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View Full Version : DM Help Adventuring in an orderly and good society of martial nature?



Jon_Dahl
2014-04-04, 06:52 AM
In my games, I usually want the setting to have a bit of lawlessness. The rulers and the police forces or equivalent aren't able to do everything by themselves. There's a certain amount desperation, at least in the fridge areas. There's room for adventurers. Murderhobos are actually welcomed because without them, the even worse things might happen.

But what if the setting is orderly, the citizens are martial and good-natured, and everything is all right? How do you adventure then?

I'm asking this mostly because I run a campaign in an official gameworld, Greyhawk. The adventurers are set in a large human kingdom called Keoland and most of the military is not present to defend the country. There's a need for adventurers.

Recently I've tried to expand the campaign to a neighbouring kingdom the Principality of Ulek. PoU is a dwarven-human kingdom and ruled by a fine and competent dwarven king. The nation is united to fight against an orc kingdom but the army never leaves home soil. I simply can't think of any reason why heavily armed dwarves, most of whom are within the kingdom to defend it, would call for disreputable mercenaries or even accept them. Strong inclination towards law, goodness and fighting leaves very little room for outsider party for fight for them.

Basically I'm asking if you have the similar need of a bit of anarchy within the setting to make it work.

GungHo
2014-04-04, 08:23 AM
Even honorable regimes might desire a bit of plausible deniability when it comes to facing internal discontent.

Additionally, you've stated that the dwarves keep their army occupied internally to battle orcs. Maybe their enemy isn't an orc, on another general "front", or along the borderlands. Orcs or other raiders may have decided that encampments within the territory in sight of the main army are too dangerous, and since the dwarves don't seem to be leaving their borders, raiding from across the border is more viable. The dwarves may not be willing to move off of their defensive posture, but may still not like losing a few dozen dwarves every time the orcs get a wild hair and decide to "kill dwarfses". Hiring some mercenaries to probe orc defenses to either eventually drive them off or convince the leadership that the orcs aren't just a couple of villages and a larger, external military action may be needed.

Friv
2014-04-04, 08:33 AM
Maybe they're just too busy?

If the nation is united to fight an orc king, presumably that means all of their soldiers are assigned to various areas. Adventurers make up an extra body of fighting hands that aren't part of the established battle patterns, who can thus be assigned to short-term tasks such as clearing out pockets of bandits or risen undead that were also not part of the established battle patterns. A wealthy nation may have extra money at times that it doesn't have spare warriors, and just because things aren't immediately desperate doesn't mean that the orc king won't launch a full-sized attack next week.

Hiring adventurers can also be a kind of "battle insurance"; if they die on a mission, your army is still at full strength and you didn't have to pay them, if they succeed you have an objective accomplished while your own troops were doing their jobs, and if they succeed and also your troops turned out to not be needed elsewhere, well, now you know some adventurers you can hire again if the orc situation gets a lot worse down the road.

Red Fel
2014-04-04, 08:45 AM
Basically I'm asking if you have the similar need of a bit of anarchy within the setting to make it work.

Not every quest needs to involve thwarting lawlessness, or even remaining within the kingdom's borders.

Perhaps the PoU is engaged in a standing conflict, requiring the bulk of the army to be on active duty. That means most of the soldiers won't be around to keep the peace. Perhaps a little girl has gone missing. That's hardly a job for the military. Perhaps a cult is secretly engaging in dark activities. Okay, that's a bit of anarchy, but hardly cause to send in the marines.

Or perhaps the Principality wants a small group of capable warriors to handle business outside of Ulek. The army never leaves home soil, right? And if it did, it would be extremely visible. Perhaps the King needs someone to guard a diplomat, or engage in some unfortunately necessary espionage, or to protect a shipping lane outside of his borders. That calls for a small group of capable combatants, not a military expedition.

This applies in other settings, too. Even the most lawful, orderly society had issues that the ordinary military/police can't or shouldn't handle. That's what adventurers are for; to do odd jobs. The odder, the better.

Frozen_Feet
2014-04-04, 08:57 AM
But what if the setting is orderly, the citizens are martial and good-natured, and everything is all right? How do you adventure then?

