Hook Line and Sinker: Short Adventure Hooks Number 1 A Twist on the Iconic Bandit Attack

A Twist on the Iconic Bandit Attack

Outside of the Inn, there may not be another iconic start to any adventure than being hired as guards for a caravan. When you look at the nature of most fantasy role playing games this actually makes a lot of sense. Caravans offer several things. One, they offer a chance for the characters to meet. Two they offer a great way to move the characters from location to another. Third, they offer a great way to add a couple of encounters in to either spice things up a bit or increase the party's wealth and experience. For these reasons guarding a caravan makes for a very useful tool in an Game Master's arsenal.

The problem with the entire "You get hired to guard a caravan" adventure hook is a lot of Game Master's overlook a prime opportunity to introduce encounters that are beyond the rather blase attacks by bandits or bands of humanoids. Don't get me wrong here, there is nothing wrong with the tried and true bandit attack. They offer a fairly challenging fight, tend to yield a bit of treasure, and can be a great way to build party identity. However, after about the tenth attack from a band of bandits even the most slaughter happy party is going to want something a little different.


The goal of this article is to give GM's a little help in creating interesting encounters that go beyond the standard bandit attack. The following hooks are designed to be used for a fairly general fantasy campaign and should be easy to adjust and modify how the GM sees fit.

1: Bandits within the caravan.

This encounter offers a slight twist on the standard bandit attack encounter. The number and power of bandits within the caravan should be roughly equal to the party. The number of bandits that will attack at the designated area should not exceed the number of party members and any other friendly combatants the DM wishes to include within the caravan. The bandits within the caravan should be of similar race to the party, but the bandits in wait can be of any race.

Along with the characters a group of would be bandits has hired on for guard duty as well. The bandits intend to slowly take out any other guards. At this point the bandits plan to have another part of their band attack the caravan and kill off all the merchants in the caravan. Once this is accomplished they are free to take over the caravan. It is up to the party to not only learn about the plan, but to find a way to foil it as well.

Hook: The party has been hired as guards for a caravan heading out the next day. When they arrive the caravan master introduces them to the other guards. The other guards are unfriendly and rebuff any attempt a character makes to get to know them.

Line: The GM should use some kind of roll or suggestion to give the players a clue that the other guards may not be all they seem to be. If the party becomes suspicious then allow them to take any kind of action they think will yield them information. Actions that can potentially lead to the characters gaining information could be spying, rifling through possessions, or attempting to befriend the bandits.

If the party decides on spying the GM should set up a situation where a group of the bandits are together at one time (such as at night when they cook their evening meal). Allow the characters to make the appropriate stealth, listen, and perception rolls and reward any success with bits of information. Bits of information can be learning about the plan, when the bandits intend to execute their plan, and other similar things.

If the party decides to rifle through the bandits' possession they they will need to find a way to distract the guards or sneak past the guards. This would actually be an ideal time to give the party a standard bandit attack. While this occurs one or more of the party members can use the opportunity to search the bandits belongings. If the party does manage to search the bandits possessions the GM should give them a couple of clues in the manner of notes, maps of a pre-arranged attack point, etc.

If the party attempts to befriend the bandits the GM should make this incredibly difficult but not impossible. The bandits are secretive and not very trusting but are always willing to take on new talent. If a character or two are adept at social maneuvering there is a chance that they can start to gain the trust of the bandits. However, before the bandits will let the character in on the plan they will likely require some kind of test of loyalty. This can range from committing a murder to stealing something.

If the character carries out this task they will include that character in on the plans. While this would allow for the character to know what is going on the GM should keep in mind that they bandits will be keeping an eye on the newest member. This means that the character might have a hard time relating the information to the rest of the party or even potentially try to get the rest of the party to join up with the bandits (which could make for another interesting situation)

Once the party is aware of the bandits plan it is time for them to decide what they will do about it and how they will do it. While there are a number of different ways a party can approach this, there are a few that are the most likely to occur.

1: The Party Attacks the Bandits Right Away
For combat heavy groups that like direct action this is probably the most appealing action. While there is nothing wrong with this and makes for a rather easy conclusion to the event, it does presents a couple of problems in the aftermath.

First, how does the caravan master feel about the sudden murder of guards in his caravan?

