Plot Hooks and Campaign Ideas

     Often when crafting any kind of dramatic story, such as the ones good Narrators create for their players, finding inspiration and getting started can be the hardest part. And while there will soon be official Operation and Campaign supplements published for Valherjar, we at Game Monkeys feel strongly that part of our job is to give you as many resources as possible to help you create dramatic elements for your games. Thus, just like we do in almost every book we publish, we have included plot hooks and campaign ideas on our website to help give you creative inspiration for your games. These hooks can be used individually, just as they are, can be intermingled to produce an elaborately woven story, or can just serve as a mood setter to help get your mind into that wonderful place where you create stories of your own.

     Please note that, for ease of reviewing and implementing, new plot hooks are always added to the top of this list.

Fruit of the Poisoned Tree
     Pockets of youth violence are exploding throughout the country. Though separated by hundreds of miles and varying wildly in their methods, the heinous and sadistic attacks all include extensive torture and mutilations of the children’s victims. Attacks have occurred in small, localized areas and seemingly without reason, and authorities are stumped as to the cause. Perhaps that’s because they can’t rationally blame the one universal thread in all of the instances: That the mothers all visited the same chain of fertility clinics to help them conceive.

Salting the Earth
     A small town sandwiched between two major metropolises has seen a dramatic increase in animal attacks over the last few months. While historically subject to the occasional mountain lion or bear mauling, these new attacks have authorities baffled. The ferocity is unheard of for any native species; men, women, children and pets have all been torn to shreds by teeth and claws, and there have been more than 35 disappearances in recent weeks. Governmental wildlife officials have tried to close the area but attacks still continue on residents who refuse to leave and official personnel who have been ordered to stay. Interestingly, those fleeing the area are often receiving and accepting below-market offers to purchase their homes by a newly formed real estate conglomerate. It can’t possibly be a coincidence.

No Good Deed Goes Unpunished
     Mistakes happen, but when one of them is accidentally framing a man for murder, the Valherjar must correct it before an innocent person fries. Interrupted by the police during an unfinished operation, the Flyn was forced to flee while an unfortunate bystander was nailed for the crime. Now the Valherjar must clear his name without drawing attention to themselves or their unfinished business.

Mysterious Benefactors
     A local gang of toughs just got a whole lot tougher, and there’s reason to believe the Jotnar are involved. Turf wars that have been fought for years have suddenly been decided over the course of a few days, and now territory and operations that used to be spread out among a half-dozen gangs are under the control of just one. Growing at an alarming rate and stepping up operations exponentially, what was once a petty ring of pushers and thieves has now graduated into a legitimate street presence. All of this caught the local authorities with their pants down, and if things continue this way the entire city may come under the thugs’ control. If they can’t be stopped, and their new benefactors discovered, this could turn into a new base of operations for gods know what. A delicate hand may be required, though, as an open street battle could cost countless civilian lives and draw considerable attention to Valherjar operations.

No Man Left Behind
     A raid on a Jotnar-run nightclub has gone horribly wrong, and now a Valherjar is missing. Ambushed the moment they entered, one of the Valherjar was snatched during the fighting and has disappeared completely. Unable to track him through the Flyn bond, and with no one at the club able to shed light on his abduction, numerous Flyns have been mobilized to try and recover him before it’s too late. Too late for what, however, is anyone’s guess.

A Court Full of Jesters
     A new religious cult is taking hold with frightening speed, and families of the members and the local community are outraged. The cult requires that its members sign over all possessions, relinquish all ties to their old lives, and may have them participating in illegal activities. In and of itself this would be unusual, but not unheard of, except that every member of the cult frequented a famous downtown art gallery days before signing up. Though Jotnar involvement is uncertain, the gods have decided that recruitment must stop and this cult must go.

Take a Bullet for Who?
     A full-time windbag celebrity and part-time political advocate has coincidentally turned his or her ire on a Jotnar political operation, and so has been targeted for assassination. The Aesir have decided that this independent harassment is decidedly beneficial, so the Flyn has been charged with keeping them alive. To make matters worse, the celebrity is completely unaware of the existence of the greater conflict they’ve become involved in, so the Valherjar must maintain their veil of secrecy at all costs. But in case all that wasn’t bad enough the celebrity has turned out to be quite the egocentric prima donna, and watching them is more than the Valherjar have bargained for.

The Friend of my Enemy
     Even for creatures as vile as the Nidhogg there are degrees of putrescence, and some are definitely worse than others. Though as a species they are too numerous and entrenched to simply be eradicated, as a general rule a special effort is made to hunt and eliminate the most contemptible of the breed. Unfortunately, some manage to slip through the cracks and maintain operations long after being identified for extermination and, occasionally, one of those even manages to sign on with a more established Jotun for protection. Recently it was discovered that a particularly despicable Nidhogg had been hired by an Aesir-allied Garm to create Ratatosk soldiers, and word has come down that the Nidhogg must be dispatched regardless. The only question left is whether the Garm will hand over the Nidhogg willingly or must be forced.

Terror has a Purpose
     Several small fundamentalist terrorist groups with no prior history of working together suddenly got an upgrade in equipment and training, and are now making coordinated attacks within several prominent cities. Their attacks are sporadic, and their targets random, but the media outcry over their ability to circumvent customs and their continued operation is extreme. Not surprisingly, the solution being pointed to by less reputable organizations is a new customs screening system for sale by a Jotnar-run defense corporation. The attacks must be stopped and the organizers punished.

In Betrayal or Distress?
     A valued Garm ally has suddenly switched sides, and no one’s sure why. Uncharacteristically having broken his contract with the Aesir to accept one with a Surtur, even the Garm’s own kind are wondering what has happened to him. Is he under some malevolent spell or simply motivated by his own greed? In either event he may have information that could damage Valherjar operations and must be dealt with.

The Highest High
     A local sports team just got a big boost and no one’s sure what turned them around. Winning less than a fifth of their games the last four years running, they’re now in a position to clinch the title and their performance can only be described as “supernatural.” Players are stronger, faster and more agile than ever before, and Magic is almost certainly involved — but at what price? A string of disappearances and thefts surrounding the team may only seem bizarre or coincidental to the mortal authorities, but the Valherjar know better. Someone’s trading steroid-free enhancements for some high profile lackeys and has to be stopped.

The Dangers of Good Samaritanship
     The world is full of vulnerable, needy people, and there is an exceedingly high likelihood that Valherjar will come across a number of them on assignments. In some cases, accidentally or intentionally, the Valherjar may get pulled into the relatively mundane factors of a mortal’s life. This could be as simple as inadvertently becoming a major source of care for a lonely elderly person, or as complicated as thwarting a local extortion operation. Either way, they have become intrinsically involved and must now not only pursue their original assignment but also tend to these mortal needs, while desperately working to maintain their cover and secrecy.