Player owned Castle and a Simulated Montage

[DaveW]

Hi guys, new to the site, relatively new to D&D too. To summarize what this post is about; I'm a DM and my players own a dilapidated castle, which I want to work into the plot in a way that binds the player's characters together. I want to condense 6 months of game time into a single session, so we can skip ahead to the good stuff (i.e. you guys have an awesome castle and don't need to take care of daily business).

I'll try and give you all the details as concisely as possible. As a relatively new DM I'd love input and ideas from your collective experience, particularly about events during the 6 months.

Quick plot Summary:
The players banded together when they were falsely accused of rescuing a half-Orc barbarian from the Hangman's noose. The King took it personally and smacked a HUGE bounty on the players, leaving them no choice but to band together to clear their names (solving alignment conflicts and allowing characters to keep their backstory private). The players found enough evidence to clear their names and claimed the bounty, but were tricked by a shapeshifter who ran off with the cash, leaving them penniless. The King, pleased with the players, asked them to locate his ward, for which the PCs demanded land and titles in return. The quest completed, they became the owners of a dilapidated castle. Visiting it for the first time, a lycanthrope was showing them around when everyone was captured by a monster fighting ring, who thought they'd bagged a bunch of werewolves. Players break free, kill the werewolf, and start heading back to the castle. En-route they accidentally burned down a guy's bar, so he's coming with them to set up shop anew.

What is known about the Castle:
It's old and in poor condition. It is the oldest building in several hundred miles. They have been told that the castle has been built on an even older series of passages, leading deep into the earth. No-one has ever explored these passages, as they are filled with deadly traps.

Plot Hook:
Upon returning to the castle, a messenger from the King informs them that they have responsibilities, including gathering taxes from the surrounding land. The players are charged with getting the area back on its feet, and have 6 months to do so.

Starting Resources:
The barman that they are travelling with has an eye for business, and handles day-to-day things. They have their initial tax collection, and any money that they want to put into the pot. They have a small, untrained militia. They have access to people who can repair and build parts of the castle. They are popular with their people, having removed a werewolf that was bothering them. The barman will put his cut of the taxes towards fixing a tavern and restoring the stables, so the players don't have to do that.

Rewards:
Certain castle repairs will offer permanent stat bonuses. For example, a wizard's tower could offer +2 to Arcana, fixing the library could offer +2 to History, etc. Players will also get tax money and gifts depending on their decisions as leaders.

Gameplay:
I plan to run this by having 1-2 events per month. The following month, I'll update the players on events and the long-term impact of their decisions will become apparent. For example, if they don't have enough guards, then bandits will plague the land. All 6 months will be played in a single session, so events should be small enough to get through quickly.

Event Examples:
1) Thieves try to cheat a famous horse breeder out of his prize horse with faked documents. If the breeder's name is cleared, he'll give them fine horses as thanks.
2) The tax wagon is attacked en-route to the King. The players must deal with the problem by setting an example, otherwise the attacks will continue.
3) A nobleman refuses to pay his taxes.
4) Word has spread about the trapped corridors beneath the castle, and adventurers are breaking in, never to be heard from again.
5) The King requests a report about the land bordering you to the east. The players must decide how to gather the information.

Endgame:
The effective endgame is that the castle will become a link to more interesting adventures. By the end of the session it should be self-sufficient, so the players only need to check on it if they wish, or if the plot requires it. The players are free to pursue adventure without being held back by the castle, which would then serve as a base of operations for the party.

Thanks, looking forward to hearing your input! Again, I'm looking for general suggestions about the concept and ideas for what to do at each month interval.

-Dave

 

[anest1s]

Maybe the players have to protect the trade routes from bandits and other dangers if they want the nearby villages to grow. Or they could ask a toll from passengers for keeping the road functional and safe...


Then again, if the castle is again functional and with some defensive power, then maybe a village will be build next to it (or inside its walls). Maybe villages from nearby villages come seeking refuge from something. Since they pay taxes they have to be helped.

Or maybe some thieves go around the country, pretending to be the tax collectors

Or maybe the lord of an other castle in the area, used to collect taxes from the PC's castle territory illegally- and while he cant admit that he does, he isn't quite happy to part with that income...

