The Road to Bardsville

[restlessgriffin]

WARNING: This post contains minor spoilers to the adventure "I Smell a Rat".

... spoilers to follow ...



The adventure in "I Smell a Rat" begins in an unamed town which the GM is encouraged to name. As the adventure starts with all the lodging occupied due to a "clown festival", I decide to go with an annual Bards Festival which will be an event featuring bards, minstrels, jesters, jugglers and various entertainers of all sorts. I determined the town should be fairly large but not quite a full city. For my campaign I've determined the Bard's Festival will be a week long event that is widely known throughout the region and attracts lots of travels and folks throughout the land. It is such a big deal that the town is named Bardsville and the main claim to fame is entertainment and the annual Bards Festival.


I haven't run a DFRPG campaign yet, but I want to start with the adventure "You all Meet at an Inn" followed but some road time travelling to Bardsville and then run the "I Smell a Rat" adventure. I think at least one of the characters in the previous adventure should be traveling to Bardsville. The others would hopefully agree to come along.

Looking for suggestions on the time in between "On the Road to Bardsville".

I think it should involve a couple of things:

- Ambush on the road
- Attack at night while camped out
- maybe meeting a traveling merchant or caravan

Any other suggestions?

[johndallman]

Originally Posted by restlessgriffin

- Ambush on the road
- Attack at night while camped out

Presumably, parties of bards/clowns/fools/etc., can travel to Bardsville without taking serious losses? If so, the encounters should not be very challenging for a party of DFRPG characters. Those 250-point characters are much tougher than plausible professional entertainers; they aren't like 1st level D&D characters.

However, a couple of easy encounters are worthwhile for new players as practice in playing the game.

[restlessgriffin]

Originally Posted by johndallman

Presumably, parties of bards/clowns/fools/etc., can travel to Bardsville without taking serious losses? If so, the encounters should not be very challenging for a party of DFRPG characters. Those 250-point characters are much tougher than plausible professional entertainers; they aren't like 1st level D&D characters.

However, a couple of easy encounters are worthwhile for new players as practice in playing the game.

While the party may have one bard, it won't be composed of bards. Those entertainers traveling to Bardsville would most likely have guards and armed associates. Probably caravans would have a mix of entertainers. Also lots of folks would be traveling to Bardsville to sell things, gain employment not related to entertainment or to enjoy the shows. Many merchants and nobles would be traveling there to enjoy the festival.

The party may be lower than 250 points each. They will be at least 150, although they may be up 250. I may have them built using Delvers to Grow, possibly at the higher end which I think is around 175pts.

[sir_pudding]

A memorable encounter in my DF games was a roadside inn run by a family of throttlers.

[dcarson]

The free Caravan to Ein Arris might have bits you can steal for travel adventures.

If there is a festival all the people that prey on that sort of thing will also be traveling. Pickpockets, con men, loan sharks, patent medicine hustlers, prostitutes, etc.

[restlessgriffin]

Originally Posted by dcarson

The free Caravan to Ein Arris might have bits you can steal for travel adventures.

If there is a festival all the people that prey on that sort of thing will also be traveling. Pickpockets, con men, loan sharks, patent medicine hustlers, prostitutes, etc.

It's been a long time since I've look at that. I wasn't that impressed last time I reviewed it (the 4e conversion). I recall it had no magic or much in the way that way of fantasy trappings that would easily drop into a DFRPG adventure.

I'll be using Well Spring of Creation (WSC) as campaign backdrop. More woodlands than desert for the travel portion.

Any specific areas from Caravan that would be good to mine for encounters? I'm sure I've got the 4e PDF in my files. I'll give it a look but would appreciate any advice given constraints listed.

[Dalin]

When I ran "You All Meet at an Inn" at the start of my first DFRPG campaign, they were on a mountain road to Wadi al-Sheik, the town at the start of "Mirror of the Fire Demon." After they finished the inn, discovered the crypt of a barbarian chieftain. Wrote it up in this forum: One-shot adventure: The Tomb of Hroth Yaggeltor. You could probably reskin this to be in the forest and include rumors about it at the inn (or under it...).

[bocephus]

Originally Posted by restlessgriffin

I think at least one of the characters in the previous adventure should be traveling to Bardsville. The others would hopefully agree to come along.

Looking for suggestions on the time in between "On the Road to Bardsville".

I think it should involve a couple of things:

- Ambush on the road
- Attack at night while camped out
- maybe meeting a traveling merchant or caravan

Any other suggestions?

Well you already have all the fixings for a few possibilities depending on how you want to handle it.

=====================================
Here's an option just off the top of my head.

A Caravan (Goods, Animals, traveling circus, working girls... you pick) on its way to Bardsville gets hit by bandits a day out from town. They got through but lost one of their drovers and all but one guard "Old Cully" (he could be wounded if the GM doesn't want to deal with playing Cully). Cully is loud and opinionated but doesn't actually know how to run a team, he's usually just a heavy that does what he's told. Cully is looking for some people to join up so he can finish the job and get paid... OR ... the Caravan is looking for a new set of Guards and given what they when through they are serious about having some muscle.

If the PCs join Cully as 'part of his team' you can look forward to him trying to be in charge and messing things up. If they join with the Caravan and push Cully out, look for him to show up later with a small group to try and get paid by way of banditry. If Cully was wounded he's still got to be transported, though he's appreciative of the effort and genuinely tries to help by cooking if he's well enough.

Either way there is at least one bandit attack in the future. If someone in the group can drive the cart they can make ok time and you get to do some skill checks. Otherwise they are probably pushing hard to stay on schedule since they can only move as fast as the wagon that doesn't have a proper driver (ya it's kinda weak as skill checks go but ya gotta add some kinda flavor).

Every time they stop there are random other travelers to deal with, who might want to share the fire for the night. Are they naughty or nice? Only the GM knows.

=========================================

You can mix in bad weather.
Wash the road out and they need to figure a way to get the wagons across (again skill checks, or the Caravan people solve the issue while the PCs guard but the PCs lose some reputation for failing to solve the problem).

Trees fell and they need to be cleared (or is it an ambush?).

========================================

You could also insert a one shot module if you have something that would fit, or that you could make fit.

[bocephus]

Originally Posted by Dalin

When I ran "You All Meet at an Inn" at the start of my first DFRPG campaign, they were on a mountain road to Wadi al-Sheik, the town at the start of "Mirror of the Fire Demon." After they finished the inn, discovered the crypt of a barbarian chieftain. Wrote it up in this forum: One-shot adventure: The Tomb of Hroth Yaggeltor. You could probably reskin this to be in the forest and include rumors about it at the inn (or under it...).

I was trying to figure out one of the One Shot Adventures to put in as well.

He recently reviewed someone else's adventure "The Mad Manor of Astabar" which might take a little conversion from D&D but it seems pretty straight forward and it already has a Bard theme.

[restlessgriffin]

Originally Posted by sir_pudding

A memorable encounter in my DF games was a roadside inn run by a family of throttlers.

Throttler, Monsters pp. 55-56. OK, I'll have to get a better handle on these creatures and how to run them. Probably not for the Road to Bardsville story arc, but maybe later. Definitely something to consider.