can you spice up this adventure? [Archive] - Wizards Community

can you spice up this adventure? [Archive] - Wizards Community

Post/Author/DateTime Post
Golden Zealot
05-16-06, 01:33 PM it's the second adventure (ever) for my and my group. They are a rogue, a barbarian, a ranger, a wizard, a cleric, and a monk, and are all at level 2 (although you might know this by now as i ask so many questions about games with this group).
They spent their first adventure mashing through a crypt, so I thought i'd give them something a little cliche just to get used to everything, so this adventure is short, and is linked (in fact it's almost an introduction to) the next adventure, which is long and perilous.
The adventure background is that the warring kingdoms in the south (of my campaign world) have driven a number of orc tribes north to the duchy the players are in. Some of these orcs have set up a camp just off a well travelled road leading from the capitol city to a nearby fishing village with the intent of robbing passers by of their wealth in order to survive. The leader of the orcs, however, is very ambitious, and as a wealthy merchant was travelling into the city the orcs attacked and kidnapped his daughter, leaving a demand for a crippling ransom.
So basically the players head off down the road and have to find the orc camp (probably by intimidating any orcs which attack them futiley). The trouble is that once they find the hideout I'm all out of ideas. It's basically the entire orc camp all in one big open space. Now the players could just run in and kill them all in a frenzy, which might be fun, but can anyone think of anything to make it more interesting, or do you think that will do?
btw it turns out when they get back that the daughter has been poisoned, and the alchemist will only give the players the cure if they go on a loing perilous quest for some rare ingrediant for him, so the adventure at least leads into something exciting.

thanks
from_the_shadow
05-16-06, 02:03 PM A second level party aren't all that tough, so a whole orc camp might be beyond them in a straight fight. You could try making the party come up with a cunning plan, and then run with whatever they come up with.

For example, if the party think of poisoning the orcs, have the orcs get their water from the nearby well, so the party have to only kill or sneak past a couple of sentries, but they have to do it quietly.

Or if the party try to distract the orcs, the merchant they are working for could send a large caravan of empty wagons and as many fast horses as there are wagon drivers. When the orcs attack the drivers jump on the horses and run away. Meanwhile the party are setting free his daughter. This gives the party sufficiently few orcs to fight that they can do it, but they have to do it fast, and cover their trail once they are done, else they'll have a tribe of angry orcs chasing them down.

Essentially, the way I would run it is to have the somewhat distressed and paniced merchant insist on approving the PCs plan. Then, once you, the DM, know what it is they are planning, make sure that the orc's camp has whatever features needed to make it possible. That way, instead of the party winning a huge (but repetative) scrap, they pull off a daring, swashbuckling, movie style plan requiring courage, guile and bravary. The best bit is that they can take pride in having come up with the plan and feel the freedom of not having a railroad plot.
Evil DM Mk3
05-16-06, 02:16 PM What, just as a random question here you understand, if more than one orc tribe, or rather reminats thereof, got swept up together after getting pounded, rather than only one tribe moving off on its own?
What, again as a random question, not all of the "orcs", reported as such by ignorant peasants, ARE orcs?
What if the group is made up of Orc, Goblin and Hobgoblin elements?
What if, despite the fact that they need to stick together to survive, at least for the time being, no one group trusted any other group?
What if the PCs where to make it look like "those too smart for their own good" Hobgoblins where about to try somthing funny? A few careful disuge selfs should work a treat here.
What if the Orcs guarding the merchant's daughter where sliped somthign a little stronger than their normal orc ale. A LOT stronger.
What if the merchant's daughter "misteriously dissapered" in the middle of the night?
The camp would all but wipe itslef out, that's what.

Obviously the PCs don't need to take this exact rought but if they are less orc tribe, more assorted orc/goblinoid refuges getting them to fight each other might occur to them, as would the idea that most of them would not know the others at all well.
Bruunwald
05-16-06, 02:17 PM I agree that one big nasty orc camp out in the open should be too much for your party to handle.

