Branding Opportunity
Explorer
Here are a few or my ideas. Obviously they may not all be your or your players' cup of tea. Also, I realize that they're all pretty general ideas, not a lot of specific encounter details; sorry about that.
-Do you need to introduce any new cultures/races/game sub-systems, or need to do any foreshadowing for stuff you're planning in the future? Have a very brief encounter with said new element. This could be anything like a new race that turns out to provoke strong xenophobic reactions from the populace in general to a new, or an exotic ambassador arriving by ship or palanquin. Something that the PCs and the people of the city have never seen before and that you won't use in a big way right away. Maybe it's something you never develop, something which simply adds a bit of flavor to the world you are creating. You could develop a slightly longer encounter out of this if you like, such as the PCs learning a closely-guarded secret about this group, having to defend them from rioting mobs, or it could just be a little "throw-away" encounter.
-Being minor celebrities after saving the duke and the kingdom, the PCs could become the fete of the town. They could be invited to all kinds of fancy parties in mansions, floating barges, hunting estates just outside of town, private, secluded gardens. Being an attraction at these parties could give them an "in" into upper society, getting to know people who the PCs may not normally have contact with. Maybe a rich merchant wants to buy "shares" of their company, to become an investor. Perhaps there could be a romantic interest. Perhaps a tradesman is looking for a particular item or commodity and would offer them a great reward for finding it. Perhaps they meet secret friends of the deposed Duke they just got rid of who wants to publicly humiliate them or even have them shanghaied and sold into slavery. Maybe one of the PCs spends a drunken night with a particularly enchanting lady and wakes up the next morning to find that he married her by mistake.
-Introduce them to the local thieves' guild. Are the PCs generally considered tomb robbers as most adventurers are? Does the thieves' guild believe that technically that is their territory? Do they want a cut, or just for the PCs to pay dues? If the PCs make friends with the guild, it could be very useful in the future. Or else the methods or morals of the guild could be not to their liking and they would have a permanent enemy in this city.
-Pick one of the minor NPCs that the PCs have killed in the past. Remember him? His brother/son/cousin/wife/husband lives in town and is not particularly happy about it. How far do they take it, does the aggrieved relative send nasty notes, hit men, file a civil suit in court? Actually, that's quite a funny idea, one that I don't think I've ever seen in an RPG. The bereaved wife of a random goblin they killed on their first adventure files a manslaughter suit against the PCs and wants compensation. Are there any LG PCs in the party? That would put them in a sticky situation. Do the PCs hire a lawyer? You or your players may think that this kind of thing is about the most boring thing you could imagine, and would detract horribly from exciting sword and sorcery adventures, but then again you may be a little warped like me. Or maybe I've just read a few too many Terry Pratchett novels
-Do the PCs like to hang out in taverns? I know, that's probably a silly question. Anyway, this is a new city so they don't know the good ones from the bad ones, and they accidentally pick a bad one, a REALLY bad one. Oh, it looks nice from the outside, and can you believe those prices? Well, the reason it's so cheap is that at night lots of fights "just happen to" break out. During these fights customers are knocked unconscious and wake up chained to the hold or the oars of a ship. Or perhaps the PCs drinks are spiked to make them less efficient in combat. Press-ganging was pretty common for centuries. It turns out that the people who run this tavern were getting kickbacks from the slavers/merchants who run the ships.
-PCs always need to sell their stuff. In shopping around their ill-gotten treasures they find a fat, slightly ill-tempered merchant who offers them great prices for some of their most expensive treasures. Turns out he's sadly also a front for a foreign government/guild of assassins/coven of evil necromancers/etc that they PCs now have to deal with. This could also be a good way to introduce a new prestige class or an ongoing villain or villainous organization.
OK, enough from me.
BrOp
-Do you need to introduce any new cultures/races/game sub-systems, or need to do any foreshadowing for stuff you're planning in the future? Have a very brief encounter with said new element. This could be anything like a new race that turns out to provoke strong xenophobic reactions from the populace in general to a new, or an exotic ambassador arriving by ship or palanquin. Something that the PCs and the people of the city have never seen before and that you won't use in a big way right away. Maybe it's something you never develop, something which simply adds a bit of flavor to the world you are creating. You could develop a slightly longer encounter out of this if you like, such as the PCs learning a closely-guarded secret about this group, having to defend them from rioting mobs, or it could just be a little "throw-away" encounter.
-Being minor celebrities after saving the duke and the kingdom, the PCs could become the fete of the town. They could be invited to all kinds of fancy parties in mansions, floating barges, hunting estates just outside of town, private, secluded gardens. Being an attraction at these parties could give them an "in" into upper society, getting to know people who the PCs may not normally have contact with. Maybe a rich merchant wants to buy "shares" of their company, to become an investor. Perhaps there could be a romantic interest. Perhaps a tradesman is looking for a particular item or commodity and would offer them a great reward for finding it. Perhaps they meet secret friends of the deposed Duke they just got rid of who wants to publicly humiliate them or even have them shanghaied and sold into slavery. Maybe one of the PCs spends a drunken night with a particularly enchanting lady and wakes up the next morning to find that he married her by mistake.
-Introduce them to the local thieves' guild. Are the PCs generally considered tomb robbers as most adventurers are? Does the thieves' guild believe that technically that is their territory? Do they want a cut, or just for the PCs to pay dues? If the PCs make friends with the guild, it could be very useful in the future. Or else the methods or morals of the guild could be not to their liking and they would have a permanent enemy in this city.
-Pick one of the minor NPCs that the PCs have killed in the past. Remember him? His brother/son/cousin/wife/husband lives in town and is not particularly happy about it. How far do they take it, does the aggrieved relative send nasty notes, hit men, file a civil suit in court? Actually, that's quite a funny idea, one that I don't think I've ever seen in an RPG. The bereaved wife of a random goblin they killed on their first adventure files a manslaughter suit against the PCs and wants compensation. Are there any LG PCs in the party? That would put them in a sticky situation. Do the PCs hire a lawyer? You or your players may think that this kind of thing is about the most boring thing you could imagine, and would detract horribly from exciting sword and sorcery adventures, but then again you may be a little warped like me. Or maybe I've just read a few too many Terry Pratchett novels
-Do the PCs like to hang out in taverns? I know, that's probably a silly question. Anyway, this is a new city so they don't know the good ones from the bad ones, and they accidentally pick a bad one, a REALLY bad one. Oh, it looks nice from the outside, and can you believe those prices? Well, the reason it's so cheap is that at night lots of fights "just happen to" break out. During these fights customers are knocked unconscious and wake up chained to the hold or the oars of a ship. Or perhaps the PCs drinks are spiked to make them less efficient in combat. Press-ganging was pretty common for centuries. It turns out that the people who run this tavern were getting kickbacks from the slavers/merchants who run the ships.
-PCs always need to sell their stuff. In shopping around their ill-gotten treasures they find a fat, slightly ill-tempered merchant who offers them great prices for some of their most expensive treasures. Turns out he's sadly also a front for a foreign government/guild of assassins/coven of evil necromancers/etc that they PCs now have to deal with. This could also be a good way to introduce a new prestige class or an ongoing villain or villainous organization.
OK, enough from me.
BrOp