At first the caravan master is likely going to be angry about the death of guards he has paid for. In this situation the characters are going to need to both succeed in some social actions and likely provide some kind of proof. If they have already searched through the bandits possessions then this is an easy task, if they haven't then they will have to hope that there is some way to dig up proof (which depends entirely on how kind the GM is feeling)

Second, What does this mean for the rest of the band lying in wait further down the road?

It is unlikely that the remaining bandits will attack the caravan when it is actively guarded but an enterprising party may decide that tracking the bandits down to their layer is a good idea. This might create a bit of extra work for the GM but designing a bandit layers isn't very difficult. Use a nearby set of caves, an abandoned farm house, or something similar as the bandits base and go from there.

2: The Party informs the Caravan Master
If the party decides alerting the caravan master is the best idea then they are going to have to provide some kind of proof. The caravan master is a shrewd individual and does not believe things simply because one of his for hire guards tells it to him. If the characters have only overheard the plan at this point, then this will force them to find proof and that can be handled as mentioned above with searching the bandits possessions.

If the party doesn't provide proof the caravan master may decide to question the bandits. If this happens the bandits may decide that they have to act early. This could lead to an attack on the party, the bandits getting a message to the rest of their band, or midnight assassination attempts deciding on how the GM wants to deal with it.

If the party does provide proof (or in some other way convinces the caravan master) then the caravan master is likely to order the party to "deal with the problem". The party can approach this any number of ways ranging from direct assault to more subtle means. Whatever the party chooses the GM should make dealing with the problem challenging in some way.

3: The Party Sits on the Information Not Sure what to do
While most parties are likely to decide one of the above options there is always the possibility they feel a bit indecisive. If this happens the GM can move things along by having the bandits become the party knows of their plan in some way. A lot of how this is done depends on how the party found the information. If the party has been spying on the bandits there is always the chance they noticed and return the favor. If the party searched the bandits possessions, the bandits can easily discover their stuff has been messed with. If the party has attempted to befriend the bandits the bandits can decide they don't trust those "in the know" enough and attempt to get rid of them. Finally there is the option of simply allowing things to unfold naturally and having the party  navigate a much larger and deadlier battle when the bandits enact their plan.

4: The Party Decides to Join the Bandits
While this is the least likely thing to happen, it is not inconceivable that the party decides to join the bandits. If this happens the amount of challenge to the party is greatly reduced and the GM should adjust any rewards to reflect this fact. If the party does choose this way it can open up an interesting campaign where the party becomes part of a group of bandits. This offers a unique campaign where the party can jostle for a better position within the band of bandits, carry out various raids and robberies and more. While this most certainly would be a campaign for more evil characters, it doesn't mean it can't be fun.

Sinker: Once the party has dealt with the bandits in whatever way they choose the GM should give them some form of reward. It is probably wise to balance this reward with the difficulty of the encounters. It is unlikely that the caravan master will increase their pay, but if they slay or capture the bandits the caravan master is likely to allow them to keep some or all of the gear the bandits possess.

Along with the rewards the adventure can lead to another adventure involving tracking down the bandits hide out. It can also lead to the characters being hunted down by other members of the bandit gang. Finally, the characters should gain some kind of benefit by having done a job well (or by joining up with the bandits). This can include a favor owed by the caravan master, maybe their story being spread by the common folk, or something else entirely.

In the end this adventure should be fairly easy to drop into any ongoing campaign or even be used to launch a new campaign. Feel free to use it how you wish.

Going into Full Time Game Design as a Job

So this blog has kind of been sitting here waiting for the moment when I finally decide I want to do something with it. I have used it a few times when I had extra time and energy but for the most part it hasn't been what I wanted it to be. I blame myself for this because quite honestly if I didn't let myself get so damn distracted by life and everything else, it would be a lot further along. Well the good news is that is about to end. I am embarking on a journey I think I have waited far to long to commit to and I am pretty happy with the decision.

I have flirted with the idea of doing game design full time as a means of supporting myself every since I first started playing RPG's. I have actually written a few things and made some money off my hobby, but never really took the plunge so to speak. I am taking the plunge now. Instead of waiting for the perfect moment, which in reality is never going to come, I am just going to do it. I won't say that I am not a little worried about this decision but I feel confident that I will succeed.

I guess the reason I am choosing to do it now is that I am just tired of being stuck doing the same crap I have been doing for the last ten years or so. I got stuck in this system of writing for corporations, selling stuff I didn't want to, learning and writing about things I could care less about, and it slowly ate my soul. Sure I made money doing it. I got to set my own hours, got to work from home, got to focus on my kids and the like. While that was good, I wasn't feeling fulfilled, I wasn't feeling happy, in short I was creating my own misery.