How about holing the orcs up in some abandoned, half-ruined keep they've found in the woods? That would be a good place for them to hold their prisoner, and the corridors and walls will give the PCs better chances by providing them with concealment and cover.

Plus, this breaks the encounters up into more manageable patrols of orcs, instead of one huge force of them.

You also might consider reducing the number of orcs in favor of other creatures/beasts they have aiding or serving them. Maybe some goblins serve as bait near the edges of the camp. Some wardogs might go along with patrols, that sort of thing.
Fend
05-16-06, 02:19 PM hmm. Id make it like so.

players can get to the perimeter of the ork camp and look about. Make it seem forebodeing during the day.

Im thinking Bon fire at the center utilising wood from the merchant carts perhaps. have some empty Caravans on the edge of the camp aswell.

The Orks could be roasting the pack Mule Meat over the bon fire , so a Feast could be on at some point. where they could be offering the mules to their Diety Grummsh in a Cerimony, before Dissecting it to Cook it (think Tribal beating Drums and a shaman the whole time going here)

give the orks Customs and methods of aproach to situations.

Think up a Heirachy.

The Cheif - 4th Level barbarian
The Shaman - 3rd Level shaman or Cleric.
Ork Warriors - As the book. perhaps tone the Orks down from great axes (only a few with these) and give the basic orks Battle axes.

And then ofcourse Pets. Like Large Wardogs perhaps about.

Perhaps the Cheiftain has a White Wyrmling Collared to a Poll in his tent who he feeds Scraps of meat too.

id say , Encourage waiting till night fall. then doing it silently.

Sneaking in, silently Removing Sentrys before Coup Degracing as many orks as they can in their sleep Before the Alarm is Raised - Then Bring out the Remaining orks. Make it look like if they attacked in the Day they would be massacred (This encourages Tactical formulation). Also, perhaps put something Big and Daunting in allied with the orks. such as an Ogre?

I dunno. theres lots you could do with this to make it a fun Covert Session. A full frontal attack isnt realistic.
Cthulhu-LQ
05-17-06, 11:14 AM Don't have them fight the whole band. It sets a mood of "we can kill any monster we see no matter how many there are", and it's no fun. They should realize that they cant always kill everything that gives XP. And anyway like others said a 2nd level party should be too weak to wipe them all out. There should be many orcs with class levels, much too strong for the PCs to take on at the level they are, make sure they realize that. So they need to find another solution.

Have the orcs set their encampment beside an entrance to an abandonned mine. Most of the camp is outside, but the chief and some others, with the hostage, are inside the mine. The PCs can learn the hostage is inside the mine by scouting. The they can find more about the abandonned mine in town, learn of another entrances, that would allow them to get to the hostage without going through the whole camp of orcs.
Then the orcs would still be there and continue to be part of the story.
MSW
05-18-06, 05:37 PM The adventure background is that the warring kingdoms in the south (of my campaign world) have driven a number of orc tribes north to the duchy the players are in.
Okay, you have your answer right there in the set up. Orcs aren't all just plain old Orcs. They are broken up into separate tribes, and separate tribes fight and feud between themselves.

So this one tribe is set up near the merchant road and has captured the merchants daughter. They left a note for a gillion-trillion gold pieces to return the daughter relatively unharmed and mostly uneatten. His tribe is strong and these merchants are weak so the tribe leader feels he's in good shape.

Thing is, this other, rival tribe of orcs doesn't like the first tribe, and they are wanting to reclaim the sacred double axe that was taken from them some time ago. So the players may be able to strike up a bargin with the rival Orc tribe to assist them in rescuing the merchants daughter and claim their sacred double axe as their reward from their fierce rivals.

Now it's not just a whole army of orcs verses the PCs, but the Pcs working with a tribe of orcs to liberate the things that were taken from each of them. (the merchant's daughter and the sacred double axe).

