So you stole a town.... [Archive] - Wizards Community

So you stole a town.... [Archive] - Wizards Community

Post/Author/DateTime Post
Syven
09-25-03, 10:18 AM Ok, last gaming session, my character stole a town (mostly)

Here's how (we'll work backwards-ish, much easier):

I am a chaotic nuetral barbarian bard dragon disciple, i'm only a few levels into DD, so i just kinda look freaky right now, but not too badly, i can play it off enough with my maxxed diplomacy.

Standard setup: You go to the town, it's on fire and being attacked by orcs. Party immediately disperses due to the fact that they all want to kill something or another, this is very bad, but we'll get to that.

I take out a few initial orcs, cut some people down, then delve deeper in the town, with the cleric right behind me.

We encounter the big bad evil guy from a few sessions back:

evil cleric of this village that had everyone convinced he was a good 'priest' (i.e. non caster). After revealing him, he ran off. Well, looks like he's back.

He immediately drops a flamestrike, which hurt (we're 8th level), but i'm ok enough to believe i can take him down. I charge and do very good damage (god bless rhino hide), and then, on his action............he slays me, instantly.

Cleric shat herself.

Well, the DM is starting to say the afterlife i see when i make the offhand comment that i'm going to rip apart the ethereal winds to get my revenge on this guy. (Hated him alot from the last encounter where he hurt my guy alot.) DM......runs with it surprisingly and bam, i instantly become a ghost on the ethereal plane. Thing is, the cleric just cast ethereal jaunt to get away....to see me...standing there. I double axe him up and finish it off with a bite that rips his jugular out.

I again, make an offhand comment to another pc

"And I hit him so hard, my axe steals his soul."

DM runs with it....crikey.

Well, other pc's finish up some town liberating rather well, but what really wins it over for us is our great great (alot more greats) granddad shows up and scares everyone away. See, the campaign idea is that we're his offspring, so we have to go get his stuff that got stolen. G.daddy is a great wyrm gold dragon.

Orcs shat themselves.

G.daddy rez's me, took the xp bite, but so didn't care because the whole RP and sequence of events was too cool for words.

So now the aftermath:

Town is destroyed.
EVERY other PC is devoted to spending our hoard to fix this town. My CN guy really doesn't want to, but he figures, he can't stop them, so he does the next best thing:

He makes it look like it was all his idea.

As the leader of the group, and an effective 'prince' (Spare heir) to his tribe, he has the proper 'noble' lineage to just up and take over a town. Well, the elders are going to help him out even more, because in the private conversation we had (away from the other pc's) they all agreed to petition my guy for barony for the great strength and generosity i showed.

Our theif had been working overtime, and had pretty much accumulated a net wealth of 250 grand in gold. It all goes into the town.

I called in a few favors with the roving band of centaurs that we gave a magic lance to so that their druid would come by and help regrow crops.

I called in a few more favors for some minor trivial things to help out.

Here's the kicker:

I'm stealing this town, but i have no clue what to do with it.
I need some advice on how to further strengthen my position as ruler of this town.

Here's a little miscellaneous list of useful tidbits.

Got the whole noble blood thing going on.

Spent large sums of money to ensure everyone in the town has a BETTER house than they did before.

I'm taking the council elders in as a cabinent of sorts while i further my quest, but i'm leaving a wizard cohort there to oversee everything.

As prince of my tribe, i have clout up north as well, so i sent word home, and a contingent of warriors are coming down to replace the dead security forces of the town.

The only structure i could afford for myself was a keep, but now the town has 40' stone walls.

I did this all bloodlessly if you don't count the orcs.

I am currently suspending my involvement on the quest to do favors for the neighbors of this town, so i can have more factions to call upon if i need them.

The one big thing that could stop me is this:
The other pc's.

So any advice on what to do in this situation to make this as clean and diplomatic as possible while still making everyone happy and not touching any weird nerves of the pc's would be great. I've never taken a campaign like this, and nobody in the group was really expecting it, but it's what my character would have done, so i did it.

Other pc's are
a monk that is probaby going to be nuetral on the whole matter.

a ranger that loathes orcs, but is only one session old, so i don't know his personality to well just yet.

A cleric who just might step on my toes on the whole matter, but is equally the least respected of the group, being half-drow and all.....and proving more and more useless in combat or social situations.