I kept telling myself (and other people) that I was working on this project or another, and most of the time I was, but I never finished any of it. I would start telling myself I needed to focus on other things, more adult things, more "real" things. I would go online find a freelance job, underbid what I was worth, hate the work, hate the person I was doing the work for, and mostly hating myself. In that time I have gained way to much weight, closed off way to many friendships, stopped caring about how I looked, and really just stopped caring period. If I keep this up I will be in the grave far to early.

I don't want that to happen. I want to wake up with a feeling of excitement, a feeling of purpose, a feeling of living up to my potential. I love games, I love thinking about them, writing about them, love the people who play them and more. I have always wanted to do game design for a living and now is as good a time as any. I don't think I will get rich doing it, but I do believe I will earn just as much as I have been (maybe more) and more importantly I will be doing something I love.

So here it goes, taking that deep breath, looking down at the unknown waters below, my heart is pounding my palms are sweating, my brain is screaming at me that I can't, but I know I can so it is finally time to jump...

Campaign Design 101: What is Important?

Ever since I started playing role playing games one of my favorite things to do is campaign design. Something about planning a large scale series of adventures that tell an epic story has always appealed to me. I can't recall all the details of my first attempt at one, but I do remember it featured Asmodeus as the big bad ugly and the goal of the campaign was to slay him and stop his take over of the prime material plane. I do remember sitting at my desk spending hours mapping out elaborate dungeons and writing volumes of adventures. In the end the group I was part of made it about halfway before summer showed up and things like swimming in the lake and riding our bikes became more interesting. We always talked about getting back to it but we never did and by the time we were starting to game again our tastes had evolved to a different game and so again I was swept up in writing a brand new campaign.

Over the course of my life I have written dozens of fully detailed campaigns and have finished some of them. I have learned a lot about what makes a campaign work and what doesn't. For instance I have learned that campaigns designed to last over six months are not as likely to finish as those designed to last under six months. I have learned that players tend to prefer campaigns where they get to be the heroes instead of watch the heroes. I have learned that players like to make their own characters instead of have characters made for them. However, the most important thing I have learned is that for the Game Master the story is everything.

While players tend to look back at their characters and the cool things they did, the Game Master looks back and remembers how excited the players were when they found out the secret to opening the temple. While the players will regale people with stories of heroics, the Game Master remembers the look of fear on a players face as their character hovered on the brink of death. In the end, the players and their characters are important, but if the Game Master does not enjoy the story, the campaign never has a chance of really taking off.

I am sure there are Game Masters out there who will disagree, but for me as a Game Master there is no doubt that I need a story that gets me excited. I have to read an adventure and be transfixed by the story I see unfold. I have to have that same feeling I had when I was a kid reading through Keep on the Borderlands. I have to want to see the story play out in front of me, I have to want to show up to the table, I have to want to see the story begin and end. If I don't have that, well, I just don't have fun. While the players having fun is just as important, it is my belief they have a lot more fun when the Game Master is having fun as well.

Over the next couple of blog entries I will be laying out a story line for the campaign I am creating from the ground up. This is the first step of game design for me, and I think that is true of a lot of other Game Masters as well. I will start at a beginning and eventually end at an ending. When I am done with the story, I will move onto the next phase of campaign development and then the next. I hope you all enjoy the ride.

Dungeon Crawl: The Castle Levels 1,2, and Dungeon

Got all the mapping for the castle itself done. I am thinking I need to do an area map of the castle so I might work on that before detailing the rooms but I might just retrograde that. Overall I am happy with how things turned out but can see several areas where I could do better. For now though I think they are good enough to go forward with. Feel free to let me know what you think...

Dungeon Crawl, The Map: Castel Level 1

I finally got my Photo Shop up and running so spent some time making a map for the dungeon crawl. I have always felt that a dungeon map should be interesting to look at and be useful for generating ideas even before someone reads the info for what happens to be inside. While I have a good idea on what's going on on this level, I won't go to much into it and instead will leave what kind of bad guys inhabit this ancient ruin up to your imagination for now.

I should be posting up more maps in the next couple of days so make sure to check back often.

Building a Dungeon Crawl Part I: Location, Location, Location!

