I'm going to be DMing a game with some kids and one of them came up with a great idea of playing Bounty Hunters. This lets us have stand alone, one session adventures to keep their focus and it's fun for them since it can be different every day - rather than a mult-session longer adventure. Plus it allows for players to come and go since the kids won't always be the same kids in every session.
I'm looking to run this in Forgotten Realms setting and I'm thinking either Waterdeep or Neverwinter, since they are good size cities that would have a bunch of Bounty Hunting type of work. However, I'm finding the lore behind Bounty Hunters, but I can't seem to figure out if there's a "Bounty Hunters Guild" or some form of official BH card carrying organization or if it's just individuals/nobles hiring strangers/adventurers to act as bounty hunters.
Is there any lore, guilds, BH "ranks", or laws behind Bounty Hunting? I know I could make most of it up, but I'd like to keep as much as possible as close to rule/campaign books as I can, so that if adventures comes out in future, it's easier for me to just plug-and-play the plot hooks and stories. Otherwise, any ideas on guild/hiring bounty hunters (or BH plot hooks for them) would be greatly appreciated.
Also, I was thinking something like having magical manacles that when they 'capture' the bad guys, they would teleport them directly to prison/city watch, so it's 'faster' than having to transport them back to town. If anyone has any homebrew ideas on that mechanic, let me know (I'm thinking the BH would have a seal/signet on manacles so when prisoners appear in jail, they'd know who to pay, etc.) Lastly, since these are kids (< 10), I was thinking of somehow gifting them special weapons (like sleep arrows, web arrows, etc.) to allow them to take the bad guy alive, handcuff him, etc.
This is a great idea. From everything that I have read there isn't anything on bounty hunters or the like. They leave a lot of that stuff out for you to customize and make it your own. I personally like the idea of adventuring guilds where adventurers can go to get quests. You could have them members of a guild that specialize in bounty hunting and those are the jobs that they take. It leaves it open for if they decide instead to start adventuring instead of just bounty hunting. Another way is that they are members of the town guard but are bounty hunters who sole purpose in the guard is to apprehend fugitives (that is what a bounty hunter does). I hope this helps. If you have any other questions feel free to ask.
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Remember this is a game and it's suppose to be fun for everybody. Let's all have fun and kill monsters.
My Tiefling Hexblade/Rogue is a criminal / assassin / bounty hunter... and we've played a bit in Neverwinter.
Best bet is having one of them be a Rogue, so you get the RP opportunities of Thieves Cant. We used the local beggar street kids to pass messages around. You could pick up contracts at a tavern, and have it be a known hangout for other bounty hunters in sort of an uneasy Guild. They could be challenging each other for the right to pick up the bounty... maybe physical or magical challenges? This might lead to more vengeance based bounties - one crimelord wanting to destroy another one.
Or, you could always visit the town guard HQ, and work with the more "legal" side of things. There's always tasks that the city guard isn't interested in handling themselves.
You could always have some organization in the FR have a hire board the PCs can check routinely for things. They could find things like notices looking for information on things that are actually coded messages that when the PCs go to the person doing the hiring they’re then given all the real info they need. Maybe the local soldiers are overwhelmed with something going on in the background that requires them to outsource some stuff. Then as the PCs gain a reputation they start getting hired directly by nobles and merchants who need their services.
That's basically what I did. In his first adventure, he rescued a kidnapped reporter for the Waterdeep News and she wrote a story about them saving her (and capturing 2 assassins) from the assassin guild which she was already investigating. After they went out hunting for a few days and came back to town, they were in the newspaper and "famous".
If you've got access to Sword Coast Adventurers Guide, they detail some information that will help but nothing particular unless you would be looking at specifically within the Lord's Alliance, the Harpers, etc. However, if you had a separate entity giving out the jobs, then each of the 5 factions could post jobs at that entity, along with the city watch, nobles, etc. The is an urban bounty hunter background as well as a faction agent. Additionally, you can always have the place merge with any official guild down the road if more detailed Lore comes out. Your guild could have developed enough renown throughout the land that it was discovered by the larger guild, or yours is the rival guild fighting for dominance.
