I love the leading questions the GM asks to establish that first adventure! So let’s have a thread of cool questions to get your players’ blood pumping and blades swinging.
Who have you chased into the abandoned delapitated fort?
Why has the duke set his guards on you?
What terror must you outrun to prepare the city for its invasion?
What mistake did the slavers make that has given you the opportunity to fight free?
What secret allowed you to sneak into the chamber of the slumbering dragon?
Where have you cornered the changeling spy and his cohorts?
What tragedy has led you to the black heart of the fey woods?
What did the demon ask in exchange for your life?
What detail did the treasure map leave out?
Who kickstarted your adventuring career, and what do they expect in return?
How did you end up in this slowly warming pot of stew, and who’s coming to dinner?
What was your first wish and how did you just realize it had gone horribly wrong?
Nice!
With the right group (and a female character) you can get away with:
Who’s unborn child do you carry?
Or how about:
Why did your brother die in your place?
At a con game I asked:
Which one of you had his hand removed when he was caught stealing. Surprisingly it wasn’t the thief, it was the Cleric.
Jim DelRosso told me of a solid one from his recent game, in which he described a fine fantasy tavern and then said, “Who did you piss off so badly that they are barricading the door and trying to burn the join down?”
Why are trying to capture the pirate king? For the Duke or the Thieves guild?
How much were you paid to assassinate the queen?
How long have you been running from the order of light?
Why are you expploring the forggoten temply of Al-Azad?
Why have you risked your life for the jewel of Mirin-Tor?
Why has the deal with the smuggler captain gone so suddenly sour?
What have you come to the great trade city of Dimurah to find?
Who’s head do you have in the bag?
How did the guide die? Is that when you realised you were lost?
How did you react when the Duke’s betrothed announced her love for you on her wedding night?
Why must this child be given over to this man?
How did the court jester become the ruler of these lands?
Wait, you drank what?
Why are all these goblins asking for cow tounges?
Thanks, Mad Adric , I’m grabbing these questions for my MicroTraveller adventure, Escape from Barau Monac:
“Which character are the Zhodani spies trying to telepathically scan?”
“Which character have the local populace cornered? Where?”
“What is the artifact that the Patron wants so badly?”
‘What is keeping the ship from taking off immediately?”
“What secret were you able to suss out about the Patron?”
“What dangerous creatures are found in the desert surrounding Barau Monac?”