How Dangerous is your campaign world?

[Jürgen Hubert]

In Urbis, things are fairly safe for the "average joe" in most places. Of course, that doesn't mean that it will be healthy - the hordes of workers in the cities labor under fairly harsh conditions for long hours and low pay. This results in all sorts of ailments even at early ages, and often a reduced life expectancy.

But that doesn't mean he is likely to die of an attack by Random Monsters unless he lives in a really poor region the city guard doesn't bother with. Employed workers still represent a useful resource, and those in power don't want to waste resources.

Of course, adventurers still are able to find trouble in all sorts of ways... and there are monsters lurking in the city which know how to hide from the authorities.

But most of the predators are human.

 

[Superj3nius]

in our campain were pretty much the most dangerous thing out there . we go into a slightly tough dungeon, clear it out, come back stronger and raid weaker towns.
then when we take trouble too far the DM threatens us with batman, who will protect the weaker cities (we will probibly just kick his ass though )

 

[Phlebas]

I have a Dark-ages setting - so farmers have walled farmsteads or small villages that they can retreat to, and travel in caravans to the market towns in case of trouble. Orc hordes / ravening monsters tend to take anything left outside (or thrown out) and leave the hard points alone as that would cause militias to come-a-hunting.

Cities tend to be walled with strong guards or militias, but although they have dangerous slums for the most part you can walk around with nothing more than a knife and be safe.

And thats why you have large cities and a lot of wilderness....

There are a couple of war zones where you're either a soldier, or about to be conscripted and most monsters tend to be in the pay of one of the warring factions, but other than that its huddling against the darkness time for most villagers

 

[painandgreed]

Somewhat dangerous, but depends where you are living. In civilized areas, you pretty much have to worry about bandits and the like. In the wilderness, which there is lots of it is fairly dangerous as monsters live there as well as things like stirges and orcs. Not so dangerous as to wipe out normal animals or every wandering peasant, but it does tend to the 1% chance you'll run into something that you can't handle. The solution is to run or hide. Everybody has levels so your average commoner in his 20's is probably a commoner 3 or so with enough hit points to take a hit or two while running. Few things, intelligent or not (except PCs), tend to fight to the death unless cornered. On the borderlands, farmers live in protected villages with watches and sturdy huts. In signs of trouble, they flee to their homes and lock themsevles in which are more than proof against all but the largest monsters and would take creatures like orcs a good time to chop down the thick doors or walls. Once they can, they notify the local lord who fights the threat or hires somebody else to do so. Typically, monsters tend to leave villagers in their huts alone wandering elsewhere after a while. Orcs and bandits do the same after taking what they can, because leaving the villagers allive means there will be stuff to steal next season too. Most villagers have some level of Know(Nature) or such so they can keep the lookout for dangerous things like giant insects, slimes, stirges, etc that might inhabit their sheds or barns.

 

[Slife]

My players (and their PCs) claim that they won't go get the newspaper in Sharn without being completely armored, having all their major buffs up, and traveling in a large group. I think they're just paranoid.

EXTRA! EXTRA! READ ALL ABOUT IT! LOCAL WIZARD PREPARES EXPLODING RUNES!

 

[the black knight]

How dangerous is it to be a regular joe in your campaign?

Very. Everybody dies. All the time.

 

[Blair Goatsblood]

Between the slavers, cultists, pterodactyls, vikings, mad wizards, pirates, undead, orcs, warfare and debased rulers, it's pretty much dangerous everywhere.

 

[NewJeffCT]

I guess it's fairly dangerous - but, life in real Western Europe, China, India, the Middle East, Central America, etc., was not exactly a bed of roses during 1000-1400AD, either. Didn't the plague wipe out nearly 2/3 of Europe at one point? And, while drow slavers might not have been around, I doubt the folks building the Great Wall of China or the Great Pyramids in Egypt were working 40 hours per week while getting paid union scale...

Invading hordes of bad guys can easily be replaced by hordes of orcs, goblins, hobgoblins, etc. Heck, I once started making an earth-like campaign world where I had based a huge empire of hobgoblins on the Mongols. The Empire stretched all across what was once the Soviet Union & the "iron curtain" countries of eastern Europe, and into the Middle East. The remains of humanity had scattered and retreated to Western Europe, China & Japan, India, Egypt or fled all the way to the Americas.

 

[Aus_Snow]

It goes to 11.

Rock on.

 

[William drake]

How dangerous is it to be a regular joe in your campaign? Is Joe Dirt Farmer taking his life into his own hands when he clears stumps for extra tillable soil? Is a baker's assistant risking life and limb delivering scones to the Noble's villa? What kind of risks do the mundanes face just getting out of bed in your world?

For example... why would anybody WANT to be a farmer? Orc Hordes, Drow Slave-Raiders, Umber Hulks, Chimeras, Wyverns, Dire Wolverines, Stirges (!) not to mention Dragons of various primary and secondary colors.

Nobody in their right mind would want to go outside without an armed escort.

I'm curious what kind of threats to mundanes we can come up with.

No, the world is normal. There are strange and dangerous bad things, but then there are also strange and dangerous good things that make a buffer. These things live amongst humans, in and around them and help to keep other things out...so in the end, it evens out.