One shot where players are guards in a city

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Pt1kingqc

First Post

• Oct 10, 2018

• #1

[FONT=&quot]Hi everyone,
newish Dm here. I had an idea earlier this year. Its a one shot that could possibly become a mini campaign. As I said in the title the players will be guards and will have to deal with usual crap guards have to deal with everyday.

The game will be set in Waterdeep, but in my homebrew world. I have written, but not finished 3 encounters. I modified the guard Stat block. I will give the players a choice of 3 ''Classes'' Melee, Archer and Investigator. They will roll for stats. They will have 2 skills exept for the Investigator who will have 3. They will also have a Proeficiency bonus of +1.[/FONT]
[FONT=&quot]1-The players are called to a Magic shop to collect some taxes. Once they arrive they will see that the shop has been ransacked and a couple of items are missing. They will find a finger in a puddle of blood in the backstore. The owner, a Gnome Named Octavius owed money to a local gang called the Owlbears . I will leave clues the PCs will have to pick up on. The twist is that he faked his death to escape the gang.[/FONT]
[FONT=&quot]2-The players hailed by a Patron of the Giant's toe inn to come help. A Human(EdgarHe is part of the Owl bears) is holding a dwarf(Klaus a Sholar and a gambler) at knifepoint. He claims that Klaus is cheating at cards and wants all his money back. The thing is that Klaus was cheating and so was Edgar. Klaus was simply doing it better than Edgar. Wound,kill or side with Klaus, the players will become target to the Owlbears.[/FONT]
[FONT=&quot]3-The Players spot a Halfling rogue stealing a pair of Boots of elven kind from a merchant. The merchant will cry out for the guards. The Rogue is part of a band of adventurers( I have found some Hero classes NPC Stat blocks). The rogue will flee to the Rusty blade Inn where his party is staying. The party is composed of Ward, a half orc Fighter, Leonard A human Wizard. Moe a Gnome Barbarian and Monty the Rogue Who stole the dagger. Depending on the players a fight can break out.[/FONT]
[FONT=&quot]​[/FONT]
[FONT=&quot]So there it is. I could use some help to elaborate further.[/FONT]
[FONT=&quot]Thanks![/FONT]

 

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not-so-newguy

I'm the Straw Man in your argument

• Oct 10, 2018

• #2

Welcome!

I have no city encounters to share. But here’s something on DM’s Guild that might help. https://www.dmsguild.com/product/185339/City-Encounters?term=City+encou&test_epoch=0

It’s called City Encounters by ES Brun. It costs $1. Theses are all random Encounter set in Waterdeep.

I hope that helps!

 

Satyrn

First Post

• Oct 10, 2018

• #3

The first thing that pops into my mind is that you'll almost undoubtedly need to consider how to handle your players calling for backup.

Or even wanting to pass over a case to the specialists in the guard force. Like, if you present them a murder, they might just decide that this is a case for the homicide squad (a diviner!). Or a hostage situation might have them looking for a negotiator (an enchanter would be ideal here).

What I'm really trying to say I guess is that I'm recommending you spend at least a bit of ink outlining the players' allies.

 

Last edited: Oct 10, 2018

rgoodbb

Adventurer

• Oct 10, 2018

• #4

From my limited experience, my first bit of advice would be to have a few more extra clues ready to chuck in (just in case they are slow on the uptake).

Don't know what kind of level the players are at. Will the Player's guard party be able to take on this other party in a fight? Especially with a Barb and a Wizard in the group.

 

Satyrn

First Post

• Oct 10, 2018

• #5

rgoodbb said:

Don't know what kind of level the players are at. Will the Player's guard party be able to take on this other party in a fight? Especially with a Barb and a Wizard in the group.

Click to expand...

Even if they could, should they?

If it's gonna be a close fight, as a player I'd be thinking we should just get their names and come back with an overwhelming force. Although before that, I'd be pointing out to the transgressors that fighting the city's guard is a sure way to make a small theft turn into either 1) never being allowed to enter the city again, or 2) never being allowed to leave the city's dungeon (not the good kind of dungeon).

Which brings me to another thought. The players are gonna need to have a decent idea of how much legal authority they have, and a decent idea of the likely punishment for the laws they see broken.

 

Paul Farquhar

Legend

• Oct 10, 2018

• #6

I would read Terry Pratchett's Guards! Guards!

 

aco175

Legend

• Oct 10, 2018

• #7

I created a group of NPCs for my normal playing group to use for a 1-shot where they were guards. It was a set-up for the next campaign where I mostly wanted to introduce the BBEG. I ended up killing all the PCs in the end battle, but the players now hated the bad guy and the next campaign had a hook to start.

 

MichaelSomething

Legend

• Oct 11, 2018

• #8

I would go watch COPS for inspiration. (or Reno 911 for comedy)

Bad boys, bad boys; wha cha gonna do? Wha cha gonna do?

 

Satyrn

First Post

• Oct 11, 2018

• #9

Oh! And you definitely need to use that Law & Order signature sound

 

Eltab

Lord of the Hidden Layer

• Oct 15, 2018

• #10

Sound effect: The "hammer and chisel" credit at the end of Adam-12 and/or Dragnet episodes, to finish each session.

You can peruse a few IRL cities' local newspapers to provide rumors and background chatter in between the "interesting" assignments. Have the PCs rescue a cat from a tree, break up an alcohol-fueled domestic disturbance, write tickets on jaywalkers, stand a boring watch on the city wall watching the merchants and travelers going in and out of the city gates. (Some of these could happen when they really wanted to take a day off to get a Long Rest.)

Have them be the response squad to the classic "fight breaking out at tavern" call - reverse the trope; some would-be adventurers are trying to slink off and hide when the PCs show up.