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Author Topic: [Dungeons and Dragons] Actual Play: What would you do?  (Read 1489 times)

Serious Paul

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[Dungeons and Dragons] Actual Play: What would you do?
« on: August 20, 2007, 04:38:50 PM »
Or the help me plan for everything threads!

Okay so here is what we have: The player characters are the teenage survivors of a village in the far south. This medium sized village makes much of it's living from banana's, melons and sweet potatoes.

One night a group of epic adventurers arrives in the village (This is actually the players last group of characters), and these teenagers are sent upriver a day or so to drop off the days crop, and stores. While they are gone there is a battle, and everyone they know is slaughtered, their town destroyed. When they return to the scene of the carnage the most notable clue they will have is not one of the epic level adventurers lies with the dead bodies, or is anywhere in sight.

An NPC, who will have been the lone "Adult" with the PC's will also confirm that magics and powers were used that only the epic level adventurers had access to. This NPC will bury the dead, and then head north to his homelands.

It is my hope the PC's will go with him, at least part of the way-but say you were in their shoes-what sort of things would you do, and look for.

A few safe assumptions-all the player characters will be Good aligned or Neutral, there will be no "Evil" aligned characters. All had relatives in the village, and a place in its society. They have enough food and water to survive maybe two, three weeks if they stay put.

Pseudoephedrine
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[Dungeons and Dragons" Actual Play: What would you do?
« Reply #1 on: August 21, 2007, 12:12:25 AM »
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?

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.
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Drew

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[Dungeons and Dragons" Actual Play: What would you do?
« Reply #2 on: August 21, 2007, 04:02:37 AM »
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.

If the NPC is that good at assessing 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...

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.
 

Serious Paul

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[Dungeons and Dragons" Actual Play: What would you do?
« Reply #3 on: August 21, 2007, 08:11:27 AM »
Quote from: Pseudoephedrine
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.)

Quote
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.

Quote from: Drew
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.

Quote
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!

Quote
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!

Aos

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[Dungeons and Dragons" Actual Play: What would you do?
« Reply #4 on: August 21, 2007, 10:09:18 AM »
I don't know if this is helpful or not, but if you are looking to nudge the characters in the direction of revenge, you could up the stakes a little bit. maybe there could be some sort of ancient shrine or something in the village. Tending to it could be a big part of village life, part of where their identity as a group comes from- whatever, anyway, the main idol or talisman could be gone. That gives two motivations to follow up,  the second possibly ensnaring the character(s) that are not impacted by the first.
You are posting in a troll thread.

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Drew

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[Dungeons and Dragons" Actual Play: What would you do?
« Reply #5 on: August 21, 2007, 11:34:13 AM »
Quote from: Serious Paul
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!


Glad to have helped.

Of course you now have to give us an update on how things pan out. If it was my last group they'd probably try to build a sand skiff out of banana skins or something. Or one of them would declare himself 'Emperor Melon' and claim dominion over the depopulated village.

Yeah, I no longer game with them. :rolleyes:
 

Serious Paul

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[Dungeons and Dragons" Actual Play: What would you do?
« Reply #6 on: August 21, 2007, 12:35:58 PM »
Quote from: Aos
I don't know if this is helpful or not, but if you are looking to nudge the characters in the direction of revenge, you could up the stakes a little bit. maybe there could be some sort of ancient shrine or something in the village. Tending to it could be a big part of village life, part of where their identity as a group comes from- whatever, anyway, the main idol or talisman could be gone. That gives two motivations to follow up,  the second possibly ensnaring the character(s) that are not impacted by the first.


I'd seriously considered this, and I decided that while there is certainly more going on in this small town and dwarven military outpost than meets the eye, it will be a while before they start discovering that.

Now I need to settle on just what exactly was happening there. I have a lot of options to pick from, but I am unsure what to settle on.


Quote from: Drew
Glad to have helped.

Of course you now have to give us an update on how things pan out. If it was my last group they'd probably try to build a sand skiff out of banana skins or something. Or one of them would declare himself 'Emperor Melon' and claim dominion over the depopulated village.

Yeah, I no longer game with them. :rolleyes:


Ha! I've pre-generated the first four adventures, which are all with in a short distance of the village, and easily adjusted. I'll keep updating this thread with their (mis)adventures!

Serious Paul

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[Dungeons and Dragons" Actual Play: What would you do?
« Reply #7 on: August 21, 2007, 01:15:10 PM »
Quote from: Aos
I don't know if this is helpful or not, but if you are looking to nudge the characters in the direction of revenge, you could up the stakes a little bit. maybe there could be some sort of ancient shrine or something in the village. Tending to it could be a big part of village life, part of where their identity as a group comes from- whatever, anyway, the main idol or talisman could be gone. That gives two motivations to follow up,  the second possibly ensnaring the character(s) that are not impacted by the first.


So this has really been on my mind. On the one hand I want to go down the "secret treasure" buried beneath the town route, where they eventually discover that the epic level NPC's made off with said treasure.

