Share Your One Line Game Starters

Building off of my other thread.

DW suggests starting your game in media res, placing your characters in a situation and asking them "What do you do?"

Give me some ideas of one-line adventure starters that you've come up with.

You are down on your luck, your treasure and friends. The bordelllo mistress is after you, the town watch wants you incarcerated and the head of the local death cult has made a deal with the thieves guild - your souls for the map to the hall under the hill...
What do you do?

"Your party has been in a small jail cell for a few hours. It's your own damn fault, really. They've quickly thrown you there after catching you. I guess the authority hasn't taken a decision yet. You hear sounds of battle from up the stone stairs and a man in blue garbs, the prison guard, falls down the stairs, landing a broken, twisted mess of skin, blood and bones, right in front of your cell. The keys are dangling from his belt. What do you do?"

Not quite one line, but yeah!

"So there you were, right, sleeping in all your separate rooms in that inn they hastily built a few years ago, when word of the great tourney went about. But, now, here you are, dumped into some dank basement with your travelling companions. You see a heavy iron door before you and hear wild screams and terrifying growls. What manner of terrible place is this?"

(Imagine, if you will, a fantasy version of H.H. Holmes' murder castle, as that was my inspiration, but it could go a few different ways.)

"You stand in front of the dark cave's entrance. Other people would quiver in fear, run or hide. Not you. You've been around, you've seen the faces of demons and the kitchens of orcs. You're professionals. Besides, the orphans won't save themselves. You hear a scream from deeper inside the cave, what do you do?"

One day out, retrieve the king's standard from Keystone Crag, then one day back, assuming fair winds.  Half the ships in the king's navy are competing in this little race but someone just couldn't keep their big mouth shut.  Somehow, you've managed to keep pace in your mildewed excuse for a leeboard ship and now the Crag is in sight.  It's going to be chaos when the ships reach the shallows.  What do you do?

Looks like the map was half right, there's definitely Dwarven tunnels down here, but it looks like the "no traps" was wrong... the walls are closing in, what do you do?

Cleric! You're knee deep in what? Blood spatters all over you! What color is it and what is it from?
Thief! What's the greatest treasure here? ... Sweet, if you get your fingers on it, you can have an extra XP.
Fighter, your mace just smashes a skull! Who used to be the previous owner of that face and what was he?
Wizard! What are you most might happen? What's the danger others might be missing in this fight?

Sketch out encounter area, drop some tokens representing described monsters down, have PCs place dice representing them, finish fight.

Then ask why they're here fighting whatever it was.


Works like a charm.

The orcs down haven't spotted you yet, thank gods, but there's not much time.  The sacrifice is tied down to the altar. That one-eyed priest is sharpenning his knife, and the chanting and drumming is reaching a crescendo.

So, which one of you is the sacrifice?  (To that player) How'd you end up in this situation?

(To the others) How'd you find this place?

(To the wizard or cleric or bard) So what terrible thing is going to happen if the sacrifice is completed?  Y'know, beyond the obvious?

(To everyone) What do you do?

I don't know why, but it seems that I always start with:

• what kind of elf are you?
• how works your magic?

"it's been a long night and all any of you want to do is get to bed (What have you been doing that has you so tired?).  You stumble into the inn that's been your home for a few weeks and head upstairs (Where are you?).  As you open the door to one of your rooms (whose room?) you hear a crash from the other side.  As you open the door, three things strike you.  One, your room has been ransacked.  Two, something very important is missing (What?).  Three, someone has just jumped out the window and is racing way as fast as their legs can carry them.

What do you do?"

You are the guards of a caravan travelling to the Black Fortress through the Dismal Forest. As you reach a clearing you are attacked by gnolls. What do you do?

Deep below the castle, you have just sworn your allegiance to The Realm, kissing the king's ring before the crypt of the first of his line, when you hear the clang of steel on steel and the cries of dying men echoing from above.  What do you do?

Now that you're outside the castle's gate and in the town beyond, what are you going to do with the prince?

Well, you've killed the Captain of the Sky Pirates.  Good job.  Only, when he died, seems the Sky Castle's magic began to fail.  Maybe you should have found the prisoners first?  What do you do?