[4e] desert city- What would you do?

[zoobob9]

Ok, here is where my campaign is at:

basically, 5 lvl 3 pcs are in a desert city after escapng a war prison. one of them, their strongest character, is dead/dying after escaping the base, the rest are ok. the residents don't know that they are from an enemy nation, but if they did, they would form an angry mob and try to kill them. the pcs have their weapons, a bag of holding, their armor, but no gold/copper/whatever. so, my question is: What would you do? basically everything is acceptable, just don't make something wild up (a purple worm will come out of the ground and eat everybody except us because we smell funny!), and the characters are unaligned, unaligned, unaligned, good, and evil.

[jmbrown]

What would I do as a PC? Find a nice hole to squat in and wait a day to be fully healed then find some desert monsters to smash for a treasure parcel to put me back on my feet.

[Duos Greanleef]

Have them go underground. They've got a lot of secrets based on what I'm reading here; secrets that could bring a lot of hurt to the group... maybe even a pain train.
They're going to have to find an... informant (?.. maybe a bad word).
What I'm saying is, they need to make contact with the local underworld. I would guess there is an underworld here. I'm imagining a slightly more medieval version of the cantina at Mos Eisley. A skill challenge using streetwise(Hard DCs), bluff(mod DCs), stealth(Group Easy DCs), and diplomacy(Hard DCs) oughta do the trick for that part.
If they succeed, they find a contact NPC capable (and willing) to hide them. If they fail miserably, they might need to retreat into the desert for a while (I'll let you decide what happens out there). If they don't fail so miserably, they might still find a guy, but at a higher price or something.
Anyhow, if they get their contact he'll have some way to heal the wounded fellow probably at the cost of a favor.
Anyway you go about this, there are plenty of potential plots, random encounters, and NPCs to have a fun game.

[Shardan]

send the skill-monkey to town to go 'shopping' for supplies.

:belkar:

[Evard]

send the skill-monkey to town to go 'shopping' for supplies money.

:belkar:


That or start a cult so that the members will be handing me their money :3

[Shardan]

I count a 'cult of believers' as supplies... :xykon:

[Choco]

If you want to go the realism route, have one of the more knowledgeable citizens recognize that their armor and weapons are not of any design they use, or perhaps one of them is a veteran and recognizes their equipment as belonging to the enemy. Hilarity ensues.

[Lysander]

Fill the bag of holding up with 250lbs of water and strike across the desert : )

[Duos Greanleef]

Fill the bag of holding up with 250lbs of water and strike across the desert : )

Good luck getting that much water in a desert town at 5th level wealth without selling all of your gear.

[Lysander]

Good luck getting that much water in a desert town at 5th level wealth without selling all of your gear.

If there's an oasis water might be free for the taking. Just because its in the middle of a desert doesn't mean there isn't a body of water there. I don't really see how they could survive otherwise.

[Duos Greanleef]

If there's an oasis water might be free for the taking. Just because its in the middle of a desert doesn't mean there isn't a body of water there. I don't really see how they could survive otherwise.

You may or may not raise a fine point;
I concede.

[Evard]

I count a 'cult of believers' as supplies... :xykon:

mwuhaha

hey this is very realistic... one of the party is evil and the others could look the other way since its with people against them (the enemy of the war)

[Hal]

Any of the characters religious? If the religions in your campaign are multi-national, they might not care that the PCs are foreigners and provide them sanctuary, as well as at least a measure of aid in their next step (whatever that might be).

[Evard]

Or just the opposite and not care if they are foreigners just people of a different religion -_- hint the crusades >.>

[Katana_Geldar]

If there's an oasis water might be free for the taking. Just because its in the middle of a desert doesn't mean there isn't a body of water there. I don't really see how they could survive otherwise.

Who says the water is potable or not surrounded by thirsty random encounters?

[Evard]

hmm if the encounters are the right level then that would be one way of getting pelts to sell and exp to level up with... plus if there are things around a watering hole then the townspeople/cultists may need help getting rid of them :3

[Lysander]

Who says the water is potable or not surrounded by thirsty random encounters?

Random encounters are part of getting provisions. Delicious edible random encounters.

Hey, is there a cleric in the party? Create water is a 0 level spell. You can probably stay in the desert as long as you want, oasis or not.

[Mando Knight]

Who says the water is potable or not surrounded by thirsty random encounters?

Purify water makes the water potable. But who knows if they've got the ritual, or 10 gp to spare to cast it?

[The New Bruceski]

Well, I think it would hinge on "are we identifiable as enemies"?

If not, find some low-profile shelter in town, ideally church sanctuary if that wouldn't backfire. A cover story of guards for an attacked caravan (if this is a trade area) but try to keep it low-key. The goal is to avoid attention without looking like you're avoiding attention.

If they are identifiable then they need to find shelter near but outside of town, which isn't nearly as easy. Probably nature checks to manage to build something, depending on what they have. Then one guy sheds their armor (or whatever identifies them, if that can't be done then you tough it out) and goes into town for some supplies and information. I'd suggest they all go, but handling an injured colleague makes sneaking difficult.

Either way, they need to get out of there once up to snuff. If it is a trade town and cravans still move during wartime (not that unusual, life goes on after all) getting hired on there could be a good way to get back home.

[Mewtarthio]

Press-gang them into the enemy army. :smallbiggrin:

[Asbestos]

How desert is this desert?

Because, if the ground isn't just loose sand you could always end up with something like Coober Pedy (that famous semi-underground Aussie town) but on a grand scale. The PCs could just bluff their way into being guards for the local Opal mine (or whatever).

[Evard]

Press-gang them into the enemy army. :smallbiggrin:

lovely idea! Get into the enemy ranks and rise to fame then coup the opposing government ... For this to really work you need a background as part of their country (this is where you bluff the good person).... After you are all rested and healed....Tell the good person the town is trying to kill the party, which in fact the rest of the party is setting traps and getting ready to destroy the town. Do this slow or quickly depending on the power level of this town. Eventually you would burn the town to the ground and your band of merry adventurers will be the only survivors of an enemy attack (hey if you can get there so can they). Swear that you want vengeance on those who killed your village and then rise to power in the army and perform a coup de grace on the government. After you take over the government either continue the war or get into diplomatic relations with your original country and make a peace agreement (stopping a war has to be worth a few levels).

Ok so that might take a while but i'm sure it would be fun in the process :D

[bosssmiley]

If there's an oasis water might be free for the taking. Just because its in the middle of a desert doesn't mean there isn't a body of water there. I don't really see how they could survive otherwise.

Yes, because scarce resources vital to life are never guarded and are just there for the taking (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FvBcl40QOhQ).


Ok, here is where my campaign is at:

basically, 5 lvl 3 pcs are in a desert city after escaping a war prison. one of them, their strongest character, is dead/dying after escaping the base, the rest are ok. the residents don't know that they are from an enemy nation, but if they did, they would form an angry mob and try to kill them. the pcs have their weapons, a bag of holding, their armor, but no gold/copper/whatever. So, my question is: What would you do?

Meet up with the local desert-dwelling nomad types
use your mysterious powers of fight and stab to gain a position in their tribes
OD on their wacky desert drugs
become their prophesied 'mighty whitey' leader
lead bloody raids against the urbanized factions

When your enemies get desperate enough to call in outside help, then you summon purple worms and ride them into glorious battle (using a locate city bomb to open a gap in the Shield Wall)... :smallwink:

[zoobob9]

Ok, thanks. I was epecting to have them try to pay somebody to heal them, have them be in debt, and have them go through a dungeon, but your guy's ideas are way better. Thanks.