Three April Fools Tricks for DM's
By "The Role Player"  and "Harlequin"    

April Fool's idea #1 From The Role Player:

This is an interesting little side adventure that I used for a weekend break in an extensive campaign that I was running a few years back. The players loved the idea and laughed their heads off, so I thought it would be a nice comic relief way to start the messages flowing.

SET UP: Characters are sitting in a small tavern in a very tiny village. There are no official guards or even priests. The villiage consists of mainly a general store, an inn, and a set of stables. Supplies which can be purchased in the town are minimal at best.

LEVEL: This is a side adventure for newer, lower level characters. If you're running for super-gods, then you might want to wait for a different idea.

Difficulty Rating: 1 (on a scale of 1-10)

BEGINNING: An injured stranger stumbles into town late one night. He is bleeding and crying and looks as if he is nearly ready to flop over dead. He has some parchment in his hands, and it is very blood covered. The writing on the paper seems to be blood itself -- probably the strangers.

The note reads, 'Please help me. My only friend in the world has been stolen. Orcs attacked. I can not save her. Her name is Lady B(bloodsmear here)........ has blue eyes........ (bloodsmear here)... blond...(page ripped beyond recognition).

Players upon investigating can find out that there is a small group of 'pig-men' who live to the north.(INSERT STANDARD CHASE THE CAVE SECTION HERE)

After finally making it past the orcs and into the deeper regions of the orc tunnels, the players come across the kitchens. One orc with a cleaver is chasing a stragily mutt around the room. The dog is barking and yipping and growling and running wildly. When the players kill the orc, the dog comes running wildly over to them and
begins furiously licking over one of the characters and wagging its tail.

The doggie follows the characters as they explore the rest of the orc cave. There is a dark alter deeper into the small cave, and it does have blood stains on it. A woman's ripped and bloody dress lies half burnt in a small fire near the alter. There is human bones, and charred locks of blond hair in the fire.

GASP!!! THE PLAYERS WERE TOO LATE! BLOND FRIEND WAS KILLED!!!

FINISHING UP THE ADVENTURE: The players get back into town with a heavy heart. They failed to save the man's companion.

As they get ready to break the news to the man (who has now recovered), the dog runs up to him and begins to slobber all over him.

He calls her, 'Lady Blueeyes!' and begins to cry in gratitude. The players have completed their quest!! (Which is nothing at all like they thought it should be.)

NOTE: I did have a few players who's characters were not the most happiest people in the world -- they had killed a small orcish hunting outpost, risked their lives, been gravely injured, and all for a... for a.. for a dernable dog!

WHERE TO GO WITH IT:

The alter is a nice lead into another side adventure.

The charred hair and dress is also a nice mystery that the game master can delve deeper into if the players want to go that way.

The orcs may want to retailiate for the loss of their breathern.

 

April Fool's Idea # 2 From The Role Player:

Keeping in honor with the April Fools idea, here's a magic item that we've used in our games before. :)

Figurine of Power -- The Fool

Description:
Unlike most figurines, The Fool is not a figurine carved from solid stone. Instead, it is a carving of a king's jester made of stone, wood, bone, and steel all Mended (like the 1st level mage spell Mend) together and then draped with a multicolored set of fool's (jester's) clothing.

Activation:
The command word to operate this figurine is the phrase, "HA! The laughs on you!", and the directional pointing of a finger at a target. Upon issuing the command words and pointing, the figuring comes to life and becomes a full sized fool which will fight for the party. (Whether or not the fighting is always beneficial is still undecided...) Once activated, the fool remains for 5d4 rounds and then returns to its normal state. The fool can only be activated once per day (except on April 1st when it can be used at will.)

Figurine Stats:
The Fool is a 7HD (50 hp), AC0 (or 20 in 3ed -- equal to full plate and shield) human. The fool can only perform one action per round, with the results determined by random roll from the chart below.

Actions:
The fool generally bounces, twirls, sings, dances, falls, yells, and acts in a completely crazy manner. All creatures (including the party) who watch the fool in action must make a save vs. spells each round or suffer cumulate penalties as shown below.