The ranger rogue theif, who was absent last session, who'll be very very angry when he finds all his stuff gone.

Sorry, i know that's very wordy, kudos to all of you that get through it all :P
Morka
09-25-03, 02:27 PM Could you offer to the other PCs some terrain for a stronghold? Or maybe it's not a so good idea since you spend all the group funds to rebuild the town, so there is nothing to build a stronghold...

Tell the rogue at the next session that you will return him the money through the taxations...
PhaedrusXY
09-27-03, 06:57 AM Heh, you may find that instead of "stealing" the town, that they have bilked you for all the cash they could get out of you to rebuild, and then are clinging to you as a hero. You may be troubled with every problem everyone in the town has, from little Timmy has the sniffles to Granny Shirley's cat is stuck in a tree. Welcome to the land of responsibility, Mr. Chaotic Neutral.:smirk:
pwilcox
09-27-03, 01:00 PM First, set up some method of income. Doesn't really matter what, mining, fishing, farming, whatever the people are good at. Make sure you get most of the cash from that, 'to use as benefits the town.'

Second, you'll definitely need a crew to defend the place in case some rampaging red dragon or whatever comes around. So either keep your party happy, or hire new people.

Third, start a temple for whatever god the cleric worships, that'll keep him happy.

Hope that helps.
strange_person
09-27-03, 02:33 PM You seem to have set up an almost archeypical role for yourself: the Mad Baron, who claims amazing powers and connections (the last time somebody killed me, my axe here ate his soul, and a dragon resurrected me! In fact, I've still got te soul. Wanna see it?) and whom nobody dares oppose for fear that he might be telling the truth. And, of course, everyone likes you when you're having a good day and decide to give all the peasants hot-and-cold running water at your own expense (or at least, not at their expense), and everyone fears you when you're having a bad day and decide to put a heft tax on having a head attatched to one's shoulders.

There's still the problem of paying back the theif, though… I recommend making him some sort of security advisor and occasional emissary, only with a much fancier and more impressive-sounding title (after all, no one knows how to stop theives better than a theif), and 'looking the other way' while he indescriminately loots competing baronys. Then, of course, you can insist that he's still got enough diplomatic immunity left to make it back to the protection of your new, improved guards.

