Social challenges in the ruins of a lost civilisation

[Altair_the_Vexed]

My players' characters have ended up (through no planning of mine or theirs) exploring a large island which is dotted with the ruins of a long gone civilisation - in particular, the wizards' ruined towers, abandonned dungeons and magical sites - and such like. I've only broadly detailed the place: ruined, feared by most due to spooky rumours of scary magics. I don't want to stray too far from that base, but ...

As a set up, that's all fine for your usual dungeoneering, monster fighting activities - but one of the party is really a diplomat / talky character. She's been a bit left out with the couple of fighting encounters (against magical mechanical guardians) that we've had so far.

So, my plea for help is for encounters that respect the ruined setting, but focus on social interaction. Any ideas?

(Game system is not important really - but it's an E6 Pathfinder hack, using generic classes.)

[Storm_Of_Snow]

Surely word's going to get around that someone's on the island, hasn't died yet, and if the various nations, mages, guilds, mercenary bands etc don't get their people there right now, their rivals will swoop in and get all the goodies.

Hey presto, other people for your diplomat to talk to.

You could also have intelligences in some of the ruins that need to be persuaded so the party get treasure/a base/survive traps/whatever - whether that's something constructed, spirits, the disembodied conciousness of an archmage or whatever.

[BWR]

How about:
- A tribe descended from the builders of the ruins, full of stories and myths about the place, including hints and warnings in their stories.
- Descendants of people who moved in after the civilization cumbled, with less understanding of the realities of the lost culture and more red herrings and outright wrong information
- descendants of the peope who caused the collapse of the civilization, with victor's view of history, outright fabrications and untruths which they fully believe in.
- ghosts or magical constructs in the ruins. Negotiate with whatever is left there to gain looting rights or bypass otherwise dangerous combat encounters.
- sentient but solitary beings who have made their homes in the ruins, but otherwise as above.
- rival adventuring parties to discuss looting rights with, with the option of combat should talks fail

[Frenth Alunril]

What if you have a group of people who were not related to the location but have moved in and collected all the shiny bits, keys, etc, and fighting them is only going to lose information on where the bits were associated with, thereby answering puzzle questions!

[JellyPooga]

...a group of people...collected all the shiny bits, keys, etc...thereby answering puzzle questions!

Kobolds. You want Kobolds for this job.

Traditionally a foe PC's will attack on sight. Cunning enough (and with a love of the shinies!) to broker a deal with the PC's or turn the tables on them should the PC's turn out to be more hassle than they're worth.

Have the PC's running all over the island on behalf of the Kobolds; taking out some of the bigger, tougher constructs and undead, on the promise of getting the "key" to the island (whatever it might be). Totally run a betrayal scheme amidst all this: perhaps there's different factions of Kobolds and the PC's will have to negotiate with all the different tribes to get what they want/need.

[Altair_the_Vexed]

Some good suggestions there - thanks all!

Some sort of intelligence in the ruins seems to be the best bet so far - tribes of decendents of one sort or another, ghosts or sentient monsters, or rival adventurers.

Surely word's going to get around that someone's on the island ...

So far, the PCs have been there one day. The island is a week or so away from anyone who might send follow up missions - and there's no fast messaging available in this game system.

Kobolds. You want Kobolds for this job. ...

There are no kobolds in my game system - it's not vanilla PF or D&D. It'll have to be something else.

[TheCountAlucard]

Perhaps a race of elemental beings (or their descendants) once enslaved to the wonders created by the builders, but with the crumbling of the old spells, have become free enough to make the island their home? The forces binding them are gone (or at least have waned), so they run rampant with their minor-but-wild magic? They may be strange, may even seem a little crazed or chaotic to the PCs, but they're still reasoning creatures that have their own wants and needs.

Thunder-spirits, who once regulated the island's weather, rule their portion of the island from the heights of the tallest remaining towers, while ten-legged insects scour the island for poisons to cleanse (woe betide the PC that's carrying alcohol!), and the wood-king gives life to individual branches to serve him and expand the forest he can never leave.

Just a thought.

[Beta Centauri]

Most of my ideas were offered in the first two posts.

