Players building a town

[Lupine]

In my campaign, I had the players start off as scouts for a new town to be settled. They succeeded, and through a harrowing journey, managed to bring most of a caravan to the place were they were to settle the town. I was thinking "Eh, I'll figure that out when they get there," and now they're here, and I haven't a clue how to advance.

This settlement is a big deal: I run a points of light setting, and this is the first new town in a few hundred years.
Last session, the players killed the young green dragon which had been the harassing the caravan. It was a tough fight, though, and since my table runs a rule that "going down gives you a level of exhausion," everyone but the grave cleric has at least one level of exhausion. Some of them have three levels of exhausion.

Because of this, they will be taking a few days rests. But, during that time, their caravan has to start setting up their town. The town has three days supplies of food, a bunch of building supplies, a bunch of tools for farming, and a bunch of seeds. Midwinter just passed, and it will be roughly 4 months until the last freeze.
Fortunately, the area they settled is low on monsters. They also settled near the fortified guildhouse of a Crime Ring, who wanted the extra security of having a forgiving town settled around them.

The players will want to help set of the town, as many of them have friends and family in the caravan. My question is what sorts of activities and RP moments could I give the 8 of them, so that their characters can be resting, while helping set up the town? We have a smattering of caster types, as well as a pair each of str and dex based martials

[Sigreid]

I'd let them do several things while resting, preferring to let the ideas be theirs. But here's some examples.

1. Help the caravan folk make a plan to clear the area and start on a wall. They shouldn't do the labor but going on the idea that a martial type is knowledgeable about such planning.
2. Negotiate terms of peaceful coexistence with the criminal guild.
3. The cleric can potentially create food and water to stretch the supplies out without straining.
4. A plan for the village has to be drawn up.
5. A plan for who owns/controls what has to be made.
6. Some kind of village leadership has to be created.
7. Animal pens need to be laid out and built. Again, they help with the planning.
8. Study what the guild knows about the area.
9. Find out if there are any spirits or such that need to be appeased.

[JLandan]

Xanathar's has a lot of downtime activity suggestions. Most require some sort of infrastructure, which this village doesn't have yet. But the nearby Guild might provide some of it.

[Sorinth]

I think generally you'd want to let the players decide what they want to do during the downtime and just RP whatever they come up with.

About the only thing I'd say is that the caravan folk should probably be very grateful to the PCs and help where they can. So if a PC decides they want to build a house, a bunch of people from the caravan should take time away from whatever they were doing to help the PC build that house, others might supply furnishings or promise to provide once they finish their own houses. Same goes for someone who say wants to setup a temple/shrine, or library, etc...

If the players want to get into the political side of things, you'd want to flesh out the town leaders and their factions. Keeping in mind that the players have a large amount of influence, so each faction will want to convince the players to side with their vision of this new town. For example, there could be a faction focused on security that is focused on building walls, maybe a forge, and would start forming a townsguard, etc... and they would probably come into conflict with the criminal guild fairly soon. Another faction would maybe be focused on money and trade and so will want to establish trade with the guild as soon as possible.

Also even though you are between sessions don't be afraid to ask your players to give you a quick list of things they want to build/establish with the town. Once you know what the players want it'll be easier to offer suggestions.

[Sparky McDibben]

There are a few main sources of tension:

Man vs Wild: If it's midwinter, they may need to defend against predators coming after their domestic animals. Make it fantastic by having them be intelligent winter wolves who howl threats in the night. Other plots you can rip off are Old Yeller (use magic rabies or poison that the cleric can't easily heal - they need to go get a magic herb!), 127 Hours (two kids wander off and get lost, the PCs have to find them), Grey, Hatchet, etc.

Man vs Scarcity: Depleting resources caused by weather, disease, spoilage, etc, require the PCs to go get more, either by negotiating alliances with nearby clans, hunting, or theft.

Man vs Man: The Crime Ring is obvious - they want to infiltrate the town to gain a buffer state, recruiting ground, and safe house all in one! But you could also have the PCs forced to pass judgment on crime ("Boris stole my cow!"), accusations of slander ("Grisha falsely accused me stealing his cow!"), witchcraft (actual or otherwise, malicious or otherwise), etc. You could also force some real tough moral dilemmas. You have 4 months till spring, and Gus can't work from the accident. But he's still consuming resources. Eventually, somebody's going to suggest killing Gus to make the supplies last longer. Props if you can make it dire enough that this becomes a genuine problem.

[Argis13]

Depending on weather or not you're willing to drop a few bucks, and the scale of the town, Strongholds and Followers (https://shop.mcdmproductions.com/collections/strongholds-followers-books/products/strongholds-followers-pdf) or Kingdoms and Warfare (https://shop.mcdmproductions.com/products/kingdoms-and-warfare-pdf) might be what you're looking for. The rules in these books can get a little wargamey, so be warned if that's not what your players are into, you may have to do a little modification here or there.

[Tanarii]

The town has three days supplies of food,
Hopefully they've got a Druid with Goodberry and a Ranger with Natural Explorer appropriate to the terrain. Probably the number one thing anyone with decent Wis and/or survival is going to be doing for the next few months is to help with the necessary foraging.

