der_kluge
Adventurer
So, at the end of the last campaign, the party was transported via a ship to a small town in search of something. That's where we left it.
According to the Wilderlands, this is a smallish city, and is mostly agricultural. Nothing terribly interesting.
Here's what I want to do, however. When the party enters the town, everything seems normal, and then at some point, a farmer runs in and proclaims that the "land shark" is back (bulette) and is attacking his sheep. The party, most likely, will go and help the farmer deal with that. At some point in this battle, the town drunk will also step in and get himself killed in the process. Later, back at the inn, a woman comes in and proclaims that her daughter has gone missing. Scout party organized, the party venture forth, and well into the evening hours, they finally find her playing with some pixie in the forest. Or something. Doesn't matter.
The party will be forced to stay the night again in this town, and will propose they venture out in the morning, as planned. The next morning - the events happen EXACTLY AS THEY DID THE DAY BEFORE. The drunk is alive, but this time makes no attack against the bulette. The girl is still missing, and is found in the forest.
I intend to create several encounters in and around the village - with the only wildcard being the drunk guy. He does something different every day, even though the rest of the town seems programmed.
What's going on? At some point in the past - the "drunk man" was away from the town, when calamity struck the town - everyone was killed, including the man's family. Devastated, he turned to the only thing he knew might be able to help him - the Annis hag which lived in the woods. And help him she did - she created an illusion of a fully functioning town for him to live in, and cursed him so that he couldn't reveal the secret of the deception. He's also been forced to live there, where's he's basically taken to being an alcoholic. Meanwhile, the entire town is actually a decaying and despicable place underneath the surface.
Problem is, no spell can pull this off. So, I'm wondering if I could achieve a similar result with actual fey creatures (with something sort of similar). Of course, my players are all new enough that they won't quibble over semantics.
Just looking for some ideas to help this make some sense in my head. Some sort of framework, I guess.
According to the Wilderlands, this is a smallish city, and is mostly agricultural. Nothing terribly interesting.
Here's what I want to do, however. When the party enters the town, everything seems normal, and then at some point, a farmer runs in and proclaims that the "land shark" is back (bulette) and is attacking his sheep. The party, most likely, will go and help the farmer deal with that. At some point in this battle, the town drunk will also step in and get himself killed in the process. Later, back at the inn, a woman comes in and proclaims that her daughter has gone missing. Scout party organized, the party venture forth, and well into the evening hours, they finally find her playing with some pixie in the forest. Or something. Doesn't matter.
The party will be forced to stay the night again in this town, and will propose they venture out in the morning, as planned. The next morning - the events happen EXACTLY AS THEY DID THE DAY BEFORE. The drunk is alive, but this time makes no attack against the bulette. The girl is still missing, and is found in the forest.
I intend to create several encounters in and around the village - with the only wildcard being the drunk guy. He does something different every day, even though the rest of the town seems programmed.
What's going on? At some point in the past - the "drunk man" was away from the town, when calamity struck the town - everyone was killed, including the man's family. Devastated, he turned to the only thing he knew might be able to help him - the Annis hag which lived in the woods. And help him she did - she created an illusion of a fully functioning town for him to live in, and cursed him so that he couldn't reveal the secret of the deception. He's also been forced to live there, where's he's basically taken to being an alcoholic. Meanwhile, the entire town is actually a decaying and despicable place underneath the surface.
Problem is, no spell can pull this off. So, I'm wondering if I could achieve a similar result with actual fey creatures (with something sort of similar). Of course, my players are all new enough that they won't quibble over semantics.
Just looking for some ideas to help this make some sense in my head. Some sort of framework, I guess.