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Hey Pathfinders,
I have a metric ton of gaming materials but I have yet to see an ultimate orc adventure--please help me write up a great Pathfinder adventure outline.
Here is what I have, please feel free to build, add, change, etc.
The setting: A diabolical nation of warlords who govern the major towns, ruled by a malevolent monarchy (King,Queen) who allows the warlords to fight and war amongst themselves.
The adventure:
I. PCs are sent to the town of Dreer Falls to plea for aide (medicine, skilled workers, and foodstuffs) for a town to the south that was torn apart by war. Without this aide, the town's very viability is at stake.
II. PCs arrive in Dreer Falls after a small skirmish with brigands and highwaymen.
III. The PCs make an appointment to meet the Mayor of Dreer Falls whom they learn is a diabolical priest, yet open to reason and a fairly good mayor. The mayor will not send the aide until the orc raids upon dreer falls stop. He explains they must take the Orc King's Crown, which will demoralize them and stop the attacks, otherwise a new king will just take a slayn orc king's place.
IV. ????? [Here is where I need the help] I imagine an orc dwelling within a cave, semi-dungeon like, orc-ecology, tribal standards, a throne room of sorts, the full monte.
Question: What would make this "orc adventure" memorable?
Question: Are there any plot twists or turnabouts you might think of?
Question: What additional story outline points would you add to make this the ultimate orc adventure? How would you finish the outline?
Question: Without making the mayor a true villain, what inner-orc culture twists might make the adventure truly magnificent?
Note: Feel free to include immersive detail, my Pathfinder players are accustomed to great flavor and roleplay as well.
Note: The six PCs are Level 4 now (APL 5), so I will be advancing the orcs and adding racial hit dice etc. If you think of appropriate cohort monsters they should probably range from CR 4 to 8.
Thanks Paizonians, the old trope of "orcs" needs your imagination and good sense of adventure, please help me do "orcs" right!
Heavy cavalry with orc heads on pikes to demoralize the savages.
(Note that i've had more than a few beers at this hour)
To make it more memorable you can always make the orcs more human.
After having slaughtered several orcs show the PCs that orcs have certain human traits aswell. Show them orc children and females.
Even better have an orc show them mercy. This will make the situation much more complicated.
To make a plot twist alot of information is untold. However it could be that the only reason why the orcs had moved on the human(i presumed this has happened) is that they are being driven out of their own lands by something far more sinester.
An often underestimated foe is the Gnoll. Gnolls lead by demons might drive orcs from their country. You suddenly have a far more complex situation.
To suddenly exchange the evils is a powerful tool and will come a surprise since orcs are always evil.
Just my to coppers.
Zippo
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(Note that i've had more than a few beers at this hour)
To make it more memorable you can always make the orcs more human.
After having slaughtered several orcs show the PCs that orcs have certain human traits aswell. Show them orc children and females.
Even better have an orc show them mercy. This will make the situation much more complicated.
To make a plot twist alot of information is untold. However it could be that the only reason why the orcs had moved on the human(i presumed this has happened) is that they are being driven out of their own lands by something far more sinester.
An often underestimated foe is the Gnoll. Gnolls lead by demons might drive orcs from their country. You suddenly have a far more complex situation.
To suddenly exchange the evils is a powerful tool and will come a surprise since orcs are always evil.
Just my to coppers.
Zippo
To build off of this, there is some great potential taking this along with several details in the opening post. After that diabolist priest gives them their task, someone else might directly or indirectly suggest that the PCs not only take the crown to keep it from the various orc tribes, but to claim it for themselves. This can lead to all sorts of awesome, especially if there are any half-orcs in the party.
The PCs could be encouraged to take on the task of taking on leadership of the general orcish population with the end goal of uniting them into a single force that could not only lead them to reclaim their homeland but also to overthrow the local king/queen and their squabbling warlords, leading to a better future for both peoples.
