Finding Roleplaying Game Plot Ideas in Unlikely Places

Sometimes, you find roleplaying game plot ideas in the most unlikely of places.

Over the past few months, Angie and I have been watching the Stargate: Atlantis series. It started on a whim; the first season was on the shelf in my local library, and I checked it out just to see what it was all about. I’d enjoyed the movie and watched SG-1 on and off, so it seemed natural that I’d check this out.

Strangely enough, Angie and I were both hooked.

Something struck me about this particular series, however. The main cast – or at least the “SG Team” – had all of the elements of a good D&D party, and many of the stories were perfect for roleplaying game plot ideas. Here’s the lineup, in my view:

• Colonel John Sheppard: Fighter
• Ronon Dex: Barbarian
• Dr. Beckett or Dr. Keller (depending on the season): Cleric
• Dr. Rodney McKay: Wizard
• Teyla Emmagan: Rogue

And, of course, you have Ford (the fallen party member who becomes an antagonist), Zelenka and Major Lorne (the occasional players), Todd the Wraith (NPC who alternates between benefactor and antagonist), Michael (arch-nemesis), and Weir/Carter/Woolsey (benefactors/mentors).

Needless to say, there are so many different ways this series can play out in terms of roleplaying game plot ideas. Some random ones come to mind:

• The Season 5 episode where Rodney acquires a degenerative brain disease,  ala Flowers for Algernon. The roleplaying opportunities for your know-it-all wizard to suddenly act like a moron are endless, especially if the player is into it.
• The Season 1 episode where John Sheppard is infected by the Iratis bug and the party can’t get it unattached. Great opportunities for a puzzle/quest. This plot idea keeps playing itself out, with Sheppard turning into the bug creature later on. This can be a recurring problem for the character, and recurring plot idea for you.
• The overall discovery of Atlantis – an ancient city in ruins, with all sorts of new and magical things to explore, which becomes a base of operations.

I could go on and on, of course. But you get the idea.

Feel free to add your own roleplaying game plot ideas in the comments section, or tell me about some of the sources you use to find those ideas.

And, for those of you who haven’t seen the Stargate Atlantis series, I highly recommend it. You can buy it from Amazon, or even watch individual episodes with Amazon Video on Demand:

Tagged as: plot hooks, roleplaying game ideas, stargate atlantis