This is a level one party of six to eight players. They met the Governor and accepted his offer to join the level 2 cleric to the lumber mill north west of this town so they may meet the level 5 ranger up there. They were told the ranger can tell them about the Druids.
The party meets up with the Level 2 Cleric, Litmar, (ill fitting chain mail shirt, under a well made yellow tunic with red edge, well made leather breaches, leather breaches, leather boots, belt and small pouch, an unusual cloth hat & carrying a quarter staff) to journey to see Flint the Level 5 Ranger to the north west. He (Litmar) has a loaded two wheel cart pulled by a mule named Argon. The cart contains a large cask of beer, 3 bottles of wine, 1 water skin, 3 bags of flour, a bag of vegetables and some apples, 2 large blocks of wood, normal provisions for Litmar, a message case and Litmar's mace. He is waiting for the party near a shrine outside the temple and talking with another cleric and some townsfolk. Soldiers are taking horses to the stream to drink as part of their morning routine. Townsfolk are out fetching water, and later in the morning opening shops or doing some early shopping. Some men are leaving town carrying an axe, or a shovel or a pitchfork in twos and threes. The party is free to buy/rent their own cart, rent a draft horse or mule, rent riding horses or whatever before they leave if they wish. Litmar will be walking by his cart leading the mule down the road so they can't speed up the journey unless they abandon him.
On the road to see Flint, the party will be confronted by a band of bandits (level 0 men-at-arms), one less than the party size, so the party with Litmar will have two more bodies. Litmar will immediately grab his mace and move between the bandits and the cart. The party … ? Before the bandits speak, Litmar says, "Be gone! you parasites, or my party shall give you what you deserve." The bandit leader grins and yells, "Of course. We've come to get what we deserve FROM YOU. Now let's have a look in that cart." The bandits spread out in a line abreast. The party is allowed to prepare and make a comment to Litmar or the bandits. If the party does nothing threatening, two members of the bandits will circle around to see what is in the cart. If the party does not start anything but acts belligerent, the bandits attack with initiative. If the party attacks, roll for initiative.
If there is any combat, the bandits withdraw and run away if it appears they are going to get the worst of it. The bandits don't usually attack with odds this even but they were motivated by the potential loot in the cart. It was worth some risk, but not their lives. If a bandit is killed, his armor and clothing are worthless. He will have a leather belt worth ( ??), a small pouch worth ( ??), 3 sp. & 10 cp. His weapons are worth keeping/selling. If he has any symbols on his person they are something he stole and not something related to the bandits. For example, a pouch may bear the symbol of the Mason's guild in town. If Litmar is asked about any symbols and they are not symbols found "in town" he will say he doesn't recognize the symbol, otherwise he will tell them where in town he has seen that symbol before. Likewise, a successful perception check will tell the player they saw that symbol in town or, if they had a dialogue with that NPC, where in town they saw that symbol, if it is in fact a symbol found in the town. Otherwise the party does not recognize the symbol.
The party must decide what to do about the bandits; pursue, report the bandits, keep it to themselves or forget about it. Litmar will not abandon the cart so he will not join a pursuit. He will urge the party to continue their journey to the lumber mill. The party must likewise decide what they wish to do with any bodies. Litmar intends to pick them up on the return trip that afternoon to take them to the town to be buried.
The bits in italics are information to be shared if the party studies the situation. Some bits require a perception check as appropriate.
Any comments to help make this a better encounter? Thanks.
Given the even odds and the bandits distaste for an even fight, it would be more likely they would ambush the party if they were going to attack at all. A tree blocking the road is an old trope, but may work. They could divert a waterway and make the road a bog to try to mire a cart. That could make for some interesting (slippery) terrain.
It depends what you want out of the combat. Just something to break up the tedium of travel? Or is it building into your story. If so, how. Do you want recurring villians? Who might want the party dead? The Cleric? The Governor? If you want this to go further, I'd need more info about the campaign and backstory.
