The party has discovered that the quarry three miles north of Darkshelf has a lot of evil in its lower caverns. From Half-orc slave traders with his band of goblins to priests summoning beasts from the Elemental plane, these are some of the many reasons why the quarry needs to be shut down. Escaping the quarry within an inch of their lives, the party makes their way to Darkshelf and tries to convince the town to take up arms against the quarry because the party cannot do it alone.
Question:
As mentioned above, the goal is to convince the town to help the party take down the quarry. While I do not know who exactly the party will be talking to, I can nudge them in the direction of the town Overseer, the town sheriff, and the miners who are not aware of the misdeeds in the quarry. The problem is the party does not have a lot of proof to show to the town, so it is role-playing and skill checks to do the heavy lifting here to have the town assist them.
I've read up in the PHB and the DMG on Social Encounters, and that seems all fine and good, but I was wondering if anyone has some practical experience running one.
I'm seeking suggestions or information on making this a challenging social encounter.
Note: The party can take on the remaining encounters at the quarry independently if they so choose. The success of the adventure is not dependent on convincing the town to help; this is the party's idea of looking for assistance. So if the party fails the social encounter, they are not stuck in a predicament they cannot escape.
I would suggest coming up with a list of generic things (themes if you will) that each group will need to help them. Nothing specific, as you don't want to railroad them, but think from their perspective. You could also make it an excersise of finding which of the 3 is corrupt.
The Overseer may be concerned with their position of power and maintaining it. The party will need to pursuade them that the best thing for them is to clear out this quarry. They may even be the main opposition, perhaps taking backhanders from the orc gang to turn a blind eye.
The Sherriff will be thinking of their strength (limited guards) and their other duties - can they spare the guards? If not, what would it take to have them spare them? Is the quarry under their juristiction? They may be taking backhanders to turn a blind eye to the Quarry.
The miners will be concerned for their jobs and their families. Perhaps the owner of the quarry is their boss, and by crossing them they risk their livelihoods? Perhaps they fear that the town could be attacked and prefer to barricade themselves rather than leaving their families.
Perhaps a crimelord in the town, who has more brutes than the guards do, might be an option. What if more than half the guard was actually mercenaries hired from the crimelord, so they take his say-so?
Anyway, I digressed here - sorry!
For each of them you need to think of their motivations, and consider them in each response - if the party lay it on thick that it's dangerous and they could attack, then the miners may choose to leave with their families rather than risk death fighting them. Similarly, they may choose to do this if the guard leaves to fight the quarry, as the town will be defenceless.
The Overseer may feel that their shady dealings need covering up. They might make a deal that they can have help if they bring him the orcs head on a pike - silencing the orc from revealing his dealings. If they refuse to kill the orc, then the overseer will not help.
The Sheriff may have a contradictory goal - to see the orc in alive, so he can get the truth from him of how he set up the operation. This may lead to them having their own plots (EG the overseers goons trying to take out the Orc, or the sherriff).
I would suggest coming up with a list of generic things (themes if you will) that each group will need to help them. Nothing specific, as you don't want to railroad them, but think from their perspective. You could also make it an excersise of finding which of the 3 is corrupt.
The Overseer may be concerned with their position of power and maintaining it. The party will need to pursuade them that the best thing for them is to clear out this quarry. They may even be the main opposition, perhaps taking backhanders from the orc gang to turn a blind eye.
The Sherriff will be thinking of their strength (limited guards) and their other duties - can they spare the guards? If not, what would it take to have them spare them? Is the quarry under their juristiction? They may be taking backhanders to turn a blind eye to the Quarry.
The miners will be concerned for their jobs and their families. Perhaps the owner of the quarry is their boss, and by crossing them they risk their livelihoods? Perhaps they fear that the town could be attacked and prefer to barricade themselves rather than leaving their families.
Perhaps a crimelord in the town, who has more brutes than the guards do, might be an option. What if more than half the guard was actually mercenaries hired from the crimelord, so they take his say-so?
Anyway, I digressed here - sorry!
For each of them you need to think of their motivations, and consider them in each response - if the party lay it on thick that it's dangerous and they could attack, then the miners may choose to leave with their families rather than risk death fighting them. Similarly, they may choose to do this if the guard leaves to fight the quarry, as the town will be defenceless.
