Want to construct suspense and anticipation? Try utilizing an ominous clue in your D&D adventures. Here’s how one can sow some seeds!

One of the best instruments within the DM toolkit is the ominous clue. It generally is a cryptic phrase, a vaguely threatening prediction, or a fraction of a letter detailing one thing dangerous that has both simply occurred or is about to go down. Whatever type it takes, it doesn’t matter. The ominous clue is there to set the tone, get the gamers considering, and lift their inner alarm that ‘something you’ve deliberate’ is underway.

But you will get all that profit with out truly having to plan something. All it’s important to do is give you a clue that’s simply creepy and imprecise sufficient to encourage the imaginations of your gamers. If you are able to do that, then, like a harangued Dr. Ray Stantz on the rooftop of a haunted tenement constructing in New York, your gamers will select the type of their very own destruction for you. All it’s important to do is take heed to what they are saying, after which summon forth the imaginative and prescient of their doom.

All it’s important to do is give you one thing that may get them speaking. And, in fact, remember to make up one thing that occurs in your recreation that seems to have been the ominous whomever on a regular basis. Your gamers don’t should know you’re retroactively connecting the dots–all they care about is that you just stick that touchdown. So with that in thoughts, listed here are 5 ominous clues so that you can select from.

The Stars are (Almost) Right

Nothing will get gamers to maneuver like the concept that one thing could be about to occur to them. As your gamers discover an historical library, ruined wizard’s tower, or another place the place they may discover a cache of hidden data, give them a fraction of a star chart or possibly they arrive throughout an previous, however nonetheless working, orrery that signifies an upcoming celestial conjunction. Nothing says loopy magic is about to go down like an entire bunch of stars aligning within the sky – issues to pose to the gamers embrace: what do you suppose occurs after they line up? Where’d that mysterious cult go? What’s an orrery?

The Assassin’s Target

Another strategy to trace at a possible hazard is to let gamers uncover an murderer’s goal notice. This could be a needed poster, an official bounty, or possibly even only a letter that has been torn that reveals that somebody desires a particular goal useless. This is a major clue to cover in a villain’s lair, or on random toughs that your gamers may stumble throughout. One might need a letter meant for an unknown murderer on their individual when the PCs defeat them in a struggle. And now all they should do is determine who the murderer is in time to do one thing about it.

The Powerful Ritual

A detailed element to the celestial prophecy entry above. Let your gamers uncover some signal of an historical magical ritual. Perhaps they arrive throughout the devastation it wrought on the now-ruined constructing they’re exploring. Or possibly in a close-by dungeon they arrive throughout a room with an extensively safe door, meant to lock one thing in, and indicators of magical explosions or large claw gouges dot the room. Just sufficient particulars to counsel ‘whatever this ritual does is bad‘ so that they’ll need to discover whoever’s attempting to do it, and cease them.

The Thrumming Idol

This is much less an ominous clue and extra an ominous piece of treasure that secretly whispers to the social gathering members – or an account of some highly effective artifact hidden in a dusty however nonetheless energetic library. It suggests {that a} highly effective relic is close by and in want of very particular situations to activate it as soon as once more…

The Map

Finally, in the event you’re in search of an ominous clue–what a few map of a spot well-known to the PCs. Maybe a public sq., or the king’s palace, or the tavern the place they take pleasure in their brown stew in a bread bowl; regardless of the case, this explicit map has a number of options highlighted or circled on it. What do the circles imply? Is somebody planning one thing? That’s as much as you to determine.

Happy Adventuring!

Bell of Lost Souls Staff Writer and DM, J.R. covers RPGs of all stripes and from time to time eats sandwiches. You can ask him about both at [email protected]

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