To fellow DMs in AoW- what reasons are you giving for keeping your players in Diamond Lake? I understand that they are poor to begin with, and that most people would need some money to go off and start a new life, but my group doesn't see it that way. Since clerics can cast create food and drink, and rangers have survival, and trail rations aren't that expensive, and they think of adventurers as wanderers in general, they don't see why they should stick around such a cruddy little town. I used rumors of increased bandit activity and the "unkillable zombies" to keep them closed up at first, and now their hatred of Smenk and attempts to bring him down are keeping them there, but my initial reasons seemed pretty weak to me. So, any input?
The garrison makes constant patrols in the surrounding region becuse of lizard folk attack. One of my players at 2nd Lv. was hinting to the party that he wanted to get out of this crappy town. So my solution was this; a garrison member hears him say this and he puts in, " Ah ya stupid miner we lost 4 good fighters today to 'dem blasted lizard-men and you wanna trollip to the big city, theres easly a thousand score of the lizard-men out there, have fun ya fool!"
And i was prepaired to send as many lizard folk to drive them back or kill them; either way they'll never make the mistake of leaving again. Luckly my players are pretty good at seeing the "Evil DM stare".
It should also be noted that normally i play a pretty "go anywhere do anything" kind of game but i explained to my players that this game will be a bit more controlled then there used too. "Think of it more as a story, and that your the main characters."
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I'm running the adventure in the Forgotten Realms, but since the cities are pretty similar, now, I'll throw in my ideas. One of my characters is a female rogue working off a debt to Zamarantha by serving drinks at the Emporium. Her father died a couple years back and she had to borrow money to pay for a decent burial. One character is a wizard apprenticed to Delfen (Allustan's FR alter-ego). The other is a cleric of Lathander...his responsibilities at the temple keep him here until he can pay a sufficient tithe to the church for the right to travel. The fourth character is a ranger from the Bronzewood Lodge. He's not tied to the town so much as he is tied to the area around the town. He's brought into the mess by the rogue and at the invitation of the group's benefactor, who still remains unknown (I know, it's a cliche, but I've spent a lot of time working on some background politics and associated NPCs, so I went with the concept, this time).
I really haven't had much difficulty keeping them in Diamond Lake. Most of my players know me well enough to recognize that if I tell them they are stuck someplace there is a good reason. Tony had a good point. There are lots of lizardfolk around. Random encounters can be dangerous for 1st-level characters, especially if you use untiered encounter tables like me. Not to mention, there is more to living off the land than trail rations. If that's all it took than anyone in Diamond Lake could probably pick up and move elsewhere. There are all sorts of expenses to think about. Clothing, shelter for the winter (having run a Frostfell campaign this can be lethal), and proper nutrition (trail rations will sustain you but you get scurvy if you don't have more variety in your diet) are all good motivators. Personally I use the upkeep variant from the DMG for keeping track of that stuff. Maintaining 45 gp a month for a decent upkeep gets to be an expensive affair. Additionally many people in Diamond Lake have families to worry about and the PCs may have extended families they don't want to leave, at least not without making sure they have been tended to financially. You also mentioned appealing to their sense of heroism by using Smenk; if they are the heroic type then impress upon them Smenk's immorality until they get rid of him, by that time, they are probably ready for Blackwall Keep anyway. If all else fails, have a creditor show up and demand payment or seize the PCs possessions in restitution. I find the last option a little distasteful, but if they force your hand it's a viable legitimate solution.
Like I said, they have more resources and far less reason to stick around than the average person, especially considering they're just 3 days from a major metropolis. I just think the "watch out, bandits and monsters in the wilds" excuse is poor, espcecially considering that people DO come in and out of town frequently (granted, mainly merchants with guards, but the party knows that they are as capable, if not more so, as most groups of hired guards, especially for the minor traders who come to Diamond Lake). Not that it matters so much right now- they're currently hold up in the temple of Hextor, planning their move into the Caverns of Erythnul, and will be leaving for the swamp soon anyway (which, of course, they don't know).
There you go, if you read the overload adventure synopsis, you only really have to hold them in town tell the 3rd adventure. WHich it seems you've already done. Now my plan for "the big city" is to make it a confusing as possible with thugs and rogues picking on the "newbies". I may make them do search checks per day to find what there looking for in a quarter part of the city per day. After all these are a "buch of small town hicks" and the "big city" is pretty overwhelming. Hopefully after a few days they'll just want to return anyways, hopefully that is...
