help needed, writers block!

[josh rotten]

ok i'm stuck!!!. I'm a new GM my players are all 2nd level. i came up with a short story arch where my players have to stop a cult from "cleaning" the land of the "wicked" pretty much any non human that doesn't want to be a slave. i was gonig to have my PCs lead a village in a mob like battle to destroy the cult and it's minions (were wolfs, about 10 and 5 flesh golems). I'm not sure how to run a massive combat type of encounter, just how would my players control/convince the towns people. I think my PCs need to reach another level or two before i let them lead a militia so i want to run a few more adventures where my PCs have to gain the trust of the town. so to summeries how would i run that type of combat and i need ideas to have my PCs gain the towns peoples trust

 

[wolfpunk]

How many players are in the group and what classes are they? That would help evaluate the situation a bit better.

 

[josh rotten]

ok we have one elven fighters (he's pretty much the archer of the group)
one human barbarian
one elven monk
one half-elf sorcerer
one half vistanti (pretty much human, it's from ravenloft) cleric



plus some times i throw a human thief into the mix since they don't have one

 

[wolfpunk]

Well you have a diverse enough group that really they can tackle any sort of mission. So I would suggest that as a DM you create oppurtunities for them to gain trust while under the guise of simply leveling them up. Perhaps someone in the town needs a hand fixing a roof, or something like that. I am not suggesting roleplaying the deed, but by performing services they will become known as good folk, and more likely to inspire support.

If you are planning on having them fight werewolves and fleshgolems, you might want to have them befriend a weaponsmith, or something like that, perhaps the town priest or wizard.

Then again there is always the goblin raiding party that happens to attack the town. Nothing like the slaughtering of goblins to make a party heroes to simple townfolk.

 

[josh rotten]

i do really like the idea of simple tasks, it would also open up a door for more high roleplay adventures which some of my group really love. thanks for the help any more ideas would be GREAT!

 

[wolfpunk]

Hmm okay other ideas, what sort of town are they in, is it small, or large. Is it a trading town, a farming town, etc. Do you have any thoughts on important people or features of the town.

The wizards of the coast site had a pretty good little mission that takes place in a mine on the outskirts of a town.

http://wizards.com/dnd/article1.asp?x=dnd/oa/oa20000801a,3

that is the link for it I think. The mission is called, the burning plague. Take a look at it, it is about a two to four hour mission depending on gaming style. I ran it but added a few more rooms and quite a few extra creatures. It went very well for me.

Let me know some more about the setting and I will let you know if I have any other ideas.

 

[josh rotten]

cool, i'll check that adventure out


you wanted to know about the town? well it's mainly a farmers town but with mountins to oneside and a forest to the other mining and lumber are two other big trades. It's a mid sized village, the type of place where every one knows each other and every ones to keep outsiders, out side. (thats why i need a way for my PCs to gain their trust) no more then 300 people live there and it's called thorny grove

 

[wolfpunk]

That mission looks to be a perfect place to start. It would certainly tie in to after the mission the members of the town having other things that they need helped. The mission from wizards needs a bit of time to develop though. Since the pcs are already in the town, I would have them do some sort of mundane tasks. Explain that they are starting to notice strange things going on in the town. A shortness of breath in mine workers, red tinged skin, then cuts, lesions, things like that, if you can play this out over one session but have it be several weeks in game time, you could then march right into the mini mission from wizards. After the Pcs beat that, the town will still be recovering. Also perhaps as a reward they could be given some money with which to purchase items for their upcoming campaign. Perhaps a visiting merchant might have some magic items, or simply some masterwork ones. Really the pcs dont need anything more then a +1 or +2 for what you have in mind in the future.

 

[Chimera]

If your players are expecting to lead the villagers into battle against things like werewolves and golems, then they will first need to convince the villagers that it is *possible* to fight such evil and win. Otherwise they won't be willing to risk their hides, prefering to knuckle under to the evil in return for their miserable lives.

Are the baddies demanding money and goods from the village? Presto, "Magnificent Seven" scenario. Your players fight off a few minions led by a lone werewolf that is carrying the threat. They follow the leads back to the larger gang. The fights get tougher and tougher as they get closer, until they convince the entire village to help them. Of course, to make it more "hollywood", the villagers can at first refuse, but show up with torches and silvered farm implements at the last minute, just when things are looking darkest for the party.

 

[qstor]

For a "lite" adventure you might have them help a farmer with clearing some land then have the farmers daughter fall for them!

Mike