DMing help, please

[ColonelFuster]

I'm running a campaign where evil clerics have overrun a hamlet and converted it into a small "hive"- they worship a god of vermin. Basically, the people have been enslaved, and it's up to the PCs to do something about it.
The idea came from a character's backstory, and I want it to be good while still being beatable at 5th level. I've already come up with a few ideas- cutting off a shipment of unholy materials, delivering weapons to the old town guards, assassinating a lead guy, and maybe causing a riot.
Have any of you done anything like this before? Do you have any awesome suggestions?
Help, Giant forum-goers!

[Silence]

Hmmmm... I say, kill the head, then rest up. Continue attacking it through the wonders of steel and magic.

[Da King]

KILL IT WITH FIRE!!! Burning everything down is always fun.

[ColonelFuster]

Guys, please! I'm the DM! I want to avoid those situations, because it's the paladin's hometown.

And I can't be the one responsible for it's destruction... she's my girlfriend.

[BRC]

Leading a resistance movement is always a good idea. Do it like this


Part 1: PC's break into the prison where the evil clerics are keeping the town guard and get them out.
Part 2: PC's get escape guards to the armory, they then hide in the town and start training the commoners.
Part 3: The PC's keep the evil clerics busy and focused on them while the commoners get trained. Hit and run raids, assasinations and the like.
Part 4: The commoners are ready, led by the former town guardsmen they storm the evil temple. The PC's are in charge of taking down the leaders of the vermin cult.

[ColonelFuster]

Wait... evacuating everyone is a great idea! I'll drop the hint at the table and have something prepared.

[EndlessWrath]

I've actually done stuff like this before...cept not with vermin... or clerics...but base premise still there. I figure there would be rebels near the hamlet...perhaps the PCs should meet up with them and discuss strategy for taking back over the hamlet. Remember in warfare, Gorrilla fighting is still one of the strongest strategies today...especially if you have less forces, or less equipped forces.

PCs are good at this. Gorilla fighting includes
-Attacking supply shipments
-Killing off bad guy soldiers to reduce their forces and run away.
-Stealing their war supplies
-assassinations.

if you want this a 1-day side quest... hit 1 or 2 supply things...than kill the bad guy and end with the final battle for superiority. OR if this is a side-campaign arc you're willing to spend a few meetings on... have a little bit more.. maybe 1 or 2 mini bosses and a few skirmishes. Don't underestimate the PCs, they might have strong ideas to what they want to do. When I did it, I let them plan it out how they would retake the castle and fight off the orc horde...but that was a little different.

[SoD]

And I can't be the one responsible for it's destruction... she's my girlfriend.

That's probably a mistake there. Not the having the girlfriend playing with you, by all means. But, at the table, I personally think that the DM shouldn't give situations to players, but to characters. So, unless your girlfriend is the fictional character of someone at the table, don't worry if it gets destroyed. Mind you, if that is the situation, you've probably got a whole different set of problems...

[BRC]

That's probably a mistake there. Not the having the girlfriend playing with you, by all means. But, at the table, I personally think that the DM shouldn't give situations to players, but to characters. So, unless your girlfriend is the fictional character of someone at the table, don't worry if it gets destroyed. Mind you, if that is the situation, you've probably got a whole different set of problems...

Of course, this character is a paladin, so you wouldn't want to make "Destroy the whole town" the only real option anyway.

[SoD]

Of course, this character is a paladin, so you wouldn't want to make "Destroy the whole town" the only real option anyway.

Come on, not all the players are paladins, and anyway, something might go wrong. When stuff goes wrong (or right) it can result in accidental (or 'accidental') destruction of property, and/or life. *nods*

[BRC]

Come on, not all the players are paladins, and anyway, something might go wrong. When stuff goes wrong (or right) it can result in accidental (or 'accidental') destruction of property, and/or life. *nods*

Oh, I don't think he should eliminate total destruction of the town as an option, I just don't think it should be the only option.

[SoD]

Oh, I don't think he should eliminate total destruction of the town as an option, I just don't think it should be the only option.

Well, yeah. You want them to have the choice of destroying it. But anyway, if it does happen, they should do it with fire (as previously mentioned). Fun for the whole family.

[EndlessWrath]

I believe the real priority on the Paladins mind should be
" a town is able to be rebuilt... lives lost cannot be brought back.. unless we want to pay A LOT of mulah."

about the "I don't want that as an option cause she's my gf" thing...

you shouldn't treat one player more special then the others...even if she's your girlfriend. The games a story, you need 2 persons... You... and then DM. DM plays giving all players equal attention as best as you can. You spend more time with your girlfriend out of game. Trust me I've run into this before, I'm not saying ditch the girlfriend, I'm just saying don't base a decision cause she "might get mad"... its a game. if your gonna base your decisions on that...then you should base the same decisions on "the other players might get mad" as well. More than likely, she'll get made for the meeting and then move on...its a game.. things happen. its not as epic if people don't loose their lives.

thats my 2 cents anyways..

[ColonelFuster]

I was really joking, hence the small type. I really do give everyone equal attention- it's 2 of my best friendds playing with me- it's just that this whole quest is "her" quest, her character goal, and so on. The dwarf got to banish his nightmares forever, the feytouched discovered his heritage and has a hook involving the tree of life... but the paladin just seems to be along for the ride so far. Hence, the next mission is to reclaim her hometown.

I really am just looking for more encounters than supply train/hit-and-run/assassination. You mentioned a castle, and I think maybe I can spread it out by giving it multiple locations, like:
Do stuff with town
Town is won! Yay!
Town falls again from mysterious group of reinforcements
They track mysterious reinforcements to secret dugeon-like stronghold
They defeat main bad guy
Town is ACTUALLY won! Yay 4rlz!

[EndlessWrath]

I was really joking, hence the small type. I really do give everyone equal attention- it's 2 of my best friendds playing with me- it's just that this whole quest is "her" quest, her character goal, and so on. The dwarf got to banish his nightmares forever, the feytouched discovered his heritage and has a hook involving the tree of life... but the paladin just seems to be along for the ride so far. Hence, the next mission is to reclaim her hometown.

Sorry, I didn't want to sound like i was telling you how to play.. these were my opinions.. again i didn't know the details...

besides, its hard to tell when ones joking and when one's not on the internet =D silly person.

I really am just looking for more encounters than supply train/hit-and-run/assassination. You mentioned a castle, and I think maybe I can spread it out by giving it multiple locations, like:
Do stuff with town
Town is won! Yay!
Town falls again from mysterious group of reinforcements
They track mysterious reinforcements to secret dugeon-like stronghold
They defeat main bad guy
Town is ACTUALLY won! Yay 4rlz!

sounds good to me. When we did this kind of thing, there was a river, a forest, a town, and the actual castle... They knew a shipment of supplies would arrive both days by river... and they know that an advanced force was going through the forest...as well as many slave/hostages in town.
They attacked River caravan... at the same time they freed slaves/hostages... and then killed the scout group.

day 2: they crushed the second supply route and impersonated the guards and took the supply route to the base. Bluffed the leader at the base and pretended to be allies... then a "trojan horse" style plan went out.

Hope that helps...again it might be more benneficial to hear what your PC's plan rather than planning it out for them... You can give the paladin a little more sway by having NPCs flock toward her since they know they can trust her...etc ...blah blah blah.

[nargbop]

One thing that n00b DMs always miss is the amount of help available in the town. Ask yourself, how did this Pestilence Cult come up to power if there is a temple of Pelor around? If there's not one in the town, how far away is the Pelorian cavalry? Have they been decimated in a war? Have they been sneakily killed by the Pestilence Cult?

Most of the villagers are scared out of their wits, and need to be gotten out of there. A few will loot, a few will turn themselves over to the Dark Side, and a few will be eaten by the spawn of the Vermin Cult. All in all, makes for a lot of uneasy mobs, punctuated by screaming.

[ColonelFuster]

This was a minor town that had one benefit: being self-sufficient. It kind of left itself open for enslavement. Like I mentioned before, it's from a backstory, in a loose, low-magic campaign. The main reason the calvary haven't showed up is because the ones usually protecting this town are the Fair Folk, and they are all being driven towards the tree of life FOR SOME REASON. plot hook plot hook plot hook
So, basically, this is happening to quite a few small towns... though the government is trying to do something about it, the calvary is still fighting barbarian hordes, please leave your screaming after the beep.
My campaign setting is planned out very carefully, and the town is enslaved for the sake of plot, not realism. Please don't feed my urge to defend myself by calling me a "nzerozerob".