Post/Author/DateTime	Post
Syven 09-25-03, 10:18 AM	Ok, last gaming session, my character stole a town (mostly) Here's how (we'll work backwards-ish, much easier): I am a chaotic nuetral barbarian bard dragon disciple, i'm only a few levels into DD, so i just kinda look freaky right now, but not too badly, i can play it off enough with my maxxed diplomacy. Standard setup: You go to the town, it's on fire and being attacked by orcs. Party immediately disperses due to the fact that they all want to kill something or another, this is very bad, but we'll get to that. I take out a few initial orcs, cut some people down, then delve deeper in the town, with the cleric right behind me. We encounter the big bad evil guy from a few sessions back: evil cleric of this village that had everyone convinced he was a good 'priest' (i.e. non caster). After revealing him, he ran off. Well, looks like he's back. He immediately drops a flamestrike, which hurt (we're 8th level), but i'm ok enough to believe i can take him down. I charge and do very good damage (god bless rhino hide), and then, on his action............he slays me, instantly. Cleric shat herself. Well, the DM is starting to say the afterlife i see when i make the offhand comment that i'm going to rip apart the ethereal winds to get my revenge on this guy. (Hated him alot from the last encounter where he hurt my guy alot.) DM......runs with it surprisingly and bam, i instantly become a ghost on the ethereal plane. Thing is, the cleric just cast ethereal jaunt to get away....to see me...standing there. I double axe him up and finish it off with a bite that rips his jugular out. I again, make an offhand comment to another pc "And I hit him so hard, my axe steals his soul." DM runs with it....crikey. Well, other pc's finish up some town liberating rather well, but what really wins it over for us is our great great (alot more greats) granddad shows up and scares everyone away. See, the campaign idea is that we're his offspring, so we have to go get his stuff that got stolen. G.daddy is a great wyrm gold dragon. Orcs shat themselves. G.daddy rez's me, took the xp bite, but so didn't care because the whole RP and sequence of events was too cool for words. So now the aftermath: Town is destroyed. EVERY other PC is devoted to spending our hoard to fix this town. My CN guy really doesn't want to, but he figures, he can't stop them, so he does the next best thing: He makes it look like it was all his idea. As the leader of the group, and an effective 'prince' (Spare heir) to his tribe, he has the proper 'noble' lineage to just up and take over a town. Well, the elders are going to help him out even more, because in the private conversation we had (away from the other pc's) they all agreed to petition my guy for barony for the great strength and generosity i showed. Our theif had been working overtime, and had pretty much accumulated a net wealth of 250 grand in gold. It all goes into the town. I called in a few favors with the roving band of centaurs that we gave a magic lance to so that their druid would come by and help regrow crops. I called in a few more favors for some minor trivial things to help out. Here's the kicker: I'm stealing this town, but i have no clue what to do with it. I need some advice on how to further strengthen my position as ruler of this town. Here's a little miscellaneous list of useful tidbits. Got the whole noble blood thing going on. Spent large sums of money to ensure everyone in the town has a BETTER house than they did before. I'm taking the council elders in as a cabinent of sorts while i further my quest, but i'm leaving a wizard cohort there to oversee everything. As prince of my tribe, i have clout up north as well, so i sent word home, and a contingent of warriors are coming down to replace the dead security forces of the town. The only structure i could afford for myself was a keep, but now the town has 40' stone walls. I did this all bloodlessly if you don't count the orcs. I am currently suspending my involvement on the quest to do favors for the neighbors of this town, so i can have more factions to call upon if i need them. The one big thing that could stop me is this: The other pc's. So any advice on what to do in this situation to make this as clean and diplomatic as possible while still making everyone happy and not touching any weird nerves of the pc's would be great. I've never taken a campaign like this, and nobody in the group was really expecting it, but it's what my character would have done, so i did it. Other pc's are a monk that is probaby going to be nuetral on the whole matter. a ranger that loathes orcs, but is only one session old, so i don't know his personality to well just yet. A cleric who just might step on my toes on the whole matter, but is equally the least respected of the group, being half-drow and all.....and proving more and more useless in combat or social situations. The ranger rogue theif, who was absent last session, who'll be very very angry when he finds all his stuff gone. Sorry, i know that's very wordy, kudos to all of you that get through it all :P
Morka 09-25-03, 02:27 PM	Could you offer to the other PCs some terrain for a stronghold? Or maybe it's not a so good idea since you spend all the group funds to rebuild the town, so there is nothing to build a stronghold... Tell the rogue at the next session that you will return him the money through the taxations...
PhaedrusXY 09-27-03, 06:57 AM	Heh, you may find that instead of "stealing" the town, that they have bilked you for all the cash they could get out of you to rebuild, and then are clinging to you as a hero. You may be troubled with every problem everyone in the town has, from little Timmy has the sniffles to Granny Shirley's cat is stuck in a tree. Welcome to the land of responsibility, Mr. Chaotic Neutral.:smirk:
pwilcox 09-27-03, 01:00 PM	First, set up some method of income. Doesn't really matter what, mining, fishing, farming, whatever the people are good at. Make sure you get most of the cash from that, 'to use as benefits the town.' Second, you'll definitely need a crew to defend the place in case some rampaging red dragon or whatever comes around. So either keep your party happy, or hire new people. Third, start a temple for whatever god the cleric worships, that'll keep him happy. Hope that helps.
strange_person 09-27-03, 02:33 PM	You seem to have set up an almost archeypical role for yourself: the Mad Baron, who claims amazing powers and connections (the last time somebody killed me, my axe here ate his soul, and a dragon resurrected me! In fact, I've still got te soul. Wanna see it?) and whom nobody dares oppose for fear that he might be telling the truth. And, of course, everyone likes you when you're having a good day and decide to give all the peasants hot-and-cold running water at your own expense (or at least, not at their expense), and everyone fears you when you're having a bad day and decide to put a heft tax on having a head attatched to one's shoulders. There's still the problem of paying back the theif, though… I recommend making him some sort of security advisor and occasional emissary, only with a much fancier and more impressive-sounding title (after all, no one knows how to stop theives better than a theif), and 'looking the other way' while he indescriminately loots competing baronys. Then, of course, you can insist that he's still got enough diplomatic immunity left to make it back to the protection of your new, improved guards.