Encounter ideas for Keep on the Border

[Trit One-Ear]

After only 2.5 sessions, I fear my group may be veering from the course I thought they would take. This does not surprise me. It is, however, making me do some quick developments in areas I have only sketched out so far.

After some investigation into an attack made that cost one of the PC's father his life, our heroes will find possibly corruption in The Dawn's Watch (accidentally based on George R. R. Martin's Night Watch). The Dawn's Watch swear their lives to protection the eastern border of the kingdom, manning a small handful of keeps (mainly the one, Keep of the Dawn). It is a highly respected military organization, and the thought that someone amongst their ranks would be corrupt is a rather large accusation.

I can fill out the roleplay aspects of this pretty easily (lots of potential allies/enemies available, and enough bureaucracy to maneuver) but I'm having trouble coming up with actual encounters to use here. Skill encounters are easier, including interactions and investigations, but I want to avoid them fighting with the Watch themselves (aside from a few scuffles, no real attacks).

My first ideas include them helping the Watch repel an attack/attempt to cross the border. Other than that... nothing really. Any thoughts/ideas you guys have would be amazing!

Trit

 

[Quickleaf]

It's a borderland right? So what about a refugee dilemma? PCs could choose to role-play a solution, lead refugees thru secret crags as an explorative solution, or fight off whoever is hounding the refugees (foreign military or monsters). You can give the "traitor in the ranks" a sympathetic spin by making part of their reason for betraying the Watch to help a loved one among refugees. Then you can set up a faction within refugees that is extremist (separatists/freedom fighters out for revenge), little better than thugs, or even a hidden spy.

Lots of ways to go, hard to say which is best without knowing more about your scenario.

 

[Trit One-Ear]

Could make that work. The "evil" kingdom on the other side often uses orcs and other monstrous races as slaves. Could be fun to see the players have to grapple with treating orcs as victims, instead of enemies.

One other idea I had could involve the PC's having to track down a suspect/witness to something who's out on patrol. This get them out into the wild again where combat is a bit easier to imagine... but I would still love more ideas for exciting encounters within the setting of the keep (if not the keep itself). I would love to make it a dynamic place to remember worthy of the status of the Watch.

Trit

 

[Quickleaf]

One other idea I had could involve the PC's having to track down a suspect/witness to something who's out on patrol. This get them out into the wild again where combat is a bit easier to imagine... but I would still love more ideas for exciting encounters within the setting of the keep (if not the keep itself). I would love to make it a dynamic place to remember worthy of the status of the Watch.

Trit

Ah within the Keep is a different story. The PCs are guests not in any leadership role right?

What about a murder mystery where cause of death is poison? Old tensions flare up and your NPCs could take extreme measure like locking down the Keep, midnight abductions, interrogation, etc. Then another person gets sick, and another... Someone has poisoned the food larder. You could introduce a twist where the poisoner has died (perhaps he was ironically poisoned) or the "poisoner" is just some poisonous monster that sneaks into the larder at night. Or you could have the poisoner be caught by PCs, tell their side of the story, and then stand trial to whatever justice the Dawn Watch metes out. Or the poisoner might have fled the keep and become a recurring villain.

With this setup I would make a couple red herring suspects that if the PCs really go after there is pushback. For example, press the 2nd in command too hard and there is political fallout; press the cook too much and maybe he threatens to throw himself off the Keep's walls one night.

How's that?

 

[Rechan]

Vulnerability. If you're basing your Keep on a typical real-world one (multiple buildings within a fortified wall), then it's very vulnerable on one front: attack by air. A winged monster could easily fly into the Keep. So a rampaging dragon might drop from the sky. Flying monsters (Gargoyles, Harpies, Gryphons, Wyverns) could settle in near the Keep, picking off people who venture towards it/attack patrols, and when the Keep fights back, the flying monsters respond by attacking the Keep. Alternatively, the Evil kingdom could hire some harpy bandits or outfit some orc mauraders with hippogriffs.

A haunting. Some years back, someone within the keep murdered someone else, and bricked them into a wall. For some reason (perhaps the murderer has returned) has stirred the spirit to life, and it is lashing out at everyone; the PCs must get to the bottom of it.

Theft. Someone is stealing things! Seemingly things that could not be possible (people were in the room). A pixie or other small fey has been stealing things.

Sabotage. Someone or something is causing food to be inedible/spoil, wooden constructions are falling apart, weapons are rusting for no good reason. Either a psy for the Evil side across the border is wreaking havoc, or a Gremlin (a small evil fey that delights in causing small misfortunes) has taken residence in the Keep.

The Trojan Curse. A wounded young woman is found on patrol - perhaps she was unconscious and gravely wounded/sick, perhaps she was a slave being dragged by orcs, perhaps she was being assaulted by orcs. While being treated for her wounds inside the keep, the place has been under attack by unseen forces. Either the girl is Cursed - hunted by demons and other monsters, or she is possessed and while no one is watching, she's doing it herself.

Additional ideas might be enemies either within the keep or outside trying to tunnel into the Keep, in order to do a sneak-invasion. Or, a tunnel along the border so that the forces on the other side can sneak across.

 

[Rechan]

The Trojan Curse. A wounded young woman is found on patrol - perhaps she was unconscious and gravely wounded/sick, perhaps she was a slave being dragged by orcs, perhaps she was being assaulted by orcs. While being treated for her wounds inside the keep, the place has been under attack by unseen forces. Either the girl is Cursed - hunted by demons and other monsters, or she is possessed and while no one is watching, she's doing it herself.

Oh! I forgot another variation of this.

Say instead the woman is with child, either pregnant or has the baby in her arms. She runs into the Keep one dark night, wild eyed, and won't leave the chapel. Strange things happen around the Keep. Eventually she is made to leave the Chapel. That night is when the Devil or Fae stalking her strikes. Her grandfather (or father) made a Deal, and his side of the bargain was his first born son. But the man never had a son, he had only daughters. She has the first son of the lineage, and the debt moved to her. (The plot of Paranormal Activity 2).

If you wanted something with real moral dilemma to the mix, perhaps the girl used to be in a Cult, and was impregnated by a Devil, and the father now wants the child. The problem here is 1) The child is half-fiend, and few people want this woman and her baby to stay in the Keep. 2) Perhaps one of the Chapel priests is convinced the child will be Evil, so what do we even do about it? Thus you have the moral question of "Do we throw her out of the gates or keep her safe, and if so, what of the baby?"

 

[Trit One-Ear]

Loves these ideas, both based on the direct plot (murder mystery can easily be tied to covering up betrayals, etc) and outside of the plot. I hadn't managed to get my head out of "what my story is" to think of those fun ideas. Thanks a lot guys, I'll probably post again soon after I've elaborated on some of your ideas.