I was looking through my PDF collection of first edition modules the other day. While I looked through them I had a bit of nostalgia going on and gave some thought to what made some of those adventures so awesome. While I thought about it, I realized that most of them were straight out dungeon crawls. While they were all dungeon crawls that wasn't the sole thing that made them awesome. In fact, just because a module or adventure is a "dungeon crawl" doesn't mean it is going to be any good. A good dungeon crawl has a few things that rise it above a normal or bad dungeon crawl. But what are these things?

As I asked myself this question I decided this would make a good series of blog posts. Not only have I really been in the mode for some old school flavor lately, I have also been wanting to get creative and build something. So here we are at the first post in a series dedicated to how to not only build a dungeon crawl but make it memorable as well.

Step 1: A Memorable Location:

I think the first thing that makes a dungeon crawl memorable is when it is set in an interesting location. If you look at some of the classic adventures like Temple of Elemental Evil, Dwellers of the Forbidden City, and the like, you will notice they had an interesting location. The Temple of Elemental Evil was an ancient temple thought destroyed forever, the Forbidden City was a ruined city in the middle of the jungle that had long been forgotten. These locations made the dungeon unique and memorable.  Of course this means that if I want to make a memorable dungeon crawl, I have to come up with an interesting location.

There are a lot of things that go into making a location memorable. While I don't know if I can think of everyone, I do know a few things seem to be true.

1: The location has a story.

2: The location has interesting denizens.

3: The design of the location is interesting

4: The region around the location is also interesting.

These four rules are true regardless of where the location happens to be. The dungeon can be a series of sewers crawling with were rats, or it can be a far away citadel made out of ice. If the location has these for things going for it, chances are it will be memorable. Taking this four rules, I am going to start fleshing out the location for my dungeon crawl.

The Story

A long time ago in a remote valley, the baron of the valley wed a very self absorbed woman named Lieral. This woman was obsessed with her own beauty. So obsessed was this woman that she would spend great deals of money to make sure she had the latest fashions from the capitol. While she was without a doubt beautiful the specter of age slowly crept up on the Baron's wife. This of course caused the baron's wife to become even more obsessed with not only staying beautiful but finding a way to prevent aging.

At first the steps Lieral took simply involved spending even more money on creams and other remedies. At first these worked well enough, but after a aging continued to leave its mark on the woman's skin. Growing desperate Lieral began correspondence with several priests and mages. While many of them tried to help her the best they could, there was only so much she could do. After several priests and mages visited Lieral she began to despair of ever finding a way to stop the aging. Then one day a mysterious wizard appeared claiming to have the answer Lieral sought.

 At first Lieral didn't believe the wizard could do anything for her and demanded some kind of proof. The wizard agreed and cast a spell that made Lieral appear younger instantly. Overjoyed the Baron's wife asked the wizard what he wanted for payment. The wizard said that he couldn't accept payment but would be happy to serve Lieral as an advisor. Thrilled that the wizard would like to stay Lieral immediately made the wizard her advisor.

Shortly after the wizards arrival the baron himself became gravely ill. At first Lieral insisted the wizard do something to cure her husband, but after the wizard revealed that this was the cost of her beauty, Lieral allowed her husband to die a cruel and wasting death. After the death of her husband, Lieral began to notice that her again had started again. Furious she told the wizard that she wanted him to perform the spell again. The wizard said that he would but that it would cost another persons life. The Baroness did not care and had one of the children from a nearby village sent to her castle because the wizard informed her that children would last longer than her husband had.

For the next several ears Lieral did not age a single day, but the poor child eventually died in the same cruel and wasted way as the Baron. This of course led to another child being taken from a village. The next child didn't last as long as the first one because the cost to keep the Baroness young grew higher the longer the Baroness lived. Over time this led to more and more children being taken by the Baroness.

At first the citizens of the valley simply allowed this to happen. However, as Lieral began to demand more children more often the citizens grew angry. Finally they had enough and gathered together to bring the Baroness to justice. The Baroness was enraged by this rebellion and had her wizard cast a horrible spell that would take the life force of everyone in the valley and give it to her. How the wizard accomplished this is unknown, but the fact is he did and soon everyone in the valley died in the same wasting way. With no one left alive, the Baroness herself also eventually died. Over time the Baroness was forgotten and the castle she lived in fell into disrepair.

One hundred years later new people have started to live in the vale. They do not know the history of the Baroness nor would they have care if they did. The land in the valley is good and they have families that need room to grow. While they may not care about the history of the valley, the Baroness does and the new people coming to the valley have awoken her from her long slumber and once again children have started to disappear...

