It's not as easy as the title says. They were in a village and I wanted them to go to a festival I had prepared, but instead they all split up and now two of them camped separated on each side of the village and the other two went to sleep in the village tavern.
Those who camped outside the village are staying the whole night, so they have to encounter something, but if they do the rest of the party will get bored, because they have to just listen to me and him talk or go through combat. What do you suggest?
This could also be a valuable lesson for the group.
A recurring motto of D&D (and most any other RPG for that matter) is "Never Split the Party", not only because you could most probably encounter a gruesome death, but also because it "breaks" continuity. In truth it is perfectly fine if players want to do different things, but they have to be aware that it will mean that there are going to be separate "scenes", because they are many, but the DM is one, so there will have to be moments where one part of the group is the "active" one, and involved in the action, and other moments when the other part of the group will. And there's nothing wrong with it.
If they get bored, well, that's on them for deciding to go separate ways, certainly not on you.
"OK - you pass a pleasant night in the Inn- perhaps not the most luxurious you've ever been in, being somewhat rustic, but it's clean, comfortable, and apart from the soft sounds of snoring coming from some patron down the hall, relatively quiet. You sleep through the night and awake refreshed, and thinking that maybe you should find something for breakfast.
You guys over here, set up camp. Who is taking what watches? OK <DM rolls dice, loudly behind the screen, ignores them entirely> OK, you pass the night out under the stars, and it passes relatively uneventfully, except that sometime after midnight a small rainstorm rolls in, and you're forced to relocate you bedrolls under the canopy of a tree on the edge of the clearing to stay dry. It's damp, cool, and sort of unpleasant, although the dripping water off the leaves is somewhat soothing. Still, you awake with the dawn, cold, a bit stiff, and your gear and bedrolls are a bit damp ( although not soaking ), and you grumble and stretch to get the muscle kinks out before starting to think that maybe a hot breakfast at the Inn, and joining up with the rest of your companions is a good idea."
Time in description? 1-2 minutes? Back to the adventure ;)
Disclaimer: This signature is a badge of membership in the Forum Loudmouth Club. We are all friends. We are not attacking each other. We are engaging in spirited, friendly debate with one another. We may get snarky, but these are not attacks. Thank you for not reporting us.
So, I've never really understood the need to keep watches. I do it because it's diegeticly the thing to do, but I never really understood. We're talking about 4-6 people camping NOT an military encampment during a war. It's actually the reason I love Tiny Hut. It means I never have to worry about watches like ever again. As a Wizard/Tome Lock I cast Tiny Hut, the party sleeps tightly and at worst my Familiar keeps watch, because it will wake me.
Now the D&D world is a little different because there are Owl Bears, Goblin Raiders, Dire Snakes, etc... so it's set up as a more dangerous place. This is a camp on the out skirts of a town? That's like camping in the back yard. Is the encounter that a raccoon/coyote tore open their backpack to eat a ration?
I've gone camping a lot and if you're not an idiot (ie: keep your food and trash off the ground) then even if a bear does walk through you camp. It did exactly that walked through and left.
So, I've never really understood the need to keep watches. I do it because it's diegeticly the thing to do, but I never really understood. We're talking about 4-6 people camping NOT an military encampment during a war.
But the thing is, you are. Player characters are fundamentally at war with the world in which they adventure due to the overwhelming creatures that inhabit it that are out to kill them. You keep watch so that your wake up call is "Oh my god it's a bear!" rather than the crunching and visceral noises of a bear eating one the adventurers it caught totally unaware. That said, while watches are a good idea, they are by no means a "must-do".
Back to the main topic: just because your players spend the night under the stars doesn't mean they HAVE to be mauled by bears/any other creatures. Otherwise, camping wouldn't be considered a leisurely activity, since fighting for you live against a bear isn't exactly the most calming of things to do with your time.
That's the thing though, this is NOT natural behavior. It's one thing if it's goblins or kobolds as they are sapients.
