The above is from a Kickstarter campaign that I ran back in February. Originally it had been planned for Zinequest 3 (special campaign season run by Kickstarter to prompt small publications) but two weeks before that was supposed to launch Kickstarter bumped it back to August.
I ran You Ask, I Write anyway and it was successful with a good number of backers. The basis of the campaign was that backers could ask me any single fantasy RPG question and I would write them a reply.
They could have a new NPC, magic item or frankly anything. What follows here is the current list of requests that have been made by backers. As you can see, they are a creative bunch who have made some great requests. These are short summaries of their requests. My writing document has considerable extra detail for many of them.
The collected answers will be available in printed format and pdf once it's all done.
My intention is to update this list as I work through the questions. (Knowing myself as I do I will get lost in the creative writing and forget to update the list but hey, I intend to update it!)
What I would like is for you to come up with the town leader NPC, who is an ancient powerful and pacifist hag, that will ask the party for help in defending this village of crones against slaughter and if all goes well will become a powerful and friendly long-term ally to the party.
Conversation between the council members of the Cabal of Probadol.
Investigation leading up to a showdown with a guard who is actually a mimic
Handful of noir-themed adventure hooks for a group of adventurers.
I'm interested in something in which a deaf character would be able to excel at. Would you be able to write perhaps a campaign introduction, a quest, a location, or an NPC where being deaf would be an advantage for the character?
Weaving together different campaign and characters plots to bring them together
Castle or realm of a corrupt fey king who’s lands are shrouded in shadow.
Spell flavour and backstory for a nature cleric who is an eco warrior in the service of her God.
Backstory for a dog companion enabling him to have survived a previous adventure and reappear in future ones. Potentially much more than a simple dog.
A choice of questions which include a horror creature that is actually benign and a mage seeking immortality through unconventional means.
The set up for a campaign where a party member will, justifiably, betray the rest of the party.
A creation myth for a Mediterranean-islander type civilization
Plot points and story arc ideas for a multi-world location undead vs. dragon mega campaign.
A potion, magic item, or maybe a curse that enables you to hear and talk to inanimate objects.
Create reliquary holy relics which engender fanatical devotion in true believers and may or may not bestow powers with backstories of the people the relics were made from.
How to reveal, in story, that the creature that keeps appearing and attacking the adventurers is being compelled against their will to do so, when they can’t directly communicate that to them.
Tips on maintaining the life and death feeling as the adventurers gain levels.
In a magically ravaged kingdom full of corruption a ship arrives into the one remaining port. What interesting people or things might be on the ship?
A dwarven druid and their badger animal companion -- how might they have met and what made the badger decide to follow the dwarf?
Location - Magical library filled with a collection of both magical and cursed tomes run by chaotic evil demonic librarian
An Urban chase/race scene, preferably including crowds, rooftops, and through shops.
Describe an encounter between Anbush, a paladin of a god/goddess of death who is slain by Godfrey, a paladin of a god/goddess of life who has Anbush, the paladin of death raised from the dead.
What kind of a method would you use to organize adventures (especially one-shots) so that the plot structures would be modular, making it easy to modify the scenarios on the fly
Create a guinea pig companion who can save low level characters at their moment of peril and an explanation of how this is possible without making it invincible.
Some non-traditional relationships.
Create some intelligent insects that can talk and need help, but try not to let on that they are unusual.
Planar travel, without a towel.
Advice for handling political intrigue/ spy craft type games.
What is a good way to do travel, while making it engaging it and fun for everyone? (I generally hate doing random encounters as well.)
How would you make traveling from area to area more engaging?
A distrusting but not malign underdark community, some distance from the sun, to pose a challenge for my descending adventures.
I would love stats for a new fiend creature. Something new and different from the depths of hell.
A non-Euclidean, spacetime prison/dungeon that houses an "Unspeakable Good" (instead of an Unspeakable Evil), that were it loosed upon the land it would destroy it (with destroy being open to a lot of interpretations)
A sect of corrupt mages drove certain other magical races to near extinction a millennia ago. What clues remain now of the fate of those mages?
Weird effects in a zone where multiple worlds or dimensions collapse.
How to mark a character so that they can be identified as ‘the one’ who is prophesied without it being utterly cheesy (i.e. no lightning scars)
a request for a fun one off for when the campaign gets dull. How about Level 2+ (not a newbie adventure) maybe something for an intermediate party\GM in the first 90 days of a campaign?
A plant creature who appears to be a dragon but is in fact a plant. And details of their disposition.
I'm interested in learning about an inn or tavern. Specifically one that used to be the smithy of an enchanter / swordsmith who disappeared mysteriously a hundred or so years ago. This will connect with the characters in an ancestral/descendant sense.
A goblin merchant npc who appears in weird untimely ways who appears to have multiple personalities and his wares depend on the personality?
A monster that copies the PCs' abilities for 5e? I was thinking of building a monster that would spit out old versions of the PCs.
How to balance comedy / horror.
Backstory for an abandoned museum to be used in an escape room style adventure
Ways for clerics to gain experience through devotion to their deities outside of adventuring.
Ideas for a campaign world for a mounted campaign.
I've a scenario where mind flayers (or, for publishing purposes, a cult) are kidnapping priestesses of the kingdom and corrupting them with an alchemical process that replaces their brain. However, I have yet to flesh out why they are doing this. Could you create a plot and motive for the mind flayers /cult?
A magic item that is specifically a magic handle/hilt that provides properties to any blade it is attached to.
Magical fog environment/monsters.
Some DnD fantasy prosthetic ideas for different body parts, magical transhumanism style
How to play a character with secrets from the rest of the party and how not to spill the beans too early.
In a mortal engine style post-apocalyptic world. This world and it's moving cities are run by corporate elites. What I would love is a main quest giver to guide and push my players.
An undead creature that can 'spawn' more undead, to give the characters a challenge and something that could be scaled for a few different levels.
A slightly magical, multi-colored, plush, Western-style toy dragon has become an heirloom. Semi-sentient/aware describe previous and current owner.
New ways to use mimics
My players love to wave at my Story Hooks as they fly by. What can I do to make them want to engage with a larger plot without trying to railroad them?
What question would you love to answer that no one has asked yet?
And yes, question 56 was a real question which was nice of them. I'm going to ponder what to say write once I've answered all the others!
Until next time, stay safe and keep gaming.
Stephen