For the big battle, let the two orc tribes battle it out in the lower ranks and let the PCs handle the sneaking into the tents to rescue the merchants daughter, get the sacred double axe, and deal with the (few) high level BBEGs. That should let you take creative license in describing the orc carnage without having to go round by round for the bulk of the armies and just focus on what the PCs are doing / have to get done for their part of the mission.

It should be easy for one of the defeated orc tribal members to hit the merchants daughter with a poisoned blade/dart/arrow as the PCs are making their escape to set up your next adventure.
astute1
05-18-06, 07:00 PM Now it's not just a whole army of orcs verses the PCs, but the Pcs working with a tribe of orcs to liberate the things that were taken from each of them. (the merchant's daughter and the sacred double axe).

I like this idea a lot. So let's run with it. Tribe 1, the evil tribe, we'll call the Skull Clubbers. Tribe 2, the "good" tribe, is called the Red Axes (after their legendary double axe.)

The Skull Clubbers are a group of slavers and raiders with a nomadic lifestyle. So, they have lots of mounted troops (what do orcs ride in your world?) and, they're led not by a barbarian, but by a powerful adept who channels the power of a dark demon spirit. So, you've expanded your fights from just Orcs to: Orcs, Mounted Orcs, Minor Demons, Demonic Orcs, Half-field Orcs, and Orcs on Demonic Mounts. No self-respecting dark worshipper goes around without a few undead, so throw in some skeletal orcs, zombie orcs, and orcs on skeletal mounts (spooky!)

The Red Axes are led by a group of druids, and they're a tribe of sedentary farmers (well, they were before the military kicked them out of their ancestral home!). Now, they're refugees. I'd portray them as beaten and pathetic, with no fighting spirit left. Their leader was killed on the battlefield by human knights, and the sneaky Skull Clubbers took his mighty axe, their symbol. Unless it is retrieved, their tribe is doomed! After the PCs retrieve the axe, they head on to the north. You can have some of the "friendly" orcs come back later on as recurring NPCs.

