I appreciate all of the concern regarding the impression that I'm railroading my PCs. I assure you, I'm not. It would take too much explaining to go over the reasons why not, but the biggest one is that if they figure out how to thwart the plan, I'll let them.
My motivation for the scene, is to three-fold.
1) I want to establish that the region they are in is dangerous without just filling it with high level monsters.
2) A major plot involves a powerful, empire-wide cult that seeks to bring about the downfall of civilization in order to restore the natural world. The goblinoids are a part of that cult.
3) My main goal is just to get them to stay at a fortified inn. If the forest is safe, they'll skip it to save gold. If it actually proves to be dangerous, they'll pay the money and I'll be able to run nice little social game full of rumors and conflicting NPC groups who can't throw down due to their need to stay at the inn, which my PCs will LOVE!
Also, my plan actually requires a relatively small number of harassers, provided they don't get caught, allowing the rest to sleep. And, they know the terrain while the PCs don't. Will there need to be goblins who are named and leveled (particularly with caster levels)? Yes. But the's not out of the ordinary for my games. (Not every goblin, hobgoblin or bugbear needs to be MM cannon fodder.)
Additionally, I'm only planning to play it out over two nights before they get to the inn. One to establish the situation, and another to up the tension and allow them to respond in some clever way that will, hopefully, totally foul up my plan.
That's how I run most of my games. I come up with a clever idea, set it in motion and wait for my players to ruin it so I make things up as I go in order to handle what they're throwing at me. This is assuming I'm not just making it up with no plan at all other that what had come before. I find my best gaming sessions develop this way; no intention on my part other that giving the players a good time. (Clearly, my earlier posts gave y'all a very different perspective on me as a DM, since I was even accused of writing a novel.)
I've been doing the DM-thing for over 16 yrs and have been running the people in my current group of players for anywhere from 7-16 of those years, depending on the player. Most of them are driving for about an hour just to get to game. If I was a crappy railroader, those things wouldn't be the case. I know what they'll dig, and I admit, this one is right on the edge. That's why I'm asking for help, so I don't screw it up. If I knew it was going to go smoothly, I wouldn't have posted about. That said, when it comes to my players, they trust me and I trust them. For one game, they'll play along with a little tense nighttime harassment.
My motivation for the scene, is to three-fold.
1) I want to establish that the region they are in is dangerous without just filling it with high level monsters.
2) A major plot involves a powerful, empire-wide cult that seeks to bring about the downfall of civilization in order to restore the natural world. The goblinoids are a part of that cult.
3) My main goal is just to get them to stay at a fortified inn. If the forest is safe, they'll skip it to save gold. If it actually proves to be dangerous, they'll pay the money and I'll be able to run nice little social game full of rumors and conflicting NPC groups who can't throw down due to their need to stay at the inn, which my PCs will LOVE!
Also, my plan actually requires a relatively small number of harassers, provided they don't get caught, allowing the rest to sleep. And, they know the terrain while the PCs don't. Will there need to be goblins who are named and leveled (particularly with caster levels)? Yes. But the's not out of the ordinary for my games. (Not every goblin, hobgoblin or bugbear needs to be MM cannon fodder.)
Additionally, I'm only planning to play it out over two nights before they get to the inn. One to establish the situation, and another to up the tension and allow them to respond in some clever way that will, hopefully, totally foul up my plan.
That's how I run most of my games. I come up with a clever idea, set it in motion and wait for my players to ruin it so I make things up as I go in order to handle what they're throwing at me. This is assuming I'm not just making it up with no plan at all other that what had come before. I find my best gaming sessions develop this way; no intention on my part other that giving the players a good time. (Clearly, my earlier posts gave y'all a very different perspective on me as a DM, since I was even accused of writing a novel.)
I've been doing the DM-thing for over 16 yrs and have been running the people in my current group of players for anywhere from 7-16 of those years, depending on the player. Most of them are driving for about an hour just to get to game. If I was a crappy railroader, those things wouldn't be the case. I know what they'll dig, and I admit, this one is right on the edge. That's why I'm asking for help, so I don't screw it up. If I knew it was going to go smoothly, I wouldn't have posted about. That said, when it comes to my players, they trust me and I trust them. For one game, they'll play along with a little tense nighttime harassment.