I'm running a kingmaker campaign using ultimate campaign and ultimate rulership.
I've also added Hargulka's Monster kingdom and Venture capital, from these forums, and I've included a few side dungeons to add extra xp.
My players have begun to use exploration edicts to uncover new terrain, and I'm wondering how other GMs have handled the various keyed encounters. It's well enough for the exploration team to make it back and report on notable locations in the eastern Kamelands.
But what about
It's well enough to say the exploration edict ran into something it couldn't handle. After all, with Hargulka's kingdom it's unlikely the current team would return.
The problem is that one of my more clever players is using his followers from leadership to make an expert team of explorers, and they'll have a much better time of making it back alive.
I'm thinking the best thing for those encounters in the second spoiler is to keep them as events for when the player characters are travelling and drop them on them at that time. I definitely want to keep them because they're important to the campaign's theme. If I just handwave or omit those, assuming the explorers took care of it, the players miss story details.
How have other GMs handled this?
For events tied to certain hexes, which is to say situations that just happen to be occurring when the PCs arrive and aren't present otherwise, I would run it on a case-by-case basis. If it's plot important for some reason, give the PCs a reason to investigate that hex on their own and spring it when they get there. If it's not, the explorers handle it (or not) and it goes away. You can explain to the players that they're losing out on potential treasure and experience this way.
You could ask the players if they want to play the part of the expedition for those encounters. If they don't, resolve it randomly or however you think it play out.
Given that the players are 4th-7th level or so, do they really have enough followers of a high enough level to make a team that can stand up to the threats of the southern Greenbelt?
That's what I was thinking. The fey are important to the overall plotline, so I'll just keep them for when the party travels.
You do give me the seed of an idea though, in noting something unusual but unspecified for certain hexes. Perhaps a feeling of being watched, or pan flutes and strange lights.
A well built team of first level experts with the stealth synergy feat and ranks in stealth, perception, and knowledge (nature, geography) could have an excellent chance of surviving fixed and random encounters. The players get to build their followers, but are limited to NPC classes.
We're doing this P6, but with PC kingdom leaders getting leadership for free when they take office, so leadership scores won't ever be very high. As limited as they are, the followers are another resource the players can use.
The current exploration edict was randomly generated and they won't be making it back, but the area they were slated to explore is rich with encounters.