T1: The Village of Hommlet - why are the PCs there?

[haakon1]

T1: You come to Hommlet to discover if this is indeed a place for adventurers to make their fortunes. (Bandits have begun to ride the roads again; Hommlet worried to the Viscount; this information has been spread through the countryside and the news has attracted outsiders to the village again).

Sounds about right.

The way my DM ran it, in about 1985, was that we'd heard of trouble in the area. I'm not sure if we had heard about the Battle of Emridy Fields and about trouble at the Moathouse before we started, or not.

 

[jonesy]

We went there for the burial ceremony of a friend. When we got there we heard it had been cancelled. Fancy that.

 

[ExploderWizard]

Although I always thought that evil was an abstract concept, not a body part.

You have obviously never encountered the dreaded head of Vecna.

 

[JohnRTroy]

I think there was some mention of it in either the reprint or the T1-4 combination. I'd have to pull it out though...

The Computer Game from Trokia gave an origin encounter before you entered the town, different depending on your alignment.

 

[grodog]

From the title page of the (original) module booklet:

Luckily for its inhabitants, the Temple and its evil hordes were destroyed a decade ago, but Hommlet still suffers from incursions of bandits and strange monsters . . . .

and this is also relevant:

After some five years, adventurers stopped coming to the area, as it seemed no monsters were left to slay, no evil existed here to be stamped out. For four years thereafter, this seemed true, but then bandits began to ride the roads again---not frequently, but to some effect. This seemed all too familiar somehow to the good folk of Hommlet, so they sent word to the Viscount that wicked forces might still thereabouts. This information has been spread throughout the countryside, and the news has attracted outsiders to the village once again. Who and what these men are, no one can be quite sure, although all claim to be bent on slaying monsters and bringing peace and security to Hommlet, for deeds speak more loudly than words, and lies cloak true purposes of the malevolent.

Then the info in the START section comes right in, with the PCs wandering up from the Wild Coast, mostly-penniless, etc.: ready for adventure!

 

[hopeless]

Hommlet?

In the computer game the PCs found someone being mugged and intervened unfortunately not in time to stop the Canon's death, but long enough to be asked to pass on word of her death to the church of St.Cuthbert...

Those frogs however kept killing off my party every darn time, for some reason the game wouldn't let my characters rest so they could relearn spells or more importantly change them to the ones I wanted!

As for the adventure scenario itself not a clue!

 

[grodog]

Good to know that the killer frogs are still killers in the PC game

 

[JohnBiles]

In the computer game the PCs found someone being mugged and intervened unfortunately not in time to stop the Canon's death, but long enough to be asked to pass on word of her death to the church of St.Cuthbert...

Those frogs however kept killing off my party every darn time, for some reason the game wouldn't let my characters rest so they could relearn spells or more importantly change them to the ones I wanted!

As for the adventure scenario itself not a clue!

The computer game has 9 possible openings, depending on party alignment.

In order to rest, you either have to risk wandering monsters or you can go to the Inn of the Welcome Wench and spend 2 GP and rent a room for 24 hours to use to change spells, rest, etc.

You can also make a deal with Ostler Gundigoot to get free room and board if you can catch that guy Furnok cheating at cards.

 

[MerricB]

From the title page of the (original) module booklet:

Then the info in the START section comes right in, with the PCs wandering up from the Wild Coast, mostly-penniless, etc.: ready for adventure!

It's just reconciling that with Lareth making sure no-one can tell where they're coming from: the moathouse isn't that far from Hommlet. So, Lareth has been really sneaky but the adventurers still come to tales of bandits around Hommlet...

Maybe he isn't the "dark hope" after all!

Cheers!

 

[darjr]

Or maybe because Hommlet is a bit away from where the trouble is brewing it appears to be an ideal place to base camp.

Further in T1 there is advice that characters that are a bit more advanced than 1st level newbs have some sort of 'encounter' that at least resets their power level by denying them certain possessions. In this case having Hommlet out of the way of the trouble makes it a tempting place to hole up.