Requesting ideas for Social/Roleplaying encounters (3.5)

[Harperfan7]

I'm DMing a campaign and will be starting the second adventure after the next session. It is going to be 2nd level and take place in an isolated small town (which has an unusually high percentage of non human PHB races) that contains several medium level npcs.

The party Human Paladin 2, NG Half-elf Cleric (Ehlonnah - Sun/Plant) 2, CG Half-drow Bard 2, CG Gnome Rogue 1/Illusionist 1

The first adventure... had few social encounters and the dungeon contained mostly undead, constructs, and summoned vermin. Since the rogue was first level, most of the DC 20+ search and disable checks eluded him, despite his higher than average numbers in those areas. The cleric basically just did was clerics do, turn and heal. The paladin felt left out at first, but when they entered the dungeon, he did a lot of the fighting and was the most useful party member.

So right now, I have a bored cleric, a very left out feeling bard, and a rogue/illusionist who thinks he can't accomplish anything. (They did like the adventure though)

The next adventure... will take place within the town. The mid level npcs will be busy, so no elminstering will be happening. The town wizard will actually lock up his tower half way through the adventure.

Anyways, goblins are going to be sneaking into town through tunnels they dug that lead into several different basements. They start stealing, vandalizing, setting fires, and killing dogs (goblins and dogs hate each other, and dogs can smell the super sneaky goblins) during the night then disappearing back into these secret tunnels. The pcs are assigned as a task force to ferret out these goblins.

Story behind the adventure... A nearby hobgoblin tribe is rising in power and either crushing other tribes or merging them with theirs. There is a 3-4 way small scale war going on to the south of the town. Grugach, gnolls, and hobgoblins are fighting each other, and nearby forest elves happen to live in the midst of it, but are generally better at avoiding outright conflict.

Anyways, a hobgoblin rogue/cleric from the powerful tribe came to a goblin warren not from from the pcs hometown and bribed/intimidated them into working for him/the tribe. He commands the goblins to sneak into the pcs hometown and start sapping/creating chaos and eventually steal/kidnap someone/thing important (and critical to the towns downfall) - haven't decided just what yet. The hobgobbo wants the town weakened for when his tribe eventually comes to conquer it (he isn't calling the shots though, he works for a hobgoblin blackguard).

These goblins do usually sneak into town to steal occasionally, because thats how many goblin tribes get by, but they never do anything like this. They are not innocent, but they are also not behind their own actions.

What I need is clever/creative/dynamic/interactive/whatever social encounters that will involve roleplaying and the social/sneaky skills. Come on, playgrounders, whadaya got?

[elliott20]

backgrounds of each character? likes/dislikes of your players?

what do you players care about? who do they care about?

social interaction needs to more so than fights to be about them and conflicts they care about.

[Harperfan7]

Maybe I should reword "encounters" to "challenges". It's not so much story as much as just non combat skill challenges.

[elliott20]

Context still matters. Or else everything I say won't make a lick of sense when applied to your game. I mean, a non-combat challenge could be just about anything. Gotta give us some idea about the campaign, the feel of the game, the setting, notable NPCs, anything that you think can be used for ideas.

[Farlion]

Just an idea:

Have the first goblin they encounter speak common and see if they will talk to them. Then the goblin explains why his kind had to dig these tunnels and vanadlize the town. Here some examples:

- Since humans came to this place, the goblins run out of places to live and cultivate their crops, they are starting to starve. Some new goblin king has now told them to scare away the humans, so they could reclaim their land.

- All the goblins children were kidnapped by some [generic evil dude] and he ordered them to attack the city, or else he would kill their children.

- The goblins have been hired by some townspeople of a specific race, because they want the other races to leave town. The goblins only vanalize, steal and burn the propterties of the "other" races.

Using one of these stories, you can actually creat a roleplaying campaign, where the goblins don't seem to be that evil at all. Your players might start to struggle, what they actually should do. Should they stick to their assignment and wipe out the goblins? Should they help the goblins? Should they go find the evil guy behind the whole plot? Or is the goblin just lying and trying to save his own hide?

Cheers,
Farlion

[Dark Herald]

Just have people come in at unexpected times and ask questions like "what are you doing?" Have natural reactions for the NPCs. the PC's make their own situations, the rouge stating "I hide from the shop keeper" or the wizard casting Invisibility. Craft a few breadcrumbs leading to a police station or mayor's office, and the PC's will use stealth or negotiation to break in and get the magguffin. Think like a spy movie, equal parts sneaking, lying, and gunplay. The PC's should enjoy all three, or else will gravitate to whichever they like best. If you feel they use combat to solve everything, then mabye they dont want to RP. You should respect that wish as the DM.

For bluff checks, I have the Player talk to me in an IC conversation. Only when the ideas become silly or forced do I require a bluff check. This works for players that are able to think on their feet. Those that can't roll bluff checks at the beginning of the talk, at a higher difficulty than if they had talked. Bluff checks need not be opposed rolls, and it really doesn't matter which way you do it as long as the story is fun.

[Harperfan7]

Ok, I edited in some of the story.

Here's my adventure notes so far...

