Sean Does Games

A Collection of Gnome Encounters You'll Not Soon Forget Ladies and gentlemen! Back for another repeat performance! Gnome encounters for fun and profit! Yep. Gnomes. That's what I said. Same old, same old here. Read them. Enjoy them (or not, I'm not the boss of you). Use them as side quests or as full story arcs. This is the eighth set of ten encounters. Check out my previous posts for the earlier hooks. The Encounters (71-80) 71. Two identical gnomes are locked in a cage with the mark of the gnome god Garl Glittergold*. They are dressed in identical clothes which are tattered and soiled in the exact same way. They both beg to be released, each pleading their innocents and accusing the other of heinous crimes. A pile of gems sits between them. 72. The party finds a group of gnomes who are ill-prepared for their adventures. They won't return home until they complete their mission...which by strange fate is the same as the party's. ...

In Dungeons and Dragons, a natural 20 occurs when a  20 is rolled on a d20 for an ability check, attack roll, or a saving throw. It is generally treated as a success no matter what the actual difficulty class (DC) happened to be. If you score this on an attack roll, you get to double your damage dice. That's awesome, but there are a host of other activities characters participate in that don't get the same sort of helpful boost. Because of that, and because as a DM I like to see my players succeed as much as I like to see them suffer, I use natural 20s as an opportunity to inject some positive vibes into a story that is literally created for the sole purpose of making the characters' lives difficult. The intent of these windfalls is never to transform a character into a superhero or de-fang an enemy. They are always meant to give the PC (or NPC because they too can score a natural 20) a chance to shine with an heroic moment of their own. The following describes a f...

A Collection of Gnome Encounters You'll Not Soon Forget Oh my! More gnomes. More encounters. More gnome encounters! You know the routine. Check these out. Enjoy them.. Use them as side quests or as full story arcs. This is the seventh set of ten encounters. Check out my previous posts for the earlier hooks. The Encounters (61-70) 61.  A pair of gnome miners claims to have struck a rich deposit of gemstones but cannot extract it because they accidentally released a monster that has long been imprisoned deep inside the earth and it now stalks the mine's passages. 62. A small, nut-shaped vehicle that has obviously taken damage is anchored just off shore. A pair of gnomes in sailor clothes pull broken clockwork out of a device mounted to the back of the vehicle, arguing as they do so.  63. The elder of a gnome clan is in search of a few good adventurers to figure out who swapped the clan's most prized gem with a high-quality fake. 64. Residents of an isolated...

A Collection of Gnome Encounters You'll Not Soon Forget Yep, more gnome adventure hooks are here! While they were written with Dungeons and Dragons in mind, they can be used in any gnome-friendly setting. These encounters can be used either as side quests or as full story arcs. This is the sixth set of ten encounters. Check out my previous posts for the earlier hooks. The Encounters (51-60) 51. A scraggly gnome in heavy work clothes stumbles toward a member of the party. The goggles he or she wears whir as the lenses periscope in and out. "You're the one," they say. "And you appear to be real. Quickly now. We must act quickly if this is to work." 52.  A small fishing village is abuzz with stories of a metallic sea monster that hunts its fleet and destroys vessels with beams of light and fire that shoot from its eyes. It is said a sea gnome rides its back with devilish glee. 53. The party startles a gnome who is fussing with an object att...

A Collection of Gnome Encounters You'll Not Soon Forget The following are even more adventure hooks involving gnomes. They were created with Dungeons and Dragons in mind but are suitable for any setting that includes, indulges in, or flirts with, gnomes and gnome story lines. These encounters can be used either as side quests or as full story arcs. This is the fifth set of ten encounters. Check out previous posts in the blogs for the earlier hooks. The Encounters (41-50) 41. The party finds the skeletal remains of a gnome. Next to it is a clockwork automaton that appears to be shut down. Scratched into its metal body and written in Gnomish is the following, "I've done bad things." 42. A young gnome wants to marry his or her sweetheart but the family won't allow it without a healthy supply of gems. The gnome knows where a cache is hidden but needs help retrieving it. 43. The party is beset by a host of badgers, ferrets, rats, and other burrowing ...

A Sample Gnome Settlement Riverhill Burrow is a mid-sized gnome community woven into the hilly countryside a day's travel from the capital of the kingdom. Most of its residents are members of the either the Erfseg, Lenskor, Nackle, Oaendin, Belren, Fenbaer, or Dallun clans. A few other clans are present but not in any appreciable numbers. There's also a minor contingent of denizens from other humanoid races, but these are mostly apprentices who remain only until they complete their training. The Butter Barrel River flows to the west of the main burrow complex. A series of clever pipes diverts water for both drinking and sanitation. Its currents power a rather industrious mill. But perhaps most importantly the river is home to a number of fish and freshwater crustaceans the collection of which provides a pleasant afternoon's diversion on a warm summer's day. It's also one leg of a salmon run. The Kingsgold Highway, one of three major roadways to the kingdom...

In Dungeons and Dragons, a natural 1 occurs when a 1 is rolled on a d20 for an ability check, attack roll, or a saving throw. It is generally treated as a failure no matter the bonuses that can be applied to the score. It's a pretty straight forward concept that guarantees no matter how skilled a character might be they can still make a mistake--sort of like real life. That's all well and good, but a little dull because many times mistakes have both short term and long term consequences that go beyond simple failure. Because of that, and because as a DM I'm a bit of a sadist, I like to use natural 1s as an opportunity to inject a little chaos into the story. The goal in doing so is never to kill or punish the characters but instead to heighten the stakes, ratchet up the tension, and have a little fun. This, of course, applies to NPCs and creatures as well. No one or no thing is immune to the evil whims of a natural 1. The following describes a few kinds of consequen...