Any scenarios that look like this?

[The Oni]

I'm thinking of running a campaign scenario that sort of goes like this:

The players meet in a town that's on a trade or pilgrimage route, but that's otherwise sort of in the middle of nowhere. By chance, it's got a fair number of retired soldiers and former adventurers of a martial bent who are weary of fighting, since nobody really bothers them there. Some lone fire-wielding evil NPC attacks and manages to burn much of the village to the ground before he's dispatched or driven off; now a handful of old soldiers enlist the party's aid to try and escort the surviving civilians to the next town.

A few days into the journey, something starts picking off the civvies and by all indications, it's someone in the party. Any campaigns/modules that sort of play like this in D&D/Pathfinder?

[W3bDragon]

I don't know of any modules that have that kind of plot, but I just wrote something up for you. It approximately follows the angle you're looking for. Feel free to use it or any parts of it you think are useful. Good luck!

Background:

The Rogue Battalion was a war unit that had become infamous during the Galgner campaigns for disobeying orders and deserting en masse, while staying as a unit. The leader of the unit, Captain Bernhardt, had objected to his superior's order to exterminate the inhabitants of an enemy village. His men were extremely loyal to him and when the Captain informed his men that he's going to desert rather than kill unarmed civilians, his men followed suit. Other war units chased after them and killed some of their number, but the majority of Captain Bernhardt's unit escaped.

The Rogue Battalion remained active during the campaign, acting as peace-keeping forces and guardians of the weak. When the war seemed to be drawing to a close, the captain lead his men to Ocean's Gold, a far away town that was a known pirates' den and a safehaven for criminals and fugitives. Their arrival at Ocean's Gold caused quite a hubbub, but eventually they were able to settle there, far from the reach of the empire's law.

The Rogue Battalion's settlement in Ocean's Gold attracted a lot of the more innocent farmers and traders looking to make a living, hoping that the Battalion would protect them from being exploited by the criminal residents of the town. Even though Captain Bernhardt had formally disbanded his unit upon their arrival, the members of the unit stuck together and some of them formed an unofficial police force that kept the criminals of the town in check.

Ocean's Gold prospered due to its newfound security. Even some of the criminals were finding it easier to make an honest living with so much trade passing through the town and its port. Though some criminals and pirates still exist in the town, and some have a strong following, they tend to leave the average person alone and focus on piracy and heists out at sea, coming back to Ocean's Gold for refuge.

Astrid:

Astrid is a former member of the Rogue Battalion. He was a brilliant man and an accomplished wizard. His cold and calculating approach to combat sometimes unnerved his comrades, but there was no denying his effectiveness. A master strategist, he often served as the captain's advisor when it came to battle plans.

Astrid really wasn't thrilled about the prospect of deserting with his captain. When he calculated what his best strategy would be, he concluded that staying behind with the rest of the army would be the wrong move, as he'd be viewed with constant suspicion, being a known advisor to a renegade. He chose to go with his captain where he would be respected and allowed to ply his trade. That turned out to be the wrong move.

During the Rogue Battalion's escape, Astrid was mortally wounded. This was his first ever defeat. While his lifeblood seeped out of him, he wracked his brain, trying to identify his mistake. He was furious. He had made the wrong move. Fueled by his anger, he concluded that there was a third option he hadn't considered. He could've snuck off on his own the night before the desertion and single-handedly exterminated this village the General wanted wiped out. He would've then been able to convince his captain the next day that desertion would be pointless, as the village is already destroyed. There was a sound strategy and he'd missed it! As the haze of death started to take him, he dreamt of himself razing that village and making the brilliant move that would have solved everything. Then it all went dark.

Astrid was not left alone to forget his mistake however, he was snatched from the clutches of death at the last moment by the unit's cleric. Astrid returned from that experience having settled his tactical dilemma, thinking that he couldn't have brought himself to do it, to exterminate a whole village. In truth, that was a glib lie to tell himself, for when he returned from death's door, another personality had come back with him and took all of Astrid's doubts, anger and ruthlessness with it. Since that day, Astrid had lived a double life. By day he'd be a dependable comrade and a battle council for his captain, but by night, he'd be a mad wizard researching a method of fixing his mistake the day of the desertion. Astrid is oblivious to this other personality, but this personality has steadily gotten worse.

The more time passed from the day of the desertion, the more desperate this other personality became. Eventually, Astrid's alter ego, in its madness, had come to a solution. It would kill every last member of the Rogue Battalion, one at a time. At that point, it can then go back to the empire and prove its worth by demonstrating that it had stopped the renegades singlehandedly and met out the empire's justice.

The Plot:

When the PCs arrive at Ocean's Gold, the following is happening:

* Astrid's alter ego is planning its attack on the retired members of the battalion. The alter ego has decided to use magic to possess other people, then use them to carry out the assassinations. It will make sure the attacks don't only target the members of the Battalion, lest someone suspect something. To further throw off suspicion, if the person he possessed is ever caught, The alter ego will put on a whole show of being some angry spirit that's possessing people at random and will go so far as to pretend to respond to things like turn undead, etc. The PCs could be one of the non-battalion targets chosen at random, or one of the PCs could be possessed. They could also intervene during a possesion.

* The Captain has received word that the empire is finally coming after them. It seems a new up and coming general is trying to make a name for himself back at the capital and has decided to do so by killing the infamous Rogue Battalion. This general has commisioned a large fleet that's on its way to Ocean's Gold and is capable of bombarding the town from the sea. The captain has told a few of his old unit mates, and together they are planning an escape. Since the attack is coming from the sea, the captain is planning on leaving the town on ground. As the word spreads, the pirates will scramble their ships and get out of town. The captain, however, won't leave behind any civilians, as anyone left behind in the town will be decimated. The PCs could be approached to help escort the civilians, or they could be the ones that brought the news to the captain. There are many ways they could be involved in the evacuation.

After the evacuation:

* No more than one or two attacks would've occured by the time the town is evacuated. The closest safe place is a two month journey on foot. There are plenty of farms along the way to trade with for food and supplies.

* The attacks would continue to cause concern and eventually they'll be linked together. If the PCs don't do something to prove that its not an angry spirit causing these death, the captain's cleric will suggest that they detour to a nearby temple of his faith. There, with his fellow clerics' assistance, he'll be able to perform an exorcism on each and ever member of the travelling convoy. The alter ego will play into that, using magics to make it look like one of the exorcisms is successful and the "angry spirit" is defeated. The attacks will stop, for a while. Once they're back on the road, the attacks will resume.

Edit: I coulda sworn I posted this yesterday. I guess a browser error ate the post.