Predators don't act like they do in D&D. Bears don't maul humans for no reason. They don't just attack someone who is sleeping. IF you leave your food out they will eat your garbage, so will other scavengers, but won't bother you unless you startle it.
wolves don't just attack groups of armed humans and won't put up much resistance. They won't risk serious injury. Predators don't fight to the death, unless they are defending something important or are diseased. Jaguars are known to creep into a house, kill a human in their sleep, drag the body away, and not wake anyone else in the house. But Jaguars are exceptional.
The most likely threat from sleeping under the stars is a snake will decide you're nice and warm and you'll have a viper in your sleeping bag.
If you're on the outskirts of a town, it's unlikely any significant wildlife would go near the human habitation, unless they are camping next to the town's refuse pile.
@FMB Then why have random encounter tables? Yes, in the real world many natural beasts stay clear of populations over a certain size, however even in the real world for much of history many predators, especially wolves, would pick of unwary humans and/or livestock from farms around the outskirts of town.
This, however, is not the real world. There are monsters. Some of them are big. And they don't give a damn if a settlement has people or not. Two tasty morsels camping under a tree outside of town?! Yum, midnight snack!
As for the OP's problem, I agree with others. You don't have to have an encounter. You could roll some dice behind the screen to give the impression they might have an encounter, but then tell them nothing happened. They get the hint that next time they might not be so lucky.
Or... yeah, have them attacked by something. If they get badly injured, or die, then the next PCs the roll up might just stay in town.
Or... while they sleep some sneaky goblins who made a really good stealth roll (they don't know what you rolled) snuck in to camp and rummaged through their bags. Randomly roll to see what the goblins took, including food, and the campers discover the theft in the morning.
Rollback Post to RevisionRollBack
"Orcs are savage raiders and pillagers with stooped postures, low foreheads, and piggish faces with prominent lower canines that resemble tusks." MM p245 (original printing) You don't OWN your books on DDB: WotC can change them any time. What do you think will happen when OneD&D comes out?
Side note. You never explained why this a problem. What are you trying to accomplish with the festival?
Is this festival supposed to be a combat heavy encounter? If it is, then size the encounters to fit the reduced party. They will quickly realize they need to be together and do so.
If it's not supposed to be combat heavy, let the party split up. Let them explore the town and have each sub-group take their own RPG scenes. Go back and forth and keep them as short vignettes so no one gets left out. From and RPG stand point it's generally pretty good if the party feels they can split up, accomplish different thing, and then tell each other about them. It means your group gets along well and people feel comfortable not being in every scene all the time.
As yourself "how does this improve the game?"
The group camping outside. Maybe have a raccoon get into their camping trash, or eat a ration, if you want to give character. It adds color and flavor to the world, without necessarily attacking HP. How does a bear attack sleeping party members help the game? I'd say you can put a snake in 1 person's sleeping bag, but it's actually a pretty boring encounter. The correct thing is for someone else to open the bag a bit and then you don't move. Eventually the snake moves away as the day warms up. Idiots attack it, but I assume most PCs are "city boys" and don't know how to handle this stuff.
There's a saying: It's not paranoia if they really are out to get you.
Some really good points I've seen in here reflect my though process on random encounters.
First: Why? Why would animals attack? Why would kobolds, goblins, owlbears, etc attack? Why would they be so near the town? Why are the players so far from town that they're camping in such a dangerous location?
Second: What are you trying to accomplish with this combat? What are the players going to learn? What impact does this have on the story?
Third: How does this bring them together? How does this further the story? How does this solve the "I'm a loner" trope that seems to permeate the game?
----
Your problem is not them camping outside and possibly getting into a meaningless random encounter, the problem is the approach the players have taken to their characters' interactions, or lack there of. You missed your chance to create an inciting incident with them at the festival, move on to plan B. The player on the east side of town has something that happens that brings him to the festival, like a random hunter leaving for the day's work. The player on the west side of town hears some shady folks talking about something that's going to happen during the festival, good reason for him to show up. The other two simply get swept up in the crowd and find their way to the festival. From there you simply use your plot hook you wanted to originally wanted.
Twist: The camping players are replaced by dopplegangers.
Rollback Post to RevisionRollBack
"Orcs are savage raiders and pillagers with stooped postures, low foreheads, and piggish faces with prominent lower canines that resemble tusks." MM p245 (original printing) You don't OWN your books on DDB: WotC can change them any time. What do you think will happen when OneD&D comes out?
