Ideas For Starting A Campaign In A City In DND

Dungeons & Dragons is a blank slate for all kinds of adventures for your players to explore and be rewarded for. Although adventuring the Sword Coast and beyond can lead to unique locations, cities are the densest in terms of potential adventures.

Plot hooks are something that takes your players down a larger adventure and they are just enticing enough to get them to start pulling the thread. The best plot hooks are usually based on tropes but can lead to any number of unique quests and paths to take.

10

Pickpocket Your Players

The quickest way to motivate your players is by stealing something from them. This can be an important magic item, a simple totem tied to their background, or even their entire coin purse.

The encounter begins with a Stealth check followed by a Sleight of Hand check by a pickpocket targeting one of the party members. Depending on where in the process they are caught (if at all), it might lead to a chase throughout the city until they are apprehended.

If your campaign has a thieves’ guild, this is the perfect opportunity to introduce it to the party.

9

The Cellar Has Rats

A classic trope of fantasy RPG quest-giving is the local tavern having a problem with a rat infestation in its cellar. Seeing a group of armed adventurers entering the tavern is enough for the barkeep to offer an extermination request for ample pay.

This hook can expand into dungeon delving underneath the city by opening up the cellar beyond its natural borders. Here, the rats are giants and burrowed their way through the stone wall, revealing a network of ancient tunnels.

8

The Wizard’s Tower

Larger cities, or even modest towns in high fantasy settings, will usually have a local wizard using their magic as a service to those with enough coin. Most likely, that wizard will be high in their tower. The hook can first be foreshadowed by the description of the tower the first time the players arrive in town.

A blast of magical energy from atop the tower or local complaints about the wizard’s failings might finally convince the players to make a visit. This is an opportunity for your players to meet a potential ally and a source of spell scrolls and components.

7

Bounty Board

Most towns, including large cities, will have wooden boards in thoroughfares and public locations where passers-by can see local news and potential jobs for adventurers. This spot is the ideal location for introducing your party to the town’s overall troubles.

The most enticing jobs on a bounty board will be the ones with the highest rewards. Either a local monster (such as a dragon) terrorizing transports or a criminal on the run. Not only will completing such a quest gain favor from the locals, but enough coin to feel worth it.

6

Local Lord’s Request

A letter handed to your adventuring group by a local lord will be more than enough to get your players at their front door. Not only will this meeting allow your players to gain a powerful ally, but it could also result in significant rewards.

This is ideal for adventuring parties that already have some notoriety, as only then would a lord seek them out. This can also be a twist of betrayal, revealing the evil nature of the lord who means to remove disruptive board pieces that are close to revealing a secret plot.

5

Werewolf By Night

Every full moon, locals hide in their hovels, wincing at the howling of wolves, fearing they might be the next victim of a werewolf lurking among them. Part monster hunt and part investigation, this plot hook is perfect for players to flex their skills.

Either acquired from a local lord or bounty board, players might already be aware the threat is a werewolf or use gained knowledge to discover the monster’s identity. The quest can also end in a moral dilemma: help cure the cursed lycanthrope or put them down.

4

The Missing Child

Fairly often, city watch or guardsmen can be downright incompetent, as your players witness a raving parent begging anyone who will hear them to find their missing child. Requiring some investigative skills, this hook will lead your players through the darkest parts of the city.

This quest can also reveal evil plots, such as a cult needing the child as a sacrifice or a hag using them as a special ingredient. Although more suited for darker toned campaigns, this hook is one that easily motivates players into action.

3

A Deal With A Devil

Larger cities with enough distraction to conceal the nature of a devil lurking in their midst might be the perfect location for one to harvest souls. This fiend will usually target desperate individuals or those with power who never have enough.

This plot hook can start two ways: either a repentant local begging the party to help break their contract or even being contacted first by the devil themself. With enough charm, the players might even ponder an offer of their own in return for a quick solution to their problems.

2

The Lost Pet

A plot hook for comedic campaigns, or just when the players need a tone switch, an elderly local asks the players to help search for their lost pet. Although a job too unimportant for the city watch, it might be enough for good-aligned players.

This type of quest, however, deserves a significant plot twist that sends the players reeling. This could be that the pet was stolen by a band of goblins who now worship it, or the pet itself is much larger and deadlier than described, such as a displacer beast.

1

Heist Of A Lifetime

Perhaps the only location suitable for large-scale heists, cities are full of secure locations holding very rare and powerful loot. They can be outsourced by the local thieves’ guild or requested by a wealthy patron, and the players would need a great deal of planning to steal it.

Unlike a tomb or dungeon, players are far less likely to go in bows blazing, as the tactic can have far worse consequences than clearing a ruin. After a week of planning and careful execution, there is always something that can (and will) go wrong.

For official examples, look to Waterdeep: Dragon Heist for a full campaign featuring the mission type.