Hello, I am a new DM planning on starting my campaign in about a week. I have the basics of the main story planned up to the first "main story" dungeon. I have decided that the dunfeon is a former military fort that the PCs are raiding for information about the man who has recently assasinated the king. I can not decide whether I want the fort to have been taken over by a clan of bandits, looking to use it as a stronghold, or a village of goblins who want a more secure space to live. This is intended for a low level party, from 2 to 4 depending on how many sidequests they do. Any advice?
If you are up for the complexity, why not both situations?
The village of goblins has taken over the former military base, but the bandits want it
Bandits have control of the base, but goblins are sending out smaller sabotage and capture squads to eventually drive out the bandits without direct confrontation
The dungeon is big enough to have both groups in the fort at the same time, and it is now a turf war
The way that I've done is to make sure both groups have clear motivations (instead of assuming they always want to kill the PC's). When you define motivations, it makes your story adaptable, and allows unconventional methods of success.
E.g. Let's take situation 2 above. Bandits like having a strong hold, but they are not going to defend it to the death (which is pretty rational). The Goblins want an outpost, but they have other priorities, so they only send out small forces that mainly do hit and run tactics. This allows a few possible plans for the players:
Convince the bandits the goblins are a huge threat, and they leave
Help Goblins drive out bandits
Help Bandits in exchange for getting the information they want
Help Goblins infiltrate the fort to get the info they need
If this overwhelms your players (e.g. they see a vague situation and seem to just not know what to do), then have an NPC simply suggest a few options, like a traveler who is observing the conflict, and has no part in it.
as a DM i also have several good ideas and cant choose which one to do until the very moment. here is what i would do
goblins or Bandits: would it make a difference story wise ----> NO : does not matter choose what ever you prefer Yes: how does it matter? how would it effect the continuation of the story.
is there a horde of goblins en route to claim there stolen lands? is it a rogue captian who abandoned his post in the military for greed or cowardice. in Those cases choose what ever would fit in the general scheme of your story idea.
My 2 cents: Build them both and have one in your pocket for later use. I have found that having a random encounter ready to go has helped immensely given that the players will GUARANTEED take a plot line/story hook in a different direction than expected.
Hello Kellen, as a recent new DM myself I understand your mind struggle!
If you like both ideas, why not try to use both?
The players could believe that the fort has been occupied by a bandit occupation, they can gear up for such an occasion and set their own expectations as they head to the fort. Upon arrival at the fort the gates are unmanned and once inside the courtyard is littered in human remains. Upon further inspection, the fort has now been overrun by goblins who have removed the bandit occupation and are capturing or killing anyone who sets foot inside.
The man with the information about the king could be captured by the goblins?
Hope you this helps you decide! Happy DM’ing.
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I carry two swords. One of silver for creatures that roam the wild. One of steel for humans in their cities of stone. Both are for monsters.
I am making the assumption that since you are new DM (Welcome BTW!) your players are likewise new to role-playing games. If that is the case, playing up the fantastic portions of the world is key, as such Bandits are out. Next, Goblins by game conceit are evil little things so caring about their inherent "humanity" isn't automatically an issue you have to deal with. AKA...the players can kill them without remorse.
Next, Goblins, like Kobolds can be cunning and lay down elaborate traps in their lairs to hurt the party as they intrude on the Fort. But, they are also kinda cowardly so PCs can Intimidate the heck out of them if needed. But, like Sand-people they will soon be back and in greater numbers.
Hello, I am a new DM planning on starting my campaign in about a week. I have the basics of the main story planned up to the first "main story" dungeon. I have decided that the dunfeon is a former military fort that the PCs are raiding for information about the man who has recently assasinated the king. I can not decide whether I want the fort to have been taken over by a clan of bandits, looking to use it as a stronghold, or a village of goblins who want a more secure space to live. This is intended for a low level party, from 2 to 4 depending on how many sidequests they do. Any advice?
If you are up for the complexity, why not both situations?
The way that I've done is to make sure both groups have clear motivations (instead of assuming they always want to kill the PC's). When you define motivations, it makes your story adaptable, and allows unconventional methods of success.
E.g. Let's take situation 2 above. Bandits like having a strong hold, but they are not going to defend it to the death (which is pretty rational). The Goblins want an outpost, but they have other priorities, so they only send out small forces that mainly do hit and run tactics. This allows a few possible plans for the players:
If this overwhelms your players (e.g. they see a vague situation and seem to just not know what to do), then have an NPC simply suggest a few options, like a traveler who is observing the conflict, and has no part in it.
Hello Kellen.
as a DM i also have several good ideas and cant choose which one to do until the very moment. here is what i would do
goblins or Bandits: would it make a difference story wise ----> NO : does not matter choose what ever you prefer
Yes: how does it matter? how would it effect the continuation of the story.
is there a horde of goblins en route to claim there stolen lands?
is it a rogue captian who abandoned his post in the military for greed or cowardice.
in Those cases choose what ever would fit in the general scheme of your story idea.
My 2 cents: Build them both and have one in your pocket for later use. I have found that having a random encounter ready to go has helped immensely given that the players will GUARANTEED take a plot line/story hook in a different direction than expected.
Hello Kellen, as a recent new DM myself I understand your mind struggle!
If you like both ideas, why not try to use both?
The players could believe that the fort has been occupied by a bandit occupation, they can gear up for such an occasion and set their own expectations as they head to the fort. Upon arrival at the fort the gates are unmanned and once inside the courtyard is littered in human remains. Upon further inspection, the fort has now been overrun by goblins who have removed the bandit occupation and are capturing or killing anyone who sets foot inside.
The man with the information about the king could be captured by the goblins?
Hope you this helps you decide! Happy DM’ing.
I carry two swords. One of silver for creatures that roam the wild. One of steel for humans in their cities of stone. Both are for monsters.
I voted Goblins.
I am making the assumption that since you are new DM (Welcome BTW!) your players are likewise new to role-playing games. If that is the case, playing up the fantastic portions of the world is key, as such Bandits are out. Next, Goblins by game conceit are evil little things so caring about their inherent "humanity" isn't automatically an issue you have to deal with. AKA...the players can kill them without remorse.
Next, Goblins, like Kobolds can be cunning and lay down elaborate traps in their lairs to hurt the party as they intrude on the Fort. But, they are also kinda cowardly so PCs can Intimidate the heck out of them if needed. But, like Sand-people they will soon be back and in greater numbers.
The bandits assassinated the king but are trying to frame the goblins.
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