Post/Author/DateTime	Post
tryco 03-06-07, 11:42 AM	in my campaign my players will soon be getting to a jawa trade caravan (finally). i want to have the jawa's stopped in a large grass plain. but why? they are heaviely armed, can resist good attacks and have two iron golems for defence. but why must the caravan stop and can't go on? the jawa's have trust with a catfolk city and a illithid research post. i'm looking for some good reasons, why a caravan must stop, can't send people out for help or something. could anybody help.
Selgard 03-06-07, 12:02 PM	1) Plant an "oasis" where they are stopping. (i.e. critters need water) 2) critters need rest 3) wagon wheel (or whatever) broke 4) Had a meeting set for that location, and they are waiting for it. (what that meeting is, or even if that person shows up, is up t'you)
Maxxim 03-06-07, 01:13 PM	Weather-related reasons? Heavy rain wouldn't make them stop in the grassland, that would be a bit dumb on their part. But maybe their outriders or scouts reported back that there is a bad storm up ahead and they are waiting it out.
Yakman 03-06-07, 04:26 PM	Rain definitely might make them stop. Mud gunks up the wheels, the animals get sick, the river is too fast and too deep for the wagon to ford, etc.. They might be trying to move, but just can't and are waiting for the storm to stop. OR Their party might be waiting for someone to meet them--some people in the same area that they have an arrangement to meet for business reasons.
stargate525 03-06-07, 07:50 PM	They only take the goods halfway, and are waiting to hand them off?
Heros_Backpack 03-07-07, 07:21 PM	Perhaps one of the burden beasts has gone lame and they need to wait until it's fit to carry/ haul their goods again before they can move on?
countbubba 03-08-07, 12:12 AM	Someone in the caravan got sick, and so the caravan stopped at a local settlement of [whatever you want] to let him heal.
blackjackg 03-08-07, 12:29 AM	Break a wheel, no appropriate trees or skilled craftspeople nearby... Really, weather is the correct answer.
Darth Sephiroth 03-08-07, 01:32 AM	Flooding in a river along the route of the caravan, they stop in an area on high ground where it is defensible and where food for the beasts is plentiful. Another option would be to have them meet a nomad group for trade purposes
damixmastermike 03-08-07, 10:18 AM	A Harem.
Makuta999 03-08-07, 06:54 PM	1) They've recently been attacked, and are currently tending to their wounded. Bandits where all killed off, but the caravan badly injured. 2) Waiting because the bridge over a river has broken, and the river is to deep to ford. Closest location is within several miles, and they sent an outrider there to ask for some assistance, as well as having their own carpenters work on the bridge. 3) Quarantine. A wizard's experiment has gone badly awry, and the resulting outbreak is trying to be contained in the area. They have to stop for a couple days - a week so that local authorites can clean up the mess. 4) Valuable object was stolen from the caravan, and they're attempting to retrieve it. 5) Child has wandered off. 6) Adult has gone missing. 7) Maps ruined by the weather, they stopped and waited for somebody to come along and help them. 8) Huge avalanche fills up the pass, waiting for it to melt/chart a way around it. 9) Pass up ahead filled with wolves, waiting for them to leave. 10) Animals are wounded from the bandits, need rest. There you are. 10 reasons.
tryco 03-09-07, 07:17 AM	great, there are definatly some things i can use. thanks everybody
neilthrun 03-10-07, 04:16 PM	Am I to understand you use Jawas, from Star Wars, in your D&D campaign? Because if you do thats awesome.
tryco 03-10-07, 05:03 PM	Am I to understand you use Jawas, from Star Wars, in your D&D campaign? Because if you do thats awesome. yep, that's right. i also use wookies (also star wars), tyranids (wh40k), the gnolls from warcraft, and several other small things.
LadyAlaria 03-10-07, 05:06 PM	Because every day the caravan master has his tea leaves read by his favorite slave girl. For x days straight she tells him that the signs are very bad, and the caravan shouldn't move. Of course the players don't know this at first. They will have to do some snooping to figure this much out. Then take your pick of plots: 1. The girl just thinks she can read tea leaves. The ill portents are just random luck. 2. The girl really can read tea leaves, and a vast sandstorm/locust plague/reaving horde lay ahead. The party won't learn this until they pass through and find the remains of other caravans. (Or they cast their own divinations.) 3. The girl is in the employ of X, who's minions shall decend upon the caravan shortly. Or who simply wants the caravan delayed so his own caravan reaches the market first with the rare goods.
Carwyn_Nhung 03-12-07, 02:56 PM	They recieve word from their scouts that a migration of some magical herd beast has come early this year, so they will have to wait it out by an oasis. There can of course be some BBEG reason why the herds have moved off early, but there needen't be. They could have decided that trying to go round this massive stampede will be longer than just waiting for it to pass, so they decide to chill for a bit. Oh and you could put this herd into the story later, as they could threaten a small village region and you have to evacuate or come up with some clever way to divert them.
WitheringSolid 03-12-07, 11:29 PM	Have em get snowed in. Some remote mountain pass. They start to starve and resort to cannablism ala the Donner party.:evillaugh:
Xavon 03-12-07, 11:36 PM	They found a pair of random golems (one of which secretly contains a wizard's spellbook) and are stopping to fit them with restraining spells to sell them. utini!
bonethug0108 03-12-07, 11:46 PM	You probably have your idea:P, but the could be having a festival/celebration/party/etc. It may even be a week long party, and they decided the open plains are the best place to hold it.
Hochiu 03-13-07, 12:06 AM	Anna got bit by a snake. Jed got cholera. Sally has a broken arm. You found some wild berries. A bandit made off with two oxen, one wagon wheel(s), and 23 boxes of bullets. Anna died. Jed died. You have reached Independence Rock. You decide to go hunting. You change your pace to grueling. You call a time out. Your party is delayed. An ox has wandered off. An ox has died. You attempt to ford the river but your wagon tips over. Etc.
Krusk 03-13-07, 01:59 AM	It runs off a magical fuel that eleminates the need for horses. Too bad the thing ran out 3/4 the way, they thought they had enough. Now the pcs who find them, need to go into a cave filled with ___insert favorite ooze___ with a device, and turn them into the feul. Or everyone in the caravan is stranded and will most likely die.
yellowdingo 03-14-07, 11:32 PM	Reason for halting a Caravan for several days: "My scouts tell me that the City of Peteji is beseiged by Desert Raiders. We must delay here for a few days."