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Kol Korran
2014-12-13, 04:21 PM
So... in a game I'm running (It's in Pathfinder, but that's not really important) the PCs have conquered an enemy demon city, and their queen has sent workers and troops to fortify the city. I've discussed things with the party, and they'd like a few challenges of ruling the city, in between adventures (There are several NPCs that look after the place while they adventure). Now, what I'm mostly aiming at is giving them some sticky situations, and letting them to come to some decisions about them, and see where these might lead... But, the party wishes to avoid it getting very complicated, or very rules oriented and such, and so these need to be fairly open, fairly simple, and open to their creativity. On the whole, it should feel like they have "cases" brought in front of them, ask questions, deliberate, and come to a decision.

Ideally, I'd like these decisions to have a real impact on the game other than just fluff, but as this is an adventure path (I'm starting to regret it), I saw that at least for the foreseeable future, the city is fairly safe and has little if at all to do with the individual adventuring. So... Perhaps they could help with resources? Knowledge? Maybe some elite companions? Don't quite know. Suggestions are welcomed. The NPCs cannot be played as traitors- they have proven themselves and formed true bonds with the PCs.

About the current situation:
- The city was originally a dwarven fort, but has fallen 75 years ago to a demonic invasion. The PCs (level 9 if that matter) conquered the place with a small army. They have a small band of NPCs (around 7-8th level) that can look after the place while they adventure. The Queen have sent quite a few people to help fortify and bring the small city around. It;s important to notify that the city still lies in a very hostile, demon infested, cursed territory.

On the whole, about 2,500 people, about 1,000 of them are troops (Around 2-3rd level most):
- About a third of the people are the Sarkori- human refugees of this land that the demons took over. The Sarkori come with hopes of reclaiming their land, have a somewhat more primitive culture, and follow "The Green Faith", a sort of druidic faiths that respects all elelments of nature, both beneficial and destructive.
- About 200 are tieflings- sort of partly demonic humanoids. These were enemies of the queen before, but the party hs gone a long way to redeem ehm, despite many suspicions. They are rogues an sorcerers mostly, but try to pul ltheir wait.
- About 200 are mongrelfolk- descendents of soldiers who were deformed by the energies of the demonic terrain, who were in hiding for aa long time, but that the party brought into light, and have proven themselves worthy. People still fear their deformed look and "clicking" language. Think stealthy quazimodo.
- The rest I haven't yet though of, but I'm welcomed to suggestions.

Ideas?

Demidos
2014-12-13, 07:58 PM
Perhaps a new NPC begins to rise quickly to power, and begins challenging those already established ones for power, stirring discontent (Why dont those adventurers come back and make this whole area safe to live in? They're driven by greed!), and the PCs have to figure out how he/she is gaining power and what his/her motivations are.

Guilds begin cropping up, and one with a monopoly begins charging ungodly prices.

etc.

hydroplatypus
2014-12-13, 08:44 PM
You could easily have a shortage of some vital good appear in the city - likely due to inadequate planning on someone's part - and the PCs have to deal with that. Likely not food or water, as that would require enemy action or criminally incompetent logistics division of your army. But something important that can easily be overlooked. tools maybe? Climate specific clothing? stone for rebuilding walls/building new fortifications (this one might be solved by the adventurers clearing out a quarry in the vicinity that was taken over by <insert bad guy here> a while ago, so there's even an adventure in it).

Perhaps communication with the capitol have been cut off for whatever reason, and people aren't sure what they should be doing.

Perhaps the military folks are abusing their authority over the civilians, and the PCs have to figure out how to resolve the problem. In a recently conquered city this seems a likely problem.

Calen
2014-12-13, 08:53 PM
You have established that the surrounding countryside is still dangerous. There could be quite a few plot hooks waiting out there. Do you purge the countryside. How do you encourage tradesmen to come? What if the demons out there want to attack? In addition you can try cases that occur between these different factions. Military troops might be disgruntled that they can't afford certain amenities. Maybe the beer is to much. Do you raise the soldiers wages? Impose price fixes? Try something else?

Bob of Mage
2014-12-13, 10:37 PM
What if the dwarves who lost this fort come along and want to get it back. As a race they seem to hold on to the idea of ownership long after they've lost something. Could lead to the PCs having to deal with soemthing that's more legal in nature and less clubing stuff to death. This would be even more the case if the dwarves clearly can enforce their claim by force, but can make the PCs life hell in other areas if they aren't dealt with.