The answer is easy: you play the bad guys and cause some trouble.

tensai_oni
2014-04-04, 09:48 AM
OP, you seem to work under assumption that adventuring is dependant on the local authorities hiring player characters to do their work for them.

That's limiting. Just run quests of a different nature. Exploring ancient ruins. Dealing with the criminal underground - either as parts of it, or someone who opposses it. Finding something or someone the players are looking for, and has gone missing. Tournaments or other contests of skill. The sky's the limit.

caden_varn
2014-04-04, 09:52 AM
Not all adventurer quests will be things that a national army would take on. They might get hired to retrieve something which is required for defense of the realm (could be a personal item for example), or they could be hired by individuals to deal with a threat the government does not take seriously for whatever reason.

Slipperychicken
2014-04-04, 02:37 PM
But what if the setting is orderly, the citizens are martial and good-natured, and everything is all right? How do you adventure then?


Well, it's kind of your fault for setting your campaign inside a russian propaganda poster.

Also, there are a few things which are pretty much always true:

Everything is not all right: Even the most orderly and peaceful societies suffer plenty of troubles.
The world is not orderly: that's just a lie the authorities tell you to keep you quiet. Any semblance of this is a thin facade.
People are not universally good-natured or well-behaved: There will always be enemies, criminals, villains, and crooks.
There are always threats from the outside.
There are always threats from the inside.



And even if you aren't allowed to leave the fiat-Utopia, you could simply play as the villains (not that players need much encouragement to do this anyway).

Mr Beer
2014-04-04, 04:38 PM
Adventureres = / = armies, they do different things and serve different purposes.

Most parties consist of incredibly violent, incredibly lethal idiots. Me, I'd hire them for suicide missions, probably using intermediaries in case they worked out I was basically sending them to their deaths. If they do manage to take out the Orc King, cool. If not, oh well...not like I lost anything of value.

Slipperychicken
2014-04-04, 06:12 PM
Adventureres = / = armies, they do different things and serve different purposes.

Most parties consist of incredibly violent, incredibly lethal idiots. Me, I'd hire them for suicide missions, probably using intermediaries in case they worked out I was basically sending them to their deaths. If they do manage to take out the Orc King, cool. If not, oh well...not like I lost anything of value.

Back in the day, they called those "berserkers" or "shock troops". And armies throughout history have made use of mercenaries (or whatever the politically correct term is right now: "defense contractor", "PMC", and so on).

I imagine that mercenary PCs would either go on some special assignment to wreak havoc on enemy infrastructure (i.e. "Destroy everything in this area, especially caravans, crops, government buildings, recruiting centers, and bridges. If you get captured, don't tell anyone you work for us."), or they would use the PCs like berserkers or cavalry, holding them in reserve most of the battle, then sending them in at a crucial moment when they can tip the balance.

Jay R
2014-04-04, 06:57 PM
But what if the setting is orderly, the citizens are martial and good-natured, and everything is all right? How do you adventure then?

The obvious answer is small, localized breakdowns - wars, riots, rebellions, etc.

The next answer is to have wilderness. The frontier between the well-ordered society and the untamed wilderness is a perfect place for them to help people (settlers) from dangers.


Basically I'm asking if you have the similar need of a bit of anarchy within the setting to make it work.

Usually, yes. In my current game, there have been no uprisings, wars, or other sources of adventuring xps for decades, and there are therefore very few people above 0th level. But the dark forces are making a return, and the (currently) third level PCs are already famous heroes.

Here's the relevant section from the introductory handout for the players:


The history of the world has included more than one Great Age of Heroes, when there are lots of monsters, and heroes appear to defend mankind. But when there are no monsters around, it's hard to get much in the way of experience points. Adventurers can't reach high levels unless there are experience points to be found. Sure, you can do well in a war, but how many 0-th level fighters have to die to take one 1st level to second level? Thieves can steal, but I don't give xps for gold unless it was gained during an adventure.

Whatever makes monsters interfere with humans has been pretty inactive lately. So there are no high-level characters in the known world, except a few very old ones, because there's been no way to get experience.

But the threats are returning (I'm being deliberately vague), and heroes may return as well. (Or would-be heroes may die like bugs on a windshield - we'll see.) No matter what class you wind up with, you'll mostly be making your own way. You'll be blazing a trail through the unknown wilderness, not following a paved road.