"The bridge is destroyed! We're trapped!"

[Hand of Evil]

The town is on an island not that far out to sea, connected to the shore by a land bridge, each day the tide overflows the bridge. The kids are out in the farmlands for the harvest, this is more social like the stepping on the grapes, it is a way for young adults to interact, a few older adults help out.

 

[BiggusGeekus]

THE AWARDS


Entrapment: Jürgen Hubert - Snowstorm

I liked the other ideas, but the snow/heavy rains is the most plausible and easily incorporated.

Keeping The Kids Out Of It: JimAde - Festival

It can tie in nicely with the snow or heavy rains.



Others tied these ideas in together very nicely and fleshed it out. NewJeffCT pointed out that there could be orcs in the hills which could really explain a lot of other loose ends. But I thought I should give the coveted smilie to the guys who spoke up first.

Now, all I have to do is write it up and have all my players die enjoy.

 

[nyrfherdr]

Hmmm.
It's a mining town. No kids.
If you want... Down mountain, about half a day away is the village that supports the mining town, that's where the family is.

The 'town' is inside the mountain. The main tunnel collapses. The miners are working feverishly to clear the debris. They should be able to get it done by morning.

Or.
Only creatures of size small or smaller can get through the wreckage of the cave-in to freedom. The kids, gnomes and halflings are all waiting on the other side for the big folk to clear a path through the tunnel.

Unfortunately, the mine zombies were released by the cave-in!

Game ON!
Nyrf

 

[MarkAHart]

Turn it around. Don't trap the characters, or restrict their movements. Give them a powerful reason why they won't leave the village -- even when they really, really want to escape. Having the elements, or a disaster, or similar event trap the characters provides one sort of tension, but having the characters remain in the village of their own free will offers a different sort of tension and drama. Of course, this is easiest with a good-aligned party -- the "trap" is one of their own choosing.

For example, the party is in the village en route somewhere. They have been asked to escort or protect someone along the way, or to pick up this person at the village. The person becomes deathly ill and will likely die if moved too soon -- he/she needs a few days to heal according to the local priest. The party could abandon their ward and leave the town, at the risk of losing their reputation as being unreliable.

As another example, the characters have friends or family in the village who could not survive the journey to flee the village. The characters can flee, but in so doing they condemn their friends & loved ones to their fate.

Perhaps the village elders had a vision about impending doom for the village. The day before, the children and others who could travel were moved to a safe location at another village. Those who stay behind hope to defend their homes, or protect those too sick or old to be moved. The characters have offered to help protect the town against the approaching danger for whatever reason (good deeds, payment, protecting family, etc.).

For added mystery and a possible future rescue adventure, if the villagers wake up that morning and find all the children vanished (kidnapped?), they may call upon the characters for help in the midst of the impending trouble.

 

[JimAde]

THE AWARDS


Entrapment: Jürgen Hubert - Snowstorm

I liked the other ideas, but the snow/heavy rains is the most plausible and easily incorporated.

Keeping The Kids Out Of It: JimAde - Festival

It can tie in nicely with the snow or heavy rains.



Others tied these ideas in together very nicely and fleshed it out. NewJeffCT pointed out that there could be orcs in the hills which could really explain a lot of other loose ends. But I thought I should give the coveted smilie to the guys who spoke up first.

Now, all I have to do is write it up and have all my players die enjoy.

Note my new sig. I'm so proud.

 

[BiggusGeekus]

HA! Happy to oblige!

 

[shilsen]

Keeping The Kids Out Of It: JimAde - Festival

No, no, NO!! The kids should be out of it because all of them are now zombies. Shuffling, mindless, brain-eating little tykes, preferably still carrying dolls and teddy bears, some little zombies leading littler zombies by the hand, overwhelming the PCs in waves of incredibly cute undeadliness

And no, I'm not actually kidding. I've seen experienced players whose PCs would happily face a charging dragon turn green when they had to fight a little zombie hitting them with his teddy bear

 

[Ferret]

The local sherif has reson to believe that the Pcs have commited crime (could link with illegal raise of dead and then zombies), so they must stay in town. To keep them there they might have been compelled by magic, want/need to find the criminal, or an essential NPC thinks they should stay. The Children line the streets because tyhe same sherrif is holding census so in fact everyone is out.

 

[Jdvn1]

Why not just give an incentive for the party to stay in town? Maybe there's an event the next morning, or one of the party members meets a nice lady in a bar *cough*, or maybe they have to meet someone for a job proposal.