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Old 09-13-2016, 09:12 PM   #11
David Johnston2
 
Join Date: Dec 2007
Default Re: Crowd-Sourced Dungeon Fantasy Campaign

Quote:
Originally Posted by Major_Eclectic View Post
I mean, it's Dungeon Fantasy, it couldn't be any less like Hârn if it tried. I think calculating goblin birth rates, caloric intake, child-rearing strategies and the like run's kind of counter to the whole DF idiom. There will be goblins tribes because goblins are a good starter threat, and they're will be a lot of them because my player's have 250pts of coldly calculated, combat-oriented murderhobo each so a few of them wouldn't be very fun to kill and wouldn't yield up much treasure.

I'm not denigrating your advice, mind you. That kind of detail is incredibly cool when you have the right group that is looking for that kind of game, but this isn't one of those times. I'm just trying to put together something that's only modestly goofy that we can all enjoy while we munch pretzels and drink beer.
Actually I don't think you should dismiss thatidea out of hand. The garbage pit full of goblin eggs, poop, and freshly hatched juvenile goblins can make a
nice "ew" moment. And that article was obviously a reaction to that blasted goblin nursery in Keep on the Borderlands...which will never stop being horrible.
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Old 09-13-2016, 09:33 PM   #12
Major_Eclectic
 
Join Date: Jan 2011
Default Re: Crowd-Sourced Dungeon Fantasy Campaign

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Originally Posted by David Johnston2 View Post
Actually I don't think you should dismiss thatidea out of hand. The garbage pit full of goblin eggs, poop, and freshly hatched juvenile goblins can make a
nice "ew" moment. And that article was obviously a reaction to that blasted goblin nursery in Keep on the Borderlands...which will never stop being horrible.
Uh, ok; I guess could see the appeal in adding a little bit of detail to their motivations. At the end of the day goblins are wretched, cruel, and savage little creatures that aren't likely to find any common ground with the adventurers, but they might still have some plausible motivation. How about this; the three tribes settled in the mountain because it offers ideal conditions for their creches. They don't lay eggs, but they do give birth to large litters and don't spend a lot of time being individual parents. That mostly falls to the small female population and the few males that live to fully mature (although still pretty runty by the standards of the other races.) Generally speaking, the tribal chieftains and shamans rule with total authority, but the one exception is anything that has to do with the tribes young. When the dragon awoke the goblins knew they couldn't stay but the females refused to leave until a new spot that was as good as the mountain could be located and secured. This leaves the chieftains in a bind, they had to send out war parties to scout the surrounding region for a new home, and to acquire sufficient supplies to see them well-established in their new home, but they had to keep all their best warriors back to play a dangerous game of cat-and-mouse with the steadily reawakening dragon; baiting it and leading it away from the tribal creches, hence the uneasy cease-fire between traditionally rival goblins.

That gives us a nice progression of threat as the players first encounter the "low-level" scouting parties, then they learn of the mountain lair and go there to encounter the veteran dragon-fighting warbands, and it give us that potential that they'll discover the creches and realize that the goblins are just trying to survive. It might even lead to the players deciding to spare the goblins, or even ally themselves with them to hunt down and destroy the dragon with their help. Probably not though, too much sweet loot in those gobbo caves.
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Old 09-14-2016, 09:08 AM   #13
Nymdok
 
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Location: Houston
Default Re: Crowd-Sourced Dungeon Fantasy Campaign

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Originally Posted by David Johnston2 View Post
Actually I don't think you should dismiss thatidea out of hand. The garbage pit full of goblin eggs, poop, and freshly hatched juvenile goblins can make a
nice "ew" moment. And that article was obviously a reaction to that blasted goblin nursery in Keep on the Borderlands...which will never stop being horrible.
Quote:
Originally Posted by Major_Eclectic View Post
Uh, ok; I guess could see the appeal in adding a little bit of detail to their motivations. <snip>
You dont have to flesh them out fully or mechanically, but those little elements help to hang story on and help you make decisions in game about how they should react.

You're right. There is no need ot accuratly model birthrates, caloric intake or any other such crunchy bits, nor do we need to model the flux of the fluid flow of goblin dysentery. Just enough detail to get the job done is the guiding rule of thumb.

So if you want 'Those Goblins are evil! Kill Them!' Thats fine (and as you said, alot of what DF is about), just remember that it doesnt do alot to help flesh out your story. In other words, BECAUSE the Goblins are the Central Conflict/Antagonists of you're story you HAVE to flesh them out SOME to help flesh out that Conflict.

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Originally Posted by tshiggins View Post
Hey. I get (accurately) accused of over-thinking stuff, all the time. I'm pretty sure I'd get at least one point for a quirk, out of it. :)
Ah, but a mans thoughts should exceed their utility, or what are these forums for? :)

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..with apologies to Robert Browning.
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Old 09-14-2016, 09:12 AM   #14
Jürgen Hubert
 
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Default Re: Crowd-Sourced Dungeon Fantasy Campaign

As a shameless plug, let me remind you of the Monsters section of the GURPS Repository, which has more than 400 fan-submitted monsters and other combat foes - including a few goblins.
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Old 09-14-2016, 09:40 AM   #15
robertsconley
 
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Default Re: Crowd-Sourced Dungeon Fantasy Campaign

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So I figured it might be fun for everyone if I offloaded some of this work on the hive-mind. I was thinking it'd be cool to go real old-school and to a classic kind of hexcrawl sandbox game, like Keep on the Borderlands. As they progress they learn more about the world and become bigger and bigger players until (if things go well) they come to the point where they might start thinking about becoming major players, founding they're own settlements and guilds and whatnot.
I got you covered on the setting.

Blackmarsh

Just substitute one use 1pt powerstones for viz

In case you are wondering how D&D centric it is here are some entries.

Quote:
0302 The inside of this bend on the Rednut River is riddled with giant snake dens. Every 100 yards there is a 3 in 6 chance of encountering either a hole to a den (1-4) or a giant snake (HD 2)(5-6).
In this case just find a Giant Snake among the various GURPS books and drop it in.

Quote:
0608 Ashdown, Pop: 121, Mixed; Align L; Ruler: Councilor Neera Dane, Ftr6, L; Resource: Market.

Ashdown is home to many retired rangers as well as the spouses and children of rangers currently on duty. Neera Dane, a retired ranger captain leads the village council and operates under the authority of the high captain of the rangers. She and the villagers will gladly aid any friend and ally of the rangers. Halflings, men, dwarves, and elves can be found living here.
I generally use 25 points per level as rule of thumb. So Neera Dane would be a 150 point character.

Last edited by robertsconley; 09-14-2016 at 09:45 AM.
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Old 09-14-2016, 09:56 AM   #16
tshiggins
 
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Default Re: Crowd-Sourced Dungeon Fantasy Campaign

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Originally Posted by Major_Eclectic View Post
Uh, ok; I guess could see the appeal in adding a little bit of detail to their motivations. At the end of the day goblins are wretched, cruel, and savage little creatures that aren't likely to find any common ground with the adventurers, but they might still have some plausible motivation. How about this; the three tribes settled in the mountain because it offers ideal conditions for their creches. They don't lay eggs, but they do give birth to large litters and don't spend a lot of time being individual parents. That mostly falls to the small female population and the few males that live to fully mature (although still pretty runty by the standards of the other races.) Generally speaking, the tribal chieftains and shamans rule with total authority, but the one exception is anything that has to do with the tribes young. When the dragon awoke the goblins knew they couldn't stay but the females refused to leave until a new spot that was as good as the mountain could be located and secured. This leaves the chieftains in a bind, they had to send out war parties to scout the surrounding region for a new home, and to acquire sufficient supplies to see them well-established in their new home, but they had to keep all their best warriors back to play a dangerous game of cat-and-mouse with the steadily reawakening dragon; baiting it and leading it away from the tribal creches, hence the uneasy cease-fire between traditionally rival goblins.

That gives us a nice progression of threat as the players first encounter the "low-level" scouting parties, then they learn of the mountain lair and go there to encounter the veteran dragon-fighting warbands, and it give us that potential that they'll discover the creches and realize that the goblins are just trying to survive. It might even lead to the players deciding to spare the goblins, or even ally themselves with them to hunt down and destroy the dragon with their help. Probably not though, too much sweet loot in those gobbo caves.
That last bit also creates a nice little decision-point for them, which would add a lot to the campaign.

If the PCs decide to exterminate the goblins, then they have to deal with the dragon, all by themselves, with no cannon-fodder except the people of the town they're trying to protect.
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Old 09-14-2016, 04:09 PM   #17
Tallor
 
Join Date: May 2016
Default Re: Crowd-Sourced Dungeon Fantasy Campaign

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Originally Posted by Major_Eclectic View Post
...

This leaves the chieftains in a bind, they had to send out war parties to scout the surrounding region for a new home, and to acquire sufficient supplies to see them well-established in their new home, but they had to keep all their best warriors back to play a dangerous game of cat-and-mouse with the steadily reawakening dragon; baiting it and leading it away from the tribal creches, hence the uneasy cease-fire between traditionally rival goblins.
Ceasefires between goblins always result in cool stories!

Quote:
Originally Posted by Major_Eclectic View Post
That gives us a nice progression of threat as the players first encounter the "low-level" scouting parties, then they learn of the mountain lair and go there to encounter the veteran dragon-fighting warbands, and it give us that potential that they'll discover the creches and realize that the goblins are just trying to survive. It might even lead to the players deciding to spare the goblins, or even ally themselves with them to hunt down and destroy the dragon with their help. Probably not though, too much sweet loot in those gobbo caves.
I tend to have my players really consider their actions, even in Dungeon Fantasy games. Plenty of fights are open battles to the death, but it's also satisfying when the player who put points in their social skills (Goblin-ish, Diplomacy and Cultural Familiarity, Carousing) gets to shine and manages to sway the minds to a loose but present alliance.
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