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View Full Version : campaign concept: plight of the goblin-kin



elliott20
2013-09-30, 11:24 AM
The other night, I was watching a documentary about how some native American tribes were nomadic mostly because they were trying to escape the endemic diseases being spread amongst some of the natives. And then you combine this with the colonists coming along and pushing them out, you have yourself a story about a group of people perpetually living on the brink of extinction.

Then the other night I had a dream about a game like this, where a group of Goblins (not so removed from Red Cloak's story, in fact) who as a tribe is simply trying to survive in a world that is becoming increasingly harsh and bleak to them.

I thought it would be interesting to run a game where the players are all playing important members of a goblin tribe who now have to guide their newly nomadic tribe from certain death.

The problem is, I have no idea how to begin thinking about this game. How would you manage such a game? What system do you think works with it? What kind of potential storylines do you think would work with such a game?

BWR
2013-09-30, 12:07 PM
1. Like I run all my other games
2. Anyone you want.
3. Ones appropriate to the concept.

Joking aside, take a look at the new Battlestar Galactica to harvest ideas.
This is a bunch of people who were originally stationary who have been briefly and roughly uprooted and are fleeing for their lives.

First of all, decide how you want to start the campaign.
You can easily start off with just another day in Gobbotopia when the evil paladins come in and start eradicating them and the survivors just run. You could also give the goblins a few days or weeks to realize they have to run.
If you wish, you can start off with everybody already on the run with the PCs being some of the few trained people left.
- who to leave behind. It's likely they won't be able to take everyone with them, especially in the case of the elderly and infirm. Do they leave people behind, or give them a quick and merciful death?
- what to bring. Perhaps there are large objects of great cultural/religious/monetary value: spend a lot of effort trying to rescue these or just leave them and suffer whatever consequences there may be for that?
- how much to fight. Active resistance might give your people longer to gather and flee or it might increase the level of force brought to bear on them.

Secondly, food.
Food is all important. Trying to find food on the run is difficult. Lots of the PCs effort will be given to finding food on the way (scavenging and raiding, mostly). This can be especially challenging if these people were mostly agrarian. How much were they able to bring with them?
- starvation: who to feed?
- skill challenges. constantly trying to find food while on the move.
- problems of locals upset with your group coming through and stealing their food.

Thirdly, being hunted.
Depending on the story, they are actively hunted or merely pushed out but not pursued. Pursuit is hardest to deal with since a wargroup will likely move faster than a group of non-combatants and children and elderly. How to stop or delay them. In any case, if they are not hunted they will likely not be welcome when they come passing through, and be chased off.

Fourthly, destination?
Do they have any clear goal in mind beyond survival? Find a new place to settle down or must they keep wandering? Are they wandering randomly or do they have some reason for their direction? Do they keep heading a certain direction or do they kind of muddle around or go in circles?

Fifthly, transition to nomad life
How long does this go on? Is the point to make this group of people become nomads for the forseeable future or to find a new homeland to settle down in? Perhaps a part of their culture will be some sort of desire or 'prophecy' of the future where they reach the chosen land, but until then they keep wandering.
- problems of casting off old skills and learning new ones. Agrictulture isn't that important, but finding and domesticating things like horses will be very useful. Metallurgy is less useful than woodworking.
- new vs. old traditions. Many agricultural traditions will be less useful. Large amounts of personal possessions are hardly feasible if you have to carry all your belongings on your back. What sort of new rituals and rites crop up now? Perhaps some based on the awesome accomplishments of the PCs. Oral traditions vs. written, etc.


If you can find it, "The Golden Khan of Ethengar" had some ideas on how to handle similar situations, with goblin and hobgoblin tribes being driven away and slowly whittled away by the enroaching humans.