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View Full Version : DM Help 150 hungry men, women and children - and 5 PCs



HoboKnight
2020-02-24, 03:59 AM
Here is the background: a small rural village (taken from module Mines of Phandelver - it's Phandalin) was encircled and eventually raided by a large group of mercenaries. Mercenaries have enslaved, looted and eventually burnt down an entire settlement. The contract for mercenaries was to lead all enslaved townsfolk (about 150 men, women and children) through the forest (about 5 days trek on foot) and into flat plains, where there was another 2 days of trek, when entire group of enslaved people was handed over to a motley crew of cultists, kobolds and another, smaller group of mercenaries(these were "taken" from Hoard of Dragon queen. I'll slowly introduce them into this module). For seven days, people were given only water, but mercenaries did not care - as per contract, "cargo" will be transferred to their clients in semi-mint condition.

This entire group was also followed by our PC adventurers. A day after townsfolk were handed over to cultist group, our PCs caught up to them and engaged the slavers. It seems my group will be sucessful at defeating and scattering the guards. At this point, PCs will face 150 people (men, women and children), which have not eaten for a week. I'd like to present my group with all that such a situation would mean for them.

How would such a group act? (I'm thinking demanding food at least for about 30 children, that are tagging along). People are starved, but among them are also some quite wise and life-savy individuals. Captured inceepers, crafters, traders. They have almost no posessions, but these folk would like to find a solution to their situation and fast. NPC townsfolk do know the region quite well (PCs not so much). Townsfolk know, their settlement is burnt down and it is fall - winter is soon to follow. To the south of them (about two days' walk) there is a trade route - a small village is placed about a day's ride apart on this route with a small town also nearby - about a week's walk away.

What I'd like to present my group with is the vice, these people are in. How do they act? I'd think they plead and beg for food. Some present viable solutions. Some may want to take advantage of situation?

150 people and 5 PCs lvl 5 (Ranger, Rogue, Wizard, Sorcerer and a Paladin). What are they facing, after they liberate the townsfolk?


thanks

Incorrect
2020-02-24, 04:46 AM
They will be tired and drained, but not dying yet. It is likely that they will have tried to eat roots and plants whenever they stopped for a rest.
I think in a situation like this; immediate survival will be the only thing on the minds of the people.
They will beg, borrow, steal from the players and anyone else they see. Either the players, or the wise/savvy people might try to arrange for a shared meal, sending the most fit out for short foraging/hunting trips. Until they have some nourishment they will not begin to think about the winter and what to do next.
When the body is no longer screaming for food, the mind will be allowed to think about the future.

A group of people like this might be very stubborn when it comes to their homes. Unless the players convince them to do otherwise, I think they will return to their burned village and try to rebuild. Alternatively they might go to the largest town in the region as refugees.

Spore
2020-02-24, 08:20 AM
The central issue are the children. They can't go long without food, and they should be fed first and foremost. Assuming the crowd is largely good aligned, you can also assume a few of the older NPCs that are near death will try to stay behind to fend for themselves, unable to see any child starve to death while they survive. People tend to form cliques, so you can assume one group trying to get an advantage on any food supply. Even more may try to hide found food.

But now the good news. They are not cityfolk, they are farmers and miners. They should at least know a various degree of living in the (tamed) wilderness. A small group could form a hunting party with the ranger (and rogue to an extent, depending on their skill set). A few villagers could come to the wizard asking them if certain roots, mushrooms and berries are edible. The paladin and sorcerer would be wise to keep the crowd calm and cooperative.

This is how it would go down. The rest is largely depending on where they are currently. Forests and plains offer much food, depending on where you look. Two more major points would be water supply and the growing cold.

Segev
2020-02-24, 10:40 AM
The mantra I hear a lot is, "3 minutes without air, 3 days without water, 3 weeks without food." Those are the guidelines for how long people can survive under those circumstances. (It's actually higher than 3 minutes, but it's still a good guideline; do not push it.)

The adults who were in reasonable health are probably miserable, but not dying. The elderly and sickly may well have already died, abandoned on the road or slain in town by the mercs as too much trouble to roust and move. The children will be worst-off, with greater need for food and more harm from malnourishment being a probability. Even neutral people in a close-knit village of 150 will want to protect the children first; it's a matter of survival AND neutral people tend to be "good to their in-group, not so good to their out-group." All these kids will be their in-group.

As to attitude? Fear, first off. If they buy that they're being rescued, gratitude. But there will be concern that this new violent band of people are going to just keep up the abuse.

If they're overall comfortable, it's unlikely (but possible) that they'll have any significant number of people with so entitled an attitude that they'll complain about the rescuers not feeding them. I would expect more pleading and listing of complaints in a "we're starving" sense rather than a "you owe us food" sense.

