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View Full Version : DM Help Advice on encounters for homebrew campaign



Bernard13
2015-04-19, 11:35 AM
Advice please!

I'm designing a Robin-Hood themed homebrew campaign (using Iron Heroes mechanics) with the aim of keeping it as open-ended as possible. Basically I want the players to have to make lots of decisions and face the consequences of those decisions as they decide how they want to go about overthrowing the evil and oppressive Sheriff of Nottingham.

One of my outstanding jobs is the encounter locations. Like I said, this is to be very open-ended, so while I can arrange some encounters, I anticipate that a substantial proportion of the encounters will be ambushes laid by Robin Hood and his band of outlaws. My problem here is that if I were a PC laying an ambush I would want to choose my terrain. Ignoring the not-too-appealing option of mapping the entire county of Nottinghamshire, I've been trying to figure out how to let the PCs choose their encounter locations. I have one idea but I'm interested to see what other ideas have been used by other DMs.

PS. I'm a relatively inexperienced DM playing with a relatively inexperienced group so please forgive if I've missed anything blindingly obvious to more advanced d20 players.

Keltest
2015-04-19, 12:11 PM
My thoughts are, pick a skill or stat and have them roll based on that. The better the roll (after bonuses), the better territory the scout is able to find for an ambush. From there, you can just make up the specific terrain based on the environment (example, is it near a major trade road? Is it in a forest? Is there a river nearby?) and the roll. Give bonuses if they do research on the type of prey theyre ambushing. A party traveling all on horses will need a different ambush site than a slow moving caravan, for example.

Maglubiyet
2015-04-19, 02:11 PM
You could also have the PC's describe their ideal ambush location and assume something similar must exist somewhere within the forest (assuming it's not too outlandish). Have them make the appropriate outdoor-skill type roll to determine how close they can find such a site. Or you could determine where it is and what is nearby.

Keltest
2015-04-19, 02:53 PM
Other times when the PCs are going to ambush something, ill have one or more NPCs scout out the actual location, draw them a picture, tell them what their resources are, and ask them how they plan to rig any traps and otherwise prepare the battlefield.

One of my favorite tactics they did was have the Stone Giant in the party hurl flaming barrels of oil at a target. It would shatter and cover everything in (hopefully flaming) oil.

Bernard13
2015-04-19, 03:51 PM
Thanks! I like the skill check idea. My first thought was to 'charge' them time taken to find what they're looking for based on how fussy they're being. i.e. if they want a bend in the road with a sturdy branch overhead that crosses the road and a hill to hide behind, this would take longer to find than a decent-sized tree to hide behind.

But it's more realistic to assume that someone with good knowledge (geography) would know where to start looking and save some time. I can't say I'll be drawing any pictures as my limited creative skills are not in any way directed in that direction! I'll have to describe it instead.

It's funny you should mention the barrels of oil, one of the various NPCs who'll be travelling around will be carrying a substantial cargo of lamp oil... of course, it's not up to me what the players do with this...

Keltest
2015-04-19, 04:05 PM
Thanks! I like the skill check idea. My first thought was to 'charge' them time taken to find what they're looking for based on how fussy they're being. i.e. if they want a bend in the road with a sturdy branch overhead that crosses the road and a hill to hide behind, this would take longer to find than a decent-sized tree to hide behind.

But it's more realistic to assume that someone with good knowledge (geography) would know where to start looking and save some time. I can't say I'll be drawing any pictures as my limited creative skills are not in any way directed in that direction! I'll have to describe it instead.

It's funny you should mention the barrels of oil, one of the various NPCs who'll be travelling around will be carrying a substantial cargo of lamp oil... of course, it's not up to me what the players do with this...

I mean, you don't have to draw them the Mona Lisa. When Im DMing, I have a whiteboard behind me. I can draw a rough outline of the path, any notable obstacles in the most basic way they can understand, and I use letters to represent where different people are positioned.

So a path with a cart on it becomes two lines and an almost-rectangle. If there are guards by it, it gets surrounded by Gs.

Gritmonger
2015-04-19, 05:01 PM
Start macro and work micro.

Ambush locations can be anywhere along travel routes. So ask them what they want to look out for.

Start with a number of paths that go through the forest, add a few features and obstacles (checkpoints, guard towers, patrols) but keep it low on detail until they focus on one area. This can be as simple as a few lines intersecting and going through a forest. Some might be hilly but faster, some might be flat but longer.

Consider the travelers who will be taking the route. Somebody without delicate cargo, but expensive cargo, might take the hilly route. Somebody with inexpensive but delicate cargo (fresh vegetables for instance) might take the long, flat route so they get less bruising.

Then detail the terrain when they choose a close focus. A choke-point (a narrow path in a ravine) might look perfect, until you zoom in and find out it's next to a guard tower because apparently you weren't the first to think it looked perfect. Maybe a bend in the road looks good for ambush until they see all the undergrowth has been cleared because it really was a good spot for an ambush.

There's also the option of them making their own obstacles - a tree ready to be thrown or toppled into the road to block progress - and then another to block going back.

You might check out real-world ambushing tactics for ideas as well. Once you find out what makes a good ambush, put a few on your map, add a few complications if you want to make each one less than perfectly ideal (let's say that they are not the first people ever to ambush travelers).

Bernard13
2015-04-22, 03:24 PM
Loads of fantastic ideas, thanks all :smallsmile:

I've already got a map with routes, and ideas about who will be travelling: tax collectors (+ guards), nobles (+ bodyguard), merchants, common folk, and guard patrols. It occurred to me that guard patrol frequency could be affected by the PCs' criminal activity :smallwink:

And of course, the possibility that the PCs get ambushed themselves by other bandits, or the Sheriff's guards.

Keltest
2015-04-22, 03:47 PM
Loads of fantastic ideas, thanks all :smallsmile:

I've already got a map with routes, and ideas about who will be travelling: tax collectors (+ guards), nobles (+ bodyguard), merchants, common folk, and guard patrols. It occurred to me that guard patrol frequency could be affected by the PCs' criminal activity :smallwink:

And of course, the possibility that the PCs get ambushed themselves by other bandits, or the Sheriff's guards.

A word of advice. Make sure you know your limits on how many circumstances you can juggle around. Something like increased guard patrols with increased activity in an area sounds cool, but for a single human to keep track of that can be challenging.

For all I know, you may thrive in that sort of environment with 50 different moving parts. If so, more power to you. Just be aware that "sounds cool" and "I can run this well" are not going to necessarily be synonymous.

veti
2015-04-22, 03:51 PM
As has been mentioned, there's no point setting up an ambush just... wherever. It has to be somewhere the people you want to ambush are likely to be passing.

Also, I don't know your group obviously, but you should keep in mind the possibility that they might not want to spend their time "overthrowing the evil Sheriff of Nottingham". Or that they might come up with a plan for accomplishing that goal, that doesn't involve ambushing anyone, or involves moving to Sussex and setting up there. I'm not saying these things will happen... just that you can never be sure. Players are tricky sods.