[Worldbuilding] Motives for armed conflict between a wilderness tribe and the gov't?

[AnonymousPepper]

Namely, the government of Taldor in the Inner Sea (Pathfinder setting), and a tribe of awakened Owlbears (it's that kind of game).

The conflict must be something that could reasonably resolved peacefully, with some effort, by the PCs, but must also be harsh enough that such a thing would not be a cakewalk and a decision by the PCs to say "screw it" and just side with the government of Taldor and kill the tribe wouldn't be the worst possible solution. The idea here is that if the PCs make peace, it'll help them out later (more fighters for a coalition they're putting together, mainly); if not, it makes for an easier go of it in the short term (less hassles from everybody over having to put up with gorram sentient Owlbears, of all things, among other issues).

It also has to be plausible. The game's a very meta-ish sort of setting (any game where the PCs are [covertly] allied with the aboleths against the daelkyr that are currently invading Golarion, for example, has to be), but that only goes so far. I'd like it to actually be something thought-out and well-done, and my mind's just blanking on it.

At the same time, though, I don't want it to be too cliche - if the problem boils down to the Owlbears essentially telling the PCs, "Oh, Taldor insists on taking more and more of our land every year!" or some such, it'll come off as half-assing it, to be perfectly frank, and while my game doesn't take itself seriously, I pride myself in putting a lot of thought into it.

So to sum up, I'd like suggestions on a conflict between "civilization" and "an alien, uncivilized tribe" that is simultaneously unique, plausible, and potentially able to be solved by the PCs but not easily.

[Seto]

Land. If you want something less clichéd and clear-cut than "the governments wants it", let's say the government owns it and wants to build on it, and the tribe objects because it is a place of cultural/religious significance to them.

[Red Fel]

So to sum up, I'd like suggestions on a conflict between "civilization" and "an alien, uncivilized tribe" that is simultaneously unique, plausible, and potentially able to be solved by the PCs but not easily.

I know you don't want something too cliche, but have you considered the plot of Princess Mononoke? Basically, you have a tribe of San on one side, and a city of Eboshi on the other.

By way of background:
San was a woman raised in the wild. She hunts, kills, predates, the same as her wolf family. She sees humans (understandably) as a threat, and kills them when they wander too far into her territory. As a result, she is seen as a monster and a threat by human civilization.

Eboshi is the leader of a factory village. The townsfolk acquire what they need from the land around them - metal, wood, stone, gunpowder - to protect themselves from bandits and roaming monsters. As their population grows, their needs grow, and they take more.
Basically, nobody is wearing a pure white hat, here. The Owlbears believe they have a right to protect their territory, but they do so in a simple, animal way that brooks little diplomacy or compromise. The Taldorians aren't Captain Planet villains - they are trying to protect their people - but their expansion is ruthless.

If your PCs take sides, it won't be a case of "noble savages" versus "evil government," or "horrific monsters" versus "necessary human expansion" - the Owlbears could be more civil about this, and the Taldorians could be less destructive in their terraforming efforts. Neither is purely good, nor purely evil, which makes for an interesting dilemma and dynamic.

[Palanan]

Originally Posted by AnonymousPepper
I'd like suggestions on a conflict between "civilization" and "an alien, uncivilized tribe" that is simultaneously unique, plausible, and potentially able to be solved by the PCs but not easily.

Introduce a third party, a rival nation, who are maneuvering to use the owlbears as a defensive shield against Taldor. There's already tension between the owlbears and the government of Taldor, and the rival wants to use the owlbears to put pressure on Taldor and divert their resources from elsewhere. With the owlbears as a buffer, this allows the rival to pursue their agenda without coming into direct conflict with Taldor…or at least, not yet.

As for how Taldor might antagonize the owlbears, well, you've indicated you don't like the idea of a land grab; so how about taxation? The government of Taldor has enough else to deal with: so, sentient owlbears, sure, but they need to be civilized sentient owlbears, or at least reliably subdued; they need to pay taxes or tribute to ensure their recognition, and they need to provide "diplomatic guests" (hostages) into the bargain, to ensure peace and stability on that particular frontier.

This gives the owlbears plenty to resent the government for, and more than enough motivation to collaborate with the third party, while still giving them the option to resolve the situation diplomatically with the PCs' intervention. It'll definitely be an uphill struggle, but should be feasible if they really work at it.

[Tragak]

I'd like to add Dawn of the Planet of the Apes

The apes simply want to live in their own territory, the humans simply want to rebuild one specific power plant in what is now the ape's land, and initially they agree that the humans can have this one concession such that the two groups can still leave each other alone without killing each other.

Both groups are afraid of the other, but only 1-2 people on each side explicitly want a war, compared to the dozens of apes and hundreds of humans that want their own people to live more than they want the other people to die.