Maybe the dwarfs who used to mine the rock for the repairs needed for the castle suddenly went...missing

Also, how and why the castle is deserted? Maybe the last owners died somehow? Or maybe they had their own reasons to leave?

 

[Hand of Evil]

• Return LAW to the land - players have to hunt down bandits and setup law enforcement.
  
• The Church - the State church is a hanger on to the party, they want to "help".
  
• Along comes a wife - merchants that want a title, poor nobles, any one with a claim to the land comes out of the wood work with an arranged marriage.
  
• Bring the Workers - new land but where are the skilled workers coming from, say hello to the guilds.

Note most of these will have NPC that need to interact with the players.

 

[aco175]

The unknown tunnels below the existing castle can open many possiblities. An ancient threat can be blocked from entering a portal in the basement, linking this place to the feywild or shadowplane. There could be a swap on this idea where an evil person blocked a portal to the feywild where a new link in trade and support can come from, once they can open it and negotiate with the village elders who remember who the guy was that came before.

Other groups of adventures come to the place thinking that it is still a ruin with unknown treasure below it. Some negotiate with the current occupants, while others try and sneak in or just mount an attack.

 

[gamerprinter]

Detail some NPC for RP purposes

It helps to bring a castle to life by creating a cast of NPCs that live and work in the PC's castle. Have a steward, a house manager responsible in maintaining the castle. He'll need permission from the PCs for expenditures larger than his budget - wall repair, damaged roofs, new defenses for upcoming known threats. He'll be the 'go to' guy that runs your castle in your PC's stead. I would stat out steward, head cook, stablemaster, a butler, a maid, then perhaps a few choice stand-outs among the general staff - the dwarf mason, messenger boy 'runner'. These are commoners, though the steward might be an aristocrat (a lesser one), though the dwarf might be a fighter as well. Of course you'll need low level guards for your castles, though they might be your 'minions'? (I don't play 4e, so I don't know if PCs can have minions or not.)

Doing so helps bring verisimilitude to your castle 'setting', gives you people to rely on to take care of your castle, people you need to take care of when defending your castle - as they become part of the PC's 'family'.

It helps bring your game to life, just a suggestion.

GP

 

[Gilladian]

If you can get your hands on a copy of "Magical Medieval Society: Western Europe" it may give you a LOT of suggestions.

Things that could be troublesome in re-establishing a small demesne (maybe a barony?):

fallow fields that have become infested with ankhegs.
old orchards that are now the home of a dryad who doesn't want to be disturbed.
the well that would be best used for the village nearby is dry - what's blocking the old spring?

land is rarely totally unclaimed - someone may not be happy to have new tax collectors, permanent residents and nosy intruders around - could be bandits, could be outlaws (who are not robbers, but would be arrested for hunting the king's deer or other "survival crimes"), or any other group that is not widely accepted (a necromancer or "witch" in the woods?).

Many of these things could also become full-scale adventures, which is what I'm assuming you'll be doing with the tunnels. Sounds like great fun!

 

[jefgorbach]

obviously Waterdeep provides a clue asto what todo about the tunnels ... chances are the players will (if they havent already thought of it) setup a "toll booth" around the only KNOWN entrance and change entrance/exit fees to those eager to explore the region; maps would be a lucrative side-trade as well.

as others have said, PCs will likely want to hire experienced castle stewards, cooks, etc to handle daily affairs, esp as time goes by, so they can concentrate upon the more exciting events as they occur (and adventure of course) so having several NPCs plus generics ready should help. Cohorts/loyal followers will likely fill some of these roles, esp those needing hands-on exp like tax collecting/etc.

 

[Stormonu]

It sounds like you are giving the characters the taxes they collect towards their own use; a portion (generally the lion's share) should be going to the king. That presents opportunities in itself; if the shipment of taxes gets waylaid by bandits, a dragon or whatnot, the PCs will have to retrieve or replace the lost funds or could be asked to step down. Players could be charged with skimming on taxes by others who want the castle for themselves.

 

[aco175]

I always used whatever taxes collected go directly to running the castle and paying the lords, so in effect it was a net 0. It is not the most realistic but works out fine with the players not having to worry about these little things and can focus on the follow up adventures connected like what others suggested.

 

[DaveW]

Thanks for the ideas!

I didn't want to saturate my original post with all the details, but it seems there's some things I shouldn't have omitted.

