Okay, this first one is the list of NPCs that I've given to my players. Feel free to take out ones that you don't feel are appropriate for your game, and add any more that you need.
I expect my players to keep notes on any other NPC that they meet throughout the adventure, like Crazy Jared, Celeste, and the nobles they could meet through their connections at the Cusp of Sunrise, as well as the Striders of Fharlanghn.
CAULDRON
Authority Figures
Lord Mayor Severen Navalant, male human
Lord Orbius Vhalantru, male human (advisor to the Lord Mayor)
Terseon Skellerang, male human (Captain of the Town Guard)
Skylar Krewis, male human (Town Guardsman)
Religious Leaders:
Sarcem Delasharn, male human (high priest at the Church of St. Cuthbert)
Jenya Urikas, female human (priestess at the Church of St. Cuthbert)
Alek Tericival, male human (paladin at the Church of St. Cuthbert)
Ruphus Laro, male human (cleric at the Church of St. Cuthbert)
Asfelkir Hranleurt, male half-orc (high priest of the Temple of Lordly Might, dedicated to Kord)
Omar Tiskinsen, human male (high priest of the Church of Kord)
Kristof Jurgensen, male human (cleric at the Shrine of Pelor)
Embril Aloustinai, female human (high priestess of the Cathedral of Wee Jas)
Ike Iverson, male human (cleric at the Cathedral of Wee Jas)
Shensen Tesseril, female half-drow (attendant caretaker of the chapel of Farlanghn at the Lucky Monkey)
Local Merchants:
Skie Aldersun, female gnome (owner of Skie’s Treasuries)
Keygan Ghelve, male gnome (owner of Ghelve’s Locks)
Phalian Gurnezarn, male human (blacksmith and proprietor of Gurnezarn’s Smithy)
Tygot Mispas, male halfling (proprietor of Tygot’s Old Things)
Rivek Mol, male human (proprietor of The Tipped Tankard)
Artus Shemwick, male human (cook at the Tipped Tankard)
Tippys Surefoot, female halfling (proprietor of Sure Foot Livery)
Gretchyn Tashykk, female halfling (headmistress of the Lantern Street Orphanage)
Vortimax Weer, male human (alchemist and potion brewer at Weer’s Elixirs)
Halpeen Welvihk, male human (proprietor of The Drunken Morkoth Inn)
Bjellkir Zanathor, male human (proprietor of Zanathor’s Provisions, a general store)
The Stormblades
Annah Taskerhill, female human (bard, leader of the Stormblades, Cauldron nobility)
Cora Lathenmire, female human (fighter, Cauldron nobility)
Todd Vanderboren, male human (rogue, Cauldron nobility)
Zachary Aslaxin II, male human (Ranger, Cleric of Kord, Cauldron nobility)
This next one is collected from the campaign seed sidebars for the Last Laugh. I handed this one out to my party rogue when she decided to start her own guild, and wanted to know about any existing guilds.
She was around 6th level at the time, and I think I just gave her this information without making a gather information check or a knowledge local check.
If you want to give information out based on a skill check, I put in some DCs you might want to use... but honestly, the numbers are just a wag.
The Last Laugh
DC 15:
Cauldron has more than one small guild of thieves, but perhaps the most influential guild is called The Last Laugh. The guild’s symbol is the silhouette of a laughing jester, shown in profile. The guild oversees various rackets and specializes in security, blackmail, extortion, and assassination.
DC 20:
The guild’s leaders, called Jesters, form an inner circle that oversees all guild activities. Speculation abounds that at least one of the guild’s Jesters is a high-ranking town official or noble.
DC 25:
The Jesters, few in number, rely on an intricate network of spies, agents, and informants. Their immediate subordinates are call harlequins—skilled rogues and assassins who paint their faces and handle much of the guild’s “dirty work.” The guild also uses spies—called mimes—to infiltrate rival organizations, verify rumors, and gather information on troublesome bands of adventurers.
DC 30:
The Last Laugh mints its own currency by melting down sovereign coins and recasting them with the guild’s jester insignia.