Another thing you could do, though, is ask the player of the talky character what kinds of challenges they think would be appropriate and fun. In my experience, people who make talky characters are more or less asking to be left out a lot of the time, because they're a minority of the group, and the things they want are more difficult to set up - case in point. At best, even if they do have something that their character can help with, that means the rest of the party is bored while they do their thing. So, make sure any idea you arrive at is coupled with situations the rest of the party can deal with.

Look to adventurous TV shows for a guide. Those almost always have more than one things going on, and sometimes involve part of the group involved in discussion, while the rest of the group takes on something more action packed. One person pleads a case, while the rest collar a suspect, for example. In this case, you could have Talky trying to placate a ghost, while the others try to take back the ghost's pet rock or whatever from the carrion crawler who has it in its nest.

[BRC]

A group of sentient constructs bound to protect an ancient library are engaged in an endless war with a group of undead knights sent by a long-dead mage-king to retrieve an artifact from said library. The Constructs, bound by their creator, must defend the library, and the Knights are bound by magical oaths to recover the artifact. Neither side really cares anymore, but they're compelled by their respective magics to keep fighting, with those same magics bringing them back when they are destroyed. Try to work something out.


A small Cult came to the island years ago seeking lost knowledge, only to find themselves stranded. While friendly enough, they are suspicious of outsiders, and the rules of their order make them very secretive. That said, they have been on the island for years and may be willing to share secrets.


While this civilization burned around them, members of the royal court continued their petty struggles for power, ignoring the collapse of their very society until the last possible moment. Each one too ambitious to support another, the throne remained empty. For this, they were cursed to never rest until they selected a new king. The PCs can find the old palace, with the ghostly courtiers and aristocrats engaged in an endless Masquerade, endlessly vying to get the support needed to take the throne. If the PCs can break the deadlock and help the ghosts find peace, they will be greatly rewarded.

[gom jabbarwocky]

Personally, if we're dealing with the mysterious ruins of a long-dead civilization, I'd lean towards something kinda spooky. Perhaps, during certain hours of the night, shades of those who once made this curse-ed isle their home, wandering the streets, mindlessly repeating the day-to-day routines that were so familiar to them in life. Perhaps they don't even realize they are dead, and that their once-great civilization lies in ruin about them. They won't attack or bother the PCs (unless they start asking for it), they're just ghosts minding their own business. But perhaps they can provide the PCs with clues or quests or whatever.

[Tarlek Flamehai]

Someone has been shipwrecked/marooned on the island for years. A lich has been secretly manipulating/tormenting this person out of boredom ever since. Now the party has arrived to be new toys for your secret villain. The only answers to be had must be teased out of the tortured mind of the original person stranded here.

Instead of a lich it can be some little girl type, cursed to be a child forever. The only safe food on the island comes from her enchanted tea party. To come to the party you have to play her games. Hide and seek in the minotaur maze, truth or dare, dress up in time (cursed outfits, or maybe the groups real eq gets hidden in the meantime--zombies crash the party), pin the tail on the basilisk, displacer beast tag, etc. At her mad tea party, anyone who doesn't follow the rules (and with good manners too!) gets mauled by her army of toy golems.

The safest way to overcome the girl is through social antics of course.

[Storm_Of_Snow]

So far, the PCs have been there one day. The island is a week or so away from anyone who might send follow up missions - and there's no fast messaging available in this game system.

What about precognition? Maybe someone (or multiple people) foresaw the party going to the island and have their own team(s) either on the way or already waiting off shore to see what happens to the party (if they don't hear any screaming by tomorrow night, they'll put a landing party ashore).

Maybe the party have their own enemies who've been following them.

Maybe there's a cove somewhere on the island that a pirate ship uses as a safe harbour, without any of the crew ever going inland.

And I'm sure the local lord would be interested in anyone landing on the island and surviving.

As for being a week away, just give the party time to set up their own base camp - even if they use an existing building as a starting point, that'll chew a least a few days of game time.

[Jay R]

There's a small tribe of people (or whatever sort) without the skills to build a boat, who have been essentially besieged within a small walled section - perhaps some long-dead nobles estates.

They will of course be automatically suspicious of anyone, since their life for generations has been defending agaiunst anybody else they encounter. It would take an excellent diplomat to befriend them.

[mephnick]

Dark Souls approach. There are still a few desperate beings that scavenge the ruins, either to reclaim what was once lost, or too broken to move on. Have them help or hinder your exploration depending on if you can gain their trust.