Campaign Idea: The Adventurer's Oregon Trail

[Hobbo Jim]

I had a campaign idea to have the PCs start in a city, have it get completely destroyed by a BBEG's army. From there, instead of adventuring to kill/get revenge on the BBEG, who is far more powerful than them, they would instead be running from the army with a caravan of other people in attempt to find a new area where they can create a new city. So the goal of the PCs would be to survive, keep the caravan alive (so they actually have a population to create a new town/city), and perhaps figure out what it is that is destroying everything.

What do you guys think? What kind of people (also affected by the army of darkness) could they run into along the way and possibly join the caravan? Interesting events? Magical Dysentery & die?

[jaappleton]

Everyone is going to contract cholera before the third stop on the trail, and they'll foolishly decide to cross the river and lose 3/4 of their supplies.

[Honest Tiefling]

I can see one slight issue. If the PCs have any reason to believe they are known to the BBEG as potential enemies, they have no reason to guard that caravan. They could reasonably believe that by hanging around them, they make it more of a target.

If you run this, I'd run the ENTIRE premise by the party, so they can make builds more suited to the situation, and won't try to flee the NPCs. It won't be everyone's cup of tea, but that doesn't mean it isn't a good cup of tea!

Sweeten the deal by giving everyone an NPC contact within the city. They should obviously survive, and makes the caravan less of a horde of faceless mooks. I would consider giving a few class levels and non-combat builds (such as a wizard who might be able to make ink if ingredients are found so the party can copy his spellbook).

The first type of people they encounter should be recruits! So they won't get paranoid about leaving the caravan unguarded. Perhaps the remains of a monastery, or a wandering band of knights.

[jaappleton]

You can ensure they'll want to stick with the caravan by attaching NPCs they care about to it.

The Fighter's little sister is part of the group
The Cleric's old mentor is with the group
Etc.

Even the Thieves Guild is likely to work with people on this, because their entire home was ransacked. They're likely to be great scouts as they accompany the group.

[Hobbo Jim]

Thanks for the Feedback, and yeah I was hoping to create characters that they care about. I was thinking about giving everyone a semi-important station within the city. I also don't want to make the NPCs completely useless, so that if at least half the party wants to stay, the other half would stay because going it alone is likely to get them killed. So aside from family, I was also thinking about giving them a blacksmith who could work with material they find along the way, having some guardsman who always stay with the caravan (opposed to the party, who might scout ahead from time to time).

Any ideas for how it might be good to deal with starvation/food & water shortages?

[Fishyninja]

I'd definitely give it a go. I mean not only is there the fear of monsters and bandits etc as previous people have said, you have to keep an entire group of people safe. Think the Trail of Tears almost.

[Honest Tiefling]

Any ideas for how it might be good to deal with starvation/food & water shortages?

This is tricky. If people start dying, then the PCs suddenly lack a motivation. I would actually consider not tracking that. See, the city was on a riverbank of multiple rivers, and in a very lush area. There's plenty of food, but shelter is more of a problem. Keeping those able to forage in a good state is more important, and you can hand wave food until it is dramatically relevant.

I'd also consider giving them some clerics. But these clerics, while not of evil religions, definitely butt heads a lot. Perhaps one is more hidebound, traditional and martial, while the other one is more egalitarian and idealistic. So there's the question of if people (And possibly even teenagers as young as 16) should be foraging, even if it is dangerous. Perhaps the former group is against it, as they believe it is a warrior's duty. The second group wants them to learn. Or if there is a food shortage, the former group believes that warriors get better rations, while the latter think it should go to children, the pregnant, and the sick. This gives a source of create food and water, but an opportunity for a face to do something.

[Hobbo Jim]

I like the idea of giving them just enough so nobody is going to die, but perhaps not everyone is going to be at their best. I imagine the PCs will always be fine, but maybe deciding how to distribute the rest of the food could be important.

Obviously they could run into monsters and bandits along the way, but any ideas for interesting situations/obstacles they could run into? I was thinking about having them run into a city that submitted to the BBEG, so they could buy things from them, as well as a charisma contest to gain/lose some people before someone outs them as being an enemy.

[Honest Tiefling]

1) Wandering merchants/grave robbers. Do you buy from a morally iffy source, or ignore them? The caravan might have opinions.

2) Shrines to the BBEG. Do you stay by them for protection (since bandits are unlikely to attack people near them), or

3) Monster race! As in, they meet another caravan of a monster race that would like to work together. I'm going to be biased to tieflings, but there are plenty of choices of slightly suspicious races to choose from. Maybe they have a few more experts/foragers/NPCs with class levels, and are highly valuable. If they are tieflings, maybe they weren't even born that way, but sorta woke up one night able to see with a hankering to steal.

