Worlds of Design: All Your Base

Where's your party’s base of operations?

Picture courtesy of Pixabay.​

“You will never find a more wretched hive of scum and villainy. We must be cautious.” - Obi-Wan Kenobi about Mos Eisley

A party’s base of operations says a lot about the party itself. It can be a place like the Village of Hommlet or (in Spelljammer) the Rock of Braal, a place the adventuring party goes to and lives in when not adventuring, or the aforementioned Mos Eisley cantina from Star Wars.

What Makes a Base?​

Not all places are suitable for a base of operations. It’s easy to underestimate how dangerous being an adventurer can be in the “off cycle” when they’re not adventuring – there’s a reason so many adventurers are orphans. Here’s some considerations:

• How likely is the party to be attacked while resting there? In “peace” time, non-adventuring time, characters need a place where they’re unlikely to be attacked by enemies old or new. Not that even if the place is apparently peaceful and innocuous you can have secretive bad guys, a murder cult or religious crazies or smugglers or something else.
• How safe is it when the party is away? In most campaigns there’s an often-unspoken agreement that characters can leave stuff “somewhere,” rather than carrying everything they own with them, and that this somewhere is “not subject to enemy action.” In fantasy role-playing there’s seldom an (insured) banking industry. Further, real estate is neither insured nor entirely safe from disasters.
• How safe from interference is the party? This isn’t necessarily violence, but can simply include the party being harassed by tax collectors, religious institutions, or other aspects of civilized society that make it difficult to be an adventurer. Conversely, the party might welcome some side distractions and interactions like a business on the side to make some extra money or get specialized information.
• What are the opportunities for adventure within the base itself (including something like a “side business”)? Some locations are particularly suited for adventure (e.g., the Yawning Portal). Being near where the party needs to adventure is convenient and gives them a place to retreat to quickly without the hazards of a long trek home. There may be crypts, towers owned by mysterious persons, underhanded guilds, or other features within the base itself that offer adventures.
• Is it a source of “supplies”, whether legal or not, mundane or magical? A cave may make a secure base, but it’s not a place to resupply. Having available components for casters, ammunition for archers, and the ability to requisition food and equipment are critical when the party returns to base. This often makes town bases more appealing, or at least a traveling merchant who is willing to supply somewhere more remote. This can also include information: sages, libraries, old veterans of wars, retired politicians, and so forth may have unusual information useful to adventurers.
• How can new party members be recruited? Bases can be so secure and secret that nobody can find it. This may seem like a great idea until it’s time for someone new to join the team. Bases that are too secure might be detrimental to recruitment. How do parties of adventurers get together? How do new characters join a party? There needs to be a mechanism for this.

The Base’s Character​

Bases are characters unto themselves, as Mos Eisley demonstrates. It’s worth considering the character of the base, including the base’s alignment (and that of the surrounding environs).

• Like Mos Eisley (wretched hive of scum and villainy). This kind of base rarely provides a resting place, and you might wonder why the adventurers would want to live there. Maybe there’s no other choice (aside from camping in the wild?).
• A “den of thieves,” but rarely lethal. This might attract daring adventurers, especially those who prefer the dark/chaotic side of life. It might be a good place to run a shady “side business”.
• A place neither good nor evil, where most anything can happen (resembling some towns in American westerns). Perhaps the obvious place for treasure-hunting mercenary-type adventurers. Another place for a “side business”, maybe even a legitimate one.
• A mostly peaceful and mostly orderly place. If you can find such a place.
• A stronghold of the Good. The obvious place for “soldiers of god.” Or whatever amounts to the Goodguys in the campaign.

Your Turn: What makes a good home base in your campaign?

 

[talien]

I just had one player group quit on me because their base was threatened! They got so into roleplaying 'home' stuff, it seems they came to regard a threat to 'home' as illegitimate, a breach of the social contract. I don't think I've seen this before. The base was a fortified manor house at the centre of a small barony.

Yeah, that's what I was hinting at in my other response. D&D is geared towards "characters raid monster homes." Changing that up and having monsters threaten character homes means a few things:

• The PCs don't get to prepare. D&D is all about preparing. Being ambushed causes a cascade of problems (spells not prepared to meet the right threat, magic items not attuned quickly, rituals not cast, wounds not healed). This makes attacks on their home base considerably harder to "win."
• PCs could potentially suffer not just loss of life (which they're accustomed to), but loss of stuff, which in some cases is worse.
• If PCs can be attacked there, they're not safe ANYWHERE. This changes the paradigm of the game completely because now PCs need to consider safeguarding their lives when they sleep, bathe, etc. and that of their loved ones.

I think attacking PCs' bases is a great way to mix things up at higher levels, where a monk could conceivably take on bad guys while he's in the bath (I did this in my campaign). But I wouldn't spring it on low level characters.

When monsters/bad guys can ambush PCs, it's a very different style of game. I'm not surprised some players react poorly to it.