The intent is to have the party encounter bandits within the District the Magistrate rules. This helps build the background that this is a frontier District and not perfectly domesticated. There is nothing deeper going on story wise than that, but I don't have a problem with all the emphasis on "Symbols" for the party to think anything they want about it and wonder if it has deeper significance. At this point, this new party of new D&D players, should be on their second fight of any consequence, and there is a possibility this will be their first actual fight because the bandits from earlier are more likely to run off.
The destination, a logging hamlet with a lumber mill, is on the true frontier. At the hamlet they will meet Flint, the Ranger, that guards this part of the frontier from Orcs. They will have the opportunity for two orc fights while visiting with Flint. The first will be Flints ambush of a two orc scouting party and the second will be a deliberate attack of a twenty orc encampment. While visiting with Flint they will get an earful of orc lore, a few lessons on making arrows and lessons on living outdoors. They will also get a good look at what a Ranger can do. I don't expect any of the party members to be Rangers but if one is then he has found a mentor.
The cleric's trip to the hamlet is a routine visit he makes three times or more each week. When the clerics travel from the Town to one of the hamlets they bring supplies and mail. They return with supplies, empty containers and mail. They make the trip to look in on the wellbeing of the villagers and to help with healing and supplies. A village on the other side of the District has a grinding mill. Rather than have villagers travel to the other side of the District, a distance of one day each way, the clerics drop off bags of flour when they come. The two wooden blocks and the apples are special delivery for Flint. He loves apples. The blocks are three feet long clear straight grained ash. He makes his own arrows from the ash and uses the sawmill to cut the blocks down to "shingles" first before splitting off the arrows and whittling them into round shafts. He pulls the flint for arrowheads from the stream and he has a bag of feathers for the fletching. Making arrows is one way he passes the time while he is scouting or spying.
While visiting Flint he will tell them about a nearby Druidic group. The story line has the party going to meet the Druids after they have met Flint. Flint likes the Druids but has a problem with them because they think the wilderness is all about the trees while Flint thinks it is all about the animals.
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This is a level one party of six to eight players. They met the Governor and accepted his offer to join the level 2 cleric to the lumber mill north west of this town so they may meet the level 5 ranger up there. They were told the ranger can tell them about the Druids.
The party meets up with the Level 2 Cleric, Litmar, (ill fitting chain mail shirt, under a well made yellow tunic with red edge, well made leather breaches, leather breaches, leather boots, belt and small pouch, an unusual cloth hat & carrying a quarter staff) to journey to see Flint the Level 5 Ranger to the north west. He (Litmar) has a loaded two wheel cart pulled by a mule named Argon. The cart contains a large cask of beer, 3 bottles of wine, 1 water skin, 3 bags of flour, a bag of vegetables and some apples, 2 large blocks of wood, normal provisions for Litmar, a message case and Litmar's mace. He is waiting for the party near a shrine outside the temple and talking with another cleric and some townsfolk. Soldiers are taking horses to the stream to drink as part of their morning routine. Townsfolk are out fetching water, and later in the morning opening shops or doing some early shopping. Some men are leaving town carrying an axe, or a shovel or a pitchfork in twos and threes. The party is free to buy/rent their own cart, rent a draft horse or mule, rent riding horses or whatever before they leave if they wish. Litmar will be walking by his cart leading the mule down the road so they can't speed up the journey unless they abandon him.
On the road to see Flint, the party will be confronted by a band of bandits (level 0 men-at-arms), one less than the party size, so the party with Litmar will have two more bodies. Litmar will immediately grab his mace and move between the bandits and the cart. The party … ? Before the bandits speak, Litmar says, "Be gone! you parasites, or my party shall give you what you deserve." The bandit leader grins and yells, "Of course. We've come to get what we deserve FROM YOU. Now let's have a look in that cart." The bandits spread out in a line abreast. The party is allowed to prepare and make a comment to Litmar or the bandits. If the party does nothing threatening, two members of the bandits will circle around to see what is in the cart. If the party does not start anything but acts belligerent, the bandits attack with initiative. If the party attacks, roll for initiative.
