Weirdlet
2009-05-29, 05:09 PM
Hey, all. To those of you who've seen the thread titled "One-Shot Turned Campaign- Advice?", you know the basics already- I ran a one-shot with the theme 'barbarian princesses' that got turned into a campaign by popular demand, and as a new DM I'm prone to asking around for advice. So here's the rundown-
My miniature horde of barbarian princesses, out to prove to their Conan-esque father that they're worthy of the throne by surviving alone in the world and then conquering, have stumbled into the middle of a conflict between two orc tribes. In my world, orcs are tough, matriarchal, and for the most part just one more competing group of barbarians in a world full of them- one of the princesses is even a half-orc herself.
Now, the girls went in with intent to trade- they'd recently been grave-robbing, and apparently one of the ancient king's junior wives had been of orcish descent herself, and of high status, so they had some distinctive artifacts on hand. The scouts holding them off at the border sent for a higher-up, who questioned the girls most sharply on how they'd acquired their items, and on finding out they'd won them in battle, brought them to the chief who offered them a job.
It seemed that there were two rival tribes in the area- Snake, who they were trading with, had claim over some very nice and very sacred land; while Wolf had plentiful warriors and a desire for said land, regardless of who was there first. They'd apparently fought each other to a stand-still, and the chiefs had made an exchange of sons to seal the peace.
Briagh, chief of the Snakes, had but one son to give- and she is afraid that Magra, her rival chief, will not treat him well. But of course she cannot steal him back, because that would set the whole mess off again- so she offers instead monetary reward and (even more important to would-be conquerors looking to raise an army) alliance, to these outside, human warriors to bring back her son and to defeat and humiliate her rival.
What I need is any advice on how to make an appropriate and interesting challenge for 3rd-level characters (all the base classes but paladin and bard), an orcish encampment with chief's tent/harem for infiltrating, and perhaps what information they can wrangle out of Magra's son, who now belongs to Briagh. I've got the premise, it's the details that are escaping me right now.
My miniature horde of barbarian princesses, out to prove to their Conan-esque father that they're worthy of the throne by surviving alone in the world and then conquering, have stumbled into the middle of a conflict between two orc tribes. In my world, orcs are tough, matriarchal, and for the most part just one more competing group of barbarians in a world full of them- one of the princesses is even a half-orc herself.
Now, the girls went in with intent to trade- they'd recently been grave-robbing, and apparently one of the ancient king's junior wives had been of orcish descent herself, and of high status, so they had some distinctive artifacts on hand. The scouts holding them off at the border sent for a higher-up, who questioned the girls most sharply on how they'd acquired their items, and on finding out they'd won them in battle, brought them to the chief who offered them a job.
It seemed that there were two rival tribes in the area- Snake, who they were trading with, had claim over some very nice and very sacred land; while Wolf had plentiful warriors and a desire for said land, regardless of who was there first. They'd apparently fought each other to a stand-still, and the chiefs had made an exchange of sons to seal the peace.
Briagh, chief of the Snakes, had but one son to give- and she is afraid that Magra, her rival chief, will not treat him well. But of course she cannot steal him back, because that would set the whole mess off again- so she offers instead monetary reward and (even more important to would-be conquerors looking to raise an army) alliance, to these outside, human warriors to bring back her son and to defeat and humiliate her rival.
What I need is any advice on how to make an appropriate and interesting challenge for 3rd-level characters (all the base classes but paladin and bard), an orcish encampment with chief's tent/harem for infiltrating, and perhaps what information they can wrangle out of Magra's son, who now belongs to Briagh. I've got the premise, it's the details that are escaping me right now.