I've gone camping a lot and if you're not an idiot (ie: keep your food and trash off the ground) then even if a bear does walk through you camp. It did exactly that walked through and left.
The thing is, just because the wildlife may leave the party alone, the domestic life might not.
The setting is during a festival which will potentially attract some criminal persons which might decide to some ungood to sleeping folks that are camped outside.
Rollback Post to RevisionRollBack
"Sooner or later, your Players are going to smash your railroad into a sandbox."
-Vedexent
"real life is a super high CR."
-OboeLauren
"............anybody got any potatoes? We could drop a potato in each hole an' see which ones get viciously mauled by horrible monsters?"
When I run a game I just make a guideline. Nothing is ever really set in stone other then my endgame Idea. You just have to figure out how to get everyone there. Now I do understand your issue and yes this can be a real pain especially if this is a sit down group. At home, a hobby shop, discord, or whatever the case may be. Now this is much more easy if this is being done in a play by post game. At least if you can make separate channels for each group. This can actually work out well. However with a sit down group this can be an issue. But as I was saying you just need to come up with a reason to get them back together. Now if for some reason one group or player just simply do whatever it takes to not work/group with the other players then there is another problem. I had this happen with one player. Not going to get to into it but he was constantly trying to push the group in another direction. It got old real fast. Just come up with something creative and if you feel there is purposeful resistance... well, than drop/replace them.
Rollback Post to RevisionRollBack
To post a comment, please login or register a new account.
It's not as easy as the title says. They were in a village and I wanted them to go to a festival I had prepared, but instead they all split up and now two of them camped separated on each side of the village and the other two went to sleep in the village tavern.
Those who camped outside the village are staying the whole night, so they have to encounter something, but if they do the rest of the party will get bored, because they have to just listen to me and him talk or go through combat. What do you suggest?
Simply camping outside does not mean "they have to encounter something". This is very much up to you. You also have the choice to fudge the rolls.
This could also be a valuable lesson for the group.
A recurring motto of D&D (and most any other RPG for that matter) is "Never Split the Party", not only because you could most probably encounter a gruesome death, but also because it "breaks" continuity.
In truth it is perfectly fine if players want to do different things, but they have to be aware that it will mean that there are going to be separate "scenes", because they are many, but the DM is one, so there will have to be moments where one part of the group is the "active" one, and involved in the action, and other moments when the other part of the group will. And there's nothing wrong with it.
If they get bored, well, that's on them for deciding to go separate ways, certainly not on you.
also this ^
Born in Italy, moved a bunch, living in Spain, my heart always belonged to Roleplaying Games
"OK - you pass a pleasant night in the Inn- perhaps not the most luxurious you've ever been in, being somewhat rustic, but it's clean, comfortable, and apart from the soft sounds of snoring coming from some patron down the hall, relatively quiet. You sleep through the night and awake refreshed, and thinking that maybe you should find something for breakfast.
You guys over here, set up camp. Who is taking what watches? OK <DM rolls dice, loudly behind the screen, ignores them entirely> OK, you pass the night out under the stars, and it passes relatively uneventfully, except that sometime after midnight a small rainstorm rolls in, and you're forced to relocate you bedrolls under the canopy of a tree on the edge of the clearing to stay dry. It's damp, cool, and sort of unpleasant, although the dripping water off the leaves is somewhat soothing. Still, you awake with the dawn, cold, a bit stiff, and your gear and bedrolls are a bit damp ( although not soaking ), and you grumble and stretch to get the muscle kinks out before starting to think that maybe a hot breakfast at the Inn, and joining up with the rest of your companions is a good idea."
Time in description? 1-2 minutes? Back to the adventure ;)
My DM Philosophy, as summed up by other people: https://drive.google.com/file/d/1rN5w4-azTq3Kbn0Yvk9nfqQhwQ1R5by1/view
Disclaimer: This signature is a badge of membership in the Forum Loudmouth Club. We are all friends. We are not attacking each other. We are engaging in spirited, friendly debate with one another. We may get snarky, but these are not attacks. Thank you for not reporting us.