My plan for the tunnels, is to make it a modified version of the Tomb of Horrors. As much as possible, I'd like to dissuade my players from going in there. I'm setting it out to do something with in the future, although I haven't really decided what yet.

The taxes are being collected for the King-the players will be allowed to keep a small portion.

The barkeep that they traveled with will take on the role of Steward of the castle. He's an ex-adventurer with a good business sense, and the players cost him his bar.

One thing I'm really looking for is quick events that can be solved in around 10-25 minutes. I have about 4 hours for the session, and getting through 6 months of game time will be a bitch. So while I appreciate your feedback, some ideas will take too long to work in this context; nonetheless, this feedback is amazing and highly inventive.

Now for direct replies...

...Or maybe some thieves go around the country, pretending to be the tax collectors

This is an idea I really like! I can work it out into a sort of map-based intelligence gathering puzzle, the players have to 'intercept' the bandits.

Or maybe the lord of an other castle in the area, used to collect taxes from the PC's castle territory illegally- and while he cant admit that he does, he isn't quite happy to part with that income...

I'm thinking this sort of thing would happen all the time, so I'm planning for the nobility to be a bit hostile to the players.

Also, how and why the castle is deserted? Maybe the last owners died somehow? Or maybe they had their own reasons to leave?

The castle was basically abandoned when the borders changed at some point. It grew into disrepair, but recent political changes have made restoring the castle seem like a worthy investment to the king. When the opportunity arrived to delegate, he did just that. The castle has been looked after by a minimalist skeleton crew without any real leaders (one of whom was the Lycanthrope terrorizing the area).

Return LAW to the land - players have to hunt down bandits and setup law enforcement.

This is basically the big aim of the session.

The Church - the State church is a hanger on to the party, they want to "help".

I'm planning that there is little to no religion in the area, and my party's cleric has the option of setting up a little church here. The cleric has a low personal/character investment in the party, and I want to increase that here if I can, by offering him the chance to attract clergymen to the area and set up a church. He's a gold-loving priest of some religion that hoards gold for some reason, I can't remember the exact name of the god. I think it was from a Dragon Magazine-I generally outlaw Dragon supplements because many of them seem unbalanced. Anyway, yeah, church development is something in the theoretical mission at the moment, so any ideas for that are welcome. It would help if you knew the god, I think it's a lesser god from the forgotten realms, but I can't find the name.

Along comes a wife - merchants that want a title, poor nobles, any one with a claim to the land comes out of the wood work with an arranged marriage.

I'm not entirely sure what you mean by that one.

Bring the Workers - new land but where are the skilled workers coming from, say hello to the guilds.

Making my players sort out a guild strike/problem sounds like fun...

The unknown tunnels below the existing castle can open many possiblities. An ancient threat can be blocked from entering a portal in the basement, linking this place to the feywild or shadowplane. There could be a swap on this idea where an evil person blocked a portal to the feywild where a new link in trade and support can come from, once they can open it and negotiate with the village elders who remember who the guy was that came before.

Other groups of adventures come to the place thinking that it is still a ruin with unknown treasure below it. Some negotiate with the current occupants, while others try and sneak in or just mount an attack.

The tunnels will be a modified version of the Tomb of Horrors, although I haven't decided exactly what to do with it quite yet. I have some ideas, but I like the idea of it being a portal to something important, as opposed to a tomb of some kind.

It helps to bring a castle to life by creating a cast of NPCs that live and work in the PC's castle. Have a steward, a house manager responsible in maintaining the castle. He'll need permission from the PCs for expenditures larger than his budget - wall repair, damaged roofs, new defenses for upcoming known threats. He'll be the 'go to' guy that runs your castle in your PC's stead. I would stat out steward, head cook, stablemaster, a butler, a maid, then perhaps a few choice stand-outs among the general staff - the dwarf mason, messenger boy 'runner'. These are commoners, though the steward might be an aristocrat (a lesser one), though the dwarf might be a fighter as well. Of course you'll need low level guards for your castles, though they might be your 'minions'? (I don't play 4e, so I don't know if PCs can have minions or not.)

Doing so helps bring verisimilitude to your castle 'setting', gives you people to rely on to take care of your castle, people you need to take care of when defending your castle - as they become part of the PC's 'family'.

