Jake the Blind Seer's page

As a player I'd be scouting the place out and formulating a plot to kill the hobgoblins as quickly as possible to (hopefully) prevent the living son from being killed.

If your players do anything like this have them overhear the hobgoblins telling the NPC that once his father honours the contract they have with him he'll be safely returned home. (Which will hopefully give the players pause).

That being said, I would think most groups would then run in and kill the hobgoblins anyways... They've already killed one son, what's to stop them from killing the other?
Have the PCs find the contract or have it become a story of them trying to figure out what the deal was and why would the wizard enter a contract with hobgoblins in the first place!

Your points are well taken. During their approach to the old tower, the PCs will hear the hobgoblin leader talking with the injured son. He is efficiently tending to the injured son's wounds, but without much of a bedside manner. There will be hobgoblin sentries posted making it difficult for the PCs to surprise the hobgoblins. They will not attack, but if the PCs attack them, the hobgoblins will fight defensively, while their leader and the injured son try to explain the situation.

The contract in question is that the magic user hired the hobgoblins as bounty hunters to capture and bring to justice an up and coming necromancer causing problems. The hobgoblins were successful, but delivered the necromancer to the elves for their particularly nasty form of justice (as well as the bounty offered by the elves). As far as they are concerned, the hobgoblins fulfilled their side of the contract and just want to get paid. The injured son is aware of this and can corroborate this fact.

Thanks for your thoughts and your time.

Wow, I love the plot.

If you fear the players will hit first with no questions ask, you can always make them find drafts of a negotiation letter , or the original contract, in some desk before the Hobgoblin assemble all their real power when they realise they are being attacked.

To make obvious they have the resources, the wizard may have am expensive ring with the heraldry matching the clothes of her children. And let them borrow until the quest is done.

Good points. I am planning to control the PCs approach to the old tower so that they will have a chance to hear the hobgoblin leader talking with the injured son. He is being very efficient at tending the son's wounds, but without much of a bedside manner. There will be hobgoblin sentries posted which will make it difficult for the PCs to surprise the mercenaries. The hobgoblins won't attack and if attacked will fight defensively while their leader and the injured son try to explain the situation.

Before heading out on their first big adventure, the inn keep will give the PCs several healing potions and some monies ("for expenses") and the injured son and the dead son will also have money or negotiable items to pay the ransom up front. Another option given the PCs will be to deliver the hobgoblins "request" for payment and setting up a time and place to meet for the exchange.

But then, no plan survives contact with the players, so I will probably have to make something up at the table.

Thanks for your thoughts and your time.

I think it's great, it has a lot of different avenues for RP, they have a chance to negotiate with the hobgoblins, the old tower may even have traps that could pose an interesting threat, and the bonds the NPCs have as former adventuring partners can really play up later on (maybe the wizard in the tower is one of their former allies?) and make for some more quests. Honestly, with sandbox games, you really can't start to big in my mind, letting the PCs see that they have a plethora of options for quests and goals makes the world all the more engaging! Great start and a great hook! Sounds like an awesome setting!

Thanks for your time and your thoughts.

I like everything about that beginning.

However, even wanting the contract fulfilled, once the one son was killed, I as a PC would be looking a at a way of ending them-then coming coming after the mage in a position of power to find why he was trucking with such creatures, and oh yeah, reminding him that his son's death is on his shoulders.

The magic user and her sons were attacked at the old tower by hirelings of the future Big Baddy. Attracted by the sounds of fighting, the hobgoblin mercenaries show up at the old tower after the magic user is tied to horse by one of her sons and is carried back to town. The hobgoblins drive off the attackers and prevent the injured son from being killed.

The magic user had hired the hobgoblin mercenaries as bounty hunters to capture an up and coming necromancer and bring him to justice. The hobgoblins succeeded, but instead of turning him over to the “proper authorities”, they turn him over to the elves for their particularly nasty form of justice (and for the bounty that the elves were offering). As far as the hobgoblins are concerned they fulfilled their side of the bargain, and just want to be paid. They are LE, but are honorable creatures and aren't thieves.

Thanks for your thoughts and your time.

Sounds interesting. I think it is fine, but you should listen to the others about potential problems the PCs might encounter due to possibly not coming to the conclusions you want them to.

Good point. I am painfully aware of the three clue/hint rule and then having to hit the PCs/Players over the head with a fourth.

Thanks.

I might suggest more actually. The PC's should have some sense of loyalty towards this mage initially, to make the future of the relationship that much more serious (if she is a jerk who failed to pay hobgoblins, then she will fail to pay the PC's = work with the hobgoblins to kill the mage).

Give them a reason to like, and trust her first. Maybe start them on the road IN to town where their rations and water were destroyed when they are ambushed by goblins, and saved by the mercenary group on their way OUT of town (on mighty steeds, not on foot like the PC's). She can offer healing, some summoned mounts, and a token for a free night or two at the inn run by her friend.
She also advises they burn the bodies of the goblins to prevent them returning (she cites a pressing matter for her party as why she cannot stay to help beyond giving a bottle of oil).
This should give them time for the NPC events to unfold, AND let the party RP bond a little before the big fights start.

PC's report the attack to the guards, settle in for rest and healing, then they meet the kind, noble, generous NPC mage again who asks for help and offers some payment.

I like your thoughts on this. Having the PCs encounter the magic user and her sons as they are heading to the old tower is a good idea. While it will be the inn keep (a former adventuring partner of the magic user) who will try to recruit the PCs to retrieve the bodies, this would certainly make the PCs more invested in the adventure.

