I introduced an adventure hook to my players this week. They were in a mountainside town offloading (laundering)…
I introduced an adventure hook to my players this week. They were in a mountainside town offloading (laundering) gold they had acquired (stolen) from an abandoned (monster filled / ghost protected) Dwarven mine that had been abandoned for seventy years.
The next morning all the fathers of youngish/teenage girls head towards the mountains, picks in hand, to find gold. That way they can finally up and move out of town, start their lives over in a new place before The Dragon returns and demands a new maiden sacrifice.
Hook introduced, the players heroically….. try to convince the women The Dragon is likely to only take virgins. And then after a day or two wander out of town in the opposite direction of The Dragon’s nest.
I love Dungeon World – in a D&D / Pathfinder game I’d have to force the situation back towards the dragon / sacrifice angle or abandon at least an hour’s prep work. As it is, I can forget the thirty second made-in-the-shower dragonslaying expedition and throw something entirely different (made on the fly) at them.
(If anyone’s upset about them taking advantage of the situation, know that the one who instigated the scenario also fell into magma during this session, losing both legs [shattered on impact, then the flesh burnt off as he sank while our Druid tried to pull him out] and being permanently scarred waist-to-hairline.)