[Intregus182]

I've done something similar only the entire campaign was set up around establishing the new city.

If setting up the town is the main focus and theres nothing else festering "out there" you can use the setting up of the town as a bunch of encounters and downtime where weeks and months can pass inbetween encounters.

For example you can have the PCs help the town by having them making the decisions as to how the town is set up. Give them options like what does the town build first
1. A wall around the camp
2. Homes
3. Farms

Each of those events could take weeks or months

If they choose 1 then the number of encounters with wild animals or bandits should be reduced

If they chose 2 they have better shelter for winter so surving the elements is easier

If they chose 3 then theyll have to brave the elements longer but should have a steady supplybof food etc.

[Sparky McDibben]

Hopefully they've got a Druid with Goodberry and a Ranger with Natural Explorer appropriate to the terrain. Probably the number one thing anyone with decent Wis and/or survival is going to be doing for the next few months is to help with the necessary foraging.


I've done something similar only the entire campaign was set up around establishing the new city.

If setting up the town is the main focus and theres nothing else festering "out there" you can use the setting up of the town as a bunch of encounters and downtime where weeks and months can pass inbetween encounters.

For example you can have the PCs help the town by having them making the decisions as to how the town is set up. Give them options like what does the town build first
1. A wall around the camp
2. Homes
3. Farms

Each of those events could take weeks or months

If they choose 1 then the number of encounters with wild animals or bandits should be reduced

If they chose 2 they have better shelter for winter so surving the elements is easier

If they chose 3 then theyll have to brave the elements longer but should have a steady supplybof food etc.

So these are great ideas, but how do we go about making them fun? I mean, hunting is like a skill challenge, right? And using goodberry or a Background feature to feed these folks isn't really fun - it's just a mechanical interaction. Could we instead give the PCs a choice about which animals to prioritize? Like, you could really help alleviate the town's issues if you can get a renewable food source. What if you could track down and capture a pair of trolls (refilling flank steaks!). I mean, that's like giving the DM a loaded gun and telling them, "Don't shoot it all in one place!" Alternatively, you could try hunting, capturing, and domesticating some local elk (while fending off rival hunters, wolves, and dealing with some late-winter blizzards) and create a sustainable herd of elk for the town!

And if your options are what you want to build, maybe we can make that more interesting by checking out what could involve conflicts over them. I mean, all three of these options require cutting trees, no? So now you're going to have some conflicts with the local dryads. And treants. And awakened trees. Etc. If you piss them off, you're going to have to add "blights" to the random encounter table, not to mention "angry druids," "treepeople," and "psycho-arboreal berks." But if you're able to win them over, well, there's now a crap-ton more goodberries. Have fun!

[Sigreid]

For hunting, if they have a ranger, I'd skip the hunting and take it as sucessful and instead have some encounters with non-prey animals/monsters/humanoids/whatever to be the real game play.

[Tanarii]

So these are great ideas, but how do we go about making them fun?
Making it fun wasn't my intent. Pointing out the horrible lack of preparation that was going to lead to a lot of necessary unfun just to keep everyone alive was. :smallamused:

If I had a group of players escorting a bunch of unprepared city folk like this, I'd be strongly tempted to go into narrate mode and time skip to the following spring with an estimate of how many people had starved to death in the ensuing winter, with the remainder pleading with our heroes to escort them back home alive. Unless our heroes had capabilities that gave them the ability to keep them all alive of course.

I like running games where a total lack of preparedness results in consequences and even disaster. But even for me that's probably a bit bleak, so I expect I'd cop out in the planning stages and hint at the pretty obvious consequences.

[Sparky McDibben]

Making it fun wasn't my intent. Pointing out the horrible lack of preparation that was going to lead to a lot of necessary unfun just to keep everyone alive was. :smallamused:

I like running games where a total lack of preparedness results in consequences and even disaster. But even for me that's probably a bit bleak, so I expect I'd cop out in the planning stages and hint at the pretty obvious consequences.

Yeah, but that's a table issue - we don't know if the DM is prioritizing preparation and enforcing consequences. Without that information, I figured I'd just lean into "here's a bunch of cool things you can do to keep everyone alive." Besides, I'd prefer to give the PCs choices, even if it's "who lives, who dies?" And then play out the consequences. After all, if you have to kick out half the town to starve midwinter, that's excellent fodder for when the last few exiles return, demon-possessed and cannibals seeking the flesh of those WHO WRONGED THEM!!! :smallsmile:

[Kane0]

Is that criminal ring a notable threat, and is dealing with them achievable? Because neutralising it would be a priority if I were playing, especially if they have valuable resources that can be claimed.

As DM, it would probably be a good idea to have a random occurence table for day to day issues as the settlement starts up, things the PCs can help with to smooth the process but also ignore without dooming the place.

[5eNeedsDarksun]

If you could ever get a copy of the old 1st edition DMG there's a ton of stuff in there that leans into 'Name' level players establishing strongholds, attracting followers, etc.

