They are arrested for violating laws on the use of magic or weapons or the spreading of religious beliefs, or are accused of murder (rightly or wrongly). An expendable NPC is actually hanged. Then a man from the Collegium rides up on horseback and says that it invokes the right it was given by the king to use convicted criminals, and places a geas or quest on the surviving PCs and NPCs and forces them to do what the Collegium wants or they will ROT AWAY AND DIE. Then you start naming tasks.
Or, the pirates they are hunting actually sell their goods to someone who lives near those caves, and then a rock slide or something... Players are easily steered if they want to go in the wrong direction, the path has a tendency to bring them where they should be anyway.
Threats are not really fun, unless it is to cause dissent within the group, you know, when one player has to do this, or he'll die, and the others just can't seem to care enough about that fact so they'll do the potential dangerous thing. 
"People think it must be fun to be a super genius, but they don't realize how hard it is to put up with all the idiots in the world" - Calvin.
DMing myself into a corner?
- 19/11/2009 09:37:45 PM
740 Views
A good DM is never in a corner.
- 20/11/2009 01:59:10 AM
825 Views
If only I had the years of experience you do.
- 20/11/2009 06:21:27 PM
650 Views
Hmmm
- 20/11/2009 02:21:29 AM
635 Views
they're already on one adventure 
- 20/11/2009 03:42:09 AM
649 Views
- 20/11/2009 03:42:09 AM
649 Views
There's nothing more interesting than when the PCs decide to ignore the plot hooks.
- 20/11/2009 04:34:50 AM
660 Views
If they ignore plot hooks, you use heavy-handed tactics.
- 20/11/2009 07:33:16 PM
820 Views
Nah...
- 20/11/2009 08:39:26 PM
657 Views