David St-Michel
Mongoose
...maybe the peasants can be negociated with?
OOPs thats not going to go well.
- Thread starter zozotroll
- Start date
Scorpion13
Mongoose
Maybe they just lose interest and leave. Peasanting is fairly labor intensive. They have to till their fields and milk cows and die of the plague. Cant hang around a old temple all day and night.
I would like to also know what was the monster that the PC's actually killed, and what or why would the peasants come to attack the PC's for killing it? There seems to be more of a deeper plot here than we have been told. Could you enlighten us of those background details so we can better understand?
Penn
Penn
OK, I did not expect this to last this long, and there seems more interest than I thought there would be, so here is a lot more of the background.
I hate railroading, both as a player and as a DM. So I let players do pretty much what they want. however, they do have to face the consequences of those actions. In the RW, there is never just one thing going on, there are a bunch of things. I cant kep 2 dozen straight, but can usualy keep 3-5 going on.
The players heard a rumor that suggested that an old abbey just a few days north of Messentia might not have been totaly looted. And that there was some sort of monster in it. This was not the only rumor they heard, just the one they decided to act on.
On the way, they ran into several fights, more than they should have. But they have been less curious than they should have been.
I hate railroading, both as a player and as a DM. So I let players do pretty much what they want. however, they do have to face the consequences of those actions. In the RW, there is never just one thing going on, there are a bunch of things. I cant kep 2 dozen straight, but can usualy keep 3-5 going on.
The players heard a rumor that suggested that an old abbey just a few days north of Messentia might not have been totaly looted. And that there was some sort of monster in it. This was not the only rumor they heard, just the one they decided to act on.
On the way, they ran into several fights, more than they should have. But they have been less curious than they should have been.
After several days they reached the abbey, where they found a priest with a broken leg, who was there to grab some items important to the church. He was supposed to meet with a crew of Argosan pirates, but the [pirates had not shown up. So he recruited the party to kill what he had determined where a couple of Ghouls in the abbey.
They attack, just barely beat the Ghouls, and find the treasure.
Mean while, a Zingaran Baron near the border had raised almost 500 troops to attack one of his rivals. He discovered that the target had an even bigger army than him. So he invaded Argos instead, in the hopes that a quick raid would net him enough cash livestock slaves and what not to pay off his army, and allow him to expand even more.
He broke his army into fairly small groups, the better to gather in loot with. And there does not seem to be much in the way of an Argos army presence in the immediate area.
They attack, just barely beat the Ghouls, and find the treasure.
Mean while, a Zingaran Baron near the border had raised almost 500 troops to attack one of his rivals. He discovered that the target had an even bigger army than him. So he invaded Argos instead, in the hopes that a quick raid would net him enough cash livestock slaves and what not to pay off his army, and allow him to expand even more.
He broke his army into fairly small groups, the better to gather in loot with. And there does not seem to be much in the way of an Argos army presence in the immediate area.
The Pirates had crashed into one of the smaller groups. In the fight, the mercenarys that led the peasants got killed, along with most of the pirates. Not many peasants got killed. 2 pirates took off, headed to the abbey where they hope the preist would help them. The peasants decided that the pirates where headed to thier lair where there wouold be tons of buried pirate loots, because everybody knows thats what pirates do with thier loot.
Just at last light, the pirates got to the abbey. The peasants decided against a night attack. In the morning they expect to run into 3-4 wounded and unarmored pirates.
Instead, they will find that the pirates have snuck away in the night. and there are 4 well armed and reasonably armored fighters there. The peasants dont speak argosan, and have never heard of any of the storys of the Abbey. They just think it a pirate hideout. None of the players speak Zingaran, or anything else the4 peasants speak.
The abbey is a ruin. The full back wall has collapsed, and much of the stone hualed away. There are no doors left. There are 3 small towers left, but only 2 had stone staircases, ther other had wood, and that is gone.
Just at last light, the pirates got to the abbey. The peasants decided against a night attack. In the morning they expect to run into 3-4 wounded and unarmored pirates.
Instead, they will find that the pirates have snuck away in the night. and there are 4 well armed and reasonably armored fighters there. The peasants dont speak argosan, and have never heard of any of the storys of the Abbey. They just think it a pirate hideout. None of the players speak Zingaran, or anything else the4 peasants speak.
The abbey is a ruin. The full back wall has collapsed, and much of the stone hualed away. There are no doors left. There are 3 small towers left, but only 2 had stone staircases, ther other had wood, and that is gone.
thelevitator
Mongoose
All right! Now we're cooking with gas! 
Nice summary!
Nice summary! The party is in no way prepared to defend the abbey. Nor is it really worth trying. At the moment it is just a convenient bow platform. I suspect if the peasants break up into small groups and hit the abbey from all sides at once, the party will sally forth and overwhelm one of the small groups and run away.
Once the peasants take 1 casualty, they will take a morale test at the end of every round. each further casualty makes it a tougher test. I think they will break by the time they get to 40%, or about 10 out of 27. After such a beating, they will decided it was much funer to farm in Zingara than fight in Argos. The party will not see this group again.
The party may hit as meny as 5 more of these groups. They should be able to avoid most of those if they want to, after all peasants dont spot very good. If they find a group or two with mercs left, it gets stickier. And after this fight, they will be low on arrow, something they have already noted.
Is that enough background or does smebody whnt something else? And yes I hate really long posts.
Once the peasants take 1 casualty, they will take a morale test at the end of every round. each further casualty makes it a tougher test. I think they will break by the time they get to 40%, or about 10 out of 27. After such a beating, they will decided it was much funer to farm in Zingara than fight in Argos. The party will not see this group again.
The party may hit as meny as 5 more of these groups. They should be able to avoid most of those if they want to, after all peasants dont spot very good. If they find a group or two with mercs left, it gets stickier. And after this fight, they will be low on arrow, something they have already noted.
Is that enough background or does smebody whnt something else? And yes I hate really long posts.
David St-Michel
Mongoose
I think that we're ready to rock with that just fine.
Hmm...
If your PCs really want to duke it out with the peasants, then give 'em hell.
Have the peasants either charge the abbey in the middle of the night, or during a rainfall, or have them scatter and try to burn the place down.
If no one really wants this fight, maybe the Bossonian could tie a piece of white cloth to an arrow and shoot it in the middle of the terrain in front of the abbey, to hopefully make them understand that they don't want a combat?
Or make an opposing group enter the same area, and have the peasents and their adversairies fight it out. Have the combat spill into the abbey. And then you've got a three-way dance going.
Add someone hurling a torch in something flammable, and you've got yourself a party, Conan-style!
Hmm...
If your PCs really want to duke it out with the peasants, then give 'em hell.
Have the peasants either charge the abbey in the middle of the night, or during a rainfall, or have them scatter and try to burn the place down.
If no one really wants this fight, maybe the Bossonian could tie a piece of white cloth to an arrow and shoot it in the middle of the terrain in front of the abbey, to hopefully make them understand that they don't want a combat?
Or make an opposing group enter the same area, and have the peasents and their adversairies fight it out. Have the combat spill into the abbey. And then you've got a three-way dance going.
Add someone hurling a torch in something flammable, and you've got yourself a party, Conan-style!
