Is this adventure idea/setup logical/railroading?

[Noldor Elf]

I am developing adventure for Eberron game, either to be used as one-shot or part of the campaing (depending on scedules)

Here is the idea:
Background is that party is working for one of the Dragonmarked houses. They are mostly used as investigation group for problems and some odd purchases the house had made (like estate in Mournland)

This time the party is sent to a small village, because someone attacked the transport wagon, stealing carried crates of silver. The guards and "driver" are currently under care in this village.

Story of the villagers:
- The wagon came empty to the village, with "driver" and one guard unconscious in it, the load was gone. The villagers have been taking care of the wounded since that.
- Remaining two guard were found by the road, some way away from the village. They had suffered similar damages as the driver and first guard.
- Party is given a goblin made axe that were told to be found stuck on the side of the wagon

All guards and the driver are still unconscious as the party arrives (couple of days after the attack). Once they wake up, they do not remember anything about the attack.

Rumours / facts party may find out (through questioning, sighting, etc.)
- There are savage goblins living nearby hills, but they have caused no trouble for ages
- Villagers are afraid of some kind of beast, but they wont talk about it openly.
- Party may sight a creature also in the woods, if they end up wandering there
- Some beast had actually killed couple of farm animals a week ago
- Full moon was about two weeks ago
- Almost one days travel from the village is a monastery that keeps little to no contact with the village.
- Villagers do not speak about the monastery especially kindly, but they are very cautious with their speach about it.

The actual facts:
- The goblins have nothing to do with attack. The villagers are trying to frame them.
- Villagers robbed the wagon. They are making silver weapons out of it.
- The monastery is run by shifters.
- The monks are hiding a full-grown werewolf in the monastery, trying to create alcemical cure for the lycantrophy
- The cattle was kille by some other wild beast

Do the facts and rumours correlate in any sensible way?

I have sketched three (rough) possibilities for the party to follow:
1.) They trust the villagers, ending up raiding the goblin settlements. The sideplot containing werewolf and shifters might even be left unnoticed.
2.) They trust the villagers, finding out about the monastery and possibly ending up fighting there.
3.) They end up trusting the monks and possibly helping them to find some incredients for their cure.

Also option 2 might send party to search for the cure, if they end up fighting the werewolf and get bitten.

Can the party make meaningful decisions during the adventure?

 

[ken-ichi]

It sounds pretty good to me. I think you get into railroading if there is no way for the PCs to get clues about the real situation. There are a few ways for the PCs to successfully complete the task of recovering the silver. A) Learn that the villagers have been taking it and fight the villagers or steal it back from them. B) Find out why the villagers took the silver and kill the monks so the villagers don't need it anymore. C) Find out that the monks are not an actual threat and convince the village of that. D) Maybe ensure that the lycanthrope is not a threat by helping the monks complete their cure and all partys can live in peace and harmony.
Another possible idea is to have the monks paying the goblins to get some ingredients. If you really want to make the goblins look guilty you can have the monks paying the goblins in mainly silver coins. (But maybe the wagon was carrying silver bars?). Maybe the goblins are enthusiastic about obtaining the ingredients and have actually raided a different caravan carrying a rare, but relatively worthless item. (Maybe the goblins take care not to kill anyone as they don't want trouble.) Or if you want to give the PCs a clue that the goblins are innocent, they have copper and some valuable art works like statues or similar things that you might find in a monestary.

 

[Kunimatyu]

Definitely not railroading -- most site-based adventures rarely are, but as the previous poster said, make sure your PCs will have ways to find out what's really going on. I'd recommend drawing up a few hooks/missteps by the various parties involved if the PCs get frustrated.

 

[the Jester]

Lots of choices? Different paths the adventure can take? Sounds like a cool adventure to me. I don't hear a choo-choo.

 

[diaglo]

Lots of choices? Different paths the adventure can take? Sounds like a cool adventure to me. I don't hear a choo-choo.

ditto.

i think the choo arrives if you make a fog surround the village so the PCs can't just leave when and if they feel like it.

 

[cmanos]

sounds like a very good adventure. One thing you need to remember about Eberron is that there are 12 moons whose cycles are not all the same. Rarely is there a time when there isn't a full moon. Check out the Eberron calendar tool, here.

That being said, the premise is very logical and it doesn't seem to be railroading at all. If your characters are stumped, a few Sense Motive checks against the villagers may indicate they aren't telling the full truth or are trying to hide something.

 

[der_kluge]

One thing does seem to be missing is the party's relationship to the villagers. If the villagers planted the axe, can I take it that the villagers will expect the PCs to be arriving? I mean, why plant evidence if you don't expect the authorities? Also, there should be some sort of reaction by the villagers to the PCs. If they are indeed trying to hide something, then the villagers will tend to react more and more negatively towards the PCs. They might even insist on the goblins if they are trying to redirect the PCs. Encouraging them to go fight the goblins if they linger too long in the town. Is there a ranger in the party? If so, you need to decide if the villagers have planted tracks as well. Assign a target DC to find goblin tracks (perhaps ludicrously low) or no DC at all - the tracks are so obvious, anyone can see them. But assign a higher DC to realize that human tracks are all over the place as well, and the tracks are identical - an obvious fake intended to fool someone.

Also, are *all* of the villagers in on this scheme, or just certain ones?

How did the villagers overtake the guards and the driver, and have them not know what happened? Do the villagers have magic at their disposal? Or are they aware, and are just under the effects of a sleep spell, or some sort of sleep potion that must be dispelled, or something?

This seems plausible: the vilagers block the road where the caravan was heading, and meet the driver and the guards in a friendly manner. Once the guards are out of the wagon, someone in the shadows cast a sleep spell on them. They throw the axe into the wagon, and someone plants goblin tracks all over the place. Meanwhile, the victims are held in a sleep state tended to by a herbologist. Any attempt by the party to revive the individuals, will be met with fierce opposition.

One other point of clarity - what is the relationship between the villagers and the werewolf? I assume they know of its existance? Has it attacked the village before?

 

[Conaill]

Couple of comments:

- If the villagers are trying to frame the goblins, why should they tell the party that "they have caused no trouble for ages"?

- Skip the "cattle was killed by some other wild beast" red herring. One red herring is plenty! Let's just say the werewolf escaped one night, and the monks weren't able to recapture it before it killed some cattle. Maybe some monks were spotted that night? They may even have left some money to compensate the farmer for the loss of his cattle.

- You *definitely* need to figure out what to do with the moons in Eberron (are there special rules for lycanthropy in Eberron?) and how the villagers knocked out the crew of the wagon (maybe there's a local adept or alchemist who knows how to brew some sort orf amnesia potion?)

 

[FCWesel]

I like the idea, I don't see any railroading here and I agree with the comments made above to help make it better.

Also, where are they making the silver weapons? Find out what is unique about making weapons of silver and play that out as a clue. maybe there's a special element in the process that is a sign of silver smelting. A PC with high Craft (weapons) or Craft (Silversmithing) might noted that as a possible clue.

 

[Dark Jezter]

Definately not railroading. Railroading is when you eliminate or severely limit player choice and force them along a pre-determined path, not when you give players adventure hooks.