Ideas

Story
Aranda Markelhay, the old Lord of Fallcrest hid out in the catacombs over 80 years ago during the Battle of Gardbury. Never seen again after the Fallcrest army fell to the Bloodspear Orcs.

Tal Lorvas is presently down there exploring for himself. But did he die?

Adventure to the Northern Wilds

 * Inspiration: http://arsludi.lamemage.com/index.php/78/grand-experiments-west-marches/
 * Further ideas: http://www.penny-arcade.com/2010/1/6/dnd-sandbox/
 * Further ideas2: http://www.penny-arcade.com/2010/1/20/sandbox-dd/

Story
Wild, untamed lands with ancient ruins

Design the first region

 * Sample map: http://www.jadettman.com/pmwiki/pmwiki.php?n=Games.WeirdTales

Story
Fallcrest is already home to the Night Stalkers, although very few citizens actually know of the presence of this guild. The Bleak Disciples had managed to infiltrate and create a foothold within the lower levels of the Tower of Waiting. When Shalmar returned to Fallcrest and entered the tower to warn them that the location had been compromised, he found numerous undead, his guildmates!

Design the Tower of Waiting
Map and details: http://dandddoodles.blogspot.com/2009/04/lonely-tower.html

Resources

 * Improving Rituals: http://mydndgame.net/2010/06/05/getting-you-into-a-ritual-today/
 * How much info to share: http://www.sarahdarkmagic.com/content/holding-back
 * Not all villains are evil: http://www.gnomestew.com/gming-advice/sure-hes-the-villain-but-is-he-the-bad-guy
 * DM Tools: http://community.wizards.com/dungeonsanddragons/go/thread/view/91301/23184201/Tools_for_Damp;D_Encounters_DMs&post_num=1#410773053
 * Rumor Tables: Rumor Table: http://www.sarahdarkmagic.com/content/random-rumor-tables-ftw

Plot hooks

 * A sandbox campaign based on West Marches. Use Nenlast as home base and explore to the north and east.
 * DMG2 p92 has a great Skill Challenge to simulate perilous travel
 * the Undead story from a blog post
 * Bleak Disciples at Raven Roost
 * In Fallcrest
 * investigate the extortion racket of the Porters' Guild
 * Orc invasion
 * Tower of Waiting
 * Waterfall cave
 * Graveyard
 * Catacombs
 * Bleak Disciples' infiltration

Sarah Darkmagic and her method of streetwise checks: http://www.sarahdarkmagic.com/content/random-rumor-tables-ftw
 * Everyone makes streetwise checks to determine what their characters hear on the street. Then hand to each person slips of paper with each thing they heard. Then let the group discuss the results and come up with a plan.
 * Make a Rumor Table with 10 rumors.
 * Everyone rolls Streetwise Check
 * Then make a number of 1d10 Rumor Table rolls equal to Streetwise/10 +1
 * Those trained in Streetwise gain an additional roll.

Resources

 * Print out large maps using Posterazor: http://posterazor.sourceforge.net/

Wiki Mechanics
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