So, I've never really understood the need to keep watches. I do it because it's diegeticly the thing to do, but I never really understood.
We're talking about 4-6 people camping NOT an military encampment during a war. It's actually the reason I love Tiny Hut. It means I never have to worry about watches like ever again. As a Wizard/Tome Lock I cast Tiny Hut, the party sleeps tightly and at worst my Familiar keeps watch, because it will wake me.
Now the D&D world is a little different because there are Owl Bears, Goblin Raiders, Dire Snakes, etc... so it's set up as a more dangerous place.
This is a camp on the out skirts of a town? That's like camping in the back yard. Is the encounter that a raccoon/coyote tore open their backpack to eat a ration?
I've gone camping a lot and if you're not an idiot (ie: keep your food and trash off the ground) then even if a bear does walk through you camp. It did exactly that walked through and left.
But the thing is, you are. Player characters are fundamentally at war with the world in which they adventure due to the overwhelming creatures that inhabit it that are out to kill them. You keep watch so that your wake up call is "Oh my god it's a bear!" rather than the crunching and visceral noises of a bear eating one the adventurers it caught totally unaware. That said, while watches are a good idea, they are by no means a "must-do".
Back to the main topic: just because your players spend the night under the stars doesn't mean they HAVE to be mauled by bears/any other creatures. Otherwise, camping wouldn't be considered a leisurely activity, since fighting for you live against a bear isn't exactly the most calming of things to do with your time.
Also: I'm surprised no one's posted this yet: Never Split the Party
Ongoing Projects: The Mimic Book of Mimics :: SHARK WEEK
Completed Projects: The Trick-or-Treat Table
My Homebrews: Races :: Classes :: Spells :: Items :: Monsters
Constantly at war with all the world?!
That's the thing though, this is NOT natural behavior.
It's one thing if it's goblins or kobolds as they are sapients.
Predators don't act like they do in D&D.
Bears don't maul humans for no reason. They don't just attack someone who is sleeping.
IF you leave your food out they will eat your garbage, so will other scavengers, but won't bother you unless you startle it.
wolves don't just attack groups of armed humans and won't put up much resistance. They won't risk serious injury.
Predators don't fight to the death, unless they are defending something important or are diseased.
Jaguars are known to creep into a house, kill a human in their sleep, drag the body away, and not wake anyone else in the house. But Jaguars are exceptional.
The most likely threat from sleeping under the stars is a snake will decide you're nice and warm and you'll have a viper in your sleeping bag.
If you're on the outskirts of a town, it's unlikely any significant wildlife would go near the human habitation, unless they are camping next to the town's refuse pile.
@FMB Then why have random encounter tables? Yes, in the real world many natural beasts stay clear of populations over a certain size, however even in the real world for much of history many predators, especially wolves, would pick of unwary humans and/or livestock from farms around the outskirts of town.
This, however, is not the real world. There are monsters. Some of them are big. And they don't give a damn if a settlement has people or not. Two tasty morsels camping under a tree outside of town?! Yum, midnight snack!
As for the OP's problem, I agree with others. You don't have to have an encounter. You could roll some dice behind the screen to give the impression they might have an encounter, but then tell them nothing happened. They get the hint that next time they might not be so lucky.
Or... yeah, have them attacked by something. If they get badly injured, or die, then the next PCs the roll up might just stay in town.
Or... while they sleep some sneaky goblins who made a really good stealth roll (they don't know what you rolled) snuck in to camp and rummaged through their bags. Randomly roll to see what the goblins took, including food, and the campers discover the theft in the morning.
"Orcs are savage raiders and pillagers with stooped postures, low foreheads, and piggish faces with prominent lower canines that resemble tusks." MM p245 (original printing)
You don't OWN your books on DDB: WotC can change them any time. What do you think will happen when OneD&D comes out?
Side note.
You never explained why this a problem. What are you trying to accomplish with the festival?
Is this festival supposed to be a combat heavy encounter?
If it is, then size the encounters to fit the reduced party. They will quickly realize they need to be together and do so.
If it's not supposed to be combat heavy, let the party split up. Let them explore the town and have each sub-group take their own RPG scenes. Go back and forth and keep them as short vignettes so no one gets left out.
