Quest Hooks - The Merchant’s Offer
Taking a Donjon prompt and exploring it...
Donjon Quest Prompt:
A merchant named Eanfleth seeks a company of adventurers to recover and destroy an evil artifact from the ruins of Caer Edhelel. Before the end, the party finds itself facing a moral quandry.
I was doing my thing, playing around on the Donjon site and this made me pause for a moment. Merchat hires the party, evil artifact, moral decisions… yeah, this could work!But I can already see trouble running it straight. Players will probably sniff out the setup. They will expect the choice to be obvious. Evil artifact equals destroy it.
So I start by asking:
why does Eanfleth care?
If he just wants it destroyed, why not hire some local thugs or priests? Maybe he wants the artifact gone because his rivals are hunting it. Or maybe he doesn’t want it destroyed. He wants it moved. Safe in his hands. The moral problem lands harder if he lies.
Thinking. Time matters here.
The ruins of Caer Edhelel should not be nearby. Make the journey cost something. Days of travel. Food and torches checked off as they get used. Various annoying animals in the woods. Someone tracks the party. Give them pressure before they even see the ruins. Every day they delay, something else in the world shifts.
The moral piece needs to cut.
Things I REALLY enjoy doing is I could have the artifact whisper. Promise power. Promise safety. Or maybe it shows a vision of some village burning if they destroy it. Force the players to doubt. Let them think using it might save lives now, even if it damns them later.
But as usual, I see the darker angle. (I am the Evil Dungeon Master after all, right?)
Maybe Eanfleth knows the artifact harms whoever carries it. He plans for the party to bring it out for him. He gains. They suffer. Or maybe the moral quandary is that destroying it requires a living sacrifice. Someone has to pay the cost. That keeps the choice sharp and ugly.
Would I run it as written? No. It feels passive. I need Eanfleth to have teeth. I need the artifact to tempt, lie, and curse. I want the players to leave with a decision that burns. If they walk away thinking “We did the right thing,” I missed.
Other random ideas:
Make Eanfleth charming, but greedy.
Put travel days between the party and the ruins. Track rations.
Give the artifact powers that feel immediately useful.
Let the players see the price of using it after the first time.
Introduce a rival party or hunter chasing the same goal.
Keep the moral choice delayed until they feel invested.
Reward the wrong choice first, punish it later.