Demoralizing the Setting


3.5/d20/OGL


Pathfinder Adventure Path, Rulebook Subscriber

I'm not really sure where I should put this on these forums as there doesn't seem to be a Campaign Discussion board. If this isn't being posted in the right area, would love some redirection to where it should go.

If any of my player's are on these forums for some reason, it would probably be best if they didn't read past this point, as details about the game are going to be brought up in this thread.

I'm working on a campaign for my player's where I am using the Greyhawk setting of Geoff for a campaign. I have the Living Greyhawk stuff for the region, and surrounding regions, and even Eric Bluntzer's excellent reference document for LG Geoff years 1-4, with a few Y5 references.

For those who aren't very familiar, at this point the region has been overrun with giants and only a small section of the Duchy has been reclaimed, but that happened four years ago and the military really hasn't been moving to take more territory since then and is instead entrenching (the allied nation who is militarily supporting the action is planning on annexation of the held territory).

The natives are racially different than the other kingdoms surrounding them, having held onto a strong racial culture that most of the other nations have surrendered due to other human races co mingling with them. The situation in the one reclaimed town has been pretty tense for the past few years as the nature oriented natives have been getting run roughshod over by their more militant allies.

Instead of starting the campaign where LG did, I'm looking at doing things a bit earlier and leveling up people more slowly than LG. I'm planning on using the Slow progression from the Pathfinder book. The situation in town in the winter of 2740 Flan Tracking is pretty bleak, and I'm trying to figure out further storylines that I can involve the party in that will express how bad it is.

I'm looking at using a Bugbear murderer to be running around in one of the two tent cities that are built up around the town. I'm using the Bugbear from Monster's Revisited by Paizo, so he really gets off on the fear that he can get out of his victims. The current setting is an excellent one for him, because people are very afraid of what is going on.

I'm also looking at one of the occupying nation's men to have become mentally disturbed due to some things that have occurred. The native populace being racially different and very resistant to most everything that he believes in has driven him into relieving his aggression by murdering some of the native population.

I'm thinking that in the beginning the group won't think that this murderer is a separate murderer from the Bugbear, but if they catch one first they will realize that the two are different. Also, they have differences in their styles and the scenes that are left behind, so smart people (my wife) will probably catch on to the fact that they will be different people early.

I'm going to have a missing board up in both tent settlements (one is far more recent than the other) because people have been going missing. This board is also used by the allied nation to put up their wanted posters for individuals that the native populace considers heroes.

I have a story planned that is a bit more of a usual DnD line where creatures are getting past the defenses of the region, and so the party will involve itself in tracking them down, as well as some others.

What I'm really hoping to figure out is more ways to demoralize the situation, without also demoralizing the players. Other thoughts are welcome, but I'm trying to make the situation pretty grim in town and through winter while the group goes up to like level 2 or 3 maybe, and then have a story that provides a lot of hope to show that the players are making a difference.

Thanks for your time.
Barator


Well, the first thing to do, in my mind, is to have a player handout. Show them what has happened to the region, and show them why people are afraid.

Given that they are in tent cities, also put in a bit of cabin fever, make the winter colder, harsher. Make the players feel the chill down to their characters' bones. The bugbear murderer may be one thing, but what about an addled, twisted by the cabin fever individual. Perhaps there's a shortage of food, and he's become a cannibal due to that. Several problems arise due to that. Perhaps the madness is caused my a possession-style demon or devil, making this a fiendish plot as well.

Add on a peace-brokering mission, perhaps. Depending on the giants involved, the winter could be very harsh, indeed. Even a single tribe of hill giants could cause a lot of devastation in a peaceful setting. They may even be smashing a defensive wall/trench that has been built by throwing rocks. Then their goblinoid and ogre-magi subjects could really cause some trouble.

I hope this helps.
/d


If you want to go that far, there could be trouble among the people in the camp, because they are stressed, demoralized, people are ill, etc. There could be fights breaking out, and the PCs could be either mediators or get involved in fights. Perhaps the leaders are inefficient and there is crime everywhere, etc.


I would review some Ravenloft material for feel.


Pathfinder Adventure Path, Rulebook Subscriber
Darkmeer wrote:
Well, the first thing to do, in my mind, is to have a player handout. Show them what has happened to the region, and show them why people are afraid.

Ya, I have already been working on the hand out. I wrote up a lot of the recent history on it yesterday. It went over what I wanted it to, as the recent history is already a page long before I talk about the set up of the campaign start. However, it is important stuff for them to have handy.

Quote:
Given that they are in tent cities, also put in a bit of cabin fever, make the winter colder, harsher. Make the players feel the chill down to their characters' bones.

Ya, I was making it a bad winter, as that will drive up a lot of the other things that are going on. To have nature against you as well as other things makes things worse for many people.

