STOP using these BORING DND Plot Hooks!!

Stop using these boring plot hooks!! If you’re a beginner or not, to DND you have to know these things before you start!!
Essentially how to play DND right!! RPG, TTRPG

0:00 intro
0:28 you meet in a tavern
1:52 railroad investigation
3:12 missing person
4:26 find this cool thing
5:45 town in trouble
7:07 closing thoughts

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[joe.shadfx]

What about "You're meat in a tavern"? The opening scene is dark, and the sound of a low, menacing growl echoes in the background. Suddenly, a flickering torch lights up the room, revealing a dimly lit, rustic tavern. The players’ characters are all tied up, hanging from meat hooks, or lying on a large wooden chopping block. A giant cleaver rests ominously nearby.
Dungeon Master:
"Welcome to 'Ye Olde Butcher's Tavern, ' where the special of the day is—well, you. Looks like you're in a bit of a pickle...or perhaps more of a stew?"
The giant or troll has its back to the players. ""So, heroes, what's your next move? Because the only thing standing between you and a fate as the main course is a little bit of creativity…and a lot of luck!"

[patrickfriend]

I did one where the princess actually thwarted a kidnapping attempt, and the party had to figure out who was behind it!

[PresidentAshenHeart]

I started my campaign with a Faire in a major city. Carnival games and good eats and drinks made for some fun roleplay, and then all of the players met in front of the Guild sign-up table (it was effectively a glorified recruitment faire).

[camillegalladjov]

And here I am, have spent a months prior to session 0 helping my players to come up with their completely different backstories that should lead them to Barovia

[MTGMantis]

My group currently uses a Tavern as a hub.

Except the tavern is built into a huge airship called the Skywind’s End, run by Captain Osyfynn (a Firbolg) and his merry crew of gnomes.

We helped them rebuild the engine.

It’s a great time!

[TalesFromElsewhereGames]

When I saw "railroad investigation" as a problem, I was about to get very upset, because I love trains! Investigating a train would be lovely, and I've started many a session on a train!

Then I realized what you were talking about and I felt silly :D

[ArtaniaVIII]

I'm working on a homebrew campaign with my buddy based on my idea of a deity summons the group to like a pocket dimension or something like that and warns them of a great evil in the years to come, and that they have been chosen to defeat this evil.

How they do this is up to them, but they must adventure to gain experience, resources, possibly artifacts and allies, to defeat this evil.

The deity says they will occasionally offer guidance when needed, and grant boons for great deeds.

That's my idea anyways, what do you think?

[morrigankasa]

I think a better start would be a campground outside of a Town or City. Specifically because oftentimes historically, during pilgrimages & many other major events groups of travelers/people would more often meet each other outside of towns instead of in a Tavern or Inn. Generally only wealthier merchants or spice traders or nobles would be able to afford Inns & the like. Additionally, the common description/imagery of Taverns in D&D/RPG games is more similar to 17th-19th Century Pubs instead of historical Medieval/Renaissance types. 0:44

[a.t.o.mworkshop]

a DM tried the tavern thing...
We were two dwarves and two elves... It derailled so much that the tavern was set on fire, the guards of the city killed two of the players, one died in the tavern, and the last one was sentence to death after the fire caught with the house next to the inn and expand to a part of the city...
The funny part is that with this 5 hours intro and 4 death, we didn't even begin a letter of the scenario... XD
Let's say our DM never tried the tavern trope ever again.
AND NO ONE INSULT MY BEARD AND STAY ALIVE TO BOAST ABOUT IT !!!

[chriswood]

after playing this game forever (43 years) i have learned, I don't care about the plot. I play for several reasons: to hand with my friends, to escape reality for a bit, and for those epic moments where me or my party does something amazing, combat or RP, doesn't matter, just epic moments. none of this requires a cool or unique plot. I reserve my desire for good, unique, plots in books I read.

[Malkuth-Gaming]

I will say that starting in a tavern isnt always plot relative. its just the most common place to begin when introducing characters and for the DM to then introduce the plot or first adventure. depening on the style of game.

[dwaynejackson]

I had a group all get a letter from a mayor in a small town where mysterious things were happening. When they got there the mayor was a symbiote attached to a dead body, the symbiote had the gif of prophecy and teir vision led then to call a specific group of people.