4) Caravan from a rival city. Do you trust them, or not? Will they betray you because the prince from your city insulted their princess five generations ago, or do you suspect they haven't let bygones be bygones?

5) Ruins of a caravan. Do you flee, or do you pick over it for goodies?

6) A creepy child. Why is this child here? Perhaps they were found in the ruins of a town or a caravan, completely unharmed. Some people would be superstitious, while others refuse to leave a child behind. And then she or he manifests warlock powers. How did this happen? And what happens when the child decides that one of the PCs is her new 'Uncle' or 'Aunt' and wants to be just like them and hear all of their stories and tries to play hide and seek with them?

7) A disease. Do you help the sick, or leave them to die? Helping them runs the risk of contamination. If you don't want the entire caravan dying, have it impose a condition that isn't fatal, but makes it so they can't help. Of course, there's a cure!...The people following the BBEG have it.

8) The remains of a druid circle...With some pets. Some large dire wolves were hanging around, seeming to mourn the passing of their druids. Someone in the camp (say...The fighter's little sister) has a vision of an elderly man wearing a crown of oak smiling to her and pointing to the wolves. The wolves are now guarding the caravan, especially paying attention to anyone related to these druids, performing certain superstitions connected to the druids, or a druid. The trick is, while they are not hostile, is to prevent a caravan of scared sick people from doing something stupid. Also, giant wolves guarding a caravan might draw some attention...

[Byke]

If you are thinking about running an Oregon trail style game, I highly recommend picking up the Banner Saga PC games to give you some ideas and decision you have to face.

[Hobbo Jim]

Thanks for the help, especially Honest Tiefling. I think it's shaping up to be a solid campaign, now I just need to take the time to flesh it out and really figure out who the BBEG is, his henchmen, and incorporate some backstories :smallbiggrin:

[Honest Tiefling]

Make it two BBEG. BBEG# 1 unleashes their eeeeeviiiil plan to destroy some cities, and BBEG#2 realizes that they better do something or there isn't going to be a lot of world left to rule.

Easier to incorproate with backstories, and might throw your players for a loop.

[jaappleton]

Make it two BBEG. BBEG# 1 unleashes their eeeeeviiiil plan to destroy some cities, and BBEG#2 realizes that they better do something or there isn't going to be a lot of world left to rule.

Easier to incorproate with backstories, and might throw your players for a loop.

I love this, this could lead to temporary alliances with either BBEG to thwart the other one.

[Coretex]

I LOVE this campaign idea. I would like to play this campaign.

A group of heroic types leading a city worth of refugees through semi-hostile lands in search of succor is one of the best ways to make use of the most 5e systems.

Crafting rules can apply to NPCs of the city; highly motivated to equip the protectors with useful equipment from the materials provided to them. (and you can easily justify their skills progressing to allow greater items as the game goes on)

Money rewards which typically have few uses can actually be in tight supply, and needed to purchase supplies for the refugees from towns or traders that they encounter (you cant expect charity in most cases, especially when you bring news of an evil army behind you)

Interesting environment can be explored in case it might provide a safe refuge (think Gondolin from Tolkien's Silmarillion, surrounded by mountains) and thus lead to interesting monster encounters.

They could be responsible for determining what the Refugees occupy their time with as well; More sent hunting means more likelihood to not worry about food. Train healers, craftspeople, builders.

You probably do need to track the distance between them and the pursuing army to encourage constant moving and looking for safety. That adds options in terms of slowing down the enemy, misleading them, and gives you space to roleplay in towns you pass through (whether that be "OH GOD WE HAVE TO ALL RUN RIGHT NOW!" or thinking about how much time they can afford to waste)

I think the best part is that you have freedom to track or hand wave as much as you like depending on what the players most enjoy. You could easily drop in a mention of the food situation (hunters successful/not) to encourage the players to be thinking about the various needs of the refugees.

Every time the players do anything they will be excited to find:
+Supplies
+Materials
+Gold
+Magic items
+Information
+Allies

Which gives you a lot of options for interesting rewards (each potentially leading to their own interesting situations) in addition to the usual character progression.

In terms of NPC interaction, I think you might be better served by having the main character NPCs just be well developed characters in their own right, rather than many directly tied to the PCs.
If your players know that this is the game (protecting and leading these refugees) they won't need any cheap help to keep them there, and that gives them the freedom to forge their own bonds and relationships with characters they like. Always better than ones they are supposed to already know.

This seriously sounds like a great campaign.
Please let me know how it goes, I think you've inspired me :D

[Fishyninja]

SNIP
You do realise you are going to have to keep us posted about how the campagin goes right!

