Another day, another seed inspired by an Infected Rain song. If this is not your musical taste, you probably aren’t alone…and that’s okay. Once again, the song title is the inspiration. I took it literally with the death of light in a settlement. What settlement? Any of them. It’s open so it can be placed in any campaign.
Tonight is a big festival in a major settlement. A few hours after sunset, the torches and lanterns suddenly flicker despite a lack of wind. Then, unexpectedly, they all go out. Everything is dark.
Next, we are going to germinate the seed with secrets. Some of these secrets might contradict each other. They do not all have to be used. Rather, they are to give a GM some ideas to work with. Anything highlighted in brackets is fair game to change…then again, it’s all fair game to change because you’re the GM.
- The light goes out for [only a few seconds; a few minutes; enough time that they need to be relit]. When there is light again, [one person is dead; several people are missing; creatures have appeared].
- Panic ensues, people begin running away, and someone yells out, [“it’s returned!”; “look up in the sky!”; “release me at once!”; “the moon, where is the moon?”].
- It becomes harder to breathe, and the party realizes that there is a dark cloud of smoke.
- Beating drums can be heard in the distance.
- A woman begins chanting in a strange voice. The party cannot understand what she is saying, but there is something familiar about it nonetheless.
- The lanterns quickly relight, but the flames are a strange color.
- This is the work of the local thieves guild, but something has gone wrong. The magic was only supposed to darken the area. It was not supposed to [summon a creature; open a portal; cause people to choke; last all evening; spread from the town square].
- Any attempt to light a torch or cast a light-causing spell leads to [no effect; a ball of flames; a quick flicker of light followed by more darkness].
- When there is light again, the party realizes they are not in the same location. They have been teleported elsewhere [alone; along with the rest of the town].
- The only source of light that remains is [the mage’s tower; the tavern now on fire; torchlight on the horizon; flaming arrows; a glowing doorway].
Grow
This seed is easy to grow into an encounter. This could be as simple as relighting the torches and conversing with locals on why they went out in the first place. Maybe there is nothing more to it. Alternatively, something could happen in the darkness, such as an attack or thieves attempting to pickpocket.
This could be a good introduction to a one-shot by focusing on the “only source of light” remaining in the settlement, be it the wizard’s tower or a lit door. Solving the problem in a single session is feasible and could be set up for various levels. Perhaps the party must work with the thieves to undo a problem, or they are tasked with rescuing kidnapped peasants.
This could also be a good introduction to a longer adventure. Perhaps the thieves have done something that will need a lot of work to fix. A god or goddess could be annoyed with the settlement for some reason, and the characters might be tasked with fetching something to appease the deity.
Rather than starting a campaign in a tavern, why not start it at a suddenly dark festival? Those drums in the distance could be the villain. The chanting woman might be a patron. The characters (and others) might just find themselves at a new location altogether, and the campaign is about exploring and finding their way back.