need help to flesh out my Adventure

[Baumi]

HiHo!

I will GM next Saturday and I have something in plan for my players, but I need to work it out a bit more ... but here is the scenery:

The players want a magical Gem from a merchant and he is willing to give it to them but only if they stop some thugs who are robbing caravans from an important tunnel (it's all in a Menzoberanzan like Underground Complex).

But the twist is that he want the Leader alive because it is his brother, which he hate but not so much that he want to see him dead. I have also decided that he will be a Spelluser (dont know what kind yet).

But I don't really know how to make it interesting for them, it should be hard but manageable (non-combat solution would be great).

So is there someone who have done that in the past and who can help me to work it out a bit more (location, number of enemies, strategies,...).

Many THANKS in Advance!
Baumi

P.S.: I play this under Lejendary Adventure so I don't need stats....

 

[ThenHeCame]

Throw a kicker in, have the "Robber" brother be Good and the merchant brother be evil. Lets say the evil merchant brother sits on a few city councils and boards and had a hand in banish a small group of relgious folk becuase they didn't trust them ( Think Gypsies ) The brother went with these poor folk becuase they would die out there in the underdark with out good leadership. The Merchant brother knows the city will soon end the banished folk's lives soon with violence and would prefer his brother not be killed in such a manner. Could be bad for reputation.


-Opps ; Have him steeal stuff for the survival of the banished people so you can justify the bandit tactics.

 

[Baumi]

Thanks for the quick reply!

I like your twist and I think that I will use it , but I think I failed to make it clear what I really wanted.

I would really need Ideas how to make the "capture the enemy" thingy full of tactic and tension.

It should not be to easy (one sneak roll and you are behind the enemies) and not to hard (go to 20 deadly traps, 1million monsters and then get the master of all magicians ). They should have to use all wits and it should be clear that combat is only the last chance (and the most hard one).

How can I accomplish something like that (How should the Terrain be like, the enemys,...)?

Have FUN!
Baumi

 

[Piratecat]

Moved to plots!

 

[Baumi]

Great ... now I will never get an answer

 

[wolfpunk]

Sure you will.

Ok I have some ideas for things that I am simply going to mention, perhaps you will find something you like.

The players decide that their best chance to capture this "robber" is to act as caravan guards and escort a caravan. They are hoping that it will be raided and that either the guy they want to catch will be there, or that they can take someone alive who can lead them to him. Depending on your desired pace, they could find the trip uneventful, they could get attacked but all the thugs are killed in the process, or they could see one of them escape and they set out to follow him.

If they set out to follow him, I think that would be the best. I would then make some of the adventure overcoming the terrain. Here is an example. The characters follow the robber to a sheer stone wall face, perhaps 100-200 feet tall. The robber simply takes of his shoes and gloves and walks up the sheer stone face. How do the players follower, do they have equipment to scale the wall, do they try to find another path?

I would do a few combat situations, there are plenty of underground creatures that would work well as casual encounters. Perhaps they come across some drow herders and a bunch of rothe.

Some natural terrain problems could be chambers filled with gas. Beware entrance with a torch. You could have puddles of acidic water. Another scary one could be a narrow stone bridge over a cavern, the problem being that a harsh wind constantly blows out any torch, and threatens to push the players off balance.

Hope these are the sort of things you were looking for.

 

[Darklone]

Chase!

A good chase always lightens up an adventure!

At first: The trader will probably wait with the caravans a bit and send one big and well protected. The robbers are not powerful enough to attack that one and are very desperate to get at the next one which is the fake with the players hidden in a wagon. Perhaps insert a spy who finds out about the trap of the players and someone casts a web at their wagon

Let's see how fast they get out and spoil the ambush. Let some guys escape and run into the caverns. Let the players follow them and chase them, they will probably try to meet at some point in the caverns. Chased followers will try to lure the players into the lair of some monsters. (Walking into the entrance of a lair and walking back in your own footstep often fools trackers! )

Probably the meeting point of the robbers is prepared for another little ambush (ok that's combat extensive, you wanted it the other way!)