[Alkerite]

I think you're thinking a bit big. Instead of say a caravan of 30+ npcs and the pcs, a small wagon or two of 12 people, npcs, pcs and all.

[Hobbo Jim]

I'm still trying to get a main plot-line underway. As far as BBEGs go, what I was planning was a big angry evil thing that is only mentioned, but never met. This guy has generals/lieutenants/whatever, each of which will have attacked different areas of their kingdom, and one of which is actively chasing the party. This way I could have them run into different kinds of monsters, but still have one BBEG that they are really trying to kill. Really the others would just help develop the world and help the players understand what's going on.

But I am excited as I slowly create a plot line! It can be nice to have the players excited for basically anything that I reward them with. Right now I'm still fleshing out a few key plot points that I want them to experience, once I get backstories I want to interweave them a bit, and I need to figure out what kind of management system I want to incorporate for the caravan.

The end game is that the players will reach a safe spot, build a new city, and then hopefully be more prepared for when the BBEG comes for them (ideally killing him, instead of getting their city destroyed). While I could start on the smaller side of wagons, they will eventually need more than 12 people in order to build a city.

This would also leave for a great new campaign launch point, where new adventurers come from this now prospering city and have to kill the other generals and perhaps eventually the BBEG, but that's so far down the line I'll refrain from nose diving there :smallwink:

I think I would be happy to update on how the campaign goes, except that I don't want to necro a thread just to mention silly shenanigans and ongoing every now and then.

[Grey Watcher]

I'd suggest arranging it such that whatever destroys the PCs hometown appears (at first) to be a natural disaster rather than an attack. Otherwise you run the risk of the PCs wanting to stay and play saboteurs or La Resistance to slow or halt the BBEG's advance until they are strong enough to start doing real damage (taking out the enemy's generals and archmages and such).

With some lucky rolls, the PCs might realize some of the hazards aren't just random, but are, in fact, directed by someone or something that wants these caravans dead; hopefully, by the time they put together that the disaster was neither natural nor arbitrary, they'll be far enough away and have become invested enough in the fate of the caravan that they won't go running back immediately.

[Coretex]

I don't think the players will really struggle with the idea of protecting the caravan if you lead with: "this campaign is about leading and protecting this caravan of refugees".

Have you played the Banner Saga? It sounds like exactly the game you want to play and will no doubt give you many great ideas for encounters and story points.
*disclaimer: no ties to developers*

Be prepared for your players to be looking for safe haven all of the time. You might have a "perfect spot" in mind but it will be more natural if you allow your players to explore mountains for secluded valleys or giant cave systems, hidden glades, easily defended places. That doesn't mean each place is safe. Especially at the low levels when the group could likely be easily overwhelmed by whatever the BBEG usually throws at problems, stopping might mean a desperate attempt to flee shortly thereafter. That is fine though! A nice learning curve for the players (as long as you give them a way out) and a chance to throw in some BBEG minion interaction.

A big group makes it easier to justify cities they pass turning them away (otherwise they will make a beeline for the best city around) and lets you do more with the refugees (beyond an escort mission)

The priorities of a group of heroes protecting a caravan will be different from a group seeking to take down the big bad. You will have to tie information about BBEG weaknesses / goals to their early survivalist objectives till they are both hooked on a hope to defeat the BBEG somehow and also at a place where the caravan needs are met, at least temporarily, before they will start chasing down those plot points.

I would recommend drawing up a map centered around their starting point. Fill it with interesting environments in every direction for the first few weeks of travel (keeping in mind that a big group travels slowly, and that speeding through day by day travel is going to be much more fun) That is the area they know about. Then have a ring that you only fill out as they begin to explore in that direction. Mountains in the distance, forests they see, stories the traders tell. You don't have to give them a map to start with, let them draw it up as they go.
You can rotate the outer rings as they travel to keep the areas you want them to end up in front of them wherever they go.
Filling the world with interesting things for them to explore and search for those things I mentioned above is really important. Nothing is more boring than repeating the tasks of the previous day because the scenery is "more flat plains" or "that forest you explored entirely last week".

[jaappleton]

I think you're thinking a bit big. Instead of say a caravan of 30+ npcs and the pcs, a small wagon or two of 12 people, npcs, pcs and all.

This.

