Thursday, November 28, 2013

Villages in the Wilderness

The Eradu campaign is going to be less about the cosmos spanning apocalyptic madness and dimension shifting endless brainfuck than the current game.  The world has moved on and is pretty much dying off (Vance) - humans almost exclusively live in great cities, those in the villages and small settlements in the wilderness are probably crazy somehow.  Here are some thoughts.


Roads

Rumors in the west that the Imperial Highway still exists is probably bunk.  In the northlands of Aldsburg the road to Volkem is little more than a muddy track that fades in and out and the wilderness reclaims the land.  Getting to New Hope via road is near impossible - between floods and the malicious Grubwood a guide is your best bet - and that is a shabby one at best.

A few game tracks exist here and there and sometimes a path between friendly villages (or from the village to the road) exist, but those are suspect at best and temporary at best.  The elders have some nonsense story about how once the Vendgarr was opened the wilderness began to grow faster than in the old days.  Apparently there used to be roads everywhere.

Road Encounters
1) some remnant stones, no sense of direction
2) game trail
3) walking path
4) cart path
5) stretch of road, crossways (1d10p miles)
6) stretch of road, pathways (1d10p miles)

Why travel on a road?  When travelling on a road a party won't get lost and, more importantly, it can be used as a future landmark.  Paths are less reliable and often tend to meander and cross with other paths and game trails.  Getting lost on paths is less likely, but who knows where they lead (strange wells, weird temples, or one of the freaky rural villages.


Villages

When a party first comes upon a previously unknown village, roll to see what the hell is up with this place.  The dangerous stuff is usually the most interesting, but the friendly and welcoming villages will likely cause the players to be the most suspicious.

1) Friendly and welcoming
2) Boring and small and dull
3) Wary of outsiders, but nothing strange
4) Wary of outsiders because of something strange
5) Hostile and probably dangerous
6) Friendly but really dangerous (probably a wicked cult)


Villages don't have much in the way of adventuring goods (like weapons) because they are just off in the middle of nowhere.  Any gear they have is most likely used by the locals to protect against raging bandits, demon bears, or whatever nearby humanoid tribe thinks the village property actually belongs to them.  Cut weapons, armor, and other adventuring supply availability to 25% of the city availability and double the cost.  Supplies availability are reduced to 50% and the price is increased by half.  Everything else, well, the GM will have to wing it.

Village Oddities
1) Weird morality laws
2) Incredibly strict religious rules
3) Leadership is incomprehensible
4) Odd social customs or clothing choices
5) They are nocturnal (10% this is a Devil Town of Vampires)
6) Reverence or Fear (50/50 on that one) of a Strange Well in the middle of town

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