If there is any combat, the bandits withdraw and run away if it appears they are going to get the worst of it. The bandits don't usually attack with odds this even but they were motivated by the potential loot in the cart. It was worth some risk, but not their lives. If a bandit is killed, his armor and clothing are worthless. He will have a leather belt worth ( ??), a small pouch worth ( ??), 3 sp. & 10 cp. His weapons are worth keeping/selling. If he has any symbols on his person they are something he stole and not something related to the bandits. For example, a pouch may bear the symbol of the Mason's guild in town. If Litmar is asked about any symbols and they are not symbols found "in town" he will say he doesn't recognize the symbol, otherwise he will tell them where in town he has seen that symbol before. Likewise, a successful perception check will tell the player they saw that symbol in town or, if they had a dialogue with that NPC, where in town they saw that symbol, if it is in fact a symbol found in the town. Otherwise the party does not recognize the symbol.
The party must decide what to do about the bandits; pursue, report the bandits, keep it to themselves or forget about it. Litmar will not abandon the cart so he will not join a pursuit. He will urge the party to continue their journey to the lumber mill. The party must likewise decide what they wish to do with any bodies. Litmar intends to pick them up on the return trip that afternoon to take them to the town to be buried.
The bits in italics are information to be shared if the party studies the situation. Some bits require a perception check as appropriate.
Any comments to help make this a better encounter? Thanks.
Given the even odds and the bandits distaste for an even fight, it would be more likely they would ambush the party if they were going to attack at all. A tree blocking the road is an old trope, but may work. They could divert a waterway and make the road a bog to try to mire a cart. That could make for some interesting (slippery) terrain.
It depends what you want out of the combat. Just something to break up the tedium of travel? Or is it building into your story. If so, how. Do you want recurring villians? Who might want the party dead? The Cleric? The Governor? If you want this to go further, I'd need more info about the campaign and backstory.
The intent is to have the party encounter bandits within the District the Magistrate rules. This helps build the background that this is a frontier District and not perfectly domesticated. There is nothing deeper going on story wise than that, but I don't have a problem with all the emphasis on "Symbols" for the party to think anything they want about it and wonder if it has deeper significance. At this point, this new party of new D&D players, should be on their second fight of any consequence, and there is a possibility this will be their first actual fight because the bandits from earlier are more likely to run off.
The destination, a logging hamlet with a lumber mill, is on the true frontier. At the hamlet they will meet Flint, the Ranger, that guards this part of the frontier from Orcs. They will have the opportunity for two orc fights while visiting with Flint. The first will be Flints ambush of a two orc scouting party and the second will be a deliberate attack of a twenty orc encampment. While visiting with Flint they will get an earful of orc lore, a few lessons on making arrows and lessons on living outdoors. They will also get a good look at what a Ranger can do. I don't expect any of the party members to be Rangers but if one is then he has found a mentor.
The cleric's trip to the hamlet is a routine visit he makes three times or more each week. When the clerics travel from the Town to one of the hamlets they bring supplies and mail. They return with supplies, empty containers and mail. They make the trip to look in on the wellbeing of the villagers and to help with healing and supplies. A village on the other side of the District has a grinding mill. Rather than have villagers travel to the other side of the District, a distance of one day each way, the clerics drop off bags of flour when they come. The two wooden blocks and the apples are special delivery for Flint. He loves apples. The blocks are three feet long clear straight grained ash. He makes his own arrows from the ash and uses the sawmill to cut the blocks down to "shingles" first before splitting off the arrows and whittling them into round shafts. He pulls the flint for arrowheads from the stream and he has a bag of feathers for the fletching. Making arrows is one way he passes the time while he is scouting or spying.
While visiting Flint he will tell them about a nearby Druidic group. The story line has the party going to meet the Druids after they have met Flint. Flint likes the Druids but has a problem with them because they think the wilderness is all about the trees while Flint thinks it is all about the animals.