So I'm trying to get my old game started up again, and as one of the characters (an Old Human Paladin/Soulknife) is retiring, but the player is continuing, I'm giving him one of my old NPCs to play (normally I would be loathe to hand someone a character sheet and say "play this" but he wasn't coming up with any ideas and doesn't mind). She's an Eladrin, a young Tulani, actually, albeit somewhat different from the default Tulani in the Book of Exalted Deeds. She's spent the past fifteen years "growing up" (read: partying) on Arborea, after being banished by a Blasphemy spell during the fight with the BBEG of my previous arc. She's something of a champion of Trithereon, and in addition to her Sword of Light she carries a spear that was taken from the body of a Gelugon and redeemed.
All of which is great, but I'm in need of an interesting way to get her to the material plane. I'm planning on having her be the answer to someone's prayers, so to speak -- a champion in battle. The question I need answered is this: in Greyhawk, what are the places most likely to suffer from Mob Rule, Trial by Ordeal, and the like? They've played through the Shadow over Istivin arc, so while I could begin with "yet another bad thing is happening in Istivin" I would rather not.
Anyway, any sort of advice or "things I should know" is much appreciated.
What you're looking for is a generally lawless town or hamlet (anything larger would eventually come under the rule of some despot or another), where there is little to no order and little to no Goodness in the people at large; several decent candidates for those kinds of government by anarchy would be:
- Wild Coast (just about anywhere)
- Bandit Kingdoms (just lost the local leader, oops...)
- Most of the old Great Kingdom of Aerdy (although not the major cities, which are strongly ruled by despots)
- Remote regions of Perrenland
- Amedio Jungle
- Theocracy of the Pale (fringe towns that are fanatic but under the radar of the Theocracy itself)
- Anywhere significantly distant from a marked city (there could of been a crisis that resulted in the death of many or all local leaders, a crime-ridden backcountry, etc.)
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You've described Spinecastle in Bone March pretty well, though humans are a small minority. Gary Holian and I wrote a nice big adventure and backdrop article on Spinecastle that we hope Paizo eventually publishes, but we've only heard that James Jacobs was impressed with it and nothing more so far.
Spinecastle sounds like a great place for an adventure, Mr. Jacobs, please publish said article.
Wow. Pretty awesome advice so far. Thanks, all!
Humm... Spinecastle looks like it would be a great place to center a campaign -- with something like 90,000 potentially hostile NPCs living just in the area around Spinecastle itself, you could go through ten levels without ever leaving that area, just to smuggle a handful of important slaves out of the castle. Given the character's devotion to Trithereon, sending her to Spinecastle would leave her sidetracked for quite some time. If that backdrop gets published, you can bet I'll be using it as a starting point next time I wind up with a party of mostly chaotic goods, though.
The Theocracy has a lot of potential, given that Pholtus and his followers are hardnosed enough to make Cuthbert look like a softy. They're pretty hyperdefensive, I've gathered, and a false priest could cause a lot of trouble in one of the smaller settlements. They burn at the stake those they find guilty of consorting with demons, and that could make for an interesting encounter, particularly since the majority of those present wouldn't actually be evil. Particularly ironic if they're burning some guy at the stake for consorting with demons, and a girl shows up with an evil looking spear strapped to her back to save him -- and given that there've been conflicts between Trithereon and Pholtus in the past, it would play nicely into the overall theme I've been using of "the gods are starting to take a more active hand in things."
On the other hand, the Bandit Kingdoms would be pretty convenient. I used Iuz and his minions as occasional adversaries throughout the majority of the previous campaign.
But the Theocrats would be really interesting... *Conflicted* Iuz does grant the domain of Trickery. *Evil Grin* A Replacement Killer masquerading as a cleric of Pholtus. That'll throw the whole thing on its ear. With a "Holy Symbol" (cleverly disguised Wand of Searing Light, possibly also incorporating a Wand of CLW or some such) and a Staff of Illumination it's entirely possible that they would never know the difference. Nothing quite like having the bad guys and some of the good guys after you. :D
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First of all, I'd like to sign the petition for that Spinecastle module!
Secondly, all of the suggestions above are great choices. Depending on the flavour you want, you might want to set your introduction in the North Kingdom in the neighbourhood of Rinloru, the creepiest location in GH. Given Delglath's activity level, it wouldn't take much for some mob to grab someone and stage an on-the-spot trial. Some filthy peasant points at a PC and yells "Necromancer!", and you're off...
Other trial-by-combat societies in interesting locations include Stonehold, where everyone seems to be an Erythnul cultist, or the lands of the increasingly unpleasant Tiger Nomads, but the best one might be Ull, which is not only the most thuggish society in GH, but also has the added advantage of:
A) being populated by a significant percentage of humanoids like orcs and ogres (the king is a half-ogre), which can lead to interesting PCs, and roleplaying opportunities
B) being largely undeveloped, giving you a free hand to create, as your GH-savvy players know nothing about it
C) being distant and isolated, yet relatively close to cool areas like the plains of the Paynims (another good candidate for a rough society in its own right) and the Barrier Peaks.
The new PC looks lika a ton of fun. Enjoy!