Encounter Idea No. 1 – Funeral Procession

If one thing is certain when it comes to role-playing games is that you’re going to have encounters. Some good, some bad, some where the players come out on top and still others where the NPCs seem to have the upperhand.

After reading the ongoing thread on the gmmastery mailing list I decided that an ongoing series of encounter ideas would be a good thing. Once a week I’ll be adding a new encounter idea to the blog for you to shape and use in your campaigns. Keep in mind that an encounter does not have to be combat oriented, it could be role-playing oriented just as easily.

Encounter – The funeral procession.

The setting could be anywhere, a crowded street in a city or on a space station, possibly a country road.

The procession is heard before it is seen. A member of the clergy is leading with family and close friends of the deceased, the casket or urn containing the remains follows. The sound of chanting and smell of incense fill the air.

From here you can take the encounter in any of a number of directions; here are a few ideas:

• Do nothing, it’s a simple funeral procession, nothing more.
• The deceased is actually an undead (chose appropriately for your role-playing system) and it choses the moment it passes the party to reveal itself.
• The deceased was murdered and a member of the procession points to a party member and yells, “That’s the one! That’s the monster that killed him!”
• The procession is stopped by the local police force for not having the proper permits.

You can also tie the funeral to your campaign in a more personal manner, have the deceased a known NPC or former character who has retired (with permission of course).

Be sure to check out these additional encounter ideas