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Message: <blockquote data-quote="pemerton" data-source="post: 8303923" data-attributes="member: 42582">Maybe we're thinking of different degrees of nuance?I've just had a look through Lost Caverns. SPOILERS FOLLOW:The module says that "An encounter with a military patrol could be a challenge to the party. A friendly patrol could tell the party how many 'dangerous areas' (variable encounter sites) are on the trail ahead, but not the exact locations. Winning the trust of a patrol is very difficult, however, for it is their mission to be suspicious of all armed travellers." But then for the human patrols, there is also this: "Simply stating that the party is in the Yatils adventuring and seeking to slay the enemies of humankind will generally suffice to obtain a grudging dismissal from a patrol." The mountain tribesmen "can be bribed with money and weapons or similar gear. They can also be enlisted as allies against known raiders, or to attack someplace and gain great and easy wealth." The dwarves "will not listen to talk which would prevent or delay [their] mission. They will ignore any party of neutral or good aligned characters - or anyone else who does not binder or attack them." For the hermit, "If the party will trade some valuable item . . . and some small amount of food and perhaps a new cloak, the fellow will give them a page from the journal of the lone survivor of a past expedition to the caverns." The stone giants, "if they are offered food and drink . . . will offer to trade a scroll they cannot read for coins or gems."For a number of default hostile groups, there are statements about the circumstances under which they retreat/flee. For the hobgoblins there is more nuance as they are "in the pay of Ket, with orders to prevent or report human movement along the Kettite border area."Of the gnomes, we are told that "If the party is friendly, the gnomes will not attack them, and if the party is of good alignment, they will be permitted to enter the vale and use it as a place of safety and rest. If the party has fought and defeated humanoids or ogres, trolls, etc., then the gnomes will befriend them, healing the party’s wounds and diseases, and supplying food. They will tell a trusted party the general whereabouts of the caverns. . . . For particularly heroic actions, the party will be rewarded by the gnomes."I'm certainly not saying that there is no skilled play here, but the parameters for the social encounters seem pretty similar to what I described. There are no intricate interpersonal bonds or hostilities; no rivalries or hostilities that differ from those stated in the MM entries; and no general lack of willingness to accept payment for services.</blockquote>

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