Also, I like the idea of starting the session with, "blah, blah, blah, approaching the city, now roll initiative" as the goblins attack.

Thanks for your time and thoughts.

Even if it never became part of the campaign or came up, I'd want to know as a GM why the mage hired evil hobgoblins and what she had them do, why she didn't pay them and how the presumably friendly NPC bard would react to finding out about these things. Also, were the sons involved and what did they know.

Good point. The magic user had hired the hobgoblin mercenaries as bounty hunters to capture an up and coming necromancer and bring him to justice. The hobgoblins succeeded, but instead of turning him over to the “proper authorities”, they turn him over to the elves for their particularly nasty form of justice (and for the bounty that the elves were offering). As far as the hobgoblins are concerned they fulfilled their side of the bargain, and just want to be paid. Both sons knew about this.

While too late to save both sons, the hobgoblins drove off the hirelings of the future Big Baddie, saving the injured son from being killed. They recognize him as the son of the magic user and decide to stabilize him, tend to his wounds and ransom him back to the magic user for their money. They will offer to release the body of the dead son to the PCs as a show of good faith.

Thanks for your thoughts and time.

In reviewing the opening session for the start of my new campaign setting, it struck me, that perhaps it is too busy or too big a beginning? This is an open world adventure/exploration campaign in a medium level fantasy setting.

The intrepid PC band of newbie adventurers arrive at the inn in a borderlands settlement that they believe will have accommodations for them. Soon after meeting the inn keep (a higher level Bard, retired adventurer), the city alarms sound and there is a commotion in the streets outside of the inn. The bloodied body of a gravely injured and delirious NPC (higher level magic user, former adventuring partner of the inn keep) is carried into the common room. While being taken into a room off of the common room of the inn, she demands that the inn keep arrange for the retrieval of the bodies of her two sons that she believes are dead (rising from the dead is a bit of a problem in this part of the world).

After the PCs accept this quest it leads them to an old wizard tower. There they find a band of Hobgoblin mercenaries that have come across the sons of the magic user. One son is obviously dead, but the other son is not and has been stabilized by the Hobgoblins. The twist is that the Hobgoblin mercenaries want to ransom the living son back for monies that they are owed by the magic user. The Hobgoblins are lawful evil and believe strongly in contractual agreements (they’re honorable creatures, and aren’t thieves).

Now the PCs can attack the Hobgoblins in hopes of retrieving the two sons or RPing/negotiating for the release of the two sons and serve as agents of the magic user. The PCs (and the bodies of the two sons) will have the financial resources (money, potions, etc.) to pay the ransom (even if the players don’t realize that).

The players for this first adventure/encounter of this new campaign are experience RPGers, but I am concerned that this maybe a bit much for the beginning of a new adventure. Your thoughts, suggestions, and criticisms are appreciated.

Thanks!

So my group is turning into a bunch of "Murder Hobos" that think they still are the heros of the campaign...they are not anymore...and I was thinking of some ideas for a new campaign because things are probaly gonna go south for them soon...

Was thinking about just doing a goblin or monster campaign for them so they can just go full murder hobos...

Sooo wanted to get some input on the differences of running an evil PC campaign vs monster campaign.

Greetings,

You have received good counsel from the other respondents and I can only offer up the following thoughts to consider to salvage your current campaign:

1) We all game because we want to have fun.

2) As GMs we know that, despite our most meticulous planning, players are just like cats and toddlers and will do whatever the hell they want to do. Take a deep breath and repeat after me: that’s okay (which is something that’s really hard for me to do).

3) If you’re not having fun, then it’s more likely than not, that your players aren’t having fun. You need to talk with them and find out where they’re at and what they want from the game. They also need to understand what you want from the game and what are your concerns.

Hopefully, after everyone’s cards are on the table, you and your players can agree on a forward trajectory for the campaign. If not, then have an appropriate deity descend upon your PCs, admonish them for being very naughty, and then banish them to a realm where every creature is hostile and needs to be neutralized to ensure the survival of the PCs. The only rewards being the tools (ammunition, appropriate weapons, healing potions, food & water) necessary to live and fight another day. Their final goal being the opportunity to return to the “real world” so that they can retire, write their memoirs and die peacefully of old age.

For what it’s worth.

I am preparing a “signature” weapon for each of the almost 6th level PCs in our current campaign and would appreciated input from other GMs about the one for the fighter in the party. The purpose of these signature weapons is to (occasionally) give the players a moment to shine and feel special.

The player of the fighter suggested that a “kickass bastard sword” that “glowed” would be cool. What I have in mind is a +2 bastard sword with the flaming burst special ability, and to make it a unique, one of a kind weapon, giving it an additional critical hit feature.

The feature would be that, when the sword “explodes with flame” on a confirmed natural 20 crit, that this explosion causes either the blinded or dazzled condition in all antagonists in a 20 or 30 foot radius around the PC. This condition would only last until the start of the PC’s next turn and be subject to a Reflex based saving throw (did the monsters look away or close their eyes fast enough?).

I run a “medium high” fantasy sandbox game and try to throw one challenging combat encounter per session at the PCs (and if they make a series of bad decisions, PC death is always a possibility), so I don’t think that this weapon (or the other signature weapons) would be all that unbalancing.

Let me know what you think, and thanks for your time.