Monday 26 May 2008

He would have wanted it this way...

Qwerty made an interesting comment in this post about starting a campaign at a funeral. Now, I happen to think that's a capital idea, and I absolutely refuse to let it be said that I don't know how to steal a good idea when I see one. A funeral provides both an instant link between the players (to the dead person) and, what's better, a plethora of options for getting them together for some sort of quest. It also gives me another chance to make up a random dice roll table, which I've discovered an inordinate liking for. So, without further ado, I bring you:

The Random Funeral Quest Table

The players start off the campaign at the funeral of a mutual acquaintance; they may or may not know each other. Before beginning, roll a d20 on the following table, and use it for the basis for the campaign, or the first adventure of it. (NB: For simplicity's sake I've assumed the dead person is male, but needless to say it could just as well have been a woman.)

1-3: The dead man was murdered, but nobody knows by whom.
4-6: A note was found amongst the dead man's possessions which apparently contained his last will and testament, and his last wishes. Unfortunately, aside from the title, the entire contents are written in a code and nobody knows how to decipher it.
7-9: When the dead man's corpse was discovered, a body part was missing.
10-12: The dead man was murdered, and everybody knows by whom. Unfortunately, the murderer is extremely powerful, extremely rich, and otherwise beyond the remit of the law.
13-15: The dead man's body was discovered in a room whose door and windows were locked from the inside.
16-18: The dead man was discovered hanging by the neck from the rafters of his attack; however, no suicide note was found and he had always given the appearance of being completely content with his life.
19-20: The dead man was discovered lying in the middle of a half-scrubbed out chalk circle.

Further suggestions welcome!

3 comments:

  1. Good stuff there! I like the premise and the table. I'd consider another table that deals with possible events during the funeral. The table you have gives clues about his manner of death, but more possibilities exist for an event that lends some urgency to the adventure.

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  2. Yeah, that's a good idea. Go, create! ;)

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  3. Hey, stealing is the best form of complients, right? I actually "stole" that from Oddysey, considering it was her idea originally. I just passed it along through the KNOWLEDGE TUBES OF THE INTERNETS. Glad you enjoyed. :)

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