Quote:
The bugbear murderer may be one thing, but what about an addled, twisted by the cabin fever individual. Perhaps there's a shortage of food, and he's become a cannibal due to that. Several problems arise due to that. Perhaps the madness is caused my a possession-style demon or devil, making this a fiendish plot as well.

I was planning on shortages (in my brain, due to the harsh winter conditions and all) but hadn't put anything down on paper about them. Good thought to have them incorporated. The cannibal thought line might be interesting. One thing that worried me was that if I have so many different murderers, it might lessen the import of each one.

As for the infernal connection, I have both fey and lower planar influences occurring within the region already, so I could tie that to the situation. I was already planning on having one of the murderers pushed to his current state by a faerie.

Quote:
Add on a peace-brokering mission, perhaps. Depending on the giants involved, the winter could be very harsh, indeed. Even a single tribe of hill giants could cause a lot of devastation in a peaceful setting. They may even be smashing a defensive wall/trench that has been built by throwing rocks. Then their goblinoid and ogre-magi subjects could really cause some trouble.

Lots of good ideas. At the moment I want to avoid direct confrontation with the giants, and instead show what is going on because of them. Then when the party actually gets to strike back at the forces of the enemy (after the winter has passed most likely) they will have a lot of aggression and reason to truly despise their enemy.

@ CourtJester - Ravenloft, hm....have something somewhere.

@ Luna - Ya, I could see that going along with the stir crazy ideas that were talked about above.

Thanks a lot for what you guys have posted so far. Like I said I'm working on the campaign brief, and will post it up here when I get some more stuff put into it.

Have a good day.

Barator


Add in a pack or two of feral dogs, ravenous with hunger that raid supply tents and attack people. That adds a nice feel of desperation to things.


Pathfinder Adventure Path, Rulebook Subscriber
Lyingbastard wrote:
Add in a pack or two of feral dogs, ravenous with hunger that raid supply tents and attack people. That adds a nice feel of desperation to things.

Hehe, good idea on bringing the dogs in. I know that they are out there in the hills ATM, but on a cold winter they could be forced into attacking town for food. Might make a nice morning wake up call at some point.

Barator


Pathfinder Adventure Path, Rulebook Subscriber

This is the campaign brief that I have been working on describing the current situation.

It is a late Fall 2740 by Flan Tracking in the Cantrev of Arweth, but already it feels as if deep winter has set in on the land. Morning fog no longer rolls off the banks of the Realstream and over the town of Hochoch, as it does in any of the warmer seasons, and the snow has already tumbled down the sides of the mountain in the distance. Throughout Hochoch, and the surrounding areas people prepare for a bitter winter.

The weather is not the only bitterness brewing in Hochoch though, only a few months ago it seemed as if Governor Neumann, no longer referred to as Provisional Governor Neumann, quelled general revolt throughout Hochoch, Lean-to Town, and Hutville. The land that so many have fought so hard to retake was almost lost due to political infighting of the various factions. The battles that these groups fight are over what to do next, but as they battle little action against the giants is taken. There are many reminders to the Gyri people of the dangers of their current life, and they have little else to think of on these cold winter nights.

Those who have lived in the Cantrev during the past few years know that winter brings relief from the hill and fire giant attacks on the border forts, but the cold winds bring the frost giants with them. The frost giants and their frigid allies do not fear to move and make war during the coming months, a fact that is whispered among both the Gyri and Marchers throughout the Cantrev. Frost giant jarls have attacked the Cantrev the past four winters, and are known for their daring raids. During storms they sneak past the forts, and attack where the Gyri are unable to defend against them. Skarbald, a hero of the frost giants and an enemy of all Arweth has shown great pleasure in these raids. He has grown to great status among his people and a symbol of icy doom to his enemies.

Food shortages are common throughout the Cantrev of Arweth; the early cold ruined much of Autumn’s harvest. Rationing of current supplies has already started within Hochoch, and few seem content with their share of the rations. Those rations that are being passed around among the Gyri are often poor quality, providing sustenance but little comfort. Speculation abounds about the actions that Governor Neumann is prepared to take to ensure that his Marcher soldiers remain fed. Stories of both steading and croft being raided by not only giants and their allies, but also starving human soldiers and feral dog packs have trickled into town.

Hopes that the Gran March will be able to provide noticeable relief supplies to Gyruff dwindle, as the elves of the Dim Wood continue to attack caravans moving through the Rushmoors in response to the Marcher road that is carving its way through the swamp and their wooded homeland. The Gran March believes that a hero of the Gyri people is working with the elves to stymie their road building efforts, and Darlon Lea is currently wanted by the March in regards to this matter.

