In town there are two factions: the lords alliance and the Zhentarim. The players are trusted and very close to the leader of the lord's alliance, who on his own right does not trust the leader of the Zhentarim.
The first group, the Zhentarim is more in the shadows, and led by the woman who is also head of the miners in town. Not everyone that follows her, knows about or would agree with the Zhentarim's goals. Everybody in this group, however, are locals, been in town for a while if not their whole life.
Second group is led by a Lord from Neverwinter who brought a small group of maybe 5-6 guards who he has been using to help train the local militia. Both set of gaurds, those who follow both factions, do work together as a single militia. The guards in the town that don't follow the leader of the miner are loyal to the lord, but mostly because they want to defend their town.
Defend the town from what? A large band of orcs who have been pillaging towns nearby. From all reports in town, there are about 10-20 orcs in the group.
And here is the problem. The threat is a fake, made by the Zhentarim agent nd leader of the miners. She worked with a local goblin king and a very powerful mage to drive the rocs from their mountain home and pretty much scared the orcs into the open. The orcs have not destroyed or attacked any town. My players went to fight the rocs and found it was 10 fighters and their families and children. The orcs want to find a new home and be left alone.
My players want to ask help from the orcs to root out the agent who is using fear as a way to try and gain control of the town, but the town will defend itself. Both faction are at this time convinced that the orcs are evil. They are normal men and women who just want to defend their homes from invaders. Both factions have intermingled familial and friendly ties. They won't want to fight each other if my players can convince the lord to fight with them.
So my issue is, I am worried that I will struggle roleplaying this as the DM, while still helping the players deal with this problem and have the emotions they want to have.
This was long and hopefully made sense of what was happening.
a bunch of orcs have been driven out of their home and appear to be threatening a town, but they aren't
The town is split into 2 factions, and both believe the orcs are hostile
The leader of one faction knows the orcs were driven there
the two factions will team up if the lord fights with the party?
Now, it sounds like you have planned this out well and that there is a lot of depth and story behind it, so roleplay should be easy enough - you need to know what the people know, and what they don't know, and their motive.
What is the Zhentarim Agent trying to achieve? It sounds like they are trying to unite the town against a common enemy? Or are they trying to make the miners flee to the keep, and expect the lords to keep them out, causing civil unrest? You need t ofocus on her motive, so that any roleply you do with her is to further her goal.
What do the Lords want? Do they want the town united, or the miners subjugated? Would they let the miners in if the orcs attacked?
Most importantly, what do the players want? Don't ever be afraid to ask them where they are going and what they want to do next, most players understand that it makes it easier to roleplay if you are forewarned! If they want to overthrow the lords, then plan for that. If they want to assassinate the leader of the miners, plan for that. They might just take the orcs somewhere else and defuse the entire situation!
If you have motives and knowledge noted down for each major NPC, you shouldn't struggle to roleplay them arguing their case or manipulating things to suit their desires! Remember to let the Players do what they want, and don't be afraid of serious consequences - if they decide to approach the town with the armed orc warband to convince them they're good, expect the town to declare them as siding with "the enemy" and engaging in a battle against them. Poor decisions need to be pulled up as examples - if they say "why did you do that", explain that marching the scary army at the town preparing to kill the scary army will result in the town trying to kill the scary army! And also don't be afraid of prompting them - if they don't discuss how to tell the town, have the Orc NPC ask "how will they know not to attack us?". little nudges, but leaving the decision to the players!
Also - you're the DM, which means this doesn't need to end in large scale battle. Why doesn't anyone from town speak to the orcs? Couldn't there be a representative of them that speaks common well enough, who can explain their situation? I wouldn't think that common townsfolk would exactly be willing to die without talking first, either.
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I know what you're thinking: "In that flurry of blows, did he use all his ki points, or save one?" Well, are ya feeling lucky, punk?
So, I know the two leaders. The leader of the Zhentarim wants power by taking over the town and connecting with a warlord who is near by so her influences over the region grow. She just wants people to be afraid of the orcs so they are willing to follow her (use fear to unite the whole town under her rule)
The leader of the lords alliance is an outsider who is helping the town and is not an actual person of the town, even if he wants to protect the people with all he can. Him and the adventurers are very close, and he trusts them explicitly. He has about 6 soldiers from out of town as well, so the town doesn't trust him as much as the other leader because she has been in town for years and years and has helped so many of the town people.
My BIGGEST worry is I don't know the town people and their allegiances. All want the town safe. They do not want to fight each other. So if the LA (lord's alliance) leader tells them to apprehend the Z leader, most of the town will either be scared to fight their own, or trust her more, especially if they see any orcs and get scared. But everything you talked about is true, and making the orcs be hesitant of even going NEAR the town till everything is settled makes more sense from the orc POV. So, 100% I am grateful for your help on that.
Also - you're the DM, which means this doesn't need to end in large scale battle. Why doesn't anyone from town speak to the orcs? Couldn't there be a representative of them that speaks common well enough, who can explain their situation? I wouldn't think that common townsfolk would exactly be willing to die without talking first, either.