But I'm not sure if that's too cliche. So I am looking for any suggestions people may have. Even just themes.

Drew

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« Reply #8 on: August 21, 2007, 01:41:36 PM »
Depends on how much influence you want to exert on the pc's.

The "heavy" alternative could be that the stolen idol/talisman is intimately tied to the spiritual welfare of every villager. Once desecrated (via removal from the shrine) then all whom follow the god suffer a number of debilitating effects.

Being barred from the afterlife is one possibilty, and could result in the players being haunted by the spirits of their dead relatives ever after. Think An American Werewolf in London, but with the added horror of the ghosts being able to physically manifest at certain auspicious times. Poltergeists, environmental effects and even zombies could result in some very uncomfortable times.

Similar to the above but less deleterious is the idea of the idol being the metaphysical cornerstone for the community. Without it any attempts to repopulate the village will be doomed to suffer poor crops, bad water and disease. If it were reclaimed the pc's may be able to restart their community and honour their god(s) in such a way that would make a fitting victory condition for the campaign. The new village they found may be hundreds of miles away from the original, but it will always carry an essential aspect of their lost home.

Another, more system-based possibility is gradual ability drain. It may occur over weeks, months or years depending how long you want to string it out. This would probably motivate them more than anything else, but get ready for accusations of railroading by default.

I'll think on this a little more before posting the "lighter" alternatives.
 

Aos

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[Dungeons and Dragons" Actual Play: What would you do?
« Reply #9 on: August 21, 2007, 02:10:11 PM »
Quote from: Drew
Depends on how much influence you want to exert on the pc's.

The "heavy" alternative could be that the stolen idol/talisman is intimately tied to the spiritual welfare of every villager. Once desecrated (via removal from the shrine) then all whom follow the god suffer a number of debilitating effects.

Being barred from the afterlife is one possibilty, and could result in the players being haunted by the spirits of their dead relatives ever after. Think An American Werewolf in London, but with the added horror of the ghosts being able to physically manifest at certain auspicious times. Poltergeists, environmental effects and even zombies could result in some very uncomfortable times.

Similar to the above but less deleterious is the idea of the idol being the metaphysical cornerstone for the community. Without it any attempts to repopulate the village will be doomed to suffer poor crops, bad water and disease. If it were reclaimed the pc's may be able to restart their community and honour their god(s) in such a way that would make a fitting victory condition for the campaign. The new village they found may be hundreds of miles away from the original, but it will always carry an essential aspect of their lost home.

Another, more system-based possibility is gradual ability drain. It may occur over weeks, months or years depending how long you want to string it out. This would probably motivate them more than anything else, but get ready for accusations of railroading by default.

I'll think on this a little more before posting the "lighter" alternatives.

These are all awesome- i like the ghost thing especially, although i would combine it with the ability drain. The feckless youngsters wander off, start a new life, and just when things are really starting to go well, the guilt tripping ghosts show up, and the ability drain starts in. I'd let them get far enough away for the fuck over to be really hard too- enough rope and all that.
You are posting in a troll thread.

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Drew

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[Dungeons and Dragons" Actual Play: What would you do?
« Reply #10 on: August 21, 2007, 03:08:35 PM »
Quote from: Aos
These are all awesome- i like the ghost thing especially, although i would combine it with the ability drain. The feckless youngsters wander off, start a new life, and just when things are really starting to go well, the guilt tripping ghosts show up, and the ability drain starts in. I'd let them get far enough away for the fuck over to be really hard too- enough rope and all that.


At first the ghosts would be fairly benign, appearing as they did in life but horribly wounded. Gradually they'd deteriorate, their decomposition bringing the stench of spoiled meat that even those not attuned to the village can smell. As time wears on they become more urgent with their pleas, as they are trapped between worlds and cannot rest. And I mean that literally. Consider a human being suffering sleep deprivation for months or even years-- always aware, continually toemented by it's wounds, yet never able to gain a moment of respite. Eventually it'd be insane, a vengeful spirit looking to wreak as much suffering as it could on those who perceived it. Flinging objects, granting horrific visions, maybe even possessing random npc's.

Now imagine that it's your mother or father who's doing this. Imagine dozens of them, everyone you ever knew in your short life begging for mercy. Maybe they can be placated for a while if they see you are trying to help, but as time wears on...

The key I think is not layer it on too thickly. Make it a gradual pressure that slowly builds as the campaign plays out. Subtle at first, more overt and horrific as events progress. The npc from the village may even be able to help. Time to pull out that map he left you.

Cheers for the props, btw. :)
 

Drew

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« Reply #11 on: August 22, 2007, 06:30:05 AM »
Alternatively you could downplay the horror angle and have the ghosts manifest intermittently in the guise of mentors/plot hooks. Recaliming the idol and laying them to rest would still be goal, but in this version they appear as tragically benign ancestor spirits whom dispense wisdom from limbo. That way you could emphasise themes of loss, survivor guilt and rites of passage over the more visceral stuff I mentioned earlier.