[jamesbrucker]

Since my main group likes to create their characters individually, I’ve had to get creative on bringing them together. My current strategy is give them a shared dream chasing a mulligan that eases them into the main story line.

[Zarion]

Spot on with the "meet in a tavern" setup. There is no issue with using it as long as all the PCs are there for a reason for them to be there at the same time. Unless you have very proactive players that you know can "find their own adventure" and will make use of a directionless opening.

I did laugh when you suggested the "evey town has the same problem" joke. That would be kind of funny, as the GM at least. This town is being harrased by a group of trolls, next town is also trolls, then the next town...also...trolls. Of course once the joke stops being funny you could suddenly reveal that there is an archmage in the mountains that is breeding trolls so they can drive off the local population and take over the region for themselves.

As for the mystery thing, never ever only have one NPC or one clue that the PCs must find. When doing mysteries never create a bottleneck. Always have multiple instances of each clue so if the PCs miss one they will have another chance to find said clue.

[connerhabib]

After fleeing the kobold zombie bandit hoard into a small village, your party finds themselves in a tavern, staffed entirely by kidnapped nobles with amnesia because of cursed items.

[mikececconi]

To be fair, " meet in a tavern " is really safe and easy for new players. It gets old when you've played a lot, sure, but its easy for new people to understand. You're absolutely right that you have to do more with it than JUST they meet in a tavern, but as a skeleton to hang a more complex start on, it's... simple but accessible. Opening in TOO complicated a manner with too many details can overwhelm a new player or a player looking for a casual game. Big lore dumps to start scare some players. I'm not one of them but they're there and they're real, y'know?

[omnipotent_arcanis]

I always enjoyed a full roll play back story day 0 that accumulates the party to find each other (one way or another) at the start. And because I am classic over prep guy, I would have two or three basic ways for the party (or parties) to fall into the main story. Such as: being roped into finding missing person; what if the fighter and barbarian end up getting into a fight and are given the choice of working for the city guard or going to a cell. The Rouge and the Bard hear about the search and the reward money so they show up get paid. The Cleric and the Druid get asked by a member of the family of the missing person. Now the six players all have the same goal but a few different reasons for the achieving it. But again play the game that you want to and most of all have fun.

[jeffjaeger]

you all meet in a tavern... here's what I did once.
it started with the players in the tavern to see a performer. since the performance went late, they all either got rooms or opted for the common room. during the night, a band of orcs attacked the inn, intent on killing everyone there. then they burned the building down.
but one of the players saw (through the smoke) an orc snatch a painting from the wall before fleeing. the owner of the tavern rounded up survivors and led them to a hidden tunnel that went out under the building.
the party could see the band of orcs off in the distance and decided to track them. and WHY did they want that painting?? the owner says he bought it at an estate auction... obviously the whole attack was about getting it and covering up the fact that they took it.

[arinfrankhouse]

There's also the tavern trope variant "you all meet in prison", which has a few variants of its own, mostly in the reason you want to GTFO.

My character (a non-Harengon rabbit monk who joined later) met the PC of another player (who left the campaign later on because they didn't like the setting) in prison after she (the monk) was captured by a band of thugs hired by the local villains, and the actual group found us while investigating the underground caves the two were jailed in. However, because of a lack of a way in that wasn't both ground-based and lightly guarded, the one party member who could fly let the others chug shrinking potions before carrying them in, essentially leaving the party undermanned for the ensuing fights. However, two of the shrunk members could still use magic, which provided some support while the two new additions went to town in melee. Micro exploits, literal ass-kicking, and accidental steppings ensued.

[Azurko]

I've had the idea for the missing person trope and I know my players are going to HATE me for it LOL! Basically my thought was they're the towns alchemist who's disappeared. Many have searched her house but nothing seems to be missing / stolen and all of their clothes are untouched. If they investigate it enough, they'll discover she would sometimes make potions that would get people basically high. If they search enough or in the right place, they'll find her hidden leger filled with nobles names and the orders they've placed. I've always just gone with the flow story wise so it all depends on what they do with the information, but the end result (if they get that far without killing me) is that they'll learn she liked to "sample her own goods" and made a new brew that both paralyzed and turns the person invisible. She's been laying on her bed this entire time, unable to move or be seen :) If the players take more than 12 hours to figure it out, they'll find out she came stumbling out of her shop and is in the local cafe gorging herself silly having not eaten in 4 days.