Have each orc tribe have its own flavor, unified by certain cultural mores and a respect for strength(which is what the PCs will have to demonstrate in order to claim their allegience). Each tribe could have its own set of honor values, some of which could be relatable, some more jarring and alien. Some tribes could be easier to win over, some more humane in their culture. And some might be more monstrous and have to be beaten down. Some tribes might be victims of their own leadership and need to be saved from it(tribe with extremely sexist customs where the patriarchal leadership has to go so that the rest of the tribe can be absorbed into another for example). Some tribes might be victims of their own culture, which the PCs will have to break them from by any number of means(older orcs seek death in battle to the point that they deny their tribe valuable numbers and wisdom, the PCs might challenge them to seek a harder fight than just Leeroy Jenkinsing the closest warrior or monster).
The orcs develop alongside the PCs, with those following them evolving and adapting in their culture as the players show them some new ways, and possibly with the PCs doing the same in turn as their shared enemies make themselves known. Some orcs will be sympathetic NPCs. Some orcs will be absolutely monstrous figures causing no shortage of problems.
And through it all the PC's original kingdom's leadership might wind up breathing down their neck and eventually growing nervous when it becomes clear what the PCs are doing. The king/queen will be taking steps to undermine their efforts. Some genuinely good people from the kingdom might find themselves in conflict with the PCs that are seeking to save them.
There can also be aggression coming from the guys that drove the orcs from their homeland. They might have forces coming in to finish the job on a genocidal agenda, or they might be seeking to enslave them. With the latter, they could very well have orc thralls of their own to use against their own kin.
Coming back to this for cultural suggestions, kinda running around at the moment. Stuff that ramps up the values dissonance between not only the PCs' races and the orcs, but also between the various orc tribes as well.
Think about things from the orcs leader's perspective. Suppose you've been getting fat off of raids for months. You're a smart leader, so you know the humans will eventually retaliate. You have a plan:
•Post lots of scouts and spies
•traps
•a way to detect/deal with invisible foes, even just guard animals with scent
•every patrol has at least one orc with a horn or drum- they are trained to sound alarms
•humans and elves cannot see in the dark. Train your warriors to attack/douse light sources
•You and your most important lieutenants and priests have escape plans in case of assassins
These could include potions of gaseous form or invisibility, flying mounts, secret doors, smoke sticks, loyal body guards, and never hanging out in a room with only one entrance.
•take some hostages in case you need to bargain for your life
•If you're suffering repeated attacks from a small, powerful band of heroes, track them and harass them to prevent them from resting.
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Make them a band of Orcs from a rival tribe!
I rans something similar and it was a hoot.
Now, on purpose...
They weren't operating in some great Evil Kingdom.
They were an Orc tribe, just like any other in just about any other fantasy kingdom. They had little to nothing to do with the Human political structure, so they didn't really care who the Duke/Mayor/Humanocentric power that be was.
They had a tribal structure with the Chief at the top and then a sort of caste system. Strong Orcs were warriors, the weaker ones and women were agrarian based. Those that showed the right talents - Chosen by Gruumsh had one eye ripped from their head and became his Shamans.
They had a ranking structure, with the toughest leading bands of six raiders. Each band was also ranked on kills.
What they did?
They did what the other demi-humans did, they protected tehir area from wild beasts and monsters, they fought off other tribes encroaching on their land, they fought off loggers and other Human scum invading their territories etc.
They also fought their way up the hierarchy to become a famous warband.
What the limitations were:I limited them a bit to the obvious 'savage' classes. There were no real Wizards, for example. (Except nasty ones coming to fight them).
The point of the campaign?
The campaign will become memorable NOT because there was a huge meta-plot overshadowing them all with Evil Kings and fighting Paladins, but rather they will find the greatest appeal in THE MUNDANE. The comedy that ensues when they are playing as the bad guys and start to THINK like bad guys. When they do dumb stuff and somehow live despite the Laws of Darwin.
