forged of this metal cause gangreneous infections almost instantly and sometimes the victims becomes a shambling zombie after death. The material is very vulnerable to fresh water which will cause it to corrode and eventually melt in a period of hours to days.

Game Cliche 3.



Every country in the world will have exactly one town in it, except for the main country, which will have three.

Game Cliche 2.



Upon learning about 'the five ancient jewels' or 'the nine legendary icons' or whatever, you can be quite confident that Saving the World will require you to go out and find every last one of them.

Game Cliche 1.



All legends are 100% accurate. All rumors are entirely factual. All prophecies will come true, and not just someday but almost immediately.

What if you send the players in a dungeon that was already raided? Maybe you could have traps that are already set off, or the corpses of monsters etc.

A place where an architect has built a temple/shrine to an evil god inside the walls of another building, a castle or another place of importance.

Pirates' many bejeweled rings and piercings actually had a practical purpose - when the pirate or sailor died, the rings could be taken off as payment for a proper burial, saving him from a watery grave. This could be tied into regional culture, or made into a quest (The Pirate's Lost Rings, etc.). Also gives treasure-seeking divers another thing to look for besides crusty old chests.

In the province of Behar in India, there is a bizarre custom that persists to the present day. Young men are kidnapped at knife (gun) point, and forced into marriage. If they refuse or cause trouble upon meeting their blushing bride-to-be, they are told that their family members will come to harm or even be killed if they resist. Some manage to fall in love or accept their fate. This scenario can be adapted to any rpg, ideally with a pc in the role of the abducted future husband!

Next time you're contemplating a horse variation, but don't want to get too dramatic, how about a Zorse? An offspring of a zebra stallion and horse mare. In nature they are infertile, but in a fantasy world, not necessarily. They are also known to be extremely cantankerous.

'It soon became apparent that zorses are not the most easiest of the equine family to get along with.' -- Trainer Pat Parelli, on working with zorses