DC 15: (The characters may have seen the coins, but not know where they came from.)
The coins have infiltrated the local economy, and most people consider them no worse than the sovereign’s gold or silver. Some see the “jester coins” as a joke, while others view them as a threat to the economic stability of the town. Although the Lord Mayor has vowed to catch the criminals responsible, the local authorities have had no success tracking down the source of the coins, leading some to suspect corruption in the local militia or the Lord Mayor’s office.
Hey Big Jake..thanks..you posted that list in the ENworld forums and it has helped me a lot in running the game, it has been more useful to me that the GM screen!!!
what I did for my group was photocopy the cauldron area and city maps into a huge 11x15 papaer and handed it out to them after they decided to buy some local maps.
As promised, here is my own (translated) players handout
Description
This heavily fortified city is built along the bowl of a long dead (or sleeping, if you believe the rumours) volcano, far from the rest of civilisation. The peaks of the mount chain of which Cauldron is a part reach far above the steaming subtropical jungles. This small city of only 4500 inhabitants is nearly completely autonomous from the capital Sasserine, almost two hundred miles to the north. At least, as long as Cauldron Merchants provide the capital with an abundance of fruit, spices, exotic animals, rare ores and gems
A Visitor climbing one of the four steep roads up the side of the volcano first notices the 50’ high wall, set with watch towers half again as high as the wall. But it is not the wall’s height that makes first-time visitors hold their breath in awe. As the sun reflects off the wall’s malachite stones, the entire wall becomes bathed in a dark-green hue. Once through the massive city gate, the visitor notices a dark lake at the center of the crater. Closer to the lake’s shore, the sulphurous air, mixed with the smell of raw sewage that runs directly into the lake is difficult to endure. Un surprisingly, this part of the city is houses the poorest part of the population.
Four mayor throughways form concentric rings along the vulcano’s crater, and separate the poorer from the richer areas. From the inside out, these roads are: Ash avenue, Lava avenue (also called lava lane, although no more than an occasional tree lines this road), Magma avenue and Obsidian avenue. Although most travel occurs on foot, merchant caravans and carriages carrying nobles
Can occasionally be seen on Magma and Obsidian avenue.
Houses are constructed mainly from local (volcanic) stone and hardwood from the subtropical forests. The houses near the lake stand on wooden stilts, sometimes rising as much as 20 feet above the lakes water. Houses closer to the malachite wall are built from exotic stone sometimes contain vast courtyards.
History
The city Cauldron has been built on top of the ruins of many older civilisations. The catacombs are still accessible through some of the city’s older buildings. Rumours speak of abandoned underground complexes deep under the city’s streets. And some lava tubes even seem to grant access to the Underdark.
Government
The city’s Lord Mayor is Severen Navalant, a noble originally from Sasserine. Its captain of the town guard - Terseon Skellerang - does an exemplary task of keeping the peace. On a day to day basis, the city pretty much runs itself. Local nobility govern the lands surrounding the city. Infrequent patrols keep the road to Sasserine free from bandits and other rabble. In all, disorder is at its lowest point in nearly sixty years.
Places of note: (name - location - proprietor)
Temples
* Temple of Lordly Might (Kord) - Obsidian avenue - High Priest: Asfelkir Hranleurt
* Church of Wee Jas - Obsidian - High Priestess: Embril Aloustinai
* Church of st. Cuthbert - Obsidian avenue & Magma avenue - High Priest: Sacrem Delasharn
* Shrine of Pelor - Magma avenue - High Priestess: Kristoff Jurgensen
Inns
* Drunken Morkoth - Obsidian Avenue - Halpeen Welvihk
* Tipped Tankard - - Rivek Mol
* Slippery Eel Tavern - Magma avenue -
Shops
* Surefoot Livery - Ash avenue - Tippys Surefoot
* Weers Elixers - Ash avenue - Vortimax Weer
* Skie's Treasury - Lava avenue - Skie Aldersun
* Guernezarn's Treasury - Obsidian avenue - Philias Guernezarn
* Zanathor's Provisions - Obsidian avenue - Bjellkir Zanathor