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Old 07-27-2021, 12:34 PM   #1
SolemnGolem
 
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Default Brainstorming for little trade-route sidequests that involve the PC mages

I'm adapting Caravan to Ein Arris for my TL3 DFRPG game, and the main concept is the same. PCs will accompany a caravan, initially through safe and well-policed roads, but then eventually towards rougher terrain with brigands and bandits. So I'm hoping to tilt the violence and combat higher to the end of the adventure.

The start of the adventure therefore will be lower combat, and with a decent emphasis on character interaction. CtEA already has a great amount of noncombat material built into it, but it's originally set in a nonmagical world.
  • What sorts of fun (brief) glimpses of magitech could we introduce in a Low Tech society, where an early magic items industry is taking off? (For color, the first School of Magic was set up by the government a few decades ago.)
  • What sorts of (ideally low combat or noncombat) challenges would a trade caravan face in pacified and well-policed lands? I'm thinking of possible hucksters, frauds, thieves, and counterfeiters... but how would the mage PCs be called upon to assist?
  • Just generally in commodity trading for low tech societies, what sort of noncombat challenges could mundane PC bodyguards be called upon to resolve?

Thanks in advance for any answers!
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Old 07-27-2021, 01:25 PM   #2
Emerikol
 
Join Date: May 2021
Location: Eastern Kentucky
Default Re: Brainstorming for little trade-route sidequests that involve the PC mages

Well one idea is a mystery.

Over the last few months, locals have been complaining that everywhere the caravan passes through some of the local livestock disappears. So now a delegation has approached the caravan demanding something be done.

So what is really happening? Well you could generate multiple ideas off of this.

1. There are some cattle thieves with miniaturization magic who are keeping the cattle still alive hidden in one of the wagons.

2. There is someone who has lycanthropy who is killing and eating the cattle. This of course changes the narrative a bit as the bones would be found. But maybe there is someone who knows of this someone with the curse and is cleaning up behind them. Maybe a loving parent who incinerates the remains with magic.

3. Maybe there is a feud raging between the various cattle barons in the area and they are trying to frame each other and the caravan when convenient.
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Old 07-27-2021, 06:51 PM   #3
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Default Re: Brainstorming for little trade-route sidequests that involve the PC mages

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Originally Posted by SolemnGolem View Post
What sorts of fun (brief) glimpses of magitech could we introduce in a Low Tech society, where an early magic items industry is taking off? (For color, the first School of Magic was set up by the government a few decades ago.)
Choose any high-tech or ultratech mass-produced gadget and create the magical equivalent. It doesn't need to be practical gadgets, either. For example, a puppeteer with magically-animated "mini-golems" or simple illusions to enhance standard puppet shows could be the low-tech/magic-tech version of television.

GURPS Magic has a long list of standard magic items which mimic high tech gadgets.

Another possibility is "Chekov's wands" - powerful but potentially problematic magic items in the hands of powerful NPCs. They have the function of reminding beginning characters of their place in the order of things (i.e., just about the bottom of the heap) and serving as possible plot elements in later adventures. The presence of such items and the possibility of neutralizing or "acquiring" them will occupy much of a typical player's imagination.

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Originally Posted by SolemnGolem View Post
What sorts of (ideally low combat or noncombat) challenges would a trade caravan face in pacified and well-policed lands?
Choose any hassle associated with modern travel from hostile or corrupt customs officials to food poisoning.

For do-gooders, choose any sort of personal crisis or local disaster as a potential side-quest. Deathly sick child, valuable animal goes lame/runs away, fire breaks out in camp or a nearby town. Wet weather slows travel and floods threaten the caravan and local communities. PCs are the only witnesses to a violent crime - they face a moral choice of staying behind to testify against the perpetrator or pretending they saw nothing and moving on with the caravan. Choose just about any news story from the headlines and run with it.

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Originally Posted by SolemnGolem View Post
but how would the mage PCs be called upon to assist?
It depends on the PC mages' spell lists and power levels. As a GM you will need to customize the situation to either allow PC mages to shine or to prevent them from stealing the spotlight from non-magical characters. Better yet, figure out ways in which mages and non-mages must work together in order to solve a particular problem.

Communication & Empathy or Mind Control mages are better at dealing with social crises, Animal, Earth, and Plant mages are good at dealing with "wilderness encounters." Healing mages handle medical emergencies.

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Originally Posted by SolemnGolem View Post
[*]Just generally in commodity trading for low tech societies, what sort of noncombat challenges could mundane PC bodyguards be called upon to resolve?[/list]
Again, think of any modern travel hassle or camping problem and modify it to suit the genre. Also, take a look at your PCs character sheets and your players' personalities and tailor challenges to suit the character's strengths (or weaknesses) and the player's temperament.

Consider that bodyguards and caravan guards aren't going to spend all their time on guard duty and that their employers will expect them to engage in "other duties as required," which could range from emptying chamber pots to running vital private errands.

Caravan guards are going to be strong and fit. That means that they might be called upon to load, unload, and shift cargo. Even if they get out of stevedore duty, guard duty is an inevitable part of the job. Even in peaceful territory, someone has to keep animals from wandering off and prevent thieves from stealing goods.

Off duty, there are plenty of chances to get in trouble - not just the usual drinking/ whoring/ gambling sort of stupidity, but also interpersonal conflicts and situations where the players must make quick decisions which influence further events for their PCs.

* The caravan's head packer, farrier, or vet might need burly assistants to deal with unruly beasts of burden. How a relatively untrained sellsword deals with a thankless and physically demanding task, or a potentially dangerous animal, will give the caravan master a sense of their character possibly justifying temporary reaction bonuses or penalties, or even a Favor.

* A wagon might tip over or a pack animal might slip while fording a river. Alternately, a horse might throw its rider or bolt with a relatively untrained rider. How characters deal with such a crisis provides plenty of opportunities for non-combat skill or attribute use and an opportunity to distinguish themselves.

* Runaway kids or slaves might approach (or be detected by) guards and ask to join the caravan. Soft-hearted PCs might take the runaway in, temporarily saddling themselves with a potentially untrustworthy Dependent. Those searching for the runaway might count as temporary Enemies.

* Guards on duty might see something they shouldn't, such as an important NPC behaving in a distinctly unprofessional or unheroic fashion. How the players react to these sorts of events will affect their relationship between their characters and the NPC. For example, helping the caravan master home from a banquet where he got blind drunk and then staying silent about the affair might be good for a Favor.

This sort of situation might end up being a "no win" for the PCs. For example, helping to hustle a whore out of the caravan master's tent before his wife comes back and then remaining silent might ingratiate the PC with the caravan master, but earn the ire of his wife should she learn of the character's actions.

* Guards who go "beyond the call of duty," or who are just in the right place at the right time, might have a chance to distinguish themselves. For example, a sharp-eyed guard might notice a sneak thief or a pickpocket at work.

* Likewise, guards who are in the wrong place at the wrong time might need to scramble to minimize the damage to themselves and their employers. For example, guards on duty when a theft is committed will be immediately under suspicion as accomplices.

* Routine social interactions might result in personal conflicts which can only be resolved with some sort of duel or contest.

* An employer might assign the PCs "punishment duty" either out of spite or laziness, or as a test of their personality. How guard PCs handle initial routine chores will set the tone for their relationship with the caravan master and/or their employer. Use these sorts of tasks to give players a sense of important NPC personalities and give their characters an opportunity to ingratiate or disgrace themselves with their bosses.
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Old 07-28-2021, 06:02 PM   #4
dcarson
 
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Default Re: Brainstorming for little trade-route sidequests that involve the PC mages

A classic bad food event was you order a barrel of hams that should weigh say 100 pounds. A corrupt person in the supply chain can remove a 5 pound ham and pour in 5 pounds of water. The hams being salted soak up the water and the barrel still weighs what it should. If this happens multiple times the hams are no longer salted enough and start to rot because they are not preserved enough anymore. So maybe magic to purify the food, detective work to find the missing hams, hunting to replace the hams. Several ways for the PCs to help.
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Old 07-28-2021, 07:33 PM   #5
Prince Charon
 
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Default Re: Brainstorming for little trade-route sidequests that involve the PC mages

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A classic bad food event was you order a barrel of hams that should weigh say 100 pounds. A corrupt person in the supply chain can remove a 5 pound ham and pour in 5 pounds of water. The hams being salted soak up the water and the barrel still weighs what it should. If this happens multiple times the hams are no longer salted enough and start to rot because they are not preserved enough anymore. So maybe magic to purify the food, detective work to find the missing hams, hunting to replace the hams. Several ways for the PCs to help.
The thieves wouldn't even have to be all that corrupt, depending on local laws: IIRC, even in the twentieth century (and possibly now in some places, not sure) it was a legal privilege of customs inspectors in some countries to keep a few of any large set of smallish, near-identical items (e.g. apples, five-pound hams, punched cards...) for the inspector's personal use. This was a serious problem back when computer programs were stored and transmitted on punched cards, and shipped internationally through means cheaper than the mail, as you might expect (the customs inspectors had no use for the punched cards, but they had the right and privilege to take them, so they did; once taken, they were the property of the inspector and not the company). It's also a serious problem for the reasons noted above, so the PCs and merchants are likely to expect it to happen at some point.
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Old 07-29-2021, 09:37 AM   #6
Apollonian
 
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Default Re: Brainstorming for little trade-route sidequests that involve the PC mages

Quote:
Originally Posted by SolemnGolem View Post
I'm adapting Caravan to Ein Arris for my TL3 DFRPG game, and the main concept is the same. PCs will accompany a caravan, initially through safe and well-policed roads, but then eventually towards rougher terrain with brigands and bandits. So I'm hoping to tilt the violence and combat higher to the end of the adventure.

The start of the adventure therefore will be lower combat, and with a decent emphasis on character interaction. CtEA already has a great amount of noncombat material built into it, but it's originally set in a nonmagical world.
  • What sorts of fun (brief) glimpses of magitech could we introduce in a Low Tech society, where an early magic items industry is taking off? (For color, the first School of Magic was set up by the government a few decades ago.)
  • An arms race of sorts between smugglers and customs inspectors: you could have various hidden compartments, magical concealment, magically forged papers, etc. being countered by lenses of true seeing, magical lie detection, and so on.

    You might also have raw ingredients as a commodity good - sand from a dead sea, readily-enchantable silks, good-quality ash and rowan for staves and wands, that kind of thing. And you'd have fraudsters trying to sell fake versions of the above...

    Quote:
  • What sorts of (ideally low combat or noncombat) challenges would a trade caravan face in pacified and well-policed lands? I'm thinking of possible hucksters, frauds, thieves, and counterfeiters... but how would the mage PCs be called upon to assist?
  • An obviously magical curse is afflicting the caravan's beasts of burden, and it's spreading - slowly, but surely. Not only is this seriously inconvenient for hauling wagons, but if news gets around the caravan and its merchants will probably be barred from any community that depends on draft animals... i.e., all of them. As the nearest mages, the PCs are called on to fix it.

    Quote:
  • Just generally in commodity trading for low tech societies, what sort of noncombat challenges could mundane PC bodyguards be called upon to resolve?
Quote:
Thanks in advance for any answers!
The bodyguards are called upon to assist in a bit of smuggling. Maybe for good (make sure all of this medicine gets through to the plague quarter without the authorities confiscating it) or for lucre (get these drugs past the gates and you'll get a massive cut).

They're press-ganged as muscle by the local top cop (whatever that means) to help root out a corrupt customs inspector while the caravan's in town. (As outsiders, they can be trusted not to be the inspector's cronies). Combat may be involved, but it'll be more investigation and such.

One of the caravan merchants has scored a fantastic deal - but she needs to get the goods from a moderately distant location to the next caravanserie in a hurry so it can become part of the caravan. Enter the PCs.
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