Save Failure -- Result
1st -- begin to chuckle. All concentration checks are at a -2 (including spell concentration checks.)
2nd -- begin to laugh hard. Constitution & Dexterity are reduced by 1d4 (loss of breath from the degree of laughter), ALL spell casting requires a concentration check with -5 penalties, and all physical actions are at -2 (including fighting skills).
3rd -- Complete loss of bodily function. All the afflected can do is fall on the ground, hold their sides, and laugh uncontrollably.

Note: Missing a save adds to the 3 levels of penalties, but making one allows the afflicted to regain self control 1 level. (example: John missed 2 saves vs spells, so he is laughing hard. His 3rd roll is a success, so he gains some control and is now only chuckling. Another failure and he'd be laughing hard again, another success and he'd be under control.)

In addition to the fool's laughter effect, the figurine also casts spells from the chart below -- but the figurine has no particular target for the spell! Add up the number of all the people in the fool's sight, and randomly roll to see whom it targets with the spell (see below).

Roll(1d20) -- Result
1 -- Casts Command (LAUGH) as LV1 mage spell on the target.
2 -- Casts Uncomprendable Language as LV1 mage spell on target, making it spout only gibberish.
3 -- Casts Forced Jump spell on the target. Must make save vs spell or Jump (as mage spell) forward to the limit of the spell. Consider contact to be the same as with falling damage if the target hits a wall.
4 -- Casts Wailing Noise at the target. All within 30' must make save vs spell or be deafened by clangs, whoops, alarms, and whistles blareing in the air.
5 -- Casts Fear on the target. Save or run.
6 -- Casts Mirror Image on the target, but all the images are sarcastically mocking the targets actions. All saves vs. Fools effects are at -4 for anyone who sees the images inane actions.
7 -- Stinking Cloud cast centered on the target.
8 -- Shatter cast on the targets armor, robe sash, belt, or pant fastener. Lose all DX bonuses as pants become entangled around ankles. 1 round action to remove pants.
9 -- Haste cast on the target.
10 -- Slow cast on the target.
11 -- Hold Person cast on the target.
12 -- Confusion cast on the target.
13 -- Fumble cast on the target
14 -- Polymorph Other cast on the target, making them a red skined, blue haired, big breasted, long tailed, 3 fingered, 2 horned, hairy beast of a female humanoid nature.
15 -- Feeblemind cast on the target
16 -- Color Burst cast on the target. All within sight must make save or go blind. All things in 90' of target are permanently color changed a rainbow swirl of color. (Stain will come off skin/flesh in 1d4 weeks, but clothes, armor, and items never fade or lose the swirl)
17 -- Greese appears under the targets feet and covers a 30' radius. All within range must make a DX check each round to remain standing or fall.
18 -- Summon Slimy Beasts spell is cast on the target, drawing snakes, slugs, snails, flies, wasps, bugs which swarm the target for 3d4 rounds. Spell casting is impossible, and all physical actions are at -4.
19 -- Forced Foolishness is cast on the target. If save vs spell is failed, the target must perform ALL actions in a loud, exagerrated, overacted manner. If the target knows any bad jokes, they tell them -- if anyone responds with praise for the bad puns, the target MUST stop all actions and perform a stand up comedy routine until the praise ends!
20 -- The target is hit with a Death by Dung spell! Dung (or poo-pee as my little girl calls it), drops from above the target and buries it under a 20' deep pile of crap! The target cannot breath, and will suffocate (as per drowning rules) if someone can not dig it out before it dies. The target trapped can NOT dig itself out, due to the overwhelming weight of 20' of raw material covering it.

Hope someone likes this little trouble maker as much as I did.

-- Steve

 

April Fool's Idea # 3 From The Role Player:

 

As April Fool's Day looms closer and closer, I thought I'd pass along another humorous encounter we once used for our group. :)

The setup: The characters get approached by the locals, and are told 'The Legend of The Damned-One' -- a story about a local family slain by unnatural beasts & foul magics. According to the story, one of the members of the family was cursed and doomed to eternal unrest -- and they are buried, entrapped, in the local crypt above the town!

None of the locals are brave enough to go check out the crypt, but they are afraid the the fiend may have found a way to escape. Strange things are occuring all around the town now -- livestock dying or vanishing, strange fogs & noises at night, shadows move as if they are alive -- and the people all think the Damned-One is behind it all. They will give the players a small reward to go check it out...

