Castle Encounter - Downloaded from the Wizards Community, all coding removed by Solauren

Castle Encounter

Post/Author/DateTime Post
#1
lokis
Aug 04, 2009 13:59:15 I was planning on having my group (paladin, ranger, warlock) invade a castle. I'm looking for advice on how to build the castle, like possible rooms I could place in it and any other advice you may have to offer. Also, I'm pretty sure that at least 1 of them will think of occupying the castle afterwords, so I want to be prepared for that as well.
#2
LordManshoon
Aug 04, 2009 14:11:03
I was planning on having my group (paladin, ranger, warlock) invade a castle. I'm looking for advice on how to build the castle, like possible rooms I could place in it and any other advice you may have to offer. Also, I'm pretty sure that at least 1 of them will think of occupying the castle afterwords, so I want to be prepared for that as well.

Militaristic castle or guarded nobleman's castle?
If the former: Armories (at least two), maproom, officer's quarters (number varies), barracks, donjon, palisade, peel towers
If the latter: Well-furnished bedrooms, library, drawing room, servants quarters, guards quarters
Either: Dining hall/Mess hall, Dungeons, jakes, scullery, pantry, secret passages, gatehouse
#3
garner_adam
Aug 04, 2009 14:15:45 A castle can be a pretty big place. As far as dungeons go however they can be pretty dry if you run them "historically accurate". There's two things I do when presented with this situation.

1. If the players are there to get some thing or to just reach a certain point I make a flow chart with branching paths that lead to the same way. As they "search" I describe what they see and what's happening and then I give them an encounter. The encounter has a branch of choices (which may lead back to previous ones) but always provides a suggestive clue to go in the right direction. This makes castles and repetitive dungeons (like jails) and so on move a bit more quickly.

2. If the players hunker down like it's gonna be a dungeon don't bite clues in the right direction then I pull out the back up dungeon. :/
#4
lokis
Aug 04, 2009 14:19:32 The castle was originally owned by a wealthy noble in the mountains to give him a more secluded place to live in luxury. Right now it is somewhat run down and inhabited by goblins. Also, it is basically a clean-up mission with the goal being to get rid of the goblin presence. I guess therefore the goal could be to eliminate the goblin leader.
#5
garner_adam
Aug 04, 2009 15:26:38 Yeah, sounds like you're going to have a fairly standard dungeon crawl against some goblins. I'd go with LordManshoon's suggestions and then make sure to add some straight up fantasy locales.

You might want to have a scrying ring/sending room where the nobleman had such rituals performed. The room could have been constructed in such a way to aid in the rituals but after neglect and damage it might make for an interesting room for some magical hazards.

Beyond practicality I'd also highly consider what this noble did for recreation at this castle and put a fantasy spin on it. Perhaps he had a small ranch within the walls where he raised magic bear cubs. The goblins have managed to barricade themselves from the bear and they sneak out at night to get food. They don't spend the time to kill because it makes an excellent deterrent for trespassers.
#6
lokis
Aug 04, 2009 20:00:10 Thanks for the advice! I agree, flat out historical would be boring, and some wealthy noble would be able to afford some more exotic things.
#7
garner_adam
Aug 04, 2009 20:51:05 Trust me if you start out their first fight for the dungeon crawl against a pack of angry magic bear cubs your players will definitely talk about that one! (Especially if the oldest bear can turn invisible!) :P
#8
lokis
Aug 04, 2009 20:58:21 Yeah, I had something like that once. It was 5 people against 1 solo dog. The hook was the dog vanished every time it was hit and reappeared somewhere else with 2 illusionary versions. The ranger kept on shooting it only for the dog to reappear next to him with 2 illusionary versions. I think I'll come up with something like that, but maybe more castle themed. A spirit that can posses the random statues laying around would be something that would make for a very interesting fight.

Post/Author/DateTime	Post
#1 lokis Aug 04, 2009 13:59:15	I was planning on having my group (paladin, ranger, warlock) invade a castle. I'm looking for advice on how to build the castle, like possible rooms I could place in it and any other advice you may have to offer. Also, I'm pretty sure that at least 1 of them will think of occupying the castle afterwords, so I want to be prepared for that as well.
#2 LordManshoon Aug 04, 2009 14:11:03	I was planning on having my group (paladin, ranger, warlock) invade a castle. I'm looking for advice on how to build the castle, like possible rooms I could place in it and any other advice you may have to offer. Also, I'm pretty sure that at least 1 of them will think of occupying the castle afterwords, so I want to be prepared for that as well. Militaristic castle or guarded nobleman's castle? If the former: Armories (at least two), maproom, officer's quarters (number varies), barracks, donjon, palisade, peel towers If the latter: Well-furnished bedrooms, library, drawing room, servants quarters, guards quarters Either: Dining hall/Mess hall, Dungeons, jakes, scullery, pantry, secret passages, gatehouse
#3 garner_adam Aug 04, 2009 14:15:45	A castle can be a pretty big place. As far as dungeons go however they can be pretty dry if you run them "historically accurate". There's two things I do when presented with this situation. 1. If the players are there to get some thing or to just reach a certain point I make a flow chart with branching paths that lead to the same way. As they "search" I describe what they see and what's happening and then I give them an encounter. The encounter has a branch of choices (which may lead back to previous ones) but always provides a suggestive clue to go in the right direction. This makes castles and repetitive dungeons (like jails) and so on move a bit more quickly. 2. If the players hunker down like it's gonna be a dungeon don't bite clues in the right direction then I pull out the back up dungeon. :/
#4 lokis Aug 04, 2009 14:19:32	The castle was originally owned by a wealthy noble in the mountains to give him a more secluded place to live in luxury. Right now it is somewhat run down and inhabited by goblins. Also, it is basically a clean-up mission with the goal being to get rid of the goblin presence. I guess therefore the goal could be to eliminate the goblin leader.
#5 garner_adam Aug 04, 2009 15:26:38	Yeah, sounds like you're going to have a fairly standard dungeon crawl against some goblins. I'd go with LordManshoon's suggestions and then make sure to add some straight up fantasy locales. You might want to have a scrying ring/sending room where the nobleman had such rituals performed. The room could have been constructed in such a way to aid in the rituals but after neglect and damage it might make for an interesting room for some magical hazards. Beyond practicality I'd also highly consider what this noble did for recreation at this castle and put a fantasy spin on it. Perhaps he had a small ranch within the walls where he raised magic bear cubs. The goblins have managed to barricade themselves from the bear and they sneak out at night to get food. They don't spend the time to kill because it makes an excellent deterrent for trespassers.
#6 lokis Aug 04, 2009 20:00:10	Thanks for the advice! I agree, flat out historical would be boring, and some wealthy noble would be able to afford some more exotic things.
#7 garner_adam Aug 04, 2009 20:51:05	Trust me if you start out their first fight for the dungeon crawl against a pack of angry magic bear cubs your players will definitely talk about that one! (Especially if the oldest bear can turn invisible!) :P
#8 lokis Aug 04, 2009 20:58:21	Yeah, I had something like that once. It was 5 people against 1 solo dog. The hook was the dog vanished every time it was hit and reappeared somewhere else with 2 illusionary versions. The ranger kept on shooting it only for the dog to reappear next to him with 2 illusionary versions. I think I'll come up with something like that, but maybe more castle themed. A spirit that can posses the random statues laying around would be something that would make for a very interesting fight.