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Post by sparkusclark on Dec 6, 2015 2:30:02 GMT
Currently running my second game ever (first for 5e since 3.5 back in college) and my group's started out with 'The Lost Mines of Phandelver' campaign.
Currently one of the party, the bard, has made a deal with Halia Thornton, Zhentarim operative, to help her take over the Redbrand Ruffians' extortion operation. The game suggests that her operation is looking to get a foothold in the small frontier town of Phandalin.
The thing is, the campaign manual gives little indication of how she plans to do this, and anything I look up about the group gives the history, but nothing really gets into the meat of their operation.
Best I can come up with is that she'd want his help to put one of their own (possibly him) in a position of power (say, a new Townmaster) or bribe/threaten the current one to work for them. But I'm not really sure of the long term goal or what their plan would be to do with the control/power once they got it.
Any ideas or suggestions?
-Sparkus
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Post by joatmoniac on Dec 6, 2015 8:05:36 GMT
I think that she would want to better legitimize the group of ruffians there now under a different name. Given that the current towns master is already under the thumb of the Redbrands he seems like the perfect candidate to leave there. They could be presented as a guard, but take more of the lawful evil stance. They rule with an iron fist, but rule with and follow a certain set of guidelines. That and being in charge of a group of mercenaries would likely be more fun for the player, and more fun for you as the DM due to the role play and adventure hooks it could provide. Hope that is helpful.
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Post by frohtastic on Dec 10, 2015 17:06:35 GMT
Well firstly, you're gonna want to get ridd of the ones already in charge, then intimidate / persuade the rest, ala "We killed your boss easily, just think of how easily we can get ridd of you!"
Also once you got the foothold of the extortion operation (protection?) how about expanding the business, illegal trade, counterfeit, thievery?
Make it so that if anyone wants to operate, say a heist or a fight club, they will have to get permission from the player / her leader, ofc with a cut of the profits.
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Post by sparkusclark on Dec 15, 2015 17:19:29 GMT
Whelp, since then the party killed off the Ruffians, made a deal with a Nothic (much to the ire of a PC and an NPC), adopted one of the surviving Ruffians (an elf with one too many knocks to the head some time ago), and the bard has taken Halia's offer to join the Zhentarim.
Halia has started to move in on the Townmaster by giving him a sizable loan, and hopes to have the bard find out more about The Black Spider, the ally the Ruffians' former leader was getting orders and bugbears from. There's also a small subplot with the Townmaster trying to attract nobles to the area by selling off land deeds.
So it looks like extortion with a back up plan for brute force if an alliance can be made (probably not as Black Spider killed off the Rogue's informant/lover early in the game).
And thanks Joatmoniac and Frohtastic for the advice. I'd gotten out of a bad work situation when this came up so I was feeling panicky and nervous (sometimes I put too much pressure on myself to get the game 'right' on the first go).
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Samuel Wise
Demigod
Ready to Help...
Posts: 989
Favorite D&D Class: Warlock
Favorite D&D Race: Mousefolk
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Post by Samuel Wise on Dec 15, 2015 18:32:52 GMT
Whelp, since then the party killed off the Ruffians, made a deal with a Nothic (much to the ire of a PC and an NPC), adopted one of the surviving Ruffians (an elf with one too many knocks to the head some time ago) Haha! Great to hear how it went. Funny, but I just ran a one shot where the exact opposite happened. The players made a deal with a ruffian and adopted a surviving Nothic. Yep, it happened. Glad it went well! |
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Post by frohtastic on Dec 16, 2015 3:10:14 GMT
OOOoooh, the land deeds one can splendidly align for the PC's to get their own little fortress.
ESPECIALLY if they demand percentage rights to the mines of phandelver.
What did they do with the dragon in that zombie town?
I know theres a link in the DM resource about how much it would cost to build houses and such.
Edit:
I've been having slightly bad workdays and not enough dnd lately so knowing I was able to help really lifted my spirits  |
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Post by sparkusclark on Dec 16, 2015 6:21:58 GMT
OOOoooh, the land deeds one can splendidly align for the PC's to get their own little fortress.
ESPECIALLY if they demand percentage rights to the mines of phandelver.
What did they do with the dragon in that zombie town?
I know theres a link in the DM resource about how much it would cost to build houses and such. Yes, the bard saw the underground area and immediately started scheming (he's been playing AD&D since the '70's and we just got him into 5th after a seven year hiatus), but because I want them to work for it, many of the deeds are currently being taken care of by the paladin, a half-orc noble knight who was asked by a friend of he family's to find out why they hadn't arrived (Klarg and his band had stolen them along with other caravan supplies). Said paladin has yet to be included in these grand plans as she's actively trying to help out around the town/bang anyone she meets (hello noble flaws random roll!) To wit, they just wiped out the Ruffians and have spent several sessions RP'ing around town (to the frustration of the bloodlusting ranger) and should be ready to head out into the wilds to run side quests and search for Cragmaw Castle. I too am curious to see how they handle the dragon and the ash zombies. Since the paladin is itching to go behind everyone's back and destroy the obvious evil that is the Nothic, I had the NPC druid mention that his former teacher (currently living in Thundertree) might help. So we'll end up there eventually, I hope. The DMG does have stuff about building and maintaining a place. The old Tresendar place is called a manor but described as being built like a small castle, so I'm thinking of qualifying it as a keep sans outer walls...unless they build those. Either way, at just reaching level 3 they have nowhere near the level of income available to buy the deed, rebuild or even staff the manor (yes,yes, cheaper ways could include forging the deed, getting favors from the Zhentarim and bullying bandits into working for them, but we'll see what I have to do to make them work for even THAT much).  |
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Post by sparkusclark on Dec 16, 2015 6:31:01 GMT
Edit:
I've been having slightly bad workdays and not enough dnd lately so knowing I was able to help really lifted my spirits Hey guy that's really cool to hear. Glad to hear there was some cheer in your day. And feel free to stick around! While my last ppost may sound like I've got it in hand, I have no doubt this crew will send me scrambling again soon. Also, when I was going through a rough patch last month I found ' Critical Role.' Just listening to that group's adventures got me through low points and anxiety attacks. I strongly suggest checking them out on youtube as they are not only a great group of friends, but are running a campaign they've spent the last two years on. Best thing is that the campaign has no over-arcing plot, so most adventures are either character-based, ally-based, or consequences from their shenanigans. |
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Post by sparkusclark on Dec 16, 2015 6:33:14 GMT
Whelp, since then the party killed off the Ruffians, made a deal with a Nothic (much to the ire of a PC and an NPC), adopted one of the surviving Ruffians (an elf with one too many knocks to the head some time ago) Haha! Great to hear how it went. Funny, but I just ran a one shot where the exact opposite happened. The players made a deal with a ruffian and adopted a surviving Nothic. Yep, it happened. Glad it went well! How the hell do you adopt that creepy bastard??* *don't get me wrong, I've been having fun tormenting the paladin with such secrets like her real name and such. |
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Post by frohtastic on Dec 16, 2015 9:02:37 GMT
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