P.S. I usually run all my games in the Forgotten Realms, but opted for Greyhawk since my players no nothing about it, and i'm free to build the landscape as i see fit. That i imagine will make a difference.
I think I'd just make them all drinking buddies who had grown up together. As youth, they are not so much interested in having to actually go through any effort to find better work. Diamond Lake is all they know, and while they loath the place, it is home, and they've slipped into jobs that give them some spending cash. Take a look at the kids in any real life small town.. Lots are there because it is simply to much effort to leave...now if they could just get rich quick...
Sitting in the bar one night they hear the other adventurers talking about the Stirgenest Cairn.
In a drunken stuper one mumbles,
"Dath wud we aaad'u do ::belch::...We cud be adven...advent...heroes... 'Member dat plathe we use'ta ::hick:: go on da dareth? I bet ith full'o trea..tre..treasu...gold. Leth go get it ::Thud of head hitting table::".
The next morning they all find themselves decked out as best the could in the midst of the night in their drunken stupor...why is the fighter's armor on backwards?... lying in the grass infront of the Whispering Cairn with the taste of vomit still in their mouths.
"What the hell we doing here?...Is your armor on backwards?..." "Hell since we are here we might as well check it out, 'sides, my Pa's gunn'a beat me if I go home and he finds I blew all my pay last night."
This could also explain why they are being accompanied by escaped circus midgets, hookers, or any other character outside their cilque.
ASEO out
I love world-building to much to use a pre-made setting, so I'm using a custom built one, but with the Greyhawk pantheon (ALL of it, not just PHB ones). We have a character who's from the city (a replacement for one who died in Whispering Cairn), but considering his background, I'm not too worried about him knowing too much of the city. He's not the brightest/most perceptive rogue in the world, suffice it to say.
I'm trying to think of a reason why a nature-loving evangelical druid would want to join a party of townies (an ex-miner, a sorceror from the Emporium and a changeling rogue). Any ideas anyone?
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I'm trying to think of a reason why a nature-loving evangelical druid would want to join a party of townies (an ex-miner, a sorceror from the Emporium and a changeling rogue). Any ideas anyone?
Well, since he is of an evangelical bend, the obvious answer is he's trying to clean up Diamond Lake's environments.
A particular target would be the smelting house dumping filth into the lake, sending ash and smog out to blight the countryside. Just like in todays society, how do you make a cash cow change it's ways to be more environmentally friendly? He might even try working with the elven mine owner (and then by extention the 'intellegincia' at the dragon-chess parlor) to work to minimize 'the blight of industrialism'.
While it might not be helpful to anyone, really, cuz it's specific to my party in my campaign... maybe it can spark an idea or two for DM's in a tight spot.
I've got a samurai disguised as a miner in Diamond Lake. He's there to investigate Smenk's involvement with the disappearance of his lord's nephew. Smenk and the samurai's lord have had business conflicts in the past, and the nephew had taken a day trip to Diamond Lake to visit their famous freakshow at the Emporium. (Let's not question the difficulties of a samurai in disguise. It's a challenge the player wants to deal with, and he's LN, so is his lord, and it really doesn't conflict with bushido).
The samurai has been working away in the mines for a couple of months and has made the aquaintance of another character. The other character is a native of Diamond Lake, and has been working in the mines since he could hold a pick and hammer. He's a huge brute and has honed his skills at fist-fighting at the Feral Dog.
Those two characters are tied together somewhat before the campaign begins, and the next two are kind of lone-wolf types before the campaign.
One character is a knife-thrower. He grew up with a travelling circus and learned his showmanship first-hand. Unfortunately, when he set off into the world on his own, the best thing he came across was a part-time job at the Emporium. He's quite eager to find a path with more excitement.
The other character grew up in a nomadic tribe in the area, until he got seperated from his tribe during a bandit raid (Ebon Triad maybe). So, a portion of his childhood is spent slaving away for these bandits (or cultists), until he made his escape. The lights of Diamond Lake lead him to the town through the night, and he's been here since. He's very eager to hunt down the bandits for some payback, and possibly discover what happened to his tribe.