Food shortage is not the only thing on everyone’s mind as winter comes; sickness has been spreading within the overcrowded tent towns outside of Hochoch as of late. Racking coughs can be heard throughout the temporary settlements, and the Reaper is said to walk among the sick. The priests of the local faiths, both the Old Faith and the popular protector gods, tend to the sick as best they can, but as always these individuals are few in a place that puts a great deal of demands on their extraordinary skills, and so sickness continues to spread past the priests and druids ability to cure it.

In addition to the faithful and the sick, the various faiths found within Hochoch have another supplicant waiting to be tended to. Countless Gyri maimed and mauled by the coming of the giants can be found throughout Hochoch begging for enough scraps to get by. These half men and women seek hope for the future, and some sort of help from the divine beings who allowed these things to happen to them, but the priests look at these veterans and civilians knowing that all they can do is help them live through the day, little can be done for the long term suffering that the giants have left the person with.

In Lean-to Town, a board stands that many families have tried to use to contact old friends and relatives since soon after the return to Hochoch. The board is no longer filled with old missives, but instead more current cases of Gyri who have disappeared in the night. While many of the Gyri are illiterate, talk of the board is always available to those who would ask about it, and the latest postings can be heard in muttered conversations throughout the streets of Lean-to Town. Hutville has erected their own board for such postings only recently, as disappearances continue in both communities. Both of these boards feature wanted posters for Darlon Lea, though they are frequently ignored or covered up by other posts.

Murders are happening in Lean-to Town, Hutville, and Hochoch. Whoever the killer is, favorite targets seem to be the Gyri, and Gyri of all walks of life. Some people in Lean-to Town have said that they have heard something skulking through the tents at night, and other tales speak of a raspy, labored breathing that can be heard over the wind sometimes. Most are to afraid to seek out the source of the noises, and instead hide under the covers and hope that whoever it is passes them by this night. When a murder does happen in Lean-to Town, it is a gory and gruesome affair. Everyone discusses the deaths that are going on in quiet and closed circles; the trust of the Gyri even of their own people seems strained in the current situation.

(Not happy with the way that I keep writing that last sentence. I see small groups of people talking about it, but being very closed off about the discussion, when normally they are very open to other Gyri.)

In addition to the murders, homes are being broken into within the walled city of Hochoch. Common opinion of the nature of these break-ins varies, but stories circulate about many possible causes. The stories vary, some portray the thieves as common Gyri or Marcher soldiers stealing food from their neighbors to increase their ration; other versions portray a more sinister criminal searching for valuables; some even speak of ghosts of those who died during the first Battle of Hochoch returning to their old homes. The Marcher’s have had little luck in dealing with these situations, and many Gyri refuse to report incidents to them, as distrust between the two cultures increases.

Barator


Not that I really have any advice, but you have done a nice job of writing up the ground level effect that all the crap of the last generation or so of troubles has wrought in the region. Honestly, it's just a slight step above being stuck in one of those crappy northern regions overrun by Iuz's hordes or the remnants of the Great Kingdom. What a lousy place to live Greyhawk is. Still you did a good job of describing the effect on the ordinary people of the region. Maybe that will tug at the players' heartstrings?


If the players don't already have that hand-out, I suggest the following revision regarding the sickness/plague:

Have the sickness present, but have a corps of priests/druids arrive as the PC's get started on their first adventure. The healers can be a sort of Red Cross (well received by the occupied and tolerated by the occupiers).

Call for spot checks when the group returns from their first mission to notice that there are slightly fewer healers in the tent cities.

Their numbers dwindle due to their inability to cure themselves of the sickness. The people will be even more demoralized by that, [peasant thought bubble] "They can't even cure themselves; what hope have we poor, downtrodden, hard-working common folk have?!? *cue the gnashing of teeth, rending of clothes and dressing in sackcloth* [/peasant thought bubble]

This gives the party's cleric/druid a chance to augury the answer and shine the ray of hope for the people.

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A dragon. A Dragonslayer dragon.

The landscape is barren due to war. But all those people, huddled in tents. Flimsy, tissue paper tents. The dragon shouldn't be after wanton destruction (this is her feeding ground, after all), but it should also be painfully obvious that the group (and the army) have no chance of stopping her.

It shouldn't be too often. Maybe once a week (or month) she swoops in, snatches some poor shmuck and crunchy-crunchies her way back to her lair.

Very demoralizing, and something to deal with later . . . much later.

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Undead. Not armies at the behest of the Super Evil Necromancer.
Just so many people have died and there's such a saturation of latent negative energy in the air that the buried just won't stay that way. People huddle together for warmth because they're afraid to go to the forest to gather firewood because they might easily run into a skeleton or zombie . . . of someone they know.

Hacking down the living dead is one thing; it is quite another if it is your neighbor, Tom, who still owes you those 5 silvers . . .

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