My players are all playing goblins from the Birdcruncher band. In the lead up to Encounter One in Burnt Offerings they suggested to their chief that he take a bunch of warriors down to the Brinestump Marsh to raid the arch-rival Licktoad band. He's a goblin and thus very easily persuadable, so he took twenty warriors and headed down.
I've established that the Birdcruncher band is about 80 goblins (half warriors) and the Licktoad band is about 100 goblins (half warriors). The ten weakest Licktoad warriors were in Sandpoint at the Swallowtail Festival, and the twenty best (including assistant chief Kemfeg) were waiting in ambush for the PCs, accompanied by Old Megus the swamp witch. This leaves about twenty warriors (including Chief Skilmut, a fourth-level ranger with two dogslicers) and fifty non-combatants in the Licktoad home.
Chief Sheknub of the Birdcrunchers planned to try to recruit Vorka to the assault, since it's known that she eats a lot of Licktoads. Then the twenty-two of them were going to go out on a raid.
I'd decided that Vorka was either a warrior or a ranger, and had the Ravenous template from the Advanced Bestiary, but I hadn't gone much further than that. She's never met Chief Sheknub, but she's been fighting (and eating) Licktoads for a long time (to a goblin, at least).
The PCs missed the Swallowtail Festival, and all they know about Chief Sheknub's expedition is that it hasn't returned. They plan to go investigate on Saturday.
On the one hand, the simulationist in me thinks that Vorka attacked (and probably killed) Sheknub, and that his warriors killed her (but at great cost). The twenty Licktoads on guard then would have wiped out the Birdcruncher survivors. I'm just not sure that this helps the story at all, and I'd like a better option from a narrativist.
What if Sheknub did manage to recruit Vorka, but at great cost? He wouldn't have betrayed any Birdcrunchers to her, but maybe he promised her the bodies of several bugbears. Then the PCs would have to go raid the Spikeflesh bugbear tribe near The Pit. They're already terrified of the Great Devil (as they call the Sandpoint Devil--why name it after a Longshank town?), and this would play into that.
So in this scenario the Licktoad warriors got eaten, the civilians scattered, and Ripnugget's alliance collapsed. He's already got the bones of Father Ezakian, and the runewell beneath Sandpoint got charged up in the fight. Does it affect the plot if the goblins aren't working together any more from here on out? If Chief Skilmut survives she's going to be extremely wrathful, but I'm not sure that feeds the plot much. Maybe I'll send her some visions and have her end up in the Catacombs looking for revenge.
Suggestions?
If the Licktoad leadership had been taken out in the raid and attendant intergoblin feuding, much of the tribe's strength might be scattered. Eager to avoid the confusion of a goblin succession brawl, many warriors might be in hiding, waiting to see who ends up in charge before they decide who to align with.
My (non-goblin) PCs went on a side quest to raid the Birdcrunchers, discovering to their horror that the tribe's leader had a pet he had kept home to fend off retaliaton from the longshanks: A dire skunk! The Birdcrunchers had fled to bolt holes among the rocks of Devil's Platter, since angry longshanks would often show up at their caves after any of the tribes caused problems.
If one of the Licktoads' fallen leaders had a nasty pet, it may still be guarding his lair, keeping the other goblins away.
I would expect Nualia to force the goblins back into alliance, if possible. She still wants the town destroyed, and needs troops to complete her grand vision.
If the Licktoad leadership had been taken out in the raid and attendant intergoblin feuding, much of the tribe's strength might be scattered. Eager to avoid the confusion of a goblin succession brawl, many warriors might be in hiding, waiting to see who ends up in charge before they decide who to align with.
The leader of the Licktoads, Chief Skilmut, stayed behind with twenty warriors to defend their homes. There are also about fifty commoners and experts hanging out, all much more familiar with the Brinestump than any of the raiders.
Still, I like the idea. I think that when the dust settles a few former Licktoads might crawl out of the woodwork. There's always a faction in the Mosswood goblins needing supporters, if nothing else. I mentioned that the wife of the Seven Tooth chief is one of the few surviving Bonegrinder goblins, so there's precedent.
I would expect Nualia to force the goblins back into alliance, if possible. She still wants the town destroyed, and needs troops to complete her grand vision.
Good point! Maybe if things fall apart between goblin bands she'll need to have more than just the one bugbear on her side.
Do we know anything about Golarion's hobgoblins?
Perhaps Sheknub tried to recruit Vorka, achieving partial success. He got her to come along to raid the Licktoads, but Vorka got a bit snackish on the way there and turned on him before they reached the Licktoad's lair. Sheknub's followers fled in terror, becoming lost in the marsh. Vorka decided that she didn't want the Licktoads to find out what she had planned, so she pursued the remaining Birdcrunchers around the Brinestump Swamp. The Birdcrunchers found a small boat and piled in, successfully evading their pursuer. Unfortunately, they soon lost the oars and none of them swims well, so they are trapped on a small island in the swamp.
The Licktoads, baffled by the shenanigans, have sent cautious scouts (The skinniest goblins in the tribe) to ask Vorka what she's doing. Chief Skilmut has decided that this is all some devious Birdcruncher plan to draw him into an ambush, so he's got his remaining troops organizing a complicated ambush of his own. Unfortunately, the goblin attention span works against him: Not only are his warriors constantly wandering off of their assigned positions, he keeps changing the plan himself. None of the Licktoads is sure which of Skilmut's schemes is the current one.
When the PCs arrive, they will discover wandering Licktoad scouts and disoriented Birdcrunchers. The Licktoads' defenses are a complete shambles, but their warriors are ready to spring two or three mutually incompatible ambushes on them. The remaining Birdcrunchers need to be rescued, as they are sure that there's a monster watching them from beneath the water: They already drove it off once by setting their boat on fire.
Wow.
Really, how can I not use this plot!?
Thanks for the ideas and the laughs!
It was a great success! Thanks again!