The Overseer may feel that their shady dealings need covering up. They might make a deal that they can have help if they bring him the orcs head on a pike - silencing the orc from revealing his dealings. If they refuse to kill the orc, then the overseer will not help.
The Sheriff may have a contradictory goal - to see the orc in alive, so he can get the truth from him of how he set up the operation. This may lead to them having their own plots (EG the overseers goons trying to take out the Orc, or the sherriff).
Good Luck!
Wow, there is a lot of great information here. Thank You!
While there is no crimelord in the town, the players never got that deep into the town's political structure, and this might be an exciting element to add to the Encounter, like a Noble who knows about the slave trade or may even be head of the organization responsible for it. This Noble could try to rally the town against taking arms against the quarry for fear of being discovered for their nefarious dealings.
I suggest turning the question around: rather than coming up with rules for how the PCs can influence the town, just ask each player "What are you doing to achieve the goal?"
For each answer, decide on an appropriate skill and DC (use higher DCs for things that seem particularly difficult or unlikely to be helpful). Everyone rolls, and if there's more successes than failures, the party achieves their goal. You can use multiple rounds of of this for a more extended series or to introduce special rules (e.g. you might require two rolls from everyone -- one on a skill or task you pick, one on a skill or task they pick).
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Setup:
The party has discovered that the quarry three miles north of Darkshelf has a lot of evil in its lower caverns. From Half-orc slave traders with his band of goblins to priests summoning beasts from the Elemental plane, these are some of the many reasons why the quarry needs to be shut down. Escaping the quarry within an inch of their lives, the party makes their way to Darkshelf and tries to convince the town to take up arms against the quarry because the party cannot do it alone.
Question:
As mentioned above, the goal is to convince the town to help the party take down the quarry. While I do not know who exactly the party will be talking to, I can nudge them in the direction of the town Overseer, the town sheriff, and the miners who are not aware of the misdeeds in the quarry. The problem is the party does not have a lot of proof to show to the town, so it is role-playing and skill checks to do the heavy lifting here to have the town assist them.
I've read up in the PHB and the DMG on Social Encounters, and that seems all fine and good, but I was wondering if anyone has some practical experience running one.
I'm seeking suggestions or information on making this a challenging social encounter.
Note: The party can take on the remaining encounters at the quarry independently if they so choose. The success of the adventure is not dependent on convincing the town to help; this is the party's idea of looking for assistance. So if the party fails the social encounter, they are not stuck in a predicament they cannot escape.
I would suggest coming up with a list of generic things (themes if you will) that each group will need to help them. Nothing specific, as you don't want to railroad them, but think from their perspective. You could also make it an excersise of finding which of the 3 is corrupt.
Anyway, I digressed here - sorry!
For each of them you need to think of their motivations, and consider them in each response - if the party lay it on thick that it's dangerous and they could attack, then the miners may choose to leave with their families rather than risk death fighting them. Similarly, they may choose to do this if the guard leaves to fight the quarry, as the town will be defenceless.
The Overseer may feel that their shady dealings need covering up. They might make a deal that they can have help if they bring him the orcs head on a pike - silencing the orc from revealing his dealings. If they refuse to kill the orc, then the overseer will not help.
The Sheriff may have a contradictory goal - to see the orc in alive, so he can get the truth from him of how he set up the operation. This may lead to them having their own plots (EG the overseers goons trying to take out the Orc, or the sherriff).
Good Luck!
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Wow, there is a lot of great information here. Thank You!
While there is no crimelord in the town, the players never got that deep into the town's political structure, and this might be an exciting element to add to the Encounter, like a Noble who knows about the slave trade or may even be head of the organization responsible for it. This Noble could try to rally the town against taking arms against the quarry for fear of being discovered for their nefarious dealings.
I suggest turning the question around: rather than coming up with rules for how the PCs can influence the town, just ask each player "What are you doing to achieve the goal?"
For each answer, decide on an appropriate skill and DC (use higher DCs for things that seem particularly difficult or unlikely to be helpful). Everyone rolls, and if there's more successes than failures, the party achieves their goal. You can use multiple rounds of of this for a more extended series or to introduce special rules (e.g. you might require two rolls from everyone -- one on a skill or task you pick, one on a skill or task they pick).