Sacking a City

[Scott DeWar]

and where aare the dwarves from?
Scott-Just curious-DuWar

 

[Reynard]

and where aare the dwarves from?
Scott-Just curious-DuWar

Wales.

 

[shadzar]

What I am looking for are some ideas on how to effectively run a "pillage and loot" session. I must say, in all the 25+ years I have been DMing, I have never had PCs run rampant through a falling city trying to stuff their pockets with gold and jewels.

Sounds like an outdoor dungeon to me. Wandering monsters are the citizens running around, encounters happen when the PCs pillaging is met with resistance, roll for initiative.

 

[Haltherrion]

A combination of "set-piece" encounters, some random material prep'd (but probably not a lot, just enough to fill in 2-3 extra encounters, maybe more if your encounters are really short) and maybe a couple hooks.

Faced with this sort of thing, I'd come up with:

• Flesh out an enticing loot target: something like a seemingly abandoned wizard's tower with some surprising (a golem? demon-in-a-bottle?)
• A gang of hobgoblins that would give them a serious challenge
• A little girl asking for help finding her parents (if your players have any heart at all

Then a list of "random" encounters to use as it makes sense (can always roll if necessary):

• A looter leaving a temple with a bag of stuff, chased by the priest
• Hobgoblins killing a family
• Hobgoblins laden with loot leaving a building
• Some small fires for mood
• Maybe the beginning of a serious fire, that will put a time limit on the whole thing.
• An elemental on the rampage, summoned by a now dead wizard to protect the town (maybe it started the fire or was summoned to put it out)
• Knights from the citadel trying to save a few city folk
• Knights from the citadel turning away city folk
• Various fleeing folks: priest and acolytes, merchant willing to bribe party, group of prostitutes

 

[Wiseblood]

PF had an interesting trick in Council of Thieves. The sewer had a bunch of random enconters or planned encounter I'm not sure which. The interesting thing was that it was like a skill challenge. Failed rolls delayed you from getting you to your objetive by increasing the number of encounters. That is IIRC.

 

[Mark Chance]

When sacking a city, don't forget to answer this most important of questions: paper or plastic?

 

[Scott DeWar]

A little girl asking for help finding her parents (if your players have any heart at all

This encounter could be complicated by a dialog like this:
girl: Look its nmummy and daddy!

Party sees someone who has had to contend with before (the mum or dad)

chaild's parent: You! What are you doing with my child!!

*uh oh*

 

[JoeGKushner]

Appendix N: Agincourt: The Fall of Soissons

I just finished reading Agincourt and it features the fall of a city, Soissons with some bad stuff described.

Seeing how the gobos treat the captured city might be an eye opener for the players or it might be a further strengthening of their current ethos.

Planned 'random' encounters might work best in such a situation. They might find contacts looking to escape the city, they mind find a hidden enclave, they might find a vault forgotten for years, etc...

 

[Quickleaf]

Going into a burning city to retrieve a beloved magic item and loot? Sounds like typical players!

While this might be enough motivation for your players, it's just too cool of a situation for such a weak plot hook. Plus you said the dwarven thrower isn't even there anymore right?

This screams plot twist to me. As in what the players think their quest is changes at some point, going from pure greed to...
<fill in the blank>

For example a hobgoblin commander plotting a coup using this opportunity to break the war chief's orders intending to make the city his own. Then you have a group of "Romans" scheming to exacerbate the infighting in a last ditch attempt to reclaim their crumbling city. You might even trap the PCs in the fallen city under hobgoblin marshal law as the rest of the hobgoblin army lays siege. This may qualify you for official RBDM status.

Or maybe the "Romans" took a high priestess/oracle captive and their retreating general is trying to smuggle her out of the city. If the PCs can intercept the oracle alive they'll gain a powerful ally against the BBEG and a great source for a future plot hook.

 

[kitsune9]

When sacking a city, don't forget to answer this most important of questions: paper or plastic?

Paper of course! My cat loves those paper bags we bring home.