Adventure on the road? (without the ambush)...

[ppaladin123]

Maybe give them a reverse good Samaritan scenario; the injured/imperiled being could be an orc or a hobgoblin or of another race/people that is typically reviled and/or mistrusted by "civilized" folk*. This might provoke some interesting discussions between the PCs and with the NPCs in the caravan. You can decide how their kindness or lack there of is repaid.


*Of course if humans are reviled amongst their people as well (i.e. the feeling is mutual) then from their perspective this is a classic good Samaritan story. Your PCs might end up the subject of morality tales by future goblin prophets.

 

[Connorsrpg]

Ah, probably too late - with time difference and all.

I love the idea of 'happenings' that don't have to be big fights (or even encounters), avoid ambushes, etc too. Boat eg a good one.

For all journeys (in fact each day of my campaign) I turn to my set encounter table. Each day there is a chance for an encounter (other than random). I roll on the table for inspiration and then go ahead and develop an encounter (sometimes linking it to plot, sometimes leaving be a small, unrelated one off).

Small encounters I have developed lately include:
*Large spider decides to share their bed.
*Find a small copper ring on road (and signs of scuffle if they search - leading to dead wizard in tree...that was meant to be with the Prince whose death they are avenging...).
*Pannicked, laden beast of burden bursts out of underbrush. (Skills to stop, calm etc or it runs over them). PCs aren't ambushed, but someone was. (This was in African scrub so attackers used fire to). (You could easily have a wagon already taken by bandits from royalty come down the road towards them...and if the PCs stop them they meet the royals at the other end for the reward...or they accuse them of being the bandits).
*Wizard's tower off side of road (Simply went and found one from a Dungeon mag).
*Small waterfall taken over by aquatic spriggans and elves had arrived to take it back. PCs heard the battle and joined in.
*Horse goes lame or rolls its ankle in divot/rabbit hole etc.
*A naked poet...(Ok so that didn't happen in my game, but it made for an interesting encounter in a movie).

C

 

[Gregor]

I have said it before, and I shall say it again. I love this website.

I was walking to work this morning thinking: "man, I really need some inspiration for an adventure on the road for my PCs this weekend." Lo and behold, what is on the front page? This thread.

Enworld rules.

 

[Henrix]

Ah, probably too late - with time difference and all.

It's never to late to share ideas. (Even if the OP may not need them right now.)

 

[Nebulous]

What about a conman, a fence, traveling in the opposite direction from the town (or wherever) the PCs are headed to. He has a number of magic items that the party would be willing to purchase, such as a firesword with a distinct emblem. But it turns out these items are freshly stolen from a group of NPCs in town, and they will most likely see the characters with their stolen goods and assume they stole them. At the very least, it will take a lot of explaining and/or roleplaying to clean up the mess. At worse, a fight. The fence is long gone and counting his coins...

 

[Henrix]

But it turns out these items are freshly stolen from a group of NPCs in town, and they will most likely see the characters with their stolen goods and assume they stole them.

For extra fun, the fence may, truthfully, tell that the goods come from an abandoned grave.
The NPC adventurer's did indeed plunder the grave, and now a noble descendent finds out that the grave was plundered, and also recognizes the goods.

(His ancestor was, of course, also an adventurer and had gained possession of the item in question through violent means.)

 

[falcarrion]

How about a migration of gelatnous cubes headed to a abandoned dungoen.
and the caravan ends up in the middle of it.

Look out! run! no this way! Carp there another one! Every man for himself!

 

[weem]

Thanks everyone for the ideas - I appreciate it!

We played last night of course, and it went well.

The PC's left with the entertainers led by a man named Sybelu, hiding in the back of a carriage (one of four) as the Murkers were looking for them. But they were stopped at the gate leaving town and the carriages were checked.

As the door to their carriage was pulled open, they saw the one opening the door was someone they let live (and let go) in the game before - a young Murker who had begged for his life. He looked at them and closed the doors, yelling out "all clear".

They left town and for the next two days traveled with the entertainers through hail and rain - miserable weather.

They set up camp on the third night. This night allowed for various social encounters which was fun.

The next morning they were approached by men on horses - they spoke to Sybelu.

"He wants to see you Sy"

"Good, he owes me money"

"He knows"

'He' turned out to be Goris, as Sy explained, a former Murker member who had ambitions of his own and now led a smal group of bandits (10 at most). They would take a slight detour and meet with Goris at the ruins of North Keep - a common hang out for various bandits, thugs and the homeless. At any given time there could be 5 people there, or 100.

Goris was there, along with many others, though it was hard to say who worked for him and who was there to gamble/drink/plan some other mischief. It turns out Goris had brought a lot of people and promised them entertainment so he could show the influence he had by bringing the troupe up to the keep.

Goris did not force, but persuaded Sy to run a show or two. (Fortunately!) The troupe was short on people as some stayed in the last town meaning to meet up with them later... so they would need the PC's help.

What I did was come up with 6 roles that needed to be filled. The (3) PC's would fill 3 roles and the rest would be 'glossed over somehow'. These roles were geared towards specific skills. The roles were...