So there we have it, the story. I believe the story is interesting and something I can build on. I also really think it creates a great mystery for the players as their characters begin to investigate the disappearing children. I still have a lot of work to do but for now I like where this is going. Next post I think I will work on a map of the region and then maybe do one for the now ruined castle. I would love to hear what you have to say... until next time game well, game long, and may your rolls be generous!

What is Old School Gaming and Where has it gone?

I was visiting Facebook the other day and saw someone ask the question what is old school gaming? I read some of the comments and I started asking myself the very same question. After thinking on it a bit I decided to write a post about my thoughts on the subject. I figure that after 30 years of gaming I am fairly qualified to chime in on this issue. Not only do I feel qualified to write on the subject, I feel that old school gaming has a lot to offer people.

My Definition of Old School Gaming

My definition of old school gaming isn't so much a definition as it is about the spirit of old school gaming. There was a certain quality to table top rpg's back when I was a kid that seems to be lost now. While I don't debate that the gaming systems have gotten better in terms of clarity and function, there is a key element missing. It's hard to describe what this missing element is in one word, but I guess freedom would be the best descriptor.

Before RPGs became the slick focus group studied products they are today, they were about creativity. There were rules of course, but those rules had a different quality to them that seemed to encourage creativity. In fact the first edition Advanced Dungeons and Dragons Dungeon Master's Guide was crammed full of useful information on how to create a world. Not only was it crammed full of information it also gave you tons of handy charts to use to create your own stuff.

AD&D wasn't the only game that did that either. In fact during that time most games were much more about freedom and creativity than today's games are. Now don't get me wrong, some of those early systems were absolutely horrible and very unwieldy, but at their core they encouraged creativity. In short, I guess my definition of old school gaming is a gaming style that encourages creativity and freedom.

Why it Changed

I touched a bit on this already, but the fact is the game changed because the people making and playing the game changed. Dungeons and Dragons was successful beyond what anyone ever thought it would be. Not only was DnD successful but the role playing game industry in general has been not only successful, but influential in our culture beyond any one's wildest imaginations. While I think we all agree that success was a good thing, it also brought along the idea that these hobbies could make people a lot of money.

When people can make money at something they have a tendency to look at ways to improve something and this is exactly what happened. If you look at where DnD started and compare it to where it is now, you will see that the more money it made, the more money they spent on making products for the game. Not only that but they also improved the marketing of the game but to do this they had to provide a product that appealed to the largest amount of people possible.

At one time, RPGs were pretty much the sole property of "nerds and geeks". While times have changed and nerds and geeks seem to be the new sexy, there was a time we were social outcasts to the Nth degree. In order to grow as a hobby RPGs needed to reach out beyond their traditional market. I think if you look back, Vampire the Masquerade was the first product to really succeed in that and others followed.

This of course led to other games looking at the success of Vampire the Masquerade and changing how they approached the public. The biggest make over was DnD. Where at one time it had been the undisputed master of the rpg universe, it lost ground big time to the Vampire craze. Not only did it lose ground, but it almost ceased to exist and then boom! along comes third edition and once again we saw an explosion of the hobby.

The Old School Revival

While I think this explosion of popularity has been good for the rpg industry in general, I can't help but miss the old school "feel" at times. The nice thing is that I am not alone in this feeling. In fact right now we are witnessing a bit of an old school revival. If you look around the Internet you can see a renewed interest in what people call "old school gaming". you can browse facebook groups, personal blogs, Kickstarter projects and more and easily find things that classify themselves as either being old school, or having that old school feel.

I personally am happy to see this. While I enjoy what the hobby has become, it is nice to know that I can always turn the page back when I am in the mood. I feel that as the old school revival continues it will only help add to the entire history of gamer culture. I think it has opened doors once thought long sealed shut and allowed for a fresh burst of creativity and that is good for the hobby.

While I seriously doubt we will ever see anything that is considered old school see the same success as current RPGs, there is no doubt in my mind that a market exists for these products. I also don't have any doubt that the old school revival will last quite a while. In the end we gamers have long memories and while some of us may be getting old, we pass the torch on to younger gamers every single day.

In the end I don't think Old school gaming has really gone anywhere, I just think it has been in hiding for a little while. However, every day I see new signs of life in this aspect of the RPG world and it has me excited. Now, if only they would get back to printing Dragon Magazine again....