Let the players meet some talking stones after they lose their prey ... Talking stones can talk for hours

 

[Baumi]

Wow I thought that I will never get any answers here, but now I never will lose my faith in this great Forum again!

Anyway.... Many, many THANKS for the great answers!

Have FUN!
Baumi

 

[Painfully]

I think you're missing some character motivations here.

What does the gem do, and why does the party want it?

Why does the merchant want to retrieve his brother alive (not just that he's related, but what will the merchant brother do once he has his bandit brother)?

What kinds of things are the bandits stealing?
--is it everything? where do they keep it?
--what do they do with the travellers? kill them or let them go? do they recruit any of them?

What makes this particular trail important? Can it be travelled around? Are there interested parties from the other side of that trail that need the trail?

Everybody "wants" something. What does each NPC want, and how do they intend to get it?

You've got more of your own answers to this problem than I do. But if you want some suggestions...

Merchant brother wants to be the one to kill his bandit brother. Yeah, it's evil, but it will make the PC's wonder about whether the gem they wanted was worth it. And they might be more careful of future employers.

part of this might be because the merchant brother is in a social position that might rightfully belong to the bandit brother. Kinda like the "man in the iron mask," thing, but a little different.

or it could be because the bandit brother and merchant brother are fighting for possession of a unique family heirloom that they are both willing to kill over. Maybe the bandit brother is trying to get it, while the merchant brother is trying to transport it safely to somebody on the other side (to sell for *gasp* money, or just to a collector of rare things). Maybe the heirloom has unrealized magical traits that both brothers are unaware of.

----------------

Encounter suggestions:

1. Let the party act as scouts, travelling ahead of the caravan and securing the trail. A few invisibility spells and silence spells can pay off big as long as nobody slips off a cliff or otherwise gives away their position.

2. Terrain and timing...make it dark. Suddenly, caravans that need torches just stick out like a bullseye waiting to get hit. Wait until their meal time, when they are chatting by their fires, or worse, your best fighter PC needs to take a squat in some bushes.

3. Let the bandits choose stealth over quickness. Have their best thief-type go and incapacitate the guards one-by-one. I'm thinking a vial of ether or similar knock-out type of drug. What would the PC's do if they were suddenly eating with a guard they never noticed before...if your PC's are sharp (or get lucky rolls) maybe they'll notice and talk the stranger into giving himself away (think of the elevator scene in the last die hard movie where Bruce Willis spots the guard's badge and talks about the lottery).

4. Anybody have an underground familiar? Let it scout ahead, and have it ambushed Anybody want some fresh gopher? Possibly use a natural predator, but then the party might get distracted into saving their pet. Of course, the predator could be a familiar of one of the bandits.

5. Does the merchant brother have something precious to his brother? If the combat turns stalemate, have the bandit brother offer to trade himself in exchange for something precious to his brother that is with the caravan--something the PCs were told to protect at all costs. There should be consequences for whatever choice the party makes, either for the trade, or not to trade (possibly they have made a hostage of the caravan leader and will trade his safety rather than the bandit brother).

That's all off the top of my head. It's 4:30 am and I should snooze now before my head falls off my shoulders... night, night.

 

[Psychotic Jim]

How about throwing in a few third parties whose goals conflict with the playes. How infamous is this bandit lord and his crew? Perhaps a rival bandit gang shows up to wipe out the merchant's brother and his gang or raid the caravan in all of the chaos. Perhaps a rival merchant wants the party's employer dead. Perhaps an overzealous, fanatical knight has come to kill the bandit lord (the merchant's brother) and represents a higher authority (like a king) so murdering him would make the characters outlaws. The characters have to deal with all of this chaos and convince the knight not to kill the bandit lord, or maybe even rescue him from the knight's clutches.