Spoiler alert: the warmongers are the ones who get what they want. Anonymous, have you already seen the movie?

[Segev]

Assuming that "awakened owlbears" are a surprise to the normally-sapient races, it's quite possible that Taldor already legally - by their and their neighbors' reckoning - owns that forest as part of their national land. Animals live in forests owned by people all the time, and people have to deal with them.

Conversely, if you own a forest and discover some outlaws squatting in it, you're probably going to evict them when you want to develop said forest. It won't matter to you that they claim they own it because there's a shrine there.

The most peaceable solution possible would be selling it to them, but of course, if they don't feel you own it in the first place, and/or you really, really feel like you need it and they can't afford to make it truly worth your while to give it up...


We, as modern men, tend to forget that it's rarely as cut-and-dried as "they were here first." How much "first" qualifies? If they wandered in last year, do they have "prior claim" despite all you worked with to lay out boundaries agreeing that you own that territory? What gives them right to it more than you? (What gives you right to it more than they?)

There is usually some amount of investment in obtaining the rights to land, whether it be through warfare, diplomacy, trade, or development. Homesteadding and squatting are nearly the same thing; it's a question of who recognizes the rights of the one developing/maintaining/living on the territory.

This is why international relations are so complicated: "rights" are legal constructs, and as such, have to be recognized. Without law, all you have is force of arms and the ability to barter that with your words into trade and agreement on laws.

Two nations meeting for the first time WILL tend to recognize each others' boundaries, as long as they don't innately overlap, simply because refusing to do so likely results in war. And while a conquerer may like that option, most nations recognize the very real claim taht having fortified positions gives to territory. It's usually less expensive to normalize relations and come to diplomatic, international agreements on how the nations will treat each other, and what rights and privileges they recognize each other has having.

These owlbears weren't recognized as a nation when Taldor started building up the forest, putting people in, etc. Taldor may even have invested effort in getting other nations to recognize their claim to the "uninhabited" forest. Now, simply saying "oh, sorry, it is yours" to the owlbears would represent a loss of that investment, as well as an opportunity cost to all they planned to do with that territory. Further, from their perspective, they've just had their citizens attacked by wild animals. Wild animals that talk, so should have known better.

And even if the owlbears approached peacefully at first, how would you respond to somebody walking up to you and telling you, "By the by, I have a trailer parked behind your new house. I live there, and the land it's on is mine?" You just paid for the whole lot, and that definitely included the space his trailer's in.

[Kimras]

My thought would be the city has been doing magic experiments on the tribe and the tribe accepted in turn for resources. the city cuts off resources and stops their experiments and a good portion of the tribe gets ill. the tribe then can't collect enough resources due to such a large portion of their tribe being ill. thus creating upheaval.

A second idea i had was the tribe is making illegal magic drugs that they use in ceremonies. the drugs then start getting leaked in to the city. creating a class of drug addicted people within the city. the gov not happy about this wants to destroy the tribe so no more of their people will get addicted so the can keep collecting taxes from these people.

[AnonymousPepper]

Introduce a third party, a rival nation, who are maneuvering to use the owlbears as a defensive shield against Taldor. There's already tension between the owlbears and the government of Taldor, and the rival wants to use the owlbears to put pressure on Taldor and divert their resources from elsewhere. With the owlbears as a buffer, this allows the rival to pursue their agenda without coming into direct conflict with Taldor…or at least, not yet.

As for how Taldor might antagonize the owlbears, well, you've indicated you don't like the idea of a land grab; so how about taxation? The government of Taldor has enough else to deal with: so, sentient owlbears, sure, but they need to be civilized sentient owlbears, or at least reliably subdued; they need to pay taxes or tribute to ensure their recognition, and they need to provide "diplomatic guests" (hostages) into the bargain, to ensure peace and stability on that particular frontier.

This gives the owlbears plenty to resent the government for, and more than enough motivation to collaborate with the third party, while still giving them the option to resolve the situation diplomatically with the PCs' intervention. It'll definitely be an uphill struggle, but should be feasible if they really work at it.

I'm gonna go with this, I think. Because there's a ready-made third party that hates Taldor's guts right next door - the Satrapy of Qadira. The vizier of Qadira has consistently refused to allow it to go to war with Taldor again, despite the wishes of the rest of the country. But a more subtle play like this may be right up their alley. Better still, if they resolve the situation peacefully, when the PCs inevitably make it to Qadira on their quest for allies around the Inner Sea, the Satrap is going to be right pissed off at them for ruining his own machinations, making it significantly harder for the PCs to bring them into the coalition. They might have to go over his head to the Vizier, or perhaps even to the Emperor - a loooong way away. It'll still be possible to get all three factions here into the fold, but it'll be somewhat difficult. Earn your happy ending, in essence.

This is in fact perfect.