So, for the most part, the characters have ties to the town... for the moment. The samurai's investigation is a great tactic, I can use that to lead the group almost anywhere. The family thing and job thing aren't that great, really. I mean, people leave their families and jobs all the time. And, with the tribesman searching for the bandits and his family... well, that's not too problematic. As long as he thinks the Ebon Triad had something to do with the attack, then he'll stay in town long enough.
Anyways... hope it helps.
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The key to motivating the players and thus their PCs in wanting to stay in and around Diamond Lake is having their backgrounds seeded with reasons to stay.
Two PCs are motivated by honour/revenge to stick around Diamond Lake and get the answers they need to settle their souls. One PC is the bastard son of Ragnolin Dourstone and has spent the last 50+ years living in shame in Greysmere. He wants to confront his father about the dishonour he paid his Clan and mother. Also there's this accident in the mines where his mother's family was killed... The other was the youngest son of a modestly wealthy merchant from High Ery (downstream from Diamond Lake in the Domain of Greyhawk). His Baklunish father was a Dragonchess expert and frequented Lazare's when business allowed him to. After one such evening of play in Diamond Lake, the PC awoke in a puddle of his own blood, injured but not dead from a blow to the head. His father did not survive the same injuries and the murderers made off with the Baklunish Dragonchess pieces (passed down through the generations) and a lot of coin. The PC experienced Cubbin's justice and vowed that no others would suffer as he did. His anger and frustration at not catching the killers lead to his discovery of his latent talent (soulknife).
A third PC is the former bodyguard turned apprentice of Allustan, a half-orc wizard with a touch of earth genasai in his blood. That'll be realized at a later game at an appropriately dramatic moment.
Having backgrounds rich with hooks will keep the players interested in the setting, no matter how much a *bleep*hole it is. A sense of ownership in the area will lead to positive results later and a potential improvement to the area.
I can hope.
I think I'd just make them all drinking buddies who had grown up together. As youth, they are not so much interested in having to actually go through any effort to find better work. Diamond Lake is all they know, and while they loath the place, it is home, and they've slipped into jobs that give them some spending cash. Take a look at the kids in any real life small town.. Lots are there because it is simply to much effort to leave...now if they could just get rich quick...
Sitting in the bar one night they hear the other adventurers talking about the Stirgenest Cairn.
In a drunken stuper one mumbles,"Dath wud we aaad'u do ::belch::...We cud be adven...advent...heroes... 'Member dat plathe we use'ta ::hick:: go on da dareth? I bet ith full'o trea..tre..treasu...gold. Leth go get it ::Thud of head hitting table::".
The next morning they all find themselves decked out as best the could in the midst of the night in their drunken stupor...why is the fighter's armor on backwards?... lying in the grass infront of the Whispering Cairn with the taste of vomit still in their mouths.
"What the hell we doing here?...Is your armor on backwards?..." "Hell since we are here we might as well check it out, 'sides, my Pa's gunn'a beat me if I go home and he finds I blew all my pay last night."
This could also explain why they are being accompanied by escaped circus midgets, hookers, or any other character outside their cilque.
ASEO out
Priceless... if I ever get around to running this, I can see myself using a variation of this.
I'm trying to think of a reason why a nature-loving evangelical druid would want to join a party of townies (an ex-miner, a sorceror from the Emporium and a changeling rogue). Any ideas anyone?Well, since he is of an evangelical bend, the obvious answer is he's trying to clean up Diamond Lake's environments.
A particular target would be the smelting house dumping filth into the lake, sending ash and smog out to blight the countryside. Just like in todays society, how do you make a cash cow change it's ways to be more environmentally friendly? He might even try working with the elven mine owner (and then by extention the 'intellegincia' at the dragon-chess parlor) to work to minimize 'the blight of industrialism'.
Fair enough and thanks for this, but it doesn't answer the question of why he would want to join the party and go exploring the Whispering Cairn.
I'm trying to think of a reason why a nature-loving evangelical druid would want to join a party of townies (an ex-miner, a sorceror from the Emporium and a changeling rogue). Any ideas anyone?
actualy, I had a similar problem. While druids and rangers tend to prefer their own company, maybe knowing a party member would help? Perhaps there's a way for the party help him out in exchange?
My player recruited her little tree hugging boyfriend after their last get together ended unexpectedly with much screaming and running and frantic flinging of worms all over the place. After he got her into such a mess, going with her into the carin seemed a fairly reasonable favor for her to ask.