It has to be about 'them'.
'They' are the stars, not the setting.
Hmmm never mind, that was a decade ago, maybe I need to re-write the campaign for pathfinder. Hey who wants a series of modules where you get to play an Orcish raid-squad?
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There are some fine ideas here.
Among the many ideas the themes that stand out as keepers for this module is "the orcs are ready for retaliation" theme, and "orcs are raiding because they are being driven out by gnolls and demons". Additionally, the diabolist priest will insist that "they are pure evil and must be slayn, they have no redeeming qualities, do not be fooled by them."
As my campaign develops, the players will get involved with major king/queen politics at 12th level, for now its all periphery. No worries there.
A few more questions:
What about within the Raider-King's lair - any suggestions i.e. special cultural flare ideas?
What should the "crown" be? A simple crown? Or something magical?
Should the crown be something the mayor wants for himself? Perhaps, allowing the raids to occur until he could find a band of adventurers to acquire it for him?
I like the idea of the crown as being mundane though, and when it's all over the mayor sends the aide. The PCs will have done something for a diabolist priest which ... sets the stage for further intrigue later.
But... I'm still unhappy not having some "middle-part" to this story. It seems like a straight forward go there, get that quest. Which, again, seems lacking a "middle part". Any more ideas?
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I welcome any ideas to make this better:
The adventure:
I. PCs are sent to the town of Dreer Falls to plea for aide (medicine, skilled workers, and foodstuffs) for a town to the south that was torn apart by war. Without this aide, the town's very viability is at stake.
II. PCs arrive in Dreer Falls after a small skirmish with brigands and highwaymen.
III. The PCs meet a halfling slave named Fenri Fon who learns ideals of freedom from the PCs. The halfling is punished by his slave-master for demonstrating his ideals.
III. The PCs make an appointment to meet the Mayor of Dreer Falls whom they learn is a diabolical priest, yet open to reason and a fairly good mayor. The mayor will not send the aide until the orc raids upon dreer falls stop. He explains they must take the Orc King's Crown, which will demoralize them and stop the attacks, otherwise a new king will just take a slayn orc king's place.
IV. While searching for the Raider-King's lair, the PCs encounter a brigade of orcs on the north road. They are renger scouts belonging to king's tribe, and under duress will provide it's location to the PCs.
V. The PCs fight their way into the orc lair replete with traps, horns, drums, tribal standards, and find a magic item (mentioned in a previous campaign and seeds a "return the item" furture module).
VI. A major offensive is planned, and the majority of orcs are not in the denizen, however the PCs battle through a large number of orcs to reach the King's chamber - and take his crown.
VII. The Raider King confesses the crown once belonged to a fiendish gnoll-prince named Hyrntyr, who's blood oath with Abyssal forces promised immortality to the wearer of the crown. Hyrntyr was defeated by a powerful Orc Chief 3 generations ago (approx. 60 years ago). The PCs may feel conflicted whether to turn the crown over to the diabolist mayor at this point.
IIX. The PCs return with the crown, and provided it has been removed from the Raider-King's lair, he will send aid to the devastated town as promised, and also deliver an extra boon or treasure for a job well done. If the crown is not turned over, he will ask the PCs to leave the town as enemies of Dreer Falls, forbidden to ever return.
Epilogue - Assuming they do not return the crown to the mayor, and depending on whether the PCs continue to investigate information about the crown (which appears mundane), they learn that one of the country's warlords is actively seeking the crown. In the future, the Mayor will lead this warlord directly to the PCs. In fact, the crown is a magical item who's powers lay dormant until placed upon a gnoll's head - at which point it draws the fiendish gnoll's spirit from the Abyss, restoring HIS immortality once again! Any attempt to destroy the crown fails - leaving seeds for adventure at higher levels against fiendish gnolls in search of the crown.
So basically, Go get item X from Orcs...