There could be a need to make deals with other powers for whatever reason. It could be to deal with shortages like the others have pointed out. Since the fort is a new power in the area other people might look to them for gain. They might want protection, or they might be face with a crisis of their own. Any deal that is made would come with cost since nothing is free. Of course if the PCs do a good job they will come out ahead.

You could have the PCs deal with random issues like a crime wave. Say someone is going around robbing stuff, and no one can stop them. The PCs being the major power in the city would be call on to deal with it.

What if some demons come along peacefully and want to live in a nice safe city instead of the hell hole that is the rest of the area. These demons might truthfully be rare non-evil demons (make sure there's clear proof they are not evil), and as such the PC would be in a conflict over how to deal with them. Do they let them stay in the city where there will be issues with the normal folk hating them, or do they leave good beings (since these are in fact good demons) to die in the wilds. This could also be run as demons who frankly have no other choice but to throw there lot in with the PC. Of course with demons being demons it could all be a trick. Ethier way the PC would have a tough choice to make since demon allies might be helpfully if they can be trusted.

Biotroll
2014-12-14, 07:22 AM
I would probably recommed some social tension. The army that went with party might have some unity as they went through some hard times but the newcomers might look at tieflings and mongrelfolk with distrust and act acordingly. If there are some shortages of material, these groups might be the first to take the blame for it and if players will not react to this it might grew to accusations and later even enemity and hostility.

Sarkori, while happy to get part of their homeland back, might be questioning the rule and intentions of heroes. After all, didn't they sacrifice their powerful warriors, Lions of Sarkosis, in the siege? How can they trust someone who made that decision? (Ok, I know it was not intention of heroes to do that, but the people of Sarkosis might not know or might not be willing to accept it easily.)

Lann could also have some troubles with his leadership. While respected among his people and now quite skilled fighter and war leader the situation where he is helping to lead a city/fortress might be too much for him. After all he is from village that had about 60 residents if I remember correctly and he was not in any realy position of leadership as he was stationed at watchtower. While he might be intelligent there's only so much he can do without proper education in managing the city. He might make some mistakes, especialy when under pressure from social tension and from the expectations of others. He might want to show Senatef that he is worth his trust and tries his best, but he is not managing it well and is afraid to ask for help as to not look weak and incompetent.

The effect of Worldwound might have some mental effects on residents as well. The armies (and the newcommers too) went through it and they've seen various bad ommens and suffered from it's effects. Living in everchanging and always dangerous enviroment must be draining, there might be some outburst of panic, maybe some doomsayers start appearing in the city spreading even more panic and tension. Some lesser demons in disquise might try to sneak into city to spread these bad emotions even more, so that the city/fort can fall easier when the time comes. Also, being able to deliver the city/fort back into hands of demons would surely mean promotion for them or any mortal that would do it. (That's what Staunton Vhane did or not?)

So, that's it from me. It mostly seems as Senatef would be interested in most of these, not much for Julian I guess. :/ Julian strikes me more as tactical minded individual, so I don't know how much of this will interest him.

PS: Your notes would be great, but I think I still have time to ask for them as we are finally ending our Oriental Adventures themed campaign and after that I will probably be playing after being DM for five years. :smallbiggrin: And even if not, I was planning Eberron campaign with aberrations as main motif. My last Eberron campaign had more succes then the current one so I hope my players will enjoy it. (And it will have much less undead then the last two campaigns, something I think I overused as it was motif of the first Eberron campaign and there's quite a lot of them in our current campaign too.)

Kol Korran
2014-12-14, 11:46 AM
There are some good ideas here! Thanks! Let me respond to some


Perhaps a new NPC begins to rise quickly to power, and begins challenging those already established ones for power, stirring discontent (Why dont those adventurers come back and make this whole area safe to live in? They're driven by greed!), and the PCs have to figure out how he/she is gaining power and what his/her motivations are.

Guilds begin cropping up, and one with a monopoly begins charging ungodly prices.

etc.

A later poster suggested the idea of the former dwarf lords coming to claim ownership. I think this can be done quite nicely, only the dwarf lord tries to build his/ her influence first- many of the stone workers are either of their clan, or easily influenced by it. So first they may build a power base, a dependency, calling for the " right time for the dwarves" or such, and then try and assert their presence.


