Story Help Needed: A Drug Addicted Halfling Village! -on a lake!!

[Scorponox]

Hey all, my players may be coming up to a village soon, and the thing about this village, is it's a halfling village that they are almost ALL addicted to a powerful narcotic.

It used to be a peaceful and hard working village, but then the pirates came and introduced this drug to the population. They were instantly hooked, and spend their days either fighting off the hangover, or looking for more drugs. They learned to manufacture the drug by themselves, and many have died wandering into the swamps to find the funghi that is used in the recipe.

The players have met some of the halflings from this village on their journeys. One is a cleric who was trying to gather up materials for a cheap Remove Disease (addiction) potion, so she didn't have to spend all her spells all the time to help her village.

The village itself sits on top of a lake, with huge crocodiles swimming beneath. They built their entire village on a lake so in the event of an invasion, they could just get in their boats and sail or row to safety.

Have any of you encountered this type of situation before, and what sort of story hooks can I throw at them?

 

[Wik]

I'm not really too creative at the moment, but I just wanted to pop in and say be careful with this plot. It's one of those plots that tends to get "real" a bit quicker than you might expect.

Odds are, at least one of your players has an alcoholic/drug addicted relative. Depending on how things play out, they could be spending the better part of the game thinking about Uncle Al or Auntie Sid. Making a relaxing game considerably less fun.

Were it me, I'd make the addictions very much fantasy in nature. The "drugs" turn the halflings into fish or something, and that makes them feel good, and the problem is all those pesky crocodiles. Or maybe it makes their skin toughter, and eventually they turn INTO crocodiles. Or...

the point is, the second you start muddying up the real world issue with metaphors, you're back in the clear.

My two cents.

 

[fba827]

* a whole blackmarket trade for the drug and those merchants don't like new people (PCs) coming in if they are upsetting the supply (by bringing more drug with them) or demand (by helping people overcome their addiction)

* they can run into friends of the cleric that they met before. Those clerics are being held captive by the blackmarket merchants who want the clerics to stop their quest for a 'cure' (but keeping them alive for now so that they can be used as 'random' to keep that cleric who did leave town to not make the cure once he does come back)

* two halflings fighting over drugs

* a halfling asking the pcs to recover a medicinal vial that was stolen from him (sure enough, it is the same narcotic but no need to tell the PCs that)

* someone trying to rob the PCs for their gold so that the robber can in turn purchase more of the drug

The town in general should be going to pieces -- people too busy in pursuit of the drug to forgo upkeep and maintenance... the level of which depends on how long they've been addicted.

 

[Olgar Shiverstone]

Yes, but all of the populace and animals were asleep from the drug, and awakened if lightly slapped.

Be sure to encounter approaching bandits, neither tarrying nor hurrying.

 

[Bedrockgames]

First off: awesome idea.

I ran something a little like this. In my setting there was a crimelord who built an opium producing walled city in the wilderness abutting the pcs kingdom. The city was funneling the drug into the pcs homeland and they eventually had to sneak into the city and takeout the bad guys.

I think there is lots of potential for adventure here. Perhaps the village is split between those who hate the effects of the drug on their population and those who want to exploit it for wealth. Have you given thought to a villain in the situation?

 

[fba827]

another one:
* the PCs need something from one of the halflings who in turn will only do it/give it if the PCs give some of the narcotic.
(need a ritual cast? need secret info? well the halfling won't give it up until the PCs get him some of the drug as payment)

 

[Scorponox]

I think I will set it up somewhat like this....

They already have two drug addicted halflings with them at the moment, because they just got off the zombie island. (Don't ask ) They are asked to return them to their village, since it is on the way to where they will most likely head back.

They'll encounter a few random things along the way, like a drug deal about to go sour, a bunch of halfling pickpockets, etc.

When they get to the town, the new mayor, who was recently elected, greets them with open arms. He's heard of their exploits fighting pirates,and wants to welcome them heartily.

He assigns escorts to the PCs, and tells them to follow them around, and getting them whatever they need. He just asks that they don't cause any trouble, and they are trying to deal with this drug problem as best as they can for the moment.

As they visit the town, one of them may stumble upon a house, and coming from the second floor, he or she will hear crying. It is the voice of a female, and she is praying. "Oh Pelor, I feel so helpless. I was only trying to help the village and do good. But now I feel I am being punished for it. Please keep mama safe and that she doesn't get hurt."

At this point, if the escorts are with them, they will tell the PCs that this area is off limits, and they should not worry about the crying.

I think after that, there are multiple ways the story can go.

Spoiler

Plot hook will be the mayor actually got elected because he said he would make the narcotics legal. After winning the election, he rounded up all his opposition and put them in prison boats. The boats come in for resupply every night, and they may have to sneak into these boats to find Florica's mother (the girl who was crying.) as well as all the other village elders and those who opposed him. He is, of course, getting rich off controlling the business.

The great thing about this village is that it sits on top of a lake, and because the civilians are all on drugs, they haven't upkept the village very well, leaving a lot of holes in the bamboo floors, where people can fall in if they are not careful. Even though these halflings are small, there are a lot of them, which means if a fight breaks out, they can work together to push some of the PCs into the lake, where the hungry crocodiles await.