This seems less than Ultimate.
If you want Ultimate Orc Adventure, have them tasked with helping the orcs against a common threat
Or find the reason why all the orcs on the continent are suddenly mobilized as a single army
Or be tasked with finding a maguffin that poisons/pacifies/kills/controls orcs to prevent world war.
Or find a way to infiltrate and stop the breeding pits of a half mad 1/2orc king that is breeding a new army with captured women over several locations.
Or Unite the orc tribes with their hated enemies the Dwarfs to combat a more virulent evil (demon plague maybe)
Or making your own bit just the first part of the adventure. After they get the crown, they realize that they have just caused the dam to break since that one Orc king was holding most of the raping, pillaging and plundering in check and now all the various clan leaders will be looking to become the new Overlord.
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You're right... go get item x from orcs *yawn*
I really like your last sentence/suggestion - once this rather innocuous adventure is "over" all hell breaks lose and the other orc tribes which were "in check" due to the king, begin ravaging the countryside.
As a GM, I'm hard pressed to pull-off "all hell breaking loose" at tabletop.... that is, the decision to go from the general background of many things happening over distances (i.e. many orc armies go ape-s$~& now that the king is gone) to selecting what the quest at-hand will be, and how it will matter.
It's as simple as giving the players X number of choices as to what to do next.
have rumors and news coming to them about:
The hamlet of X has been overrun.
The so and so consortium has had X number of supply trains raided.
Warlord X is seeking adventurers for a mission to rescue his captured wife/daughter.
The Goblins of X have been driven out of their thistles and have been spotted in town X.
After the orcs of Tribe X killed it's young, a Y type dragon has gone on a killing spree and may make a valuable ally.
The X mercinary Troop has been having some luck driving back the orcs of X clan. They are calling for reinforcements.
Have NPCs approach the party:
The Small town they "assisted" by getting aide has now been overrun by even more Orcs and the PCs will be pressed into leadership roles to save it?
The Small town they "assisted" by getting aide has now been overrun by the Soldiers of Dreer Falls and the PCs will be pressed into leadership roles to save it?
Get NPCs from the party backgrounds involved by having them request aide of their brother/sister/cousin/apprentice. "Help our village is being targeted by X."
Of course the spiffy thing about RPGs is that you can just turn to your players and outline the situation then open up the table with as easy a thing as...
"Given the current situation, how do you think your characters would react? What would they do next in this situation"
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Allow me to pose my questions another way, as my game is tomorrow:
>If orcs are said to have raided the storehouses of a town, what would they take? Grain and flour - do they cook? What food goods would they be after?
>If a forward encampment of orcs were found, how would it appear? With tents? With roasting boars? Do they eat people? Are they complete slobs or do they have order in their camp? Would they have a regiment leader, or would the strongest simply lead i.e. someone with the most scars and battle stories?
>If the orc throne room were found, other than battle standards, what manner of items would be found to be precious? What religious items would be found, what would the tokens look like?
>If the orcs had slaves, would they be kobolds? What other race of creature might the orcs have in the camp either as allies or slaves?
>In the ecology of an orc cave, are there any other creatures (from the bestiary I, II, III) that might also dwell there? Would any have a symbiosis with the orcs?
Thanks for any ideas to make this an ultimate orc adventure, without necessarily making it into an all out orc war. The story is simple: The orcs have raided a town governed by an evil but fair leader. The PCs are sent to take the Raider King's crown to demoralize them as an insight into orc mindset, that the loss of a crown would stop the raids. In the process of this short adventure I wish to provide a level of interesting depth, possibly offer something exciting to gamers who've played for decades, and with a creature that is typically an old and worn out fantasy trope.
Thanks for any help you can provide for these questions or other ideas you can offer =)
Allow me to pose my questions another way, as my game is tomorrow:
>If orcs are said to have raided the storehouses of a town, what would they take? Grain and flour - do they cook? What food goods would they be after?
