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Darcand
2010-04-26, 02:45 AM
An idea has germinated inside my skull. I am thinking about a campaign taking place entirely inside of a forrest, The Gobwood, but I want the forrest to function more like a city then the wilderness.

Rival bands of goblins (this is a goblin heavy setting, hence the name) filling the roles of gangs fighting over territory. More powerful monsters, a green dragon, a dark elf sorceror in the body of a troll, and a coven of hags form the political powers, meeting once a month at the Darkmoot to argue and scheme. Maybe a mindflayer too. And of course adventures who occasionally storm through to plunder the ruins or keep the monster population at bay.

What kind of economic structure does a place like that have? I want somewhere to sell the loot and possibly pick up an item or two. And also any ideas for adventures would be well received.

Also, the only PC (tenetively) is a CN bugbear druid, so it's not an "evil" campaign. Given the setting I can see how it could be assumed that it is.

Anasazi
2010-04-26, 02:53 AM
A traveling merchant would work well for a vender, he/she could be in there specifically for rare/magic items, it would also give you a reason to have him floating around now and then willing to trade and purchase items, you would need to keep him moving though, as an official shop would ruin the guise.

What world and edition are you planning on running this in?

ShneekeyTheLost
2010-04-26, 04:18 AM
Wandering Merchants are good. Give them a cap amount of gold they have to spend, and a cap on the toys they have access to. Also, they wander, so they may not always be available to by any specific given item.

Impromptu bazaars are good too. Bunch of merchants get together on a given day and all set up booths and tents and whatnot, then break down at the end of the day.

Now, to make these wandering merchants and bazaars less attractive to rob, you can either give them several huge bodyguards, make them, personally, exceedingly tough targets (dragons, perhaps), or all of the above.

Actually, the Dragons would do well for another city archetype: Banker.

BooNL
2010-04-26, 04:29 AM
Try getting a mortgage from a dragon though :smalltongue:.

As said, travelling merchants is a good idea. But you mentioned clans as well, so maybe every clan has a couple of craftsmen willing to trade their goods.

As for adventurers, here's a couple:

- Humans have been making their way deeper into the Gobwood, goblin patrols have recently discovered a rich mine under human control. An all out assault might be too risky, the player(s) have to find some way to get the miners to leave. Either in fear or peace.

- A small clan of ogres has moved in on good hunting grounds. They claim they are there searching for a relic of their ancestors.

- A group of human bandits has set up camp in the forest, robbing travellers and apperantly sharing their wealth with local farmers.

Ubercaledor
2010-04-26, 05:18 AM
What about a Goblin Junk-yard? One man's treasure is another man's trash... or something like that.