Do you expect the PCs to plot revenge or not? It sounds like you are, but there's probably one dude who'll say "My family was a bunch of dicks. I'm taking off to the city to get rich." What would you do if he did that?
Yeah that's, initially, a real big one. I don't want to force them to travel as a group, or force them to start out with this desire/need for revenge-rather I'm hoping that they'll evolve into it, and then deal with the issues it raises.
I'm not sure what to do if one of them completely derails this-I suspect what I'll do is allow them to move the game wherever they want, and subtly work in some of my ideas anyways. (Instead of discovering that a clue to their peoples death is in Tun, they travel to Juba where they find a different clue that leads them to Tun, or that sort of thing.)
If I was a PC, I'd get weapons, and then I'd go "Well, I can't take on a bunch of epic level adventurers. What am I supposed to do? I can't get revenge." I wouldn't necessarily go with the NPC unless there was some clear reason to. I'd head out for other pastures unless poked with a plot stick.
Yeah I expect some of that, and initially what I am hoping for is that they are angry about their parents death, but a little direction-less. As such I'm hoping they at least travel in the general direction, north, that I want them to and as they grow in power I am hoping one or two will latch onto the revenge concept.
It all depends on what the NPC has to offer. Is it safe refuge? The possibility of revenge? A life of thankless toil as the orphans of his community? You need to make the proposition attractive to both the characters and players.
]
Very true. At the minimum Kelvin, the NPC, will offer safe-haven. He will be uninterested in revenge-at first. In fact he will strongly argue against it, rationally stating that they are children and the target of their revenge is a group of epic level PC's.
Kelvin is actually a land owner from the north, and has a decent sized family owned farm. While tough, it will be nothing more or less than what they have lived so far. He will earnestly offer them land, and a chance at rebuilding on their own.
If the NPC is that good at assessing missing the epic characters abilities it's likely his first piece of advice will be to dismiss the idea of revenge entirely for now. He could hint at the elders of his homelands possessing forgotten lore or esoteric training techniques that may help equip the pc's for their lives as questing itinerants in the harsh world. Access to magic items, prestige class advancement, that sort of thing. Of course there will be a price, but he'll downplay that for now...
Not a shabby idea at all, and one I'd sort of just missed. Thanks! This can be used indeed!
As a rational, thinking person my first instinct would be to follow him, but I'm not an rpg character. If the players think that there's a definite advantage to following this bloke beyond a satisfying narrative then they may take the bait. Nothing leads pc's along like a big juicy carrot.
If they decide to strike off on their own have the NPC give them a map to his homelands. That way they can always visit the region later, and your prep work won't have been entirely in vain.
That's a great idea. I like the idea of a back up plan-the map. Thanks to both of you, I'll be incorporating some of these ideas into my game!