This is an absolutely fantastic idea. The players already know the Steward, who will take over for the one they killed. Well, he was a werewolf. So Steward, Head Cook, Stablemaster, Butler, some maids (who will probably end up being objects of desire for certain members of my party), and a head Workman. I'm planning that the King will send along a messenger to inform the party of their obligations, so I'll probably put him in servitude to the players, and make him look down his nose at them a bit. He can also serve as a 'keeping an eye on you' type spy for the player. As that's such a cliche, I'll have to play it up a little bit to make it entertaining. This is the best advice yet-I'll really need to spend some time working on a good family of NPCs to make the place feel like home. I think I know what I need to do to endear them to my players too.

If you can get your hands on a copy of "Magical Medieval Society: Western Europe" it may give you a LOT of suggestions.

I won't be able to get my hands on it unfortunately.

fallow fields that have become infested with ankhegs.
old orchards that are now the home of a dryad who doesn't want to be disturbed.
the well that would be best used for the village nearby is dry - what's blocking the old spring?

I like the dryad idea-I'd like to incorporate a scenario that can end peacefully or with combat, with suitable consequences in the next month. I'd also like to be less predictable-so if I did the dryad and she agrees to peace with the players, she might freak out two months later and kill some people. Or perhaps, we agree to peace and the locals burn her forest down, and we must track down the people responsible.

land is rarely totally unclaimed - someone may not be happy to have new tax collectors, permanent residents and nosy intruders around - could be bandits, could be outlaws (who are not robbers, but would be arrested for hunting the king's deer or other "survival crimes"), or any other group that is not widely accepted (a necromancer or "witch" in the woods?).

This is a far-flung part of the Kingdom, so the land has effectively been governed by the law of "Might is Right". Expect Boisterous Pirates, Tempestuous Mercenaries, Cunning Thieves, Insidious Bandits, Unscrupulous Merchants, Perfidious Noblemen and Treacherous Guardsmen; essentially, a veritable who's-who of shifty-eyed individuals and nefarious organizations.

Many of these things could also become full-scale adventures, which is what I'm assuming you'll be doing with the tunnels. Sounds like great fun!

I'm hoping to create as many plot hooks as I can as I go along, so the players always have something to do.

obviously Waterdeep provides a clue asto what todo about the tunnels ... chances are the players will (if they havent already thought of it) setup a "toll booth" around the only KNOWN entrance and change entrance/exit fees to those eager to explore the region; maps would be a lucrative side-trade as well.

Heh, it's a good idea. I wonder if my players will think of it?

It sounds like you are giving the characters the taxes they collect towards their own use; a portion (generally the lion's share) should be going to the king. That presents opportunities in itself; if the shipment of taxes gets waylaid by bandits, a dragon or whatnot, the PCs will have to retrieve or replace the lost funds or could be asked to step down. Players could be charged with skimming on taxes by others who want the castle for themselves.

Most of the taxes will go to the king, but I was considering giving them the first two months of taxes to go towards setting up in the area. Bandits will definitely be raiding the tax wagon at some point, but I like the idea of the Nobility trying to get rid of the players. Perhaps the Nobility is paying the bandits?

I always used whatever taxes collected go directly to running the castle and paying the lords, so in effect it was a net 0. It is not the most realistic but works out fine with the players not having to worry about these little things and can focus on the follow up adventures connected like what others suggested.

I will, in the end, having something along these lines. A small trickle of tax money will go to the players, which they can pick up when they return to the castle later. I'd like Castle improvements to give the players something to spend their money on.


Thanks for all the suggestions so far! These are really great. If I can think of a few more ideas, I can single out some plot elements and get them worked in as well.

There is one more piece of information that you might find helpful; we SHOULD have a new player in our group this session. My player becomes an NPC when I'm DMing, so I intend to have him 'find' the new player and put him on the council that rules. The council will consist of the players, only 3 of whom actually have titles, the two new players, and the Steward. I'm leaving a lot out for brevity's sake, but this might be important.

Thanks for the help so far guys, when I've sorted out the details, I'll keep this thread alive for further development and I'll update you on the night with the details of exactly what happens. I'm sure the magic of D&D will liberally crap all over my plans.

-Dave

EDIT: One more thing! The session will take place over the winter. It's assumed to be late summer at the moment, although we haven't expressly stated that in game before.