The Adventure: Make this part a lot like you would any other unholy crypt adventure. The party can enounter skeletons, zombies, ghouls -- whatever nasty undead you'd like for them to meet. Be certain to stress the sights and sounds of the crypt. Doors are rusty and 'creeeeeeek', floors settle and groan, and cobwebs and dust form a layer over everything. Try to build up a mood of suspense and tension for the players.

The Main Encounter: After fighting their way into the deeper recesses of the crypt, the players finally come to The Tomb of The Damned. Make sure everything here is described in massive gothic detail, and the lid to the stone coffin where the damned one was buried creaks and cracks horrifficly.

As if finally bursts open and the dust settles, describe a dark-clad skeletal figure lying in the coffin. Make sure it sounds moldy, boney, frightning -- and then have it sit up in the coffin!

EEEEK!! IT'S ALIVE!!!

Then...

A very high-pitched young girl's voice comes from the skeleton and it claps its hands together. "Goodie! Someone to finally play with! Wanna play dollie with me?" The skeleton almost bounces with excitement...

NOTE: I thought my players were going to faint from the shock of such a light-hearted little thing, and we did have to stop play for quite a while until the laughter all died down...

Wrapping it all up: It's obvious that the little girl didn't cause the problems, so it's up to the players to find out what did. They also now have to figure out how to break the curse and free the little girl's spirit, and they might have to pay atonement with a temple for destroying her guardians (the skeletons & zombies) on their way down to meet her.

 

April Fool's idea # 4 From Harleqin:

Long ago, before such greats as Bigby, Leomund, Melf, and Otiluke, there was a not so great wizard named Larry. Well, he called himself “Lawrence the Great and Powerful Keeper of Mighty Magicks,” but everyone just called him Larry. Larry, it seems, had a slight difficulty that prevented him from joining the aforementioned masters. It seems that Larry’s handwriting was atrocious. In fact it was beyond atrocious. It was so bad that at times, Larry himself could not read it. Many people, upon viewing his script, would say, “who let their child scribble on this page? Don’t they know that pen, ink, and paper are hard to come by? ‘Tis a shame.”
But this never stopped Larry from trying to become a famous mage. That is until he was summoned before Saures Gesicht, the ill-tempered mage-king of Freches. Gesicht commanded Larry to research some new spells that the king had heard about. Larry, very nervous, wrote the names down, but his sweaty palms had left his notebook slightly damp. After a few months work, Larry proudly presented the spells to the king.
His execution was ordered immediately.
In a strange and ironic twist of fate, the executioner made an error when reading the death sentence. Larry was pelted with scones until dead. It was very messy. It took a VERY long time.

Animate Mead - When cast on a mug of fine mead, this spell causes said mead to swirl about for a short while. After that, the mead will form into a small ambiguously shaped humanoid and dance upon the surface of the drink. It will carry on witty conversations with anyone around, and is quite knowledgeable about mead and beverages in general. Should someone attempt to drink the mead, the figure will beg for mercy, pleading for its life. If the mead is partially drunk or spilled, the figure will act out a melodramatic death scene (sometimes lasting up to an hour) and then dissipate.

Burning Hams - This spell can only be cast on a live pig or hog. It surrounds the animal in a small aura of green, blue, or reddish-orange flames for up to 1 hour. The flames do no damage to the pig, but anyone touching the animal will take 1 point of damage. The flames can ignite flammable or combustible items if they touch the creature. The aura tends to unnerve or even panic the pig, as well as any other animals in the immediate region.

Manic Missile - Once this spell is cast, a glowing greenish-blue (or bluish-green) arrow will appear floating above the casters head. This arrow will then frantically dart about the area for several rounds. It will approach several completely random targets, seemingly to strike them, but stop just short of hitting them. Those nearby the missile may hear low mutterings coming from it. At the end of the spell, the arrow collapses to the floor, sighs despondently, and winks out of existence.

Shaking Grasp - This spell causes the hands of the target to shake uncontrollably for up to 1 hour. The victim cannot use any skills that require manual dexterity (such as picking locks, casting spells, going to the bathroom) until the spell ends. Some skills, however, actually benefit from this spell (such as sanding, scrubbing, and massaging). This spell affects the caster only.