[Tanarii]

Is that criminal ring a notable threat, and is dealing with them achievable? Because neutralising it would be a priority if I were playing, especially if they have valuable resources that can be claimed.
Raiding for food would be a great way for the heroes to do exactly what they normally do, invade the lairs of evildoers and mete out sharp and often fiery justice, then loot the place blind. While providing for the town at the same time.

But rereading the OP, maybe try to negotiate with them for assistance. Since it sounds like they want the settlers there.

[Lunali]

What kind of caravan starts a new town in the middle of winter? What kind of caravan only has 3 days of food? So 3 days of food, and 4 months until you can start planting crops, followed by 4 months of growing season before winter comes again.

I think 90% of activities for the party would probably be securing food since midwinter hunting and gathering are both pretty low yield and nearly everyone in the town is going to have to be doing that.

[Lupine]

Is that criminal ring a notable threat

Very sorry for the delay. I got caught up with a bunch of chaos with my mates.
The Crime Ring is actually not a threat: they've offered the use of the fortifications for the town's benefit, in return for leniancy for their criming,

Basically, they way to build up a city around themselves, and use them as a buffer against the monsters. So they're not a threat... Just a loaded gun for me to play with later.



Also, they had a lot more food until they got raided by a pack of Gnolls looing for a very powerful amulet of yeenoghu one of the players just happened to be wearing. I do prioritize preparedness, and they were a lot more prepared until the gnolls wreck their stuff. The dragon didn't help with the situation either :/

[Sigreid]

The weakest settler; it's what's for dinner!

[Intregus182]

So these are great ideas, but how do we go about making them fun? I mean, hunting is like a skill challenge, right? And using goodberry or a Background feature to feed these folks isn't really fun - it's just a mechanical interaction. Could we instead give the PCs a choice about which animals to prioritize? Like, you could really help alleviate the town's issues if you can get a renewable food source. What if you could track down and capture a pair of trolls (refilling flank steaks!). I mean, that's like giving the DM a loaded gun and telling them, "Don't shoot it all in one place!" Alternatively, you could try hunting, capturing, and domesticating some local elk (while fending off rival hunters, wolves, and dealing with some late-winter blizzards) and create a sustainable herd of elk for the town!

And if your options are what you want to build, maybe we can make that more interesting by checking out what could involve conflicts over them. I mean, all three of these options require cutting trees, no? So now you're going to have some conflicts with the local dryads. And treants. And awakened trees. Etc. If you piss them off, you're going to have to add "blights" to the random encounter table, not to mention "angry druids," "treepeople," and "psycho-arboreal berks." But if you're able to win them over, well, there's now a crap-ton more goodberries. Have fun!

Exactly!

The idea is come up with basic things or activities the town needs along with benefits for doing them and penalties for not doing them along with potential obstacles that the PCs need to overcome determined by what they do choose to do. Your dryad example is perfect.

Then let the PCs choose whats the priority and see how it plays out. I wouldn't make these tasks very granular though because the players came to play d&d not harvest moon TTRPG.

[Lunali]

Also, they had a lot more food until they got raided by a pack of Gnolls looing for a very powerful amulet of yeenoghu one of the players just happened to be wearing. I do prioritize preparedness, and they were a lot more prepared until the gnolls wreck their stuff. The dragon didn't help with the situation either :/

It doesn't really matter how they ended up with no food. Since they have no food, the town is going to be a single building that everyone sleeps in while as many people as possible go out searching for any food sources that are still available in the middle of winter.

[Sorinth]

For sure securing a food source until they can grow their own will be critical. But that said Goodberry and Create Food and Water can do a lot to support people so long as the casters are spending a decent number of spell slots on them. This is especially true since you can go on half rations for a bit then back to normal, etc... and not really suffer much.

And there's also the DM escape hatch like the criminal gang has stores of grain which they'll sell for a price, or nearby they find an ancient shrine in the woods where despite it being winter is summer within the magic grove and the berry's seem to grow back every day, but will eating/harvesting offend some god/druid circle they don't know about yet, etc...

[Sparky McDibben]

For sure securing a food source until they can grow their own will be critical. But that said Goodberry and Create Food and Water can do a lot to support people so long as the casters are spending a decent number of spell slots on them. This is especially true since you can go on half rations for a bit then back to normal, etc... and not really suffer much.

Disagree here. The PC's won't suffer much, because they're PC's. But the townsfolk? Hollow-eyed, gaunt-ribbed, looking like their bellies are trying to gnaw through their backbones. Kids wailing in the night, horses collapsing in the field. And the whole time, the PC's friends and family urging the PC's to eat, because, "you need to keep up your strength." Who doesn't make it? Who do you choose to save? These are interesting questions without easy answers, with potentially fascinating consequences.


And there's also the DM escape hatch like the criminal gang has stores of grain which they'll sell for a price, or nearby they find an ancient shrine in the woods where despite it being winter is summer within the magic grove and the berry's seem to grow back every day, but will eating/harvesting offend some god/druid circle they don't know about yet, etc...

It's a good idea, but I'd advise against running this as a "gotcha!" Rune wards, talking animals, etc., can all deliver information to the PC's.