Thread 96782326

I'm working on a dark sword & sorcery setting for 3.5, and I want to populate it thick with conspiracies, mysteries, and the unexplained. So far I've had the idea of the fae functioning like UFOs (lost time, lights in the sky, altered memories, abductions, all that good stuff), and worms that walk as a sort of wormy Illuminati. What other stuff can I sprinkle in?

Ghosts, demonic possession, shape shifters, wizards doing literally anything, missing kids, literally anything at sea, talking animals, locked room murders.

>>96782326 (OP)
An ancient civilization of reptilian shapeshifters who are infiltrating and trying to take over society is probably a good one. That draws on a real life conspiracy, but evil snake cults are also a fantasy staple, so the overlap works pretty well.

>>96782463
Thanks anon, good ideas.

>>96782646
Funnily enough I was already adding something like that, I just forgot about the IRL reptilian conspiracy. The League of Scales is what it's called.

Elves insert black goo into pregnant women to create a race of super halfelves.
I mean, anything from x-files could go. Just watch the show

>>96782326 (OP)
Post notes or gtfo

>>96782326 (OP)
Earthquakes are caused by me, in my lair in the center of the earth, farting.

Cryptids, obviously - for our purposes, a creature with a statblock of “fuck you I ain’t gotta explain shit.” Emphasize qualities of stealth, camouflage, proficiency in its own environment, and maybe some devious means of splitting the party or even better, having one character separated from the party.

What’s a powerful, life altering truth in your campaign? Who would want to hide it? To what lengths would they go and what resources do they have?

Subversion is another possibility. Perhaps the rangers guild knows all about the feral orcs that attack outlying settlements - and let it happen. They look the other way, either because the orcs have made them an offer they can’t refuse: perhaps the status of petty nobles over the remaining humans when the orcs finally make their move and conquer the land?

>>96782326 (OP)
One idea I came up with is the concept that Grell are actually biomechanical space probes (they are anatomically alive, but they are genetically engineered/fleshcrafted as well as implanted with patterned stones which contain their instructions) designed to be able to withstand the material plane, abduct subjects, and bring them to the far realm, although some alchemists and warlords have found out how to reverse-engineer their programming and use them to kidnap people (in 3.5 they have 11 attacks and 10 of them paralyze, and they can also grapple very effectively for their size). The original purpose of the captives could be food, vivisection to study humanoids, or using them to create kaorti-like creatures.

>>96782326 (OP)
>the idea of the fae functioning like UFOs (lost time, lights in the sky, altered memories, abductions, all that good stuff)
I know it's redditcore, but you should read the Search and Rescue Woods creepypasta, which features entities which, while not confirmed to be fey, could easily become your vision of the fey if they were given antlers and fur coats: https://old.reddit.com/r/StairsintheWoods/comments/14t0qdq/stories_masterlist_20/
Also scp-4971

>>96782326 (OP)
You could tap into the pop-sci concept that "the uncanny valley was an adaptation to avoid a human relative that ate Homo Sapiens" (IRL it was probably to avoid corpses, diseased people, and to discourage fucking the disabled) and make grimlocks, ghouls (if you like the Pickman's Model sort rather than the Orcus-spawned sort), or other human-eating humanoids a Morlock-like underground civilization that are only seen at night or underground, and hide in cave entrances or overhangs near roads known to be traveled by single or unarmed travelers. They are nomadic and leave little evidence that could not be explained by a regular animal attack, but the most compelling pieces of evidence used to prove their existence are large Violet Fungus farms which leftover pieces of meat are fed to, which are much harder to quickly hide evidence of.
>>96784652
I like responding to threads that give me an excuse to share my ideas

>>96782326 (OP)

OOPARTS. Like I dunno, dwarves finding artifacts in coal. (I suppose this technically needs some more idea about geology than your usual dwarves know about, like dating strata, but you get the idea)

Cryptozoology is probably out of question, I mean, in a world with owlbears and beholders bigfoot is probably just another customer at the inn.

>>96791785
>dating strata
Where else would baby dwarves come from?

>>96782326 (OP)
People being snatched by black carriages and taken to hidden underground alchemist laboratories for experiments.

>>96792126
kek

>>96782326 (OP)
My favorite conspiracy theory is that everything will be alright