>If a forward encampment of orcs were found, how would it appear? With tents? With roasting boars? Do they eat people? Are they complete slobs or do they have order in their camp? Would they have a regiment leader, or would the strongest simply lead i.e. someone with the most scars and battle stories?
>If the orc throne room were found, other than battle standards, what manner of items would be found to be precious? What religious items would be found, what would the tokens look like?
>If the orcs had slaves, would they be kobolds? What other race of creature might the orcs have in the camp either as allies or slaves?
>In the ecology of an orc cave, are there any other creatures (from the bestiary I, II, III) that might also dwell there? Would any have a symbiosis with the orcs?Thanks for any ideas to make this an ultimate orc adventure, without necessarily making it into an all out orc war. The story is simple: The orcs have raided a town governed by an evil but fair leader. The PCs are sent to take the Raider King's crown to demoralize them as an insight into orc mindset, that the loss of a crown would stop the raids. In the process of this short adventure I wish to provide a level of interesting depth, possibly offer something exciting to gamers who've played for decades, and with a creature that is typically an old and worn out fantasy trope.
Thanks for any help you can provide for these questions or other ideas you can offer =)
1) they might take all the grain they can carry, possibly contaminating or cursing all they have to leave behind.
2) orcs probably do some primitive farming aside from hunting and pillaging, it is likely they will turn to eating people if they have to but it is likely a survival mode rather than a preference.
3) demon skulls, trophies of physically powerful creatures, mighty weapons, dragon eggs.
4) kobolds might be good allies to set up traps and mine for the orcs a smart chieftain might even treat them with some respect, maybe dragon eggs the orcs have stolen have special significance for them and keep them under control, as is they might turn out to be potential allies for the PCs.
Demons, undead, dire animals, giants, dinosaurs, lamia, medusae, night hags, fire elementals, dark nagas and evil dragons might be willing or enslaved allies.
The orc's could reside in an old abandoned or ruined keep as thier lair.The orc king can be a half fiend and the raids are to find a suitable young maiden to be his consort.
Hey Pathfinders,
Question: What would make this "orc adventure" memorable?
Question: Are there any plot twists or turnabouts you might think of?
Question: What additional story outline points would you add to make this the ultimate orc adventure? How would you finish the outline?
Question: Without making the mayor a true villain, what inner-orc culture twists might make the adventure truly magnificent?
Include the orcs as a confederation of tribes each with their own leaders, ambitions, and goals. You could add a lot of color in that certain groups of orcs (while still hostile or prone to raiding recently) have had better associations or dealings with human civilizations historically (trade based, mercenary contracts against non-kinsmen tribes, co-operation vs. common threats) so a side dimension to dealing with the orcs is not just (or perhaps not as simply) as killing the orc king and taking the crown but engineering events so that out of all the infighting the ensues, the faction of orcs that will take power to fill the vacuum will be a faction who's interests or proclivities will suit the entities the players are fighting for.
So in addition to traditional pitched battles with the orcs, or sneaking in to kill leaders, add in:
1) Missions of diplomacy to discover the ambitions of various orc groups, or missions to intercept runners between the tribes to glean intelligence as to their ultimate goals, and who their orcish rivals and allies are.
2) A mission or series of missions to destabilize the strongest coalitions of orcs. Anything that will breed mistrust between old allies, or even make a lesser faction look favorable at the expense of more powerful ones.
3) Perhaps one of the wiser more reasonable orc leaders is very very old. His own sons have died in recent struggles and none of his other retainers will fight in his stead because they are more invested in his dying in battle so they can assume command -- the replacement of this venerable orc who remembers and advocates more peaceful times with human civilization with a younger chief with much more to prove by bloodshed would not be diplomatically favorable. The party can offer to serve as bodyguards for the chief during a time where something "unfortunate" might befall him, or one or more of the players might volunteer to serve as his champion in single (or party) combat against huge and formidable orcs who by orc custom must have their challenges answered and fought in trial of arms.