You could easily have a shortage of some vital good appear in the city - likely due to inadequate planning on someone's part - and the PCs have to deal with that. Likely not food or water, as that would require enemy action or criminally incompetent logistics division of your army. But something important that can easily be overlooked. tools maybe? Climate specific clothing? stone for rebuilding walls/building new fortifications (this one might be solved by the adventurers clearing out a quarry in the vicinity that was taken over by <insert bad guy here> a while ago, so there's even an adventure in it).

Perhaps communication with the capitol have been cut off for whatever reason, and people aren't sure what they should be doing.

Perhaps the military folks are abusing their authority over the civilians, and the PCs have to figure out how to resolve the problem. In a recently conquered city this seems a likely problem.[/QUOTE] The first two ideas (A lack of a resource plus a lck of communication) could actually quite easily work into the campaign. The module allready detail raiders and a dragon attacking the supply routes. This could be a nice way of showing what ti does to the city itself. I'm not yet sure what the precious resources is, but there just won't be enough to go around for all... Nice! :smallamused:


You have established that the surrounding countryside is still dangerous. There could be quite a few plot hooks waiting out there. Do you purge the countryside. How do you encourage tradesmen to come? What if the demons out there want to attack? In addition you can try cases that occur between these different factions. Military troops might be disgruntled that they can't afford certain amenities. Maybe the beer is to much. Do you raise the soldiers wages? Impose price fixes? Try something else?

Hmmm... I do like to play out the "dangerous countryside" element a bit. But not enough to call the attention of the players to personally take care of it. I'm looking for difficult decisions the party will need to make, not simply difficult adventures. Of that I'll have enough. But playing on the "fear of demons" and so on can be a fun thing to explore.


What if the dwarves who lost this fort come along and want to get it back. As a race they seem to hold on to the idea of ownership long after they've lost something. Could lead to the PCs having to deal with soemthing that's more legal in nature and less clubing stuff to death. This would be even more the case if the dwarves clearly can enforce their claim by force, but can make the PCs life hell in other areas if they aren't dealt with.[/quot] This is an awesome idea! I've touched a bit about it above, in the paragraph beginning with "A later poster suggested". Thanks! :smallwink:

[QUOTE]There could be a need to make deals with other powers for whatever reason. It could be to deal with shortages like the others have pointed out. Since the fort is a new power in the area other people might look to them for gain. They might want protection, or they might be face with a crisis of their own. Any deal that is made would come with cost since nothing is free. Of course if the PCs do a good job they will come out ahead. Hmmm.... doing dealings with powers... There are not that many, but I have two ideas:
- One of the former posters suggested a shortage of some supplies, and there ARE raiders and a dragon in the module, taking care for such a situation. Now, some merchants, or special groups might be willing to embark on a danger, either to form communications or to supply, but at a heavy cost possibly...
- There are some indiginous people to the area- a few tough Sarkori tribes, and perhaps even soem tieflings? But each group increases the maintenance and supplu cost of the city ,and mroe than that- they bring outside influence, and possibly demons in disguise... Who could be trusted? Great idea! :smallsmile:


What if some demons come along peacefully and want to live in a nice safe city instead of the hell hole that is the rest of the area. These demons might truthfully be rare non-evil demons (make sure there's clear proof they are not evil), and as such the PC would be in a conflict over how to deal with them. Do they let them stay in the city where there will be issues with the normal folk hating them, or do they leave good beings (since these are in fact good demons) to die in the wilds. This could also be run as demons who frankly have no other choice but to throw there lot in with the PC. Of course with demons being demons it could all be a trick. Ethier way the PC would have a tough choice to make since demon allies might be helpfully if they can be trusted. See the above. I'm not sure demons will be welcomed (The PCs' nation is at a full out war with them) but perhaps a few mroe powerful, but tame seeming demons? I'll need to think about it...


I would probably recommed some social tension. The army that went with party might have some unity as they went through some hard times but the newcomers might look at tieflings and mongrelfolk with distrust and act acordingly. If there are some shortages of material, these groups might be the first to take the blame for it and if players will not react to this it might grew to accusations and later even enemity and hostility. I'm a bit weary of doing this again. While you are right about your assesement of reactions, both Sena and Andera went a LONG way to try and make their troops legit. While it may be fun to play the "prejudice is always there" angle, I think it will feel old. If I'm going to do this, I need a completely new angle.


Sarkori, while happy to get part of their homeland back, might be questioning the rule and intentions of heroes. After all, didn't they sacrifice their powerful warriors, Lions of Sarkosis, in the siege? How can they trust someone who made that decision? (Ok, I know it was not intention of heroes to do that, but the people of Sarkosis might not know or might not be willing to accept it easily.) This could be cool. At least confronting the PCs that they didn't even think of burying them or such.