 

[Yora]

If you don't prepare your base against attacks, you really have nobody to blame but yourself.

Preparing the defenses is two thirds of the fun of having a base in the first place. (The remaining third is unleashing your preparations against unsuspecting attackers.)

 

[S'mon]

Yeah, that's what I was hinting at in my other response. D&D is geared towards "characters raid monster homes." Changing that up and having monsters threaten character homes means a few things:

• The PCs don't get to prepare. D&D is all about preparing. Being ambushed causes a cascade of problems (spells not prepared to meet the right threat, magic items not attuned quickly, rituals not cast, wounds not healed). This makes attacks on their home base considerably harder to "win."
• PCs could potentially suffer not just loss of life (which they're accustomed to), but loss of stuff, which in some cases is worse.
• If PCs can be attacked there, they're not safe ANYWHERE. This changes the paradigm of the game completely because now PCs need to consider safeguarding their lives when they sleep, bathe, etc. and that of their loved ones.

I think attacking PCs' bases is a great way to mix things up at higher levels, where a monk could conceivably take on bad guys while he's in the bath (I did this in my campaign). But I wouldn't spring it on low level characters.

When monsters/bad guys can ambush PCs, it's a very different style of game. I'm not surprised some players react poorly to it.

Well in my case they had warning orcs were going to attack in a week, it wasn't exactly ninjas in the bath. PC level was mostly 7-9.

 

[Arcanra]

My group is currently playing through the Ironfang Invasion AP and, well, it's a constantly on the go campaign. We've not been able to stay in any one place for very long which makes it hard for folks that want to craft. We'd love a base of operations but sometimes the campaigns just don't present you with the opportunities.

 

[Lanefan]

Yeah, that's what I was hinting at in my other response. D&D is geared towards "characters raid monster homes." Changing that up and having monsters threaten character homes means a few things:

• The PCs don't get to prepare. D&D is all about preparing. Being ambushed causes a cascade of problems (spells not prepared to meet the right threat, magic items not attuned quickly, rituals not cast, wounds not healed). This makes attacks on their home base considerably harder to "win."
• PCs could potentially suffer not just loss of life (which they're accustomed to), but loss of stuff, which in some cases is worse.
• If PCs can be attacked there, they're not safe ANYWHERE. This changes the paradigm of the game completely because now PCs need to consider safeguarding their lives when they sleep, bathe, etc. and that of their loved ones.

If PCs can ambush their enemies in their homes then it's only fair their enemies be able to return the favour. Sometimes with interest.

And if they can't handle losing some stuff I have no sympathy.

I think attacking PCs' bases is a great way to mix things up at higher levels, where a monk could conceivably take on bad guys while he's in the bath (I did this in my campaign). But I wouldn't spring it on low level characters.

When monsters/bad guys can ambush PCs, it's a very different style of game. I'm not surprised some players react poorly to it.

Again, I have no sympathy. Adventuring is a risky business, and it's not exactly something you can "leave at the office".

 

[MichaelSomething]

It's helpful to have a base of operations. Here's a relevant My Little Pony clip cause that's how I roll.

 

[MarkB]

I think the main thing the article is missing is mobile bases - whether ships, colossi, or just portable, pc’s tend to travel a lot so a home base is often impractical unless the party has some means to fast travel from the base to wherever the adventure is. By mid levels (when castles become affordable) that often means very long-range travel.

But now I want a flying castle, or at least a flying mansion. It doesn’t make sense for any of my current pcs but it’s on the long-term goals list.

The Magnificent Mansions in campaigns 1 and 2 of Critical Role became pretty iconic places in their own right, and there's nothing more portable than a home you can place down anywhere. It also largely eliminates the need to worry about defenses.

The issue there, of course, is having to keep that 7th-level spell slot in reserve in order to use it at the end of the day.

 

[Hussar]

If PCs can ambush their enemies in their homes then it's only fair their enemies be able to return the favour. Sometimes with interest.

And if they can't handle losing some stuff I have no sympathy.

Again, I have no sympathy. Adventuring is a risky business, and it's not exactly something you can "leave at the office".

But, then you run into all sorts of railroading issues. The party just says, "Nope, not going to have a base because it's too much of a weakness for the DM to exploit". You can't attack our home if we never have one. On the flip side, you're absolutely right that it is perfectly reasonable that the baddies would attack the home.

I have never really been able to thread that needle.

 

[DrunkonDuty]

I really like how Are Magica does them. They're effectively another character.

 

[Lanefan]

But, then you run into all sorts of railroading issues. The party just says, "Nope, not going to have a base because it's too much of a weakness for the DM to exploit". You can't attack our home if we never have one. On the flip side, you're absolutely right that it is perfectly reasonable that the baddies would attack the home.

I have never really been able to thread that needle.

In one of the games I DMed, and in the game I play in, the players solved that by simply making sure there's enough adventurers in and around the base at any given time to deal with anything that tries to attack it.