Starting at the Keep: Part Two

straight from the module

The module gives only a very limited or broad reason on why the player characters are there. Basically for Fame, Glory and Riches. Of all these only the glory part seems to fall under Law to me, and even then only with some big if’s attached. But again, alignment is another post.

It also just kind of has the players “show up” at the keep. This means that you’ve just spent some time making characters together (preferably together, right?) and now you’re going to go into a Keep and have a lot of social interactions that might go on and on. There are a few big NPC’s to meet. There’s a sort of trigger to be made aware of (the inner Bailey will open up to you if you do any of these three things) and a Wandering Priest that might join you. I guess if you’ve still got enough money saved over from character creation you might hire some mercenaries or something? The adventure also states that the NPC’s met here during the first scene might prove to be trusting of the party or suspicious, depending on how it plays out, which is pretty nice.

So these are kind of the reasons for this first scene, right? But there’s a big, glaring problem in my opinion. You’ve come together to play a game about fighting monsters and taking their loot, right? The characters have been made and equipped to do this. Classes have been chosen, stats written down. No explicit attention is given to having the player characters and them having a reason to be at the keep together as a group, even though they are. And then the first thing is a social encounter that will likely, after making the characters in the same session, take up the rest of the evening play. No monsters will be fought. No wilderness explored. This does not sit right with me. Can we streamline this? How can we make this better?

Idea 1: Start in the Keep, with all the information about important NPC’s and their offers on a handout. Another handout could be made with who is available for hire and at what place. Other services could also be listed (like the banking service). Maybe have a summary of all the quests, like the trapper that will buy furs, the requirements for entry to the inner keep, etc. Ideally I’d rather show then tell though, so perhaps show someone be allowed into the inner Keep for a Banquet as a way to show this information rather than to write it down. I think that would be cooler. The characters could possible roll a charisma save or something to see wether or not their first impression to the guards was a good one or not. This way they can immediately start exploring the wilderness. It's not perfect, but I think it might be better. It would be more fun if they discovered all the little quests themselves at one point though, so maybe just let them interact with the keep and it's inhabitants after the first foray into the chaos infested wilderness of the borderlands?

Valkyria Chronicles

Idea 2: With the focus on the Keep I think it would be fun to start as people already part of the Keep. This makes it more of a military campaign and more of a railroaded experience rather than the complete sandbox experience. But on the other hand, they have a reason to care about the Keep and its NPC’s. The characters would be commanders with a troupe of soldiers under their command that is somehow linked to their followers stat or something. This would also be a good idea if there’s only one or two players. It also reminds me of some computer games I like. I’m thinking about Final Fantasy Tactics, Tactics Ogre, Fire Emblem and Valkyria Chronicles. These would also improve more if all the NPC’s, even the 0 LVL men at arms have a name and quirk of some kind.

Tactics Ogre Unit Selection Screen

Idea 3: As above, but you are not a commander. You are the grunts. You could start out with multiple 0 LVL characters under an NPC commander, and have it be a “meat grinder” or “Character Funnel” as popularized by DCC. This would mean that it would be more of a mission based game where each session could be a mission. It also lets relations between characters emerge from play rather than rolling on random tables.

Final Fantasy Tactics Unit Selection Screen

Idea 4: Start in the wilderness. Discover the Keep, or know of it. Alternatively, start at the caves, ready to explore.

Idea 5: Start in the caves. You are prisoners breaking free. But I don’t like taking the player’s stuff from them in the beginning. I’d make it a character funnel as well. Start as LVL 0 peasants that have been captured and are being kept as some kind of cattle or slaves. Those who make it out alive become adventurers. These people know about the Keep and that is somewhere in the wilderness to find once they escape.

Idea 2 and 3 speak most to me. I also like the idea that Sean McCoy had and posted about on his blog that makes it a siege. The Keep is being assaulted by the powers of Chaos. Will you survive? Do you escape and abandon the keep? Do you defend it? etc, etc. That is a fun way to start things off strong.