Lann could also have some troubles with his leadership. While respected among his people and now quite skilled fighter and war leader the situation where he is helping to lead a city/fortress might be too much for him. After all he is from village that had about 60 residents if I remember correctly and he was not in any realy position of leadership as he was stationed at watchtower. While he might be intelligent there's only so much he can do without proper education in managing the city. He might make some mistakes, especialy when under pressure from social tension and from the expectations of others. He might want to show Senatef that he is worth his trust and tries his best, but he is not managing it well and is afraid to ask for help as to not look weak and incompetent.Hmmmm.... This is a very intriguing idea, as I feel that with all the mess with John, Sena is now becomign more of a mentor than a pupil. So this may be quite cool. I think he may have some new ideas for the mongrelfolk, so this will depend on how it goes. I am worried that he likes Lann's character, and may want to see him come into himself. If Lann can't take it, I will need to find a replacement that will. Hmmmm... a VERY intriguing idea. Thanks Biotroll!:smallamused:


The effect of Worldwound might have some mental effects on residents as well. The armies (and the newcommers too) went through it and they've seen various bad ommens and suffered from it's effects. Living in everchanging and always dangerous enviroment must be draining, there might be some outburst of panic, maybe some doomsayers start appearing in the city spreading even more panic and tension. Some lesser demons in disquise might try to sneak into city to spread these bad emotions even more, so that the city/fort can fall easier when the time comes. Also, being able to deliver the city/fort back into hands of demons would surely mean promotion for them or any mortal that would do it. (That's what Staunton Vhane did or not?) I've touched upon this with a former poster, but yeah, I'd like to play the city being in a hostile territory to quite a high degree, psychologically, socially, and the fear of infiltrators and the like. Good thought!


So, that's it from me. It mostly seems as Senatef would be interested in most of these, not much for Julian I guess. :/ Julian strikes me more as tactical minded individual, so I don't know how much of this will interest him.I'm not that sure, I think the player could surprise you. I think he might like some of these to a great deal.


PS: Your notes would be great, but I think I still have time to ask for them as we are finally ending our Oriental Adventures themed campaign and after that I will probably be playing after being DM for five years. :smallbiggrin: And even if not, I was planning Eberron campaign with aberrations as main motif. My last Eberron campaign had more succes then the current one so I hope my players will enjoy it. (And it will have much less undead then the last two campaigns, something I think I overused as it was motif of the first Eberron campaign and there's quite a lot of them in our current campaign too.) No problem, I just LOVE Aberrations! (Demons? Bah, boring! :smalltongue:) I'd love to hear about it sometime. If you're posting a campaign log, I'll be reading it! :smallwink:
---------------------------------

Thanks all for the replies, quite a few good ideas already:

Lack of communications and a supply shortage, due to raiders and a dragon: The players need to run a tighter schedule in their city, and deal with other powers in order to get what they need, at a cost...
Return of the dwarven lord, who places his people in key positions, before making his claim to the city.
Dealing with the psychological, social, religious and tension effects of living in a hostile territory inhabited by demons.
The ragged population of the area (Sarkori and tielfings... possibly demons?) seeking refuge in the city. Can they be trusted? Can they be turned away?
Possible clashes between cultures and positions within the city. Possibly the army lording over the civilians?
A mentoring challenge (campaign specific)- Lann's position.

I'd love to hear some more ideas if you have them! Not sure how many I will use, but what's not used today- will be recycled for tomorrow! :smallbiggrin:
Thanks a bunch folks!
Kol.

Red Rubber Band
2014-12-14, 11:33 PM
Just a very quick response.

Have you checked out the Kingmaker campaign setting thingy? It's Pathfinder, so no porting would be required.
I can imagine a resource that outlines creating and running a kingdom would have a few ideas you could pinch from.

Kol Korran
2014-12-15, 05:27 PM
Just a very quick response.

Have you checked out the Kingmaker campaign setting thingy? It's Pathfinder, so no porting would be required.
I can imagine a resource that outlines creating and running a kingdom would have a few ideas you could pinch from.

Oh yeah! I stopped reading the kingdom rules when my party opted to not go that route, but I just looked t it again, and there are vrious random events at the bottom of the rules. Not all could work, but quite a few of them could! I'll need to go over them more thoroughly, see what I can adapt.

Thanks! :smallsmile: