Encounter Help

[McQ]

Starting a campaign with 3 lvl 1s. A cleric, a sorcerer, and a rogue.
Most of them are new to the game and I'm trying to give a good crash course in the roleplaying rules and give a chance for the players to familiarize themselves with their character sheet.

The game will start in a reasonably sized town of fishermen and sailors on the edge of a marsh/swamp island. They are hired by a Madam of a house of burlesque that is also a member of the region's "Whore Guild" (I don't quite have a good name yet) that are not only a union for prostitutes, means for medical aid, a protective force for the women in the region, and also for orphans in the area.

The contract is to find girls that have gone missing within the area that the Madam suspects was taken by a Lord who has been noted to have a taste for young women. As the island is relatively small and she would be recognized and turned away, the Madam hires the party.

The Rogue is to infiltrate the manor house by posing as a seamstress to the Lady of the manor. The Cleric is to determine a rare plant that was found on the body of a girl washed up and suspect of being one of the kidnapped. The Sorcerer, being from a marsh/swamp environment and an assassin, is to kill the Lord using her skill of poisons.

I'd like to allow more time in the town to do some leg work. A Gather Information is obvious; make a few stories of what people have heard or witnessed. I can develop a few people with various bits of information, but I worry just the leg work will get boring.

Any ideas or suggestions for some activities that may require some skill checks? Pick up some clues, maybe a fight or two. I don't want to railroad them, and I also don't want them to feel they are being held in town when they might just want to immediately go to the Manor and smash skulls.

[Tokiko Mima]

Starting a campaign with 3 lvl 1s. A cleric, a sorcerer, and a rogue.
Most of them are new to the game and I'm trying to give a good crash course in the roleplaying rules and give a chance for the players to familiarize themselves with their character sheet.

The game will start in a reasonably sized town of fishermen and sailors on the edge of a marsh/swamp island. They are hired by a Madam of a house of burlesque that is also a member of the region's "Whore Guild" (I don't quite have a good name yet) that are not only a union for prostitutes, means for medical aid, a protective force for the women in the region, and also for orphans in the area.

The contract is to find girls that have gone missing within the area that the Madam suspects was taken by a Lord who has been noted to have a taste for young women. As the island is relatively small and she would be recognized and turned away, the Madam hires the party.

The Rogue is to infiltrate the manor house by posing as a seamstress to the Lady of the manor. The Cleric is to determine a rare plant that was found on the body of a girl washed up and suspect of being one of the kidnapped. The Sorcerer, being from a marsh/swamp environment and an assassin, is to kill the Lord using her skill of poisons.

I'd like to allow more time in the town to do some leg work. A Gather Information is obvious; make a few stories of what people have heard or witnessed. I can develop a few people with various bits of information, but I worry just the leg work will get boring.

Any ideas or suggestions for some activities that may require some skill checks? Pick up some clues, maybe a fight or two. I don't want to railroad them, and I also don't want them to feel they are being held in town when they might just want to immediately go to the Manor and smash skulls.

Hmm.. this is a town of fisherman and sailors? Have a bar fight break out that tangentially involves the main plot. For example, a fisherman's daughter has gone missing, and the fisherman blames a sailor for it. If the players follow this lead, eventually they will discover that the sailor in question is innocent, and the guilt points back to the lord.

This will let them get an introduction to combat, knowing when to flee, and when the town guards arrive, if they are still around, how an organized group uses tactics in battle. If the characters get put into jail for the night, you can have the Madam buy their freedom for them, further indebting them to her and making her an even more sympathetic character.

[McQ]

Oooh, excellent idea. Thank you very much.

Somehow this led me to think of the sailor than giving the characters a bit of information about a warehouse that has some odd functions at night. Maybe he's hoping the character's will find his daughter, or at least find out who's the cause. He's already tried to get in once, but was caught, beaten, got drunk, and thus the fight.

Sneaking around the under the docks, amongst the wooden pylons and foundations to get a look into the warehouse. There are some notable "thugs" that seem to show up everywhere (thus creating an indicator to the players) and are putting the captured girls into barrels to send down river to the Lord's mansion. (This could be how the body of the girl showed up) A plan ripped off from the Hobbit that is fairly simple, and explains how it hasn't gotten back to the Lord.

For extra information there could be something about the barrels being a method of smuggling. A local thief wanting to get to the goods reveals the barrels now are tied under a raft and guarded by lizardfolk. The route may be purposefully difficult to throw off any thieves or locals wanting to get the smuggled goods.

[Tokiko Mima]

Thank you. :)

You are right. When building scenarios like this, try and remember the Three Clue Rule (http://www.thealexandrian.net/creations/misc/three-clue-rule.html). Players often pride themselves on getting the DM off track, but at the same time, expect you to be able to deliver a story. Three different avenues for them to explore is ideal; if they want to ignore all three, at least you know you tried. At the same time you don't want to spend forever adapting dozens ways to solve a mystery, only one or two of which might be used.

Another clue might be to visit the office of the town guard, and notice that virtually all of the missing person reports are young females, and that a members of the guard that have in the past been assigned to the local lords mansion have an uncomfortable reaction (that you can detect with Sense Motive skill) when asked about the missing girls.