I hope so. But the townsfolk are the ones I am having the hardest time getting in the head of... They are just so diverse and hve so many different conflicting ideals that could come to a head which is what worries me the most.
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So, here is the situation.
In town there are two factions: the lords alliance and the Zhentarim. The players are trusted and very close to the leader of the lord's alliance, who on his own right does not trust the leader of the Zhentarim.
The first group, the Zhentarim is more in the shadows, and led by the woman who is also head of the miners in town. Not everyone that follows her, knows about or would agree with the Zhentarim's goals. Everybody in this group, however, are locals, been in town for a while if not their whole life.
Second group is led by a Lord from Neverwinter who brought a small group of maybe 5-6 guards who he has been using to help train the local militia. Both set of gaurds, those who follow both factions, do work together as a single militia. The guards in the town that don't follow the leader of the miner are loyal to the lord, but mostly because they want to defend their town.
Defend the town from what? A large band of orcs who have been pillaging towns nearby. From all reports in town, there are about 10-20 orcs in the group.
And here is the problem. The threat is a fake, made by the Zhentarim agent nd leader of the miners. She worked with a local goblin king and a very powerful mage to drive the rocs from their mountain home and pretty much scared the orcs into the open. The orcs have not destroyed or attacked any town. My players went to fight the rocs and found it was 10 fighters and their families and children. The orcs want to find a new home and be left alone.
My players want to ask help from the orcs to root out the agent who is using fear as a way to try and gain control of the town, but the town will defend itself. Both faction are at this time convinced that the orcs are evil. They are normal men and women who just want to defend their homes from invaders. Both factions have intermingled familial and friendly ties. They won't want to fight each other if my players can convince the lord to fight with them.
So my issue is, I am worried that I will struggle roleplaying this as the DM, while still helping the players deal with this problem and have the emotions they want to have.
This was long and hopefully made sense of what was happening.
So, unless I'm mistaken then:
Now, it sounds like you have planned this out well and that there is a lot of depth and story behind it, so roleplay should be easy enough - you need to know what the people know, and what they don't know, and their motive.
What is the Zhentarim Agent trying to achieve? It sounds like they are trying to unite the town against a common enemy? Or are they trying to make the miners flee to the keep, and expect the lords to keep them out, causing civil unrest? You need t ofocus on her motive, so that any roleply you do with her is to further her goal.
What do the Lords want? Do they want the town united, or the miners subjugated? Would they let the miners in if the orcs attacked?
Most importantly, what do the players want? Don't ever be afraid to ask them where they are going and what they want to do next, most players understand that it makes it easier to roleplay if you are forewarned! If they want to overthrow the lords, then plan for that. If they want to assassinate the leader of the miners, plan for that. They might just take the orcs somewhere else and defuse the entire situation!
If you have motives and knowledge noted down for each major NPC, you shouldn't struggle to roleplay them arguing their case or manipulating things to suit their desires! Remember to let the Players do what they want, and don't be afraid of serious consequences - if they decide to approach the town with the armed orc warband to convince them they're good, expect the town to declare them as siding with "the enemy" and engaging in a battle against them. Poor decisions need to be pulled up as examples - if they say "why did you do that", explain that marching the scary army at the town preparing to kill the scary army will result in the town trying to kill the scary army! And also don't be afraid of prompting them - if they don't discuss how to tell the town, have the Orc NPC ask "how will they know not to attack us?". little nudges, but leaving the decision to the players!
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Also - you're the DM, which means this doesn't need to end in large scale battle. Why doesn't anyone from town speak to the orcs? Couldn't there be a representative of them that speaks common well enough, who can explain their situation? I wouldn't think that common townsfolk would exactly be willing to die without talking first, either.
I know what you're thinking: "In that flurry of blows, did he use all his ki points, or save one?" Well, are ya feeling lucky, punk?
So, I know the two leaders. The leader of the Zhentarim wants power by taking over the town and connecting with a warlord who is near by so her influences over the region grow. She just wants people to be afraid of the orcs so they are willing to follow her (use fear to unite the whole town under her rule)
The leader of the lords alliance is an outsider who is helping the town and is not an actual person of the town, even if he wants to protect the people with all he can. Him and the adventurers are very close, and he trusts them explicitly. He has about 6 soldiers from out of town as well, so the town doesn't trust him as much as the other leader because she has been in town for years and years and has helped so many of the town people.
My BIGGEST worry is I don't know the town people and their allegiances. All want the town safe. They do not want to fight each other. So if the LA (lord's alliance) leader tells them to apprehend the Z leader, most of the town will either be scared to fight their own, or trust her more, especially if they see any orcs and get scared. But everything you talked about is true, and making the orcs be hesitant of even going NEAR the town till everything is settled makes more sense from the orc POV. So, 100% I am grateful for your help on that.
I hope so. But the townsfolk are the ones I am having the hardest time getting in the head of... They are just so diverse and hve so many different conflicting ideals that could come to a head which is what worries me the most.