Post/Author/DateTime	Post
Golden Zealot 05-16-06, 01:33 PM	it's the second adventure (ever) for my and my group. They are a rogue, a barbarian, a ranger, a wizard, a cleric, and a monk, and are all at level 2 (although you might know this by now as i ask so many questions about games with this group). They spent their first adventure mashing through a crypt, so I thought i'd give them something a little cliche just to get used to everything, so this adventure is short, and is linked (in fact it's almost an introduction to) the next adventure, which is long and perilous. The adventure background is that the warring kingdoms in the south (of my campaign world) have driven a number of orc tribes north to the duchy the players are in. Some of these orcs have set up a camp just off a well travelled road leading from the capitol city to a nearby fishing village with the intent of robbing passers by of their wealth in order to survive. The leader of the orcs, however, is very ambitious, and as a wealthy merchant was travelling into the city the orcs attacked and kidnapped his daughter, leaving a demand for a crippling ransom. So basically the players head off down the road and have to find the orc camp (probably by intimidating any orcs which attack them futiley). The trouble is that once they find the hideout I'm all out of ideas. It's basically the entire orc camp all in one big open space. Now the players could just run in and kill them all in a frenzy, which might be fun, but can anyone think of anything to make it more interesting, or do you think that will do? btw it turns out when they get back that the daughter has been poisoned, and the alchemist will only give the players the cure if they go on a loing perilous quest for some rare ingrediant for him, so the adventure at least leads into something exciting. thanks
from_the_shadow 05-16-06, 02:03 PM	A second level party aren't all that tough, so a whole orc camp might be beyond them in a straight fight. You could try making the party come up with a cunning plan, and then run with whatever they come up with. For example, if the party think of poisoning the orcs, have the orcs get their water from the nearby well, so the party have to only kill or sneak past a couple of sentries, but they have to do it quietly. Or if the party try to distract the orcs, the merchant they are working for could send a large caravan of empty wagons and as many fast horses as there are wagon drivers. When the orcs attack the drivers jump on the horses and run away. Meanwhile the party are setting free his daughter. This gives the party sufficiently few orcs to fight that they can do it, but they have to do it fast, and cover their trail once they are done, else they'll have a tribe of angry orcs chasing them down. Essentially, the way I would run it is to have the somewhat distressed and paniced merchant insist on approving the PCs plan. Then, once you, the DM, know what it is they are planning, make sure that the orc's camp has whatever features needed to make it possible. That way, instead of the party winning a huge (but repetative) scrap, they pull off a daring, swashbuckling, movie style plan requiring courage, guile and bravary. The best bit is that they can take pride in having come up with the plan and feel the freedom of not having a railroad plot.
Evil DM Mk3 05-16-06, 02:16 PM	What, just as a random question here you understand, if more than one orc tribe, or rather reminats thereof, got swept up together after getting pounded, rather than only one tribe moving off on its own? What, again as a random question, not all of the "orcs", reported as such by ignorant peasants, ARE orcs? What if the group is made up of Orc, Goblin and Hobgoblin elements? What if, despite the fact that they need to stick together to survive, at least for the time being, no one group trusted any other group? What if the PCs where to make it look like "those too smart for their own good" Hobgoblins where about to try somthing funny? A few careful disuge selfs should work a treat here. What if the Orcs guarding the merchant's daughter where sliped somthign a little stronger than their normal orc ale. A LOT stronger. What if the merchant's daughter "misteriously dissapered" in the middle of the night? The camp would all but wipe itslef out, that's what. Obviously the PCs don't need to take this exact rought but if they are less orc tribe, more assorted orc/goblinoid refuges getting them to fight each other might occur to them, as would the idea that most of them would not know the others at all well.
Bruunwald 05-16-06, 02:17 PM	I agree that one big nasty orc camp out in the open should be too much for your party to handle. How about holing the orcs up in some abandoned, half-ruined keep they've found in the woods? That would be a good place for them to hold their prisoner, and the corridors and walls will give the PCs better chances by providing them with concealment and cover. Plus, this breaks the encounters up into more manageable patrols of orcs, instead of one huge force of them. You also might consider reducing the number of orcs in favor of other creatures/beasts they have aiding or serving them. Maybe some goblins serve as bait near the edges of the camp. Some wardogs might go along with patrols, that sort of thing.