From and RPG stand point it's generally pretty good if the party feels they can split up, accomplish different thing, and then tell each other about them. It means your group gets along well and people feel comfortable not being in every scene all the time.
As yourself "how does this improve the game?"
The group camping outside. Maybe have a raccoon get into their camping trash, or eat a ration, if you want to give character. It adds color and flavor to the world, without necessarily attacking HP.
How does a bear attack sleeping party members help the game?
I'd say you can put a snake in 1 person's sleeping bag, but it's actually a pretty boring encounter. The correct thing is for someone else to open the bag a bit and then you don't move. Eventually the snake moves away as the day warms up. Idiots attack it, but I assume most PCs are "city boys" and don't know how to handle this stuff.
There's a saying: It's not paranoia if they really are out to get you.
Some really good points I've seen in here reflect my though process on random encounters.
First: Why? Why would animals attack? Why would kobolds, goblins, owlbears, etc attack? Why would they be so near the town? Why are the players so far from town that they're camping in such a dangerous location?
Second: What are you trying to accomplish with this combat? What are the players going to learn? What impact does this have on the story?
Third: How does this bring them together? How does this further the story? How does this solve the "I'm a loner" trope that seems to permeate the game?
----
Your problem is not them camping outside and possibly getting into a meaningless random encounter, the problem is the approach the players have taken to their characters' interactions, or lack there of. You missed your chance to create an inciting incident with them at the festival, move on to plan B. The player on the east side of town has something that happens that brings him to the festival, like a random hunter leaving for the day's work. The player on the west side of town hears some shady folks talking about something that's going to happen during the festival, good reason for him to show up. The other two simply get swept up in the crowd and find their way to the festival. From there you simply use your plot hook you wanted to originally wanted.
You know hat would be an interesting inversion of expectations?
The camping players end up having a totally normal, event-free night of camping. Meanwhile, the players in the inn discover their beds are mimics...
Ongoing Projects: The Mimic Book of Mimics :: SHARK WEEK
Completed Projects: The Trick-or-Treat Table
My Homebrews: Races :: Classes :: Spells :: Items :: Monsters
Twist: The camping players are replaced by dopplegangers.
"Orcs are savage raiders and pillagers with stooped postures, low foreheads, and piggish faces with prominent lower canines that resemble tusks." MM p245 (original printing)
You don't OWN your books on DDB: WotC can change them any time. What do you think will happen when OneD&D comes out?
Not with all the world; with the Underworld, in the Cambellian monomyth sense.
Part of adventure is the characters leaving their ordinary, known world and venturing into a strange, unknown world and dealing with its dangers.
Watches are needed any time you are in the underworld because it is, by definition, full of unknown dangers.
For D&D adventurers, the underworld is often a literal underworld, as in dungeons, but might also just be the outdoors for a city character.
Now in the case of PCs camping outside town, I wouldn't rule that is classed as underworld unless the PCs are all complete townies.
The thing is, just because the wildlife may leave the party alone, the domestic life might not.
The setting is during a festival which will potentially attract some criminal persons which might decide to some ungood to sleeping folks that are camped outside.
"Sooner or later, your Players are going to smash your railroad into a sandbox."
-Vedexent
"real life is a super high CR."
-OboeLauren
"............anybody got any potatoes? We could drop a potato in each hole an' see which ones get viciously mauled by horrible monsters?"
-Ilyara Thundertale
When I run a game I just make a guideline. Nothing is ever really set in stone other then my endgame Idea. You just have to figure out how to get everyone there. Now I do understand your issue and yes this can be a real pain especially if this is a sit down group. At home, a hobby shop, discord, or whatever the case may be. Now this is much more easy if this is being done in a play by post game. At least if you can make separate channels for each group. This can actually work out well. However with a sit down group this can be an issue. But as I was saying you just need to come up with a reason to get them back together. Now if for some reason one group or player just simply do whatever it takes to not work/group with the other players then there is another problem. I had this happen with one player. Not going to get to into it but he was constantly trying to push the group in another direction. It got old real fast. Just come up with something creative and if you feel there is purposeful resistance... well, than drop/replace them.