Hey all,
I'm going to be DMing a game with some kids and one of them came up with a great idea of playing Bounty Hunters. This lets us have stand alone, one session adventures to keep their focus and it's fun for them since it can be different every day - rather than a mult-session longer adventure. Plus it allows for players to come and go since the kids won't always be the same kids in every session.
I'm looking to run this in Forgotten Realms setting and I'm thinking either Waterdeep or Neverwinter, since they are good size cities that would have a bunch of Bounty Hunting type of work. However, I'm finding the lore behind Bounty Hunters, but I can't seem to figure out if there's a "Bounty Hunters Guild" or some form of official BH card carrying organization or if it's just individuals/nobles hiring strangers/adventurers to act as bounty hunters.
Is there any lore, guilds, BH "ranks", or laws behind Bounty Hunting? I know I could make most of it up, but I'd like to keep as much as possible as close to rule/campaign books as I can, so that if adventures comes out in future, it's easier for me to just plug-and-play the plot hooks and stories. Otherwise, any ideas on guild/hiring bounty hunters (or BH plot hooks for them) would be greatly appreciated.
Also, I was thinking something like having magical manacles that when they 'capture' the bad guys, they would teleport them directly to prison/city watch, so it's 'faster' than having to transport them back to town. If anyone has any homebrew ideas on that mechanic, let me know (I'm thinking the BH would have a seal/signet on manacles so when prisoners appear in jail, they'd know who to pay, etc.) Lastly, since these are kids (< 10), I was thinking of somehow gifting them special weapons (like sleep arrows, web arrows, etc.) to allow them to take the bad guy alive, handcuff him, etc.
This is a great idea. From everything that I have read there isn't anything on bounty hunters or the like. They leave a lot of that stuff out for you to customize and make it your own. I personally like the idea of adventuring guilds where adventurers can go to get quests. You could have them members of a guild that specialize in bounty hunting and those are the jobs that they take. It leaves it open for if they decide instead to start adventuring instead of just bounty hunting. Another way is that they are members of the town guard but are bounty hunters who sole purpose in the guard is to apprehend fugitives (that is what a bounty hunter does). I hope this helps. If you have any other questions feel free to ask.
Remember this is a game and it's suppose to be fun for everybody. Let's all have fun and kill monsters.
My Tiefling Hexblade/Rogue is a criminal / assassin / bounty hunter... and we've played a bit in Neverwinter.
Best bet is having one of them be a Rogue, so you get the RP opportunities of Thieves Cant. We used the local beggar street kids to pass messages around. You could pick up contracts at a tavern, and have it be a known hangout for other bounty hunters in sort of an uneasy Guild. They could be challenging each other for the right to pick up the bounty... maybe physical or magical challenges? This might lead to more vengeance based bounties - one crimelord wanting to destroy another one.
Or, you could always visit the town guard HQ, and work with the more "legal" side of things. There's always tasks that the city guard isn't interested in handling themselves.
You could always have some organization in the FR have a hire board the PCs can check routinely for things. They could find things like notices looking for information on things that are actually coded messages that when the PCs go to the person doing the hiring they’re then given all the real info they need. Maybe the local soldiers are overwhelmed with something going on in the background that requires them to outsource some stuff. Then as the PCs gain a reputation they start getting hired directly by nobles and merchants who need their services.
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That's basically what I did. In his first adventure, he rescued a kidnapped reporter for the Waterdeep News and she wrote a story about them saving her (and capturing 2 assassins) from the assassin guild which she was already investigating. After they went out hunting for a few days and came back to town, they were in the newspaper and "famous".
If you've got access to Sword Coast Adventurers Guide, they detail some information that will help but nothing particular unless you would be looking at specifically within the Lord's Alliance, the Harpers, etc. However, if you had a separate entity giving out the jobs, then each of the 5 factions could post jobs at that entity, along with the city watch, nobles, etc. The is an urban bounty hunter background as well as a faction agent. Additionally, you can always have the place merge with any official guild down the road if more detailed Lore comes out. Your guild could have developed enough renown throughout the land that it was discovered by the larger guild, or yours is the rival guild fighting for dominance.