The Defense of Grass River - A Free D20 Adventure

[ShadowDenizen]

Well done.
Not perfect, but nothing ever is!

Looks like it could potentially even be an interesting beginning to a campaign, and, on a personal level, it's right up my alley.

I like that it's not a "Dungeon Crawl"; very few low-level modules focus on interactions with NPC's, and I like the concept of the PC's actions drastically impacting the final confrontation.

 

[Cheiromancer]

I really like the mechanic for handling recruitment and diplomacy in the module. I'd love to hear more about the theory behind it. In other words, what information would you need to do a similar diplomacy/group combat kind of adventure with different factions, different monsters, different levels, etc.?

And le bump.

 

[joshuakanton]

I really like the mechanic for handling recruitment and diplomacy in the module. I'd love to hear more about the theory behind it. In other words, what information would you need to do a similar diplomacy/group combat kind of adventure with different factions, different monsters, different levels, etc.?

And le bump.

The mechanical theory behind it was that the characters would cut a deal with three groups. If they did less, then the fight would be more difficult and if they could manage more, it would be easier. Therefore, any three groups would provide enough support to defeat the goblins, but not the Barghest.

Personally, I prefer a less dice intensive method. Every faction would have a history and motivation. The faction’s history dictates its allies and enemies and its motivation dictates what it wants. By cutting a deal with one faction you upset its enemies and grow closer to its allies.

I view it like a spider web, pull on one strand and you move the entire web.

What I use to detail a faction.
Name – The name of the group and is it secretive or public
Leader – Who runs the group, what is their level and what are their personal goals
Major members – Who are the important members of the group, their levels and personal goals
Alignment – The over all alignment of the group, as a role-playing tool
Allies – Whom do they get along with, why and is the information known
Enemies – Whom do they not get along with, why and is the information known
Motivation – What are the group’s overall goals
Resources – What resources does the group possess?

It is a lot of up front work, but the characters have the option to deal with anyone and it is easier to figure out the ramifications of their actions.

 

[Cheiromancer]

Based on how many groups the characters cut a deal with, the strength of the goblins opposing them will be different. From the barghest at minimum, to the whole goblin army at most. How did you decide what these CRs would be?

And given the CR that you wanted the party to face, did you have a handy procedure to determine how to make the group fit a particular CR? What role does the CR of a unit of militia play in the calculations?

 

[Birmy]

This is actually fortuitously timed, because I'm about to embark on what I pitched as a "super-casual," when-we've-got-the-time D&D game using only pre-made adventure modules. This prompted one of my player to say, "So, a dungeon crawl, then." I bristled at that, especially since I was just going to run The Sunless Citadel to start us out, which is... a dungeon crawl. So this is just what the doctor ordered; once they finish The Sunless Citadel, they'll be at just the right place level-wise to give this a go.

Thank you for allowing us all to stea-- er, use your adventure.

 

[joshuakanton]

Based on how many groups the characters cut a deal with, the strength of the goblins opposing them will be different. From the barghest at minimum, to the whole goblin army at most. How did you decide what these CRs would be?

The various CR’s were calculated using the Encounter Calculator on the D20srd.org web site.

And given the CR that you wanted the party to face, did you have a handy procedure to determine how to make the group fit a particular CR? What role does the CR of a unit of militia play in the calculations?

The various CR’s that the group could face were based, as you stated earlier, on the barghest being the minimum CR and the entire army would be the maximum CR. The minimum number of opponents were based on the support of three groups, this would lead to a fight with just the barghest. If the characters manage to acquire more equipment or personnel, then the fight would be easier, as noted by the barghest having fewer hit points for the final battle. If the characters had some difficulty acquiring enough support, then the fight would become increasing more difficult.

The Goblin’s army rating was 15, that is, there were 15 groups at a CR of 3. I gave the militia a slight morale advantage because they were defending their families and homes and considered that in an even fight the militia would win. If the goblins had a slight numerical advantage, the militia would win but would take heavy losses. Larger advantages by the goblins lead to the militia being defeated and the characters subsequently having to fight or run from a larger number of foes.

The CR’s that the characters had to face were broken up into six groups, with CR4 being the barghest alone and CR12 being the entire army. One additional group was added to represent an above average or better-equipped group of militia. The remaining CR groups were split up to show that a larger militia will have an easier time or last longer against the goblins then a smaller or non-existent militia, thus the CR groups became CR4, CR5, CR6, CR8, CR10, and CR12. The number and type of opponents that the characters would have to face were chosen to represent the appropriate CR and what the barghest would reasonably have close by.

This is actually fortuitously timed, because I'm about to embark on what I pitched as a "super-casual," when-we've-got-the-time D&D game using only pre-made adventure modules. This prompted one of my player to say, "So, a dungeon crawl, then." I bristled at that, especially since I was just going to run The Sunless Citadel to start us out, which is... a dungeon crawl. So this is just what the doctor ordered; once they finish The Sunless Citadel, they'll be at just the right place level-wise to give this a go.

Thank you for allowing us all to stea-- er, use your adventure.

I hope you and your group enjoy the adventure. Let me know how it goes.



Brandon

 

[joshuakanton]

Last time through.

 

[Helfdan]

Outstanding!

Great job. Very classic feel, with a good plot. Looking forward to using this soon.

 

[joshuakanton]

Great job. Very classic feel, with a good plot. Looking forward to using this soon.

Thank You.