Narrator (I Forget, hehe)
Hero (Athletics)
Villain (Intimidate)
Sage (Insight)
Singer (Endurance)
Dancer (Acrobatics)

- Dwarf Warden chose "Singer"
- Human Artificer chose "Sage"
- Elf Ranger chose "Hero"

Next, I had broken the show up into 3 Acts, each act comprised of 2 'parts' (so 6 parts total)

I then took difficulties for Easy, Medium, and Difficult (10/14/18 respectably) as an array... 18, 14, 14, 10, 10, 10 and spread them through the parts so each role had it's "Hard" part of the show at a different time, etc. Each role had 3 parts that were "Easy" and 2 that were moderate ("Medium") etc.

I did not have a story for the show so, for each part I looked at what was happening as far as difficulty and described it like "This is a big (Hard) scene for the singer - you have to sing the lines handed to you and it's complex and long. The Hero plays a small role (Easy) as does the Sage so you two are meeting for the first time and beginning a journey while the song tells the tale".

So for each part like this, they rolled their skill vs the DC for their role. I used a point system to track success as well. A success was worth 1, but if you succeeded by four or more, it was worth 2. Failure by 4 or more was worth -1.

<edit>
Forgot to mention that for one of any of the 6 parts, they could 'call for a line' from the side and get a +2 to their role. They were told before each scene either "This is your big (Hard) scene", this one "Isn't too bad (Medium)", or "This scene is easy and doesn't require much from you" - so they might have a good idea of when they needed to do well (aka, call for the bonus).
</edit>

It went very well, was a lot of fun and the outcome was that they put on an "average" show.

Following that, Goris insisted on a second show, but Sy also found out that apparently Goris was not going to repay the debt he owed. So Sy setup a plan to have the second show be a destraction, allowing the PC's to sneak away from the show and make their way up into the keep to his (Goris's) room and take from him what was owed.

Sy asked this of them but told them he understood if they would rather not - but they jumped on it wanting to help him out.

They encountered some bandits and other hooligans on the way up. Some they could bribe, others they could talk their way through. The idea on my end was they need to get up there quick, but that fighting was not necessarily required. The people they encountered could be bribed, or bluffed, etc.

They ended up triggering a fight at one point halfway up, killing some and capturing the rest (tying them up). We had to end the game in a staircase between 2nd and 3rd floors as it was late. So we'll pick it up next time from there.


Thanks again everyone, the ideas were much appreciated - and those of you with various Fey-based suggestions gave me ideas for some stuff to come!

This is based on an adventure I wrote a while back:

They're travelling with entertainers; right? A local lord is having a celebration to honor his daughter and wants more entertainment. He orders the entertainers to his keep. The guards assume the PCs are part of the troupe and force them to come along -- if the PC's refuse, it's taken out on the entertainers for a portion of their troupe refusing to cooperate.

Once inside the keep, there is a robbery of the lady's jewels. (Or a murder if you to take it further.) The keep/castle is sealed and no one will be allowed to leave until the jewels are recovered. The PCs can run into all kinds of challenges trying to figure out who the thief is, and these are not things they can fight their way through.

I liked this idea, but instead of forcing them I went the route that Sy and Goris knew each other. As Sy put it at one point, "We have used each other over time, but he owes me big right now". So instead of forcing them, he applies pressure of needing Sy's services and played to his "these people need a good show" heart-strings. Sy reluctantly gave in.

1. Bad weather as an encounter is always a good mix. A bad hailstorm could hit and do damage to the wagon. If there is a tracker, he can scout ahead for shelter while the storm passes. They could use skill checks to repair the wagon. You could do the old cave scenario and as they take shelter in the gave you can have some resident of the cave attack.

I definitely used bad weather (hail and rain) as it was fitting based on their location. It didn't cause wagon damage, but they setup camp early one night putting together an elaborate tent and enjoying the time off the road - it provided for the social encounter I mentioned above.

...1. Are there towns in between the departure and arrival points? If so, they arrive at a town that is celebrating something in their town's history, a big local festival, and the entertainers decide to stop and perform. The celebration also includes all sorts of competitions, and the PCs can join in the fun. I've had two very memorable D&D experiences that involved competitions.

I did get the players involved in the show/play which was fun. I had considered this (them as actors) before hand and decided yea, why not - I've never done it before - and it was a blast

 

[Henrix]

Sounds like a very nice session! I think I must force my players' characters into acting some day.

 

[weem]

Yea! It was fun, which was nice for how little I was prepared (I got home and had one hour to jot down anything I needed).

The backdrop was nice - the players performing in this rowdy, run down former keep. They were joking about clearing it out and keeping it for themselves which was interesting.

It was also nice (oddly enough) that we stopped halfway into their progression up into the fort. It will give me more time to plan out a climactic encounter in Goris's chambers. I had a plan and was ready enough, but now I can get more detailed with it - should be fun.

Once again, many thanks to all feedback!

Time to toss out some XP!