Fend 05-16-06, 02:19 PM	hmm. Id make it like so. players can get to the perimeter of the ork camp and look about. Make it seem forebodeing during the day. Im thinking Bon fire at the center utilising wood from the merchant carts perhaps. have some empty Caravans on the edge of the camp aswell. The Orks could be roasting the pack Mule Meat over the bon fire , so a Feast could be on at some point. where they could be offering the mules to their Diety Grummsh in a Cerimony, before Dissecting it to Cook it (think Tribal beating Drums and a shaman the whole time going here) give the orks Customs and methods of aproach to situations. Think up a Heirachy. The Cheif - 4th Level barbarian The Shaman - 3rd Level shaman or Cleric. Ork Warriors - As the book. perhaps tone the Orks down from great axes (only a few with these) and give the basic orks Battle axes. And then ofcourse Pets. Like Large Wardogs perhaps about. Perhaps the Cheiftain has a White Wyrmling Collared to a Poll in his tent who he feeds Scraps of meat too. id say , Encourage waiting till night fall. then doing it silently. Sneaking in, silently Removing Sentrys before Coup Degracing as many orks as they can in their sleep Before the Alarm is Raised - Then Bring out the Remaining orks. Make it look like if they attacked in the Day they would be massacred (This encourages Tactical formulation). Also, perhaps put something Big and Daunting in allied with the orks. such as an Ogre? I dunno. theres lots you could do with this to make it a fun Covert Session. A full frontal attack isnt realistic.
Cthulhu-LQ 05-17-06, 11:14 AM	Don't have them fight the whole band. It sets a mood of "we can kill any monster we see no matter how many there are", and it's no fun. They should realize that they cant always kill everything that gives XP. And anyway like others said a 2nd level party should be too weak to wipe them all out. There should be many orcs with class levels, much too strong for the PCs to take on at the level they are, make sure they realize that. So they need to find another solution. Have the orcs set their encampment beside an entrance to an abandonned mine. Most of the camp is outside, but the chief and some others, with the hostage, are inside the mine. The PCs can learn the hostage is inside the mine by scouting. The they can find more about the abandonned mine in town, learn of another entrances, that would allow them to get to the hostage without going through the whole camp of orcs. Then the orcs would still be there and continue to be part of the story.
MSW 05-18-06, 05:37 PM	The adventure background is that the warring kingdoms in the south (of my campaign world) have driven a number of orc tribes north to the duchy the players are in. Okay, you have your answer right there in the set up. Orcs aren't all just plain old Orcs. They are broken up into separate tribes, and separate tribes fight and feud between themselves. So this one tribe is set up near the merchant road and has captured the merchants daughter. They left a note for a gillion-trillion gold pieces to return the daughter relatively unharmed and mostly uneatten. His tribe is strong and these merchants are weak so the tribe leader feels he's in good shape. Thing is, this other, rival tribe of orcs doesn't like the first tribe, and they are wanting to reclaim the sacred double axe that was taken from them some time ago. So the players may be able to strike up a bargin with the rival Orc tribe to assist them in rescuing the merchants daughter and claim their sacred double axe as their reward from their fierce rivals. Now it's not just a whole army of orcs verses the PCs, but the Pcs working with a tribe of orcs to liberate the things that were taken from each of them. (the merchant's daughter and the sacred double axe). For the big battle, let the two orc tribes battle it out in the lower ranks and let the PCs handle the sneaking into the tents to rescue the merchants daughter, get the sacred double axe, and deal with the (few) high level BBEGs. That should let you take creative license in describing the orc carnage without having to go round by round for the bulk of the armies and just focus on what the PCs are doing / have to get done for their part of the mission. It should be easy for one of the defeated orc tribal members to hit the merchants daughter with a poisoned blade/dart/arrow as the PCs are making their escape to set up your next adventure.
astute1 05-18-06, 07:00 PM	Now it's not just a whole army of orcs verses the PCs, but the Pcs working with a tribe of orcs to liberate the things that were taken from each of them. (the merchant's daughter and the sacred double axe). I like this idea a lot. So let's run with it. Tribe 1, the evil tribe, we'll call the Skull Clubbers. Tribe 2, the "good" tribe, is called the Red Axes (after their legendary double axe.) The Skull Clubbers are a group of slavers and raiders with a nomadic lifestyle. So, they have lots of mounted troops (what do orcs ride in your world?) and, they're led not by a barbarian, but by a powerful adept who channels the power of a dark demon spirit. So, you've expanded your fights from just Orcs to: Orcs, Mounted Orcs, Minor Demons, Demonic Orcs, Half-field Orcs, and Orcs on Demonic Mounts. No self-respecting dark worshipper goes around without a few undead, so throw in some skeletal orcs, zombie orcs, and orcs on skeletal mounts (spooky!) The Red Axes are led by a group of druids, and they're a tribe of sedentary farmers (well, they were before the military kicked them out of their ancestral home!). Now, they're refugees. I'd portray them as beaten and pathetic, with no fighting spirit left. Their leader was killed on the battlefield by human knights, and the sneaky Skull Clubbers took his mighty axe, their symbol. Unless it is retrieved, their tribe is doomed! After the PCs retrieve the axe, they head on to the north. You can have some of the "friendly" orcs come back later on as recurring NPCs.