And, yes, there's probably at least one or two hunters or farmer amongst them who can do hunting and gathering of wild meat and vegetables.

Get the kids enough food that they can function semi-supervised, and most of them probably played at gathering berries; it was not an uncommon task for small children and was coupled with play in a lot of medieval societies.

There's doubtless food that the cultists and/or mercenaries had for themselves, too. Now that they've been killed/driven off, those food stores are now available for the refugees.

Also, this is D&D; do they have a cleric who can cast create food and water? Even if he can't feed EVERYONE, he can feed a LOT. A druid's even better. Goodberry is ideal in these circumstances.

Kaptin Keen
2020-02-24, 11:34 AM
Um .. I hate to be a spoil sport, but unless the slavers acquired the slaves just to watch them starve to death ... they'll have provisions for them, for the taking (once they're dead, of course - the slavers that is).

And they really would have to exceptionally - stupidly - evil to buy 150 slaves only to watch them starve to death. Different, of course, if they were meant for a large scale sacrifice. That could work. In that case, right back to figuring out how to feed them.

Hey, actually the best long term solution might be ... to sell them into slavery =D

Or at least medium term indentured servitude. Depending on how brutal you want to be, but being penniless, homeless and without any means to sustain yourself in the middle ages very well might simply not be survivable.

denthor
2020-02-24, 02:42 PM
One 5th level cleric in the party could feed 15-30 people per day depending on wisdom. Is there a nearby good cleric?

Berenger
2020-02-24, 04:01 PM
Well, even if the slavers brought no provisions for the slaves, they brought provisions for themselves.

If those and and the amount of foraged food / hunting opportunities are not enough to stave off starvation, they can just resort to cannibalism (there are several freshly butchered slaver corpes, those will certainly have enough meat and marrow to make it back to the next friendly settlement).

HoboKnight
2020-02-25, 02:13 AM
Um .. I hate to be a spoil sport, but unless the slavers acquired the slaves just to watch them starve to death ... they'll have provisions for them, for the taking (once they're dead, of course - the slavers that is).

And they really would have to exceptionally - stupidly - evil to buy 150 slaves only to watch them starve to death. Different, of course, if they were meant for a large scale sacrifice. That could work. In that case, right back to figuring out how to feed them.

Hey, actually the best long term solution might be ... to sell them into slavery =D

Or at least medium term indentured servitude. Depending on how brutal you want to be, but being penniless, homeless and without any means to sustain yourself in the middle ages very well might simply not be survivable.

Great observation. I thought about this a lot, too. Mercenaries did not bring any food for them, because they knew people can run on water and whatever they could scrounge in the forest during night rests. Now, this new group - yes, they are cultists and yes, secrifice of the enslaved ones is planned. But these cultists are - among lower ranks - about as organized as Soviet Red army in early 1940. Funds for mercenaries were secured, a small and barely-suficcient group of cultist/guards was assembled, but this already is a botched operation.

LibraryOgre
2020-02-25, 11:51 AM
Since I'm guessing this is a 5th edition game, your Ranger is going to be a big deal here... if he knows Goodberry.

With Goodberry, he can feed 40 people a day. Which means he can feed everyone every 4 days... 60 and every 3 days if he burns his 2nd level slots for them (and, as a DM, I might allow some upcasting options for Goodberry; not better berries, but certainly more berries). Since that's a full day's food every 3 or 4 days, that's going to be some substantial relief to malnutrition. Add in that casting these will only take the ranger a few minutes, and he can spend the rest of the day foraging, and you might have some useful amounts of food to help people along... no one will be really full, but they won't be as starving.

Also, raid the slaver's supplies, which should meet some immediate needs.

A lot will come down to spell selection, though.

Segev
2020-02-25, 03:39 PM
Great observation. I thought about this a lot, too. Mercenaries did not bring any food for them, because they knew people can run on water and whatever they could scrounge in the forest during night rests. Now, this new group - yes, they are cultists and yes, secrifice of the enslaved ones is planned. But these cultists are - among lower ranks - about as organized as Soviet Red army in early 1940. Funds for mercenaries were secured, a small and barely-suficcient group of cultist/guards was assembled, but this already is a botched operation.

The mercenaries might not have food for the slaves, but they'll have it for themselves. If you killed them off or captured their provision wagon, you have that food, at least, to share out. Might not be enough for full meals for days on end, but a little, even rationed heavily, is better than nothing.

Incorrect
2020-02-26, 08:37 AM
Also, raid the slaver's supplies, which should meet some immediate needs.
Good point.

Between the prisoners probably eating bugs, roots and grass when the slavers stopped for the night; and the slavers own food supplies; hunger is probably not a huge problem.
Form some hunter/gather parties and be done with it.

The next problem is what to do next?`
Winter is coming...

Segev
2020-02-26, 09:59 AM
Good point.

Between the prisoners probably eating bugs, roots and grass when the slavers stopped for the night; and the slavers own food supplies; hunger is probably not a huge problem.
Form some hunter/gather parties and be done with it.

The next problem is what to do next?`
Winter is coming...

Just how far are you from civilization? :smallconfused:

Kaptin Keen
2020-02-26, 10:36 AM
Just how far are you from civilization? :smallconfused:

This could be down to GM knowledge. While no one else does, the GM might know that winter is coming - tomorrow! A cold snap and unexpected snows might well make foraring for roots, beetles and berries that much less viable.

HoboKnight
2020-02-26, 11:22 AM
Just how far are you from civilization? :smallconfused:
About two days' walk south(to hit the trade road) and three days' walk east(to reach small town). They have AN APPROXIMATE assessment of this.

Segev
2020-02-26, 11:32 AM
They presumably at least know how long they travelled from the source village.

If they genuinely are lost and have no idea what the nearest town is, let alone where, that's a problem even without starving people! If they do have an idea where they can go, the food they took from the dead slavers and cultists should tide over the most vulnerable of the 150 people until they get to civilization and can beg, borrow, or steal more food. (Preferably buy, actually, but that seems less likely than begging.)

Clistenes
2020-03-05, 02:03 PM
1.-The cultists probably had some food to keep them alive until they were to use them.

2.-Roasted kobolds will probably look tasty to people who haven't eaten anything for a week...

3.-At least some of the captives will know how to forage, hunt and fish some food.

4.-They also should know where the nearest settlement is, and they should have some friends, relatives or contacts there that could lend a hand. Adult captives can work as payment for food...

5.-Random encounters can become food... Bears, wolves, manticores, giant spiders... whatever, they are food...

6.-What about your spellcasters? Can't they help provide some food?

paddyfool
2020-03-06, 07:48 AM
Do the mercs or party have any horses or other beasts of burden? You'd get about one day's worth of calories per full sized horse for everyone if these are present and not immediately needed otherwise.

Might present a bit of an ethical + logistical dilemma to the party between slaughtering a horse or using it to transport sick people / later using it or selling it, of course.

Quertus
2020-03-07, 02:39 PM
Hey, actually the best long term solution might be ... to sell them into slavery =D

Or at least medium term indentured servitude. Depending on how brutal you want to be, but being penniless, homeless and without any means to sustain yourself in the middle ages very well might simply not be survivable.


The mercenaries might not have food for the slaves, but they'll have it for themselves. If you killed them off or captured their provision wagon, you have that food, at least, to share out. Might not be enough for full meals for days on end, but a little, even rationed heavily, is better than nothing.


1.-The cultists probably had some food to keep them alive until they were to use them.

2.-Roasted kobolds will probably look tasty to people who haven't eaten anything for a week...

3.-At least some of the captives will know how to forage, hunt and fish some food.

4.-They also should know where the nearest settlement is, and they should have some friends, relatives or contacts there that could lend a hand. Adult captives can work as payment for food...

5.-Random encounters can become food... Bears, wolves, manticores, giant spiders... whatever, they are food...

6.-What about your spellcasters? Can't they help provide some food?

My list was more…

Step 1 - Eat the food that the slavers brought (for themselves).

2) Eat the slavers

3) Split the party. Forage. Have each group roll individually for random encounters. Eat those, too.

4) Prepare Create Food and Water. Ask the starving villagers if they've accepted Flying Spaghetti Monster. Convert them.

5) Give them holy symbols. If they have sufficient faith, Flying Spaghetti Monster will provide.

6) if not, animate their starved corpses (or, if good, sell them into slavery for their own good).

Kaptin Keen
2020-03-08, 02:05 AM
My list was more…

Step 1 - Eat the food that the slavers brought (for themselves).

2) Eat the slavers

3) Split the party. Forage. Have each group roll individually for random encounters. Eat those, too.

4) Prepare Create Food and Water. Ask the starving villagers if they've accepted Flying Spaghetti Monster. Convert them.

5) Give them holy symbols. If they have sufficient faith, Flying Spaghetti Monster will provide.

6) if not, animate their starved corpses (or, if good, sell them into slavery for their own good).

I applaud that you have so many steps before you sell them into slavery for their own good. It is cause for some concern though that most of those steps involve either cannibalism, or the Flying Spaghetti Monster.