trip adventure ideas

[steph]

Hello guys 

 

I am the gm of a fantasy game and the players have to live a village for a 250 km trip to get a heritage. It not a commercial road it a kind of long lost road. Maybe i need little input or ideas of events who can happen in that trip.

 

TY in advance

 

Steph

[bigbywolfe]

What is the environment like? Temperate to mountain? What season(s) are they travelling in? Are there monsters in this world? Any unique animals that could be a threat? Are there settlrments or long lost secluded villages along this long lost road? Some basic information about the setting will help us be able to make suggestions that aren't completely generic.

[steph]

sorry 

 

Temperate Mountain exactly. Fall early winter, Monsters yeah ( mountains trolls and barbarian tribe)…….. No civilization knows 

 

The characters got horses.  

[Old Man]

You could have an entire subplot around the players getting involved in the conflict between the trolls and the evil barbarians.  Or weather could set in and they could get lost or freeze to death (or both).  Or they could meet someone interesting on the way that decides to join the group for a while.

 

It would be nice to foreshadow whatever is going to happen with the heritage.  Maybe the trolls have some important information about it, or the players could find an important clue.

[bluesguy]

Some off the top of my head ideas:

 

• Early season snowstorm that traps them in a really bad location.  How do they survive?  Do they have survival skills?  What happens if the animals that are carrying their gear run off for some reason?  Bright shinny armor and weapons won't help you much.... Evil GM laugh
• Days of horrible rain and then one evening they see a cabin with light coming from it in the woods.  Maybe it is occupied by someone "friendly" but mischievous...  And maybe they are really lonely so that once you enter the cabin and sleep there you really don't want to leave.... Then the person(s) who is keeping the cabin can just talk their ears off... It should drive the players nuts but they just don't feel like leaving or harming the person(s) keeping the cabin.  I might even record some really annoying/boring small talk from people you know and then play it in the background - fingernails on the walk kind of thing :-).
• It is cliche but a Troll Bridge and the trolls are intelligent enough that they don't really want a fight - but a perfectly capable of putting serious harm on the PC - they just want to be paid for doing such a great job maintaining "their" bridge
• Traveling merchants who are looking for some company (if it makes sense) - protection

I like to have some adventures where the players can't solve the problem with combat.

[steph]

cool ideas !

-The points of the trip is the heritage and they have to go now because the heritage are living things. (Dire animals)

- The trolls are very rare in the region but very dangerous ( the mountain trolls have a very basic language not very intelligent  ). The trolls gonna be the encounters or the  fight of the game.

- The legend tale of a gnome sorcerer who protect the  (Dire animals heritage) but the characters cannot be sure of that so they decide to make the trip heaven if the cold       was coming 

- The Barbarians are separate in 4 principals tribes. All of then are under the control of evil shaman

- The  place who are the animals is a mythic secret place. The road is a ancient road to a ancient lordship abandoned by they lords 300 years ago because of the trolls

- Nobody in the party have great skills in knowledge , legend or story or any kind most of all are great fighter and rogue

- The gnome are real and with is magic he really protect and educating mystic animals for a secret entity (close to the character )

 

 

TY guys for the time and sorry for my bad english not my first language

 

steph

[NuSoardGraphite]

Determine how far the characters can travel per day.  They have horses, so 30km in a day isn't out of the question.  Horses can travel at a nice brisk pace, but have to stop frequently for water and rest.

 

If you decide the snows come in (and in a mountainous region in early winter, they should) then that can easily be cut in half.  If a snow storm comes in, that distance can be cut down to a crawl (maybe a few km at best) with the possibility for exposure damage.

 

What kind of characters do you have in the party?  Make sure you design scenarios that will test each one of the characters capabilities.  Battles for the fighters.  Magical threats for the mages.  Environmental problems for the rangers.  Traps and locked doors for the rogue.  etc.

 

You could have random encounters on a daily basis, but I wouldn't have them go into combat every single day of the trip.  That's rather unrealistic.  However, it is realistic for them to encounter an obstacle every day of the trip,this can include combat with potential enemies (allow them a chance to hide or sneak around most of these encounters, perhaps encountering hunting or raiding parties of the aforementioned barbarians) environmental problems (snow, ice, sheer cliff faces, poison plants, impassable thickets etc) character issues (lame horse, character comes down sick due to cold weather, loss of equipment etc)

[Lawnmower Boy]

-Swept away by a sudden flood while trying to cross a ford, the PCs must deal with a water spirit's enigmatic challenge and gain a magic item if they succeed.

-Gathering fodder for their horses, the PCs run into a invasive range weed with a mind, and a malice, of its own.

- One of the evil shamans visits their bivouac late at night in his skinchanged form (owl, raccoon, coyote...) with sinister intent.

-Trapped by a snowstorm, the PCs find an ancient tunnel that might bypass the heights, but with a locked door, etc, etc. 

-More locks, more snow: the PCs take refuge in an ancient stone barn. But when they try to leave, the door slams shut and locks them in. The ghosts are lonely....

--A majestic animal (I'm defaulting to a mastodon) is found, in deep distress. Perhaps it is mired, or down a ravine. If the PCs rescue it, they gain a powerful ally. If the kill it for XPs, well, at least it's dinner

--The PCs lose their way, and must pick their way back to the road through a tangled and overgrown forest. But when one character gets down on hands and knees, they realise that their are runs through the brambles --just before a mighty boar tries to disembowel one from below. 

[steph]

Thank you guys, I was very busy this week and your ideas have made ​​sure that I still did my game of fantasy hero this sunday.

 

Steph

[bluesguy]

Glad to help out.

[Christopher]

Some points:

- Do any of them have Wilderness experience (a Ranger or Driud)? If not, they will need a Guide. Guides tend to get abducted at the worst times. The same applies for horses.*

- If they do not have any wildernes skills (they sound more like a Urban group), problems that deal with the Wilderness are not good obstacles. They will be annoying Real Life knowledge Obstacles at best, unsolveable at worst. As was said before, the chalenge must be made for the group. On the other hand, no part must hinge on the Characters making a single roll.

- The environment can make all fights a little harder. Animals tend to have better adaption for thier hunting areas then the Heroes. Even just being smaler can help move around. Rules for limited sightline and use of long weapons in limited spaces can be used. As well as fighting in the dark.

- The barbarians offer opportunities for Diplomatic encounters. Something between "just trying to get through" and "last man standing", depending on how the characters go at it.

- If the area was once civilised, there might be a ruin or two. Each of them could be choke full of undead or the lair of some evil NPC.

 

 

*Remmember that part in the Hobbit, where they have to deal with Troll because they stole the horses? Important NPC getting abducted can get you into the wierdest situations...

[steph]

one of the character was a Ranger and a good one