4) a sub faction (or sub factions) of lesser humanoids (goblins, kobolds, gnolls) that serve as the throw-away or support troops of the orc tribes. perhaps certain objectives, discoveries or manipulations of circumstance could lead to some of these guys falling into disarray, leaving the war band, or otherwise advantageous change of plans.
As far as the kinds of things orcs would take from raiding -- they would take ANYTHING edible, but put particularly high value on tools and weapons. Orcs would appreciate themselves the highest as a martial society, but would not be so foolish as to acknowledge the advantages of more refined techniques for blacksmithing evinced in other... shall we say... more "philosophical" cultures. A big distinguisher for wealth wouldn't just be treasure, but whether most of the gear you had was tribe-made, or better stuff that was forcefully taken from weaker races.
5) I'd basically come up with 2-4 factions in the orc tribes in addition to the main group they all confederate into under the king, and create some kind of matrix about who gets along best with whom. Give one or two big personalities for each faction, each with particular talents (or lack thereof) and the interactions and talents of the factions and their leaders represents the full threat of the orcs on civilization. If the wise or truly talented orc leaders can be killed or subverted to allow their weaker, foolishly impetuous, etc. rivals to take charge -- and the primary bonds between tribes can be weakened, the confederation of tribes will either fall apart, collapse into infighting, or even united be unable to mount a strategic offensive that would not be easily repulsed.
Here's a link to a screenshot that is evocative of a concept I might use for this campaign:
http://www.mobygames.com/game/windows/bloodrayne/screenshots/gameShotId,519 07/
In the above example, the player has an album of photos each of an enemy personality and what their rank/job in their organization. Assassination of all of these persons would be fatal to the goals of the organization -- you could give (or allow the players to gather) a similar album of information on Orcish personalities... shaman leaders, charismatic orcs that keep tensions down, brilliant strategists, fearless and inspiring warriors, manipulators, weak or cowardly personages with political or familial power, etc.
if not all of these persons can be removed, removing the ones that are charismatic enough to bind the organization together or are vital in certain aspects (i.e., removing all of the shaman leaders or strategists) could create weaknesses the party can exploit.
You may want to have it as a plot device that the orc confederation is bound for full scale war with the party's country after a set amount of time (this can be delayed by their successes however) -- after that set amount of time unless certain goals are met to prevent this invasion, the attack begins no matter what, which you can either have the players partake in to some extent, or you can make it a sort of epilogue... if the party fails to cripple the orc power structure the war is devastating, whereas their success might mean the the orc attack is staggered, disorganized, and easily stopped - perhaps even allowing a counter-offensive that ultimately allows gains in territory for the faction the party serves.
6) I would have the "other town torn apart by war" also be incorporated into the struggles with the orcs. Perhaps there are a few different places or entities that need aid or material in the face of orcish encroachment, and dealing with this diabolical mayor is just one of the most expedient ways of getting that assistance.
7) Potential intrigues could be:
-Some personality in the mayor's town or the town you are trying to save is actually in league with the orcs... perhaps on the promise that the orcs will spare their settlement, or leave it alone after the biggest offensive/raids subside.
-Half orc mercenary company that is actually being used by the mayor (or perhaps a political rival of his) to destabilize the neighboring settlements while blaming their depredation on the orc tribes.
Those are my ideas. Good luck.
Have them go through a trap filled fortress full of various traps, constructs, and beasts and right when it looks like the reach the throne room have it be empty. By now the party should realize that there hasn't been a single orc in the keep, have them return to town only to find it destroyed, now the orcs have to track down the rampaging orc band and recover the supplies they need before it is too late.
Drawing inspiration from Icewind Dale computer game.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Icewind_Dale.
Allow two ancient enemies, a powerful demon and diabolical nemesis to set up the events (possibly two rival devils or demons even).