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Revisiting The Keep on the Borderlands
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<blockquote data-quote="Schmoe" data-source="post: 7170129" data-attributes="member: 913"><p><strong>Change #4 – Humanoid Motivations</strong></p><p></p><p><strong>Change</strong>: I detailed more information about each of the humanoid groups, including why they were in the Caves of Chaos and what they were trying to do. I determined that the Ogre and Kobolds were the original inhabitants and had always been there. The Cult moved in about 10 years ago, bringing the hobgoblins and their goblin lackeys along. The gnolls were drawn by the Chaos source of power that the cult was building, though they haven’t allied with anyone and will opportunistically attack any other group to enslave and eat them. The minotaur likewise was called by the Chaos, but keeps to himself. The orcs and their bugbear “allies” are the most recent arrivals and are currently fighting against the hobgoblins and goblins for the favored position of power in the eyes of the cult. The cult, for their part, are content to let the humanoids fight it out for now. They are focused on consolidating their power and trying to gain either converts or sacrifices from the nearby Keep or from caravans that they attack.</p><p></p><p><strong>Reason</strong>: The module gives very little background information about the Caves of Chaos. There’s a cult, there are a bunch of humanoids (orcs, kobolds, goblins, hobgoblins, bugbears, and gnolls), and there’s a rivalry between the hobgoblins and goblins on one side, with the orcs (and sometimes gnolls) on the other side. But why are they all there in this small ravine? I wanted to tie the groups into a cohesive story with the cult at the center, as well as provide a reasonable history as to how and why the groups are all in the Caves of Chaos. This arrangement will help draw the PC’s towards a climactic confrontation with the cult, and it’s also easier for me to run the opponents in a realistic way if I have a goodunderstanding of their motivations. </p><p></p><p>Because I’ve decided that gnolls are savage and don’t ally with others, I mixed up the alliances a bit from what the module presented. The bugbears came with the orcs as ostensible allies, but they keep their opportunistic nature and will turn on the orcs without a second thought. I want to make sure that I'm distinguishing the different humanoid populations. The Caves have so many different humanoid groups that the encounters could easily begin to feel just like one battle after another against the same opponents, just with different names. Keeping the different motivations distinct helps to distinguish the groups.</p><p></p><p>I spent a lot of idle time thinking about this over a period of weeks until I was more comfortable with the arrangement, and then it took me about 10-15 minutes to write it down so I wouldn’t forget.</p></blockquote><p></p>
[QUOTE="Schmoe, post: 7170129, member: 913"] [b]Change #4 – Humanoid Motivations[/b] [B]Change[/B]: I detailed more information about each of the humanoid groups, including why they were in the Caves of Chaos and what they were trying to do. I determined that the Ogre and Kobolds were the original inhabitants and had always been there. The Cult moved in about 10 years ago, bringing the hobgoblins and their goblin lackeys along. The gnolls were drawn by the Chaos source of power that the cult was building, though they haven’t allied with anyone and will opportunistically attack any other group to enslave and eat them. The minotaur likewise was called by the Chaos, but keeps to himself. The orcs and their bugbear “allies” are the most recent arrivals and are currently fighting against the hobgoblins and goblins for the favored position of power in the eyes of the cult. The cult, for their part, are content to let the humanoids fight it out for now. They are focused on consolidating their power and trying to gain either converts or sacrifices from the nearby Keep or from caravans that they attack. [B]Reason[/B]: The module gives very little background information about the Caves of Chaos. There’s a cult, there are a bunch of humanoids (orcs, kobolds, goblins, hobgoblins, bugbears, and gnolls), and there’s a rivalry between the hobgoblins and goblins on one side, with the orcs (and sometimes gnolls) on the other side. But why are they all there in this small ravine? I wanted to tie the groups into a cohesive story with the cult at the center, as well as provide a reasonable history as to how and why the groups are all in the Caves of Chaos. This arrangement will help draw the PC’s towards a climactic confrontation with the cult, and it’s also easier for me to run the opponents in a realistic way if I have a goodunderstanding of their motivations. Because I’ve decided that gnolls are savage and don’t ally with others, I mixed up the alliances a bit from what the module presented. The bugbears came with the orcs as ostensible allies, but they keep their opportunistic nature and will turn on the orcs without a second thought. I want to make sure that I'm distinguishing the different humanoid populations. The Caves have so many different humanoid groups that the encounters could easily begin to feel just like one battle after another against the same opponents, just with different names. Keeping the different motivations distinct helps to distinguish the groups. I spent a lot of idle time thinking about this over a period of weeks until I was more comfortable with the arrangement, and then it took me about 10-15 minutes to write it down so I wouldn’t forget. [/QUOTE]
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