Planning a first session

[NerdHut]

My current campaign has finally kicked into high gear and will be over before we know it. As such, I've begun some general planning for my next one, and have been trying to figure out how to run the first session. Once I figure out the story for it I can worry about stats, but I wanted a little creative input. Session one is heavily inspired by something someone else posted on this board, but I've forgetten their username. If you read this and recognize it, let me know; I'd love to give credit where credit is due. Here's what I have so far:

Everyone will be level 1, btw.

Backstory or event will bring the party together as a group.

[insert plausible quest giver here] sends the party to deal with a problem in a nearby town. A band of goblins has been known to occasionally attack livestock, but recently they've grown bolder. A man was killed in his home, and now the villagers fear for their lives.

After hearing of the gold reward, I suspect they will be easy to convince to head to the town to assist. On the way, I'll throw in a super easy encounter to let them think "Yeah, we're great, don't mess with us." But as they continue down the road a storm blows in. It's getting to be evening and the rain is getting more and more intense, but they see a dim light up the road. It's a farmhouse, and the idea is that the players will ask if they can seek shelter from the storm. The family inside (mother, father, two kids) will be very welcoming and will talk about the goblin attacks, share stories, blah blah blah, get attached to these NPCs, please.

In the middle of the night, as the rain begins to let up slightly, they'll hear a noise outside, and if they look through the window will see a few goblins breaking into the barn. If anyone tries to stay in the house, I'll emphasize the saying "Don't split the party."

After killing the goblins outside, they'll see one running out of the house. The party will find that while they were dealing with the goblins at the barn, some had gotten into the house. The mother will be bloodied but alive, though she will be hysterical over the bodies of her husband and children. If this doesn't make the party want to be the heroes of the story, nothing will.

From there, they'll find their way to the cave holding the band of goblins and kill them off.

That all should take up most of the session, but I'm not quite sure where to go from there.

[dantiesilva]

Well look at the why, why did the goblins suddenly become bolder? Did a new warchief take over? Are they gearing for war? Perhaps one of their shamans warned them about a great cataclysm and they are preparing for it the best way they know how? You need to understand what motivates your villains just as much as your PC's more so if they are into deep RP.

All of the above ideas have a similar feel to them, however are still very different in their motives. A new warchief could mean this one is more violent and aggressive in demanding tribute, killing the goblin tribes (or tribe) that do not do what he( or she sorcerer powers?) demands. If they are gearing for war, what has gotten all of the tribes in the nearby area to unite under one banner? Are their other races involved? And for my last example now it becomes who is the real enemy? The goblins could be just doing this to simply survive, could your players really kill people who are simply trying to make sure when this great thing happens that changes the world they have the tools to survive? (perhaps they saw the tarquesse waking up in a vision and are preparing to get a lot of food and other essential things and hide as deep as they can underground hoping to wait out the storm).

Hope this helps you some.

[D.M.Hentchel]

A great way to hook them into the above suggestions is to have one of the goblins (in the initial encounter or a later one) surrender himself to the party and when questioned reveal the difficulties the tribe is going through.

[Firest Kathon]

A great way to hook them into the above suggestions is to have one of the goblins (in the initial encounter or a later one) surrender himself to the party and when questioned reveal the difficulties the tribe is going through.

But keep in mind that there is a significant possibility that they will simply kill the goblin, so have an alternative way for the players to get that information (e.g. the tribe shaman kept a secret journal).

[D.M.Hentchel]

But keep in mind that there is a significant possibility that they will simply kill the goblin, so have an alternative way for the players to get that information (e.g. the tribe shaman kept a secret journal).

Well the beauty is you can just let them hack and slash through the goblin camp and not invovle themselves in the deeper plot at work

The surrendering goblin does offer a precious amount of information though, so the party has incentive to listen. But if your players choose to just slaughter the goblins and move on, then move on. It is good for players to have genuine choice.

Either way though it does develop the character.

[Cwymbran-San]

An interesting way to go would be to escalate the threat. Maybe the goblins are only the handmaidens of some higher power, a devil perhaps who tries to undermine the regions morale to turn it into a harvesting ground. Desperate people are more likely to turn towards the help of a fiend...

Or, the goblins serve a bunch of drow, who in turn answer to a medium-sized drow expedition who in turn.... i believe you get the idea ;-)

[Inevitability]

What if the PC's leave some of their own behind to protect the farmers, or take them with them when investigating the goblins?

[NerdHut]

What if the PC's leave some of their own behind to protect the farmers, or take them with them when investigating the goblins?

The most immediate solution to that is the residents say something to the effect of "Please, go get rid of them. We'll bar the door in here until you return." If figure a common door bar in a farmhouse is a decent deterrant against human commoners that fancy themselves rogues, but not so much against a couple goblins with morningstars. If there's still a party member in the house, I can just shift some goblins around, and without killing a party member, still have an NPC casualty or two.