I'd do this, and do it along the lines not of The Oregon Trail, but more The Walking Dead. Though not limited to Undead, of course. Packs of dire wolves. A clan of Lycanthropes. Heck, RIVAL Lycanthropic clans. Maybe form a temporary alliance with a group of Weretigers to take out Werewolves? WHAT IF A PC GETS INFECTED?! Hill Giants? You go foraging for food and discover the entire forest has been corrupted by a Circle of Evil Druids, and all the wild animals and food is twisted, corrupted versions. None of the food can be eaten, and if the group doesn't deal with it, it'll spread... Heck, this alone is reason to align with one of the Lycanthropic clans, as they'll have no food to hunt....... Except the party.

[Hobbo Jim]

The players are going to start out at a lower level, and it will be clear that the army is large/staying and fighting would be futile, and far more likely to get them killed if they manage to do any real damage. I'm pretty confident it won't be hard to get the party to defend the caravan. If they decide to sabotage in order to slow them down while the caravan gets a head start and they catch up that's fine by me, but like I said the overall goal shouldn't be too hard.

Another way that I was thinking about starting it off though is that the city gets destroyed, and then the party gets taken prisoner. Lead a prison escape, and whoever they manage to save will be their starting caravan. Ideas i'm toying with.

I have not played the Banner Saga but you're the second to mention it, so I'll be sure to take a look! And I have a place sorta in mind, but yes I assumed they would do their best to find their own area to set up. If they do it too early, or in a poorly defended area I'll be sure to send them on the road again :smallwink:

I already have a map sorta figured out with vague descriptions, really mostly describing the terrain they would travel through, and the end destination they might find. I entirely expect them to decide themselves what would make a good camp. But the areas are currently vague enough, and my events are vague enough that no matter which way they go, aside from terrain they will still meet the same problems overall. Maybe with slight twists. I'll be sure to include ruins, battlefields, some sort of clan of maybe good maybe not people/beasts, abandoned towers, etc.

Lycanthropes could be interesting, but again while it might start out with between 10-20 I want them to Build a City. This requires much more than what the walking dead have. The walking dead have never built much, but instead find structures. This isn't going to be that easy, because any structures that have been abandoned are likely infested with dangers. I just don't see how having only 10-20 for an entire campaign would work for the end goal.

[coredump]

My advice is to keep in mind most people play to be heroic, not 'just survive'.

Now, if you can let survival also be heroic, then you may have something.

Hiding and scrounging for food will not make for a fun game. Having to move forward and quickly dispatch a camp of goblins and bugbears before the caravan shows up.... can be heroic. (Rock and a hard place scenario)

[Coretex]

It sounds like you are on a great track. I really hope you let me know how it plays out.

I still like the idea of more people in the caravan (~100 +). Most of the problems that seem to come from having a lot of people can be solved by getting those people off their asses to help.
Track covering
Hunting
Gathering
General repairs
Crafting
Scouting
and more
become bigger issues with a bigger group, truly, but also can be entirely dealt with BY the bigger group without player interaction beyond "task a group with covering tracks" or "Lay a false trail". This way the players only get involved in times of crisis (read: Most interesting and exciting) but can still be involved in any part you like or that they find fun.

Having NPC scouts especially will help you highlight things for them to interact with. Otherwise you have to trust them to abandon the caravan to explore a cave when they have no idea what might be inside and a forest is in the other direction.

I like your current start idea (leading prisoners to freedom after an escape). It is a great way to set them up as leaders, and you can easily add extra refugees as they escape the city.

[Hobbo Jim]

The biggest thing will be food as they get bigger. You can only get so much food from a surrounding area, which is why farming is so useful. Aside from that though, I do plan on giving them some sort of caravan management system. Working to upgrade the caravan will be a cool idea I think. For the purpose of this campaign, it will definitely be a larger caravan, but I can see how a smaller group would be fun in a different setting. The party will focus on critical points for when they hit a roadblock, need to scout ahead, or are attacked etc. and make big decisions.

[Coretex]

Just be careful to always eschew realism in favour of fun.

If your players enjoy the food gathering aspect then by all means make it a struggle.
Otherwise a hunting party can quite feasibly secure food for a great many people if they are lucky and traveling through more wilderness-ey areas (less hunted in).

Farming is unlikely to be an option with constant moving (although perhaps they could rig some carriages with a garden bed on top :D) but wild vegetables will also be in supply for most terrains.

Having a Ranger in this group becomes more necessary the longer I think about it. (Goodberries for all!)

[tkuremento]

I always liked this idea but had a very specific twist on it. There would need to be 7 PCs, and you gather supplies to start a new settlement. Of course it could probably be done with less PCs but NPCs would HAVE to take the extra slots to make it 7 characters in the group. More would start to join the settlement as it progressed. There would be a few encounters on the way to new area, likely a mountain. I mean your previous home WAS a mountain too. Also did I mention the 7 characters are all Dwarves? :smallamused: