Town reactions to PCs

[MThurston]

Does anyone have a chart or do things when PCs come to town? I'll list some things that I think about.

Mending of items broken. That old plate handed down from mother to daughter needs a quick mending spell.

Thieves guild spying or looking to make a quick pocket full of gold.

Magistrate looking for something to be taken care of.

Sheriff (corrupt or not) either giving the PC problems or asking for help on an investigation. Maybe asking if a murder weapon could be used to see who did it.

Churches asking for help or pulling Paladins and clerics into church politics.

Most times I play these are just things that people do not consider for story line of their games. It's something I think about to break-up that story line to get people thinking outside the box.

Would like to know if there is some kind of table or aid to dealing with town and town folk.

[Nitrosaur]

A couple of times the townsfolk have asked the druid in my game to use plant growth on the crops. Usually there is a druid that dies that already, but you know, PCs go to a place and disaster strikes, so they could use al the help they can get.

[JackPhoenix]

No. Sounds pointless and awkward. Why would I need a chart, when every town is different, and people aren't psychic to identify what the PCs can do the moment they show up?

[Cicciograna]

Sure, we have an entire comic (https://www.giantitp.com/comics/oots0122.html) that shows what happens when adventurers come to town!

[MThurston]

No. Sounds pointless and awkward. Why would I need a chart, when every town is different, and people aren't psychic to identify what the PCs can do the moment they show up?

Peasants can figure out what the party is made up of. They are nit stupid. That cleric looking person can heal. Maybe fix my Father's blindness.

That thief looking guy might get the attention from thr thieves guild.

The bard making the flames dim when performing.

These are all things to consider.

Would be nice if someone had a chart or a way to see what might happen in each town.

Like you said, each one is different.

[Brookshw]

You're talking about a lot of plot hooks in a town. Here (https://www.reddit.com/r/DnDBehindTheScreen/comments/bwtqod/120_urban_hooks/).

[MadBear]

You're talking about a lot of plot hooks in a town. Here (https://www.reddit.com/r/DnDBehindTheScreen/comments/bwtqod/120_urban_hooks/).

I really like this thread. Nice find.

[dafrca]

Peasants can figure out what the party is made up of. They are nit stupid. That cleric looking person can heal. Maybe fix my Father's blindness.

That thief looking guy might get the attention from thr thieves guild.

The bard making the flames dim when performing.

These are all things to consider.

Would be nice if someone had a chart or a way to see what might happen in each town.

Like you said, each one is different.

I think this is where our GM styles differ. On my table classes can not be IDed by their looks alone per say. Some characters can if their player makes it possible, the paladin or cleric who wears their order's tabard or a bard who enters town announcing they will be doing a show in the inn later on. But other than that not all PCs can be IDed as adventurers nor by their class just by sight.

But I can see if you are using the "all PCs and classes can be IDed by sight" then you do have to deal with being IDed as soon as you enter the town.

[Kenny_Snoggins]

Does anyone have a chart or do things when PCs come to town? I'll list some things that I think about.

Mending of items broken. That old plate handed down from mother to daughter needs a quick mending spell.

Thieves guild spying or looking to make a quick pocket full of gold.

Magistrate looking for something to be taken care of.

Sheriff (corrupt or not) either giving the PC problems or asking for help on an investigation. Maybe asking if a murder weapon could be used to see who did it.

Churches asking for help or pulling Paladins and clerics into church politics.

Most times I play these are just things that people do not consider for story line of their games. It's something I think about to break-up that story line to get people thinking outside the box.

Would like to know if there is some kind of table or aid to dealing with town and town folk.

Mass pregnancy if my bard is any indication. I like the idea that players react different based on adventurer level. Like at level 13, they have probably heard of them before or it's obvious from their gear that these are hardcore dudes. Our DM is good at showing that progression.

[Tanarii]

Run them out of town for being a heavily armed group of mercenaries usually made up entirely of races they've never seen or are explicitly enemies of humans.

[ProsecutorGodot]

Peasants can figure out what the party is made up of. They are nit stupid. That cleric looking person can heal. Maybe fix my Father's blindness.

That cleric looking person is an Assassin Rogue trying to sneak his way into the local temple to kill a corrupt priest.

I don't agree with the assessment that, even down the the peasants, NPC's are able to accurately discern the PC's abilities (or simply their identity as a "PC" that does things) and will react accordingly with any kind of consistency. Maybe when you reach a higher level and your reputation precedes you or have gear that is obviously well outside the norm.

Not every character in a set of vestments carrying a holy symbol even has magical ability, they could just be a worshipper. Not every character wearing armor and carrying a weapon is a powerful Fighter with hints of mystical ability or a Paladin imbued with holy might.

[JNAProductions]

I'll echo those who say that a chart is generally not super helpful-not a generic one, at least. It'll vary town-to-town and party-to-party.

A party of heavily armed and armored PCs will elicit a very different reaction than a group consisting of a Monk, a Druid, a Bard, and a Warlock (with no one in armor bulkier than leather and no visible weapons save for a walking staff).

Plus, what has the party accomplished so far? A group that slew the dragon lording themself over the town will get a grand reaction, no matter what they look like, while a party that seems to have brought the dragon with them will certainly NOT be looked upon well, no matter how they dress.

If you need help as a DM, I'd make a few NPCs. Three or four should be fine. Then, roll a dX, where X is the number of NPCs you have, and have the party encounter that NPC and have them react appropriately.

[Abracadangit]

I think your starting examples present two unique objects: "Quest Hooks" (like the sheriff asking for help or getting pulled into church politics) and something less weighty, but also more benign and flavorful, though I don't know there's a name for them. Let's call them "Requests" for now -- they're almost like "microquests," if that was a thing. Like the peasant who wants a mending spell, for example.

Brookshw's excellent Reddit post certainly provides a great many quest hooks, but I almost find the idea of "Requests" more appealing. They're fun, and a light touch, and they don't have to go anywhere meaningful if you don't want them to. Bonus points if they're instantly resolved in the same scene in which they appear. And they provide this nice dash of color to set the tone of a given city.

So if you wanted to make a full table of these, I suppose you'd make a mini-table for each class in the game, then whenever the party walks into a town for the first time (or subsequent times, if you're so inclined), you roll once to determine to figure out which party member draws attention, and then roll again to figure out which effect on the table occurs.

Take Bard, for example:

1 -- A street musician keeps trying to start a song, but their instrument is out of tune. (Intelligence, can add proficiency bonus from musical instrument tool proficiency if applicable)
2 -- A disgruntled townsperson mistakes the Bard for a performer who fleeced them in the past. (Persuasion, or alternately, if this sounds like something the PC may have done in their past and the player decides to own it, Deception)
3 -- The Bard overhears a tour guide, leading a group of noble tourists, right as the guide stumbles over a question about the town's origins. It seems they could use a little help. (History, maybe passive History check)
4 -- A person claiming to be from their bardic college says they're taking donations, but is really a con artist. (Insight)
5 -- A group of children surround the Bard, begging for a story. (Performance)
6 -- A jester mocks the Bard with rhyming insults, then pauses expectantly, as if awaiting a comeback. (Contested Performance)

And so on. Or you could do this for a type of city instead of a class, with different tables for different styles of city. There's the mage city run by wizards, the crime-ridden city owned by thieves' guilds, the holy city with shrines on every corner, etc, etc, with a little sub-table of "Requests" that procs each time you enter the city, or enter a specific neighborhood. Rewards don't even need to have big rewards, they're almost cheapened if they do -- maybe a gold piece, or a trinket, or something similar.


I think this is where our GM styles differ. On my table classes can not be IDed by their looks alone per say. Some characters can if their player makes it possible, the paladin or cleric who wears their order's tabard or a bard who enters town announcing they will be doing a show in the inn later on. But other than that not all PCs can be IDed as adventurers nor by their class just by sight.

But I can see if you are using the "all PCs and classes can be IDed by sight" then you do have to deal with being IDed as soon as you enter the town.

To dafrca's point -- some of these prompts only work if the adventurers visually present as their respective classes, in an immediately recognizable way. Otherwise some of the prompts need to be rewritten. Plus some of these may not work if players have refluffed/reflavored their character to be drastically different from the default fluff -- then some of the class tropes won't click.

But that aside, this could be fun! Entirely up to you, how you'd like to spin them.

[Angelalex242]

Some classes are going to be recognizable...anyone in plate armor is at least a fighter, and if he's got a holy tabard too, he's a Paladin. Clerics also wear Plate Armor, with even more holy stuff than a paladin. Bards also generally want to be noticed, because that's how they earn a living.

[JNAProductions]

Some classes are going to be recognizable...anyone in plate armor is at least a fighter, and if he's got a holy tabard too, he's a Paladin. Clerics also wear Plate Armor, with even more holy stuff than a paladin. Bards also generally want to be noticed, because that's how they earn a living.

Holy tabard could just be a pious Fighter.

[Bjarkmundur]

I like this line of thought.

In my game, being an adventurer means you take on a profession which revolves around travelling for 6 months, taking on dangerous jobs no one else would do, and hope you manage to save enough money to not have to travel for jobs during winter. This is quite tricky when a gold spent might save your life, for example by buying a spell scroll. What drives this line of work is mostly the magical nature of the world. Weird **** is always popping up, and big governments only manage to deal with the top level threats, or what's closest to them (even then they often fail). This makes it up to adventurers to deal with everything that's farther away from civilization. This is why we have noticed boards, because most towns expect adventurers to travel there eventually.

How does this make towns see adventurers. Probably as hagglers, most of all. Adventurers need coin to maintain their equipment, to keep them alive, and to have a 1000gp extra in 6 months? They're going to be charging for just about everything. Even if a party hits the jackpot early, they'll probably spend the remainder of their time doing "easy" quests, just to power up and buy more stuff to keep them safe. Think about how they value their time. 9 days out of 10 they are travelling. So each day they spend not travelling or questing is costing them tons of gold. A day's worth of necessities is valued at 1gp in my game, and a commoner's time is worth almost nothing if he is provided with food and shelter. The time of an adventuring party is probably worth over 30gp per day, which is a months pay for artisan work. So when a party does come to down, probably the only people that will address directly are service providers, and those with insane amount of balls. Here come a group of people with 1000gp just hanging in a bag on their belt. That's terrifying, especially when you know they gained that money by pure unadulterated slaughter.

Also, think of the rumors that have probably started with all these tough-as-nails adventurers, some being descendant of devils, or with dragonic blood in their veins.


"Did you 'ear 'bout wha' 'appened to poor ol' jimmy's friend's cousin's sister? She asked one of 'dem 'eroe-types to help'er daughtah's illness. Do ya' know wha' they di'? They saved 'ere eyes, but gave 'er a tail 'n some fangs, ye! So don' go askin' dem any favors, ya 'ear me?"

But after the adventurers have done their first quest in a town, the atmosphere will definetly change. Everyone knows they got payed, they fed up and drank up, and most likely fixed that break in their plate boot that was stabbing into their leg whenever they put weight on it. A group of adventurers who are celebrating victory are celebrating the fact that they didn't die a gruesome death. How many times as your party bought the entire inn a round? That's when people will start asking for favors!

[False God]

Eh, not really a chart, just some loose ideas that are common in town but not world-shattering.

Missing animals.

Helping bring the crops/cows in.

Repairing stuff/building stuff/farming.

They're mostly (as MMOs would call them) "reputation quests". Monetary rewards aren't great, but you score real points with people by helping out, which can lead to bigger and more world-impacting quests.

[Angelalex242]

Holy tabard could just be a pious Fighter.

It could, but that fighter would get mistaken for a Paladin, a lot. Every time he walked into town, I'd see to it at least one NPC asks him to cure their sick kid (Which is easy for a Paladin, impossible for a fighter...)

[dafrca]

It could, but that fighter would get mistaken for a Paladin, a lot. Every time he walked into town, I'd see to it at least one NPC asks him to cure their sick kid (Which is easy for a Paladin, impossible for a fighter...)

Or it could be the markings tell a larger story. If you had a god of healing symbol for example then of course. But if the symbol was of the god of death or the witch hunters or dragon knights then not so much. I think Abracadangit did a better job of sayin what I was trying to say: "... these prompts only work if the adventurers visually present as their respective classes, in an immediately recognizable way." If my character wants to be seen as something, they send out the visual prompts. If the character is walking with a mule and you can see metal working tools, maybe a small portable anvil, some metallic items then it woudl be understandable for you to think they maybe a blacksmith, tinkerer, tinsmith, or farrier. :smallsmile:

[Unoriginal]

anyone in plate armor is at least a fighter

Because there is no NPC in the setting you're talking about?

[Tanarii]

It could, but that fighter would get mistaken for a Paladin, a lot. Every time he walked into town, I'd see to it at least one NPC asks him to cure their sick kid (Which is easy for a Paladin, impossible for a fighter...)
Why? In a world where most priests and holy warriors can't heal the sick (ie the 5e default), why would they assume someone wearing heavy armor and holy symbols can?

Paladins and Clerics are special by default, or at least their Divine powers are. There's no reason to assume common townsfolk would even be aware of folks with their powers except in legends and stories.

[Bohandas]

No. Sounds pointless and awkward. Why would I need a chart, when every town is different

A table then, to randomly decide


and people aren't psychic to identify what the PCs can do the moment they show up?

If they're a high enough level party it may be obvious

[Tanarii]

If they're a high enough level party it may be obvious
Certainly if they're not still just murderheroes, if they've embraced the lavish lifestyle with accompanying entourage of their ridiculous wealth (and status that comes with it).

[Angelalex242]

Even first level Paladins can cure the sick in this edition. And anyways, somebody whose loved one is dying of D&D cancer is going to throw a longshot at anything that reasonably resembles a Paladin.

[ProsecutorGodot]

Even first level Paladins can cure the sick in this edition. And anyways, somebody whose loved one is dying of D&D cancer is going to throw a longshot at anything that reasonably resembles a Paladin.

Assuming it's well known that a Paladin can "easily" cure disease in this way. I'm sure there are many places where this might be common knowledge but there are equally as many where it might not be.

To use an example from my own games:
The setting here specifically calls out that in most of ten towns spellcasting ability is rare. I take that as an indication that the vast majority of people in this area are ignorant of the fact that someone who might openly appear to be a Paladin has such an ability.

I decided to allow two of my players an intelligence based check of their choice between History, Religion or Arcana (since I felt all three could be reasonable) to determine how this interaction might unfold for the player who is currently incubating a Slaad tadpole. The infested character is unsure of the nature of their illness (I believe it does count as a disease) or if the Paladin could even do so, so they kept the specifics hidden and the Paladin party member decided not to even attempt using 5 points of lay on hands because they were also unsure of the nature of the other members illness and didn't want to use a valuable resource on something that wasn't guaranteed when they were in such a dangerous environment. I expect this will only be a temporary thing as eventually with enough levels the Paladin will be comfortable spending some Lay on Hands points just to be safe.

[dafrca]

And anyways, somebody whose loved one is dying of D&D cancer is going to throw a longshot at anything that reasonably resembles a Paladin.

Just curious, why would they not just bundle their loved one up and go to the closest town that has known clerics?

I believe what we are seeing is the crashing of two different GM styles. One who follows the old troupes and every thief wears studded leather, ever caster is in robes, etcetera so every commoner would know what they are and the other GM style where they don't follow the old troupes thus the town folk would not automatically know what class a character is.

To get back on to the original topic, I do not work with any chart or table regarding the reactions to the party. The people of the village/hamlet/town react based on the actions of the player's characters. If there are adventure hooks to be had, I will find a way to share them with the party.

[SpanielBear]

I think the debate on whether or not villagers would recognise a paladin misses something of substance, which is that entering a new town is an opportunity to ground the PCs in the world.

It doesn’t need to be tailored to any class or specifics, just enough for the place to feel real. An old coot in a rocking chair outside his front door muttering about “strangers causing’ trouble”, a farm hand whistling for the pc’s to get out the way whilst he herds (insert local livestock here) down the street, a woman telling off her kids for playing by the creek- “Jenny Greenteeth will get you!”- you want the feeling that this is a living world that (could have) existed without the PCs ever setting foot there.

What the op is talking about seems to be the next step up from that. Where you present things happening that the PCs can engage with. So rather than have a villager begging a paladin to heal their spouse, maybe in the bar the party overhears “ain’t it awful about Victor- fell off a ladder while mending the thatch, likely to lose his leg, I heard. Him with a family to feed an’ all. Such a shame…” Then the party can engage or not, as they please.

The really important thing is not to make a big deal if the party doesn’t go investigate little rumours or side quests. The ideal would be hooks that are interesting and could lead to more detailed plots if the players show interest (the ladder was sabotaged! Victor spoke ill of the faries and they took revenge, etc etc.) but this is still small town stuff. If the players breeze through, fine. The village continues and sinks back into the background.

So a resource for events like this (better than the stupid ideas I threw together) would suit me fine.

[Tanarii]

Honesty, to me most of the stuff being described in this thread sounds like a low Tier 1 party and rats in the basement stuff.

[Psyren]

You're talking about a lot of plot hooks in a town. Here (https://www.reddit.com/r/DnDBehindTheScreen/comments/bwtqod/120_urban_hooks/).

Bookmarked!

[Derpy]

Usually the first time the party rolls through a town, I have the town treat them with a default of polite indifference. 'Sure, come in, spend some coin, then be on your way and don't cause trouble." It will vary, some towns will be more welcoming, some will be more withdrawn, but they don't know that this is a party of adventurers as opposed to any other group of people. Unless the party is far enough along where they are blatantly displaying obvious amounts of vast wealth and magical power. Even if rumors have spread from their past adventures, it doesn't mean that the average townsperson can put a face to the name. If I've got hooks I want to throw out, I'll present opportunities for the party to overhear or observe things either in the street or in the local inn or whatever.
If they keep coming back to the same town, as a hub for a certain section of campaign, or because they like some of the NPCs, or because it's at a cross roads I'll have the townsfolk start to develop opinions and deeper personalities. If the party is generally good I might have people ask for minor things or advice, buy them drinks and meals, drop them lines on things they might have overheard when other travelers came through. If the party is generally evil, I might have people start to disappear off the streets, the inn empties of locals who don't want to get caught up in yet another violent bar brawl or other demonstration of power, local criminal elements might make overtures for membership or one time jobs.
I have found, and this will surely vary table to table, that unless the players have a connection to an NPC they've known for a while or a settlement that is somehow linked to their character then the very mundane problems don't hold the same appeal as epic adventures, or even just normal adventurers.

[Sigreid]

Run them out of town for being a heavily armed group of mercenaries usually made up entirely of races they've never seen or are explicitly enemies of humans.

Realistically, unless the party's reputation has proceeded them; what the town sees is a group of heavily armed professional killers walk into town. Most towns are going to be very cautions with such strangers and try to avoid getting too involved with them or starting a fight with combatants of unknown lethality.

If their reputation, good or bad; proceeds them they'll get a reaction somewhere between that and annoying hero worship and favor asking.

[Tanarii]

Eh. Towns near the adventuring frontier / dungeons would probably be dangerous to pick a fight in, having a decent amount of retired adventurers settled down. The PCs wouldn't be the only dangerously armed killers around.

OTOH, personally I just made "in town" a downtime (and thus offscreen) thing IMC. Even in Tier 1, generally it's not really worthy of table time. That's even more the case if the PCs 'outgun' anything there.

[Sigreid]

Eh. Towns near the adventuring frontier / dungeons would probably be dangerous to pick a fight in, having a decent amount of retired adventurers settled down. The PCs wouldn't be the only dangerously armed killers around.

OTOH, personally I just made "in town" a downtime (and thus offscreen) thing IMC. Even in Tier 1, generally it's not really worthy of table time. That's even more the case if the PCs 'outgun' anything there.

This is true, but they're unknown potentially dangerous professional killers. I'm not saying they'd be quaking in their boots. Even the common villagers would probably have some kind of a play if they're a boarder town to a dangers wildland, but they're going to most likely be more cautions than friendly with unknown wandering adventurers.

[Tanarii]

This is true, but they're unknown potentially dangerous professional killers. I'm not saying they'd be quaking in their boots. Even the common villagers would probably have some kind of a play if they're a boarder town to a dangers wildland, but they're going to most likely be more cautions than friendly with unknown wandering adventurers.
Oh for sure, agree with that.

[Bohandas]

Run them out of town for being a heavily armed group of mercenaries usually made up entirely of races they've never seen or are explicitly enemies of humans.

Only at lpw levels. At higher levels their money buys the townspeople's acceptance

[Tanarii]

Only at lpw levels. At higher levels their money buys the townspeople's acceptance
You just have to have a sumptuous show of wealth (https://youtu.be/eGLSPyGszjo) as you enter. :smallbiggrin:

[sethdmichaels]

But other than that not all PCs can be IDed as adventurers nor by their class just by sight.

this is also presuming that "class" means something hyper-specific in-game. the people sitting at a table in Earth Prime playing the game know that capital-P Paladins and capital-C Clerics have healing magic and that capital-S Sorcerers have innate magic. the people in a town in a fantasy world may have an idea of what a lowercase-c cleric is and that maybe this stranger can pray to their god to cure little Devlyn's colic, or maybe not. "Fighter" and "Barbarian" are useful buckets for players to understand their characters' game mechanics but there's no particular reason that the character themselves would ever use those terms, let alone a local horse-groom who just sees two equally intimidating people come into town, one with a sword and shield and breastplate and one shirtless with a big axe. if you're a common goatherd and somebody fireballs your goat to death as collateral damage from a fight, it doesn't really matter to you whether that fire-thrower is in some technical sense a Wizard as opposed to a Warlock (a distinction, again, that may not be that significant to the character!); they're just a scary weirdo who took food off your plate.

TLDR, i agree with those who say "commoners in town will just see adventurers and their reception will depend on context."