These happen in order -

1. Goblins are sneaking into town (stealing, vandalizing, setting fires, killing dogs)

2. Town leaders set a cordon around the town (with the militia). The goblins still get in, though, and the cordon hasn't caught any.

3. Town leaders organize a task force to deal with the goblins (the pcs, who probably were already working on it).

-(Not an event in the timeline, but important) Someone in town is a traitor. (happens to be a halfling who may have a level in rogue).

4. During the adventure, a raiding party of gnolls or grugach attack the town. Which causes a the pcs and militia to divert their attention from the goblins for a while.

5. The town wizard locks up his tower and won't come out (and no one knows why), so the pcs are on their own, resource wise. (still potentially available, just not as readily, they will have to hunt down any items or knowledge they need).

6. Goblins steal/kidnap something/one of great importance to the town, and need to be tracked down (by the time the pcs know this, the goblins are already out of town). The problem here is that none of the pcs can track, and the only tracker in town is out working against the hobgoblins, so the pcs have to improvise. One of the militia-men, a cranky old farmer, has a dog (s? -normal or riding?), but is initially unwilling to lend them out. (for the second half of the adventure, they have to track these escaping goblins back to their warren and retrieve the item, so they will get away)

(not part of timeline) -goblins are sneaking in through tunnels they dug all over town, which connect to basements. The pcs will need to find the main hub and collapse it/set a guard there. After this, all the pcs have to do is ferret down the remaining goblins.
-a group of goblins get surrounded by the militia in one of the towns windmills, so they set fire to it to cover their escape into the tunnels. (If the pcs have dealt with the tunnel hub, these goblins don't know it) The militia can't get to the goblins because of the fire, and can't deal with the fire because of the goblins. The windmill is vital to the town.
-a group of goblins get cornered in an attick or basement or something and take a child hostage. They are very desperate and frightened.
-(optional) another group holes themselves in a very defensible position.

[MissK]

You could organize your campaign to be more like a mystery novel than a fantasy novel. I watch a lot of mystery/spy shows and I think many of the stories could translate well into an RPG setting. The players would have to talk to the right people, defuse a few traps, infiltrate an organization, etc. until they put all the pieces together and found out ...gasp! That it was really the butler all along.

[Farlion]

The problem here is that none of the pcs can track, and the only tracker in town is out working against the hobgoblins, so the pcs have to improvise. One of the militia-men, a cranky old farmer, has a dog (s? -normal or riding?), but is initially unwilling to lend them out. (for the second half of the adventure, they have to track these escaping goblins back to their warren and retrieve the item, so they will get away)


Just as an input: Don't only leave one solution to a problem. Most likely, your PCs will not find the solution you prepared for them. Be ready to improvise something different, if your PCs don't even talk to the cranky old farmer or just leave if he sais "you can't have my dog".

Cheers,
Farlion

[Eladrinblade]

How can they even know that their is a traitor in town, other than just suspecting it? How can they track him down? How is this traitor connected to the goblins?

[dariathalon]

Perhaps the goblins have also put one of their own in town. A goblin disguised as a human child (perhaps a new kid who blended in at the local orphanage?) who just happens to show up all over the place as the party is investigating. He could have been tasked with the mission of finding the whachamacallit the goblins need to steal and has decided that following the PCs around to see what they are trying to protect most could help him locate it.

Maybe have a note written in goblin (or if someone speaks goblin otherwise encoded) be intercepted. Perhaps the note could be written to your halfling spy, but it accidently got placed under the wrong person's door. Give them the challenge of figuring out what it says.

The cranky old man with the dogs might want something in exchange for the use of his dogs. Something that might require some social skills (which if he's so cranky, he probably doesn't have). Something like getting the local kids to leave his crops alone.

[Quietus]

You say the goblins have been bribed/bullied into working for the hobgoblins? It might be interesting, then, to have the goblins try and convince the PCs to help them get out from under the hobgoblin's thumb.

Hell, the goblins might try that anyway, to lead the players into an ambush.

[Tyrmatt]

Gobbo's like to kill dogs right? And you've got an illusionist with Silent Image and a Bard with Ghost Sound right? Hide yourself in away in a cellar and get casting! Goblins come to kill the dog that's going to blow their cover. Capture and interrogate! And use one of the many fine adventure hooks here.
I love the idea of a combination of negotiation for the goblins to have a place in the town, especially since it's already a pretty diverse place while you rescue the children from the hobgoblin clan leader.
You'll also have to deal with the mid-level leader who has a grudge against goblins for past slights.
Actually since you'll likely have to use Comprehend Languages as well, the only character who might be a bit left out of the roleplaying is the paladin, but I'm sure a good and noble knight will want to jump in and save innocent children. And he seemed quite happy with bashing things anyway from what you said so it might not be too much of an issue.
Good luck!

[Harperfan7]

How can they even know that their is a traitor in town, other than just suspecting it? How can they track him down? How is this traitor connected to the goblins?

I just threw that out there because it's one of the things I could use help on.

I know that the hobgoblin came into town under the disguise self spell, then bribed/intimidated the halfling into aiding the goblins, but I'm not sure how. Either the halfling owns a house near the edge of town with a basement, or provides them with a map of the town, or spies/sabotages for them, or a combination.