D&D Idea: Reclaim Riverbend

Over the past year, I've spent a lot of time consuming books, movies, comics, and games, trying to figure out what it is that I would love to create next. My most recent idea can be summed up by the title of the games I plan to run at Carnage Con in November, Reclaim Riverbend. The fantasy game is set post-war. The dark forces have been pushed back and towns that had been under their control for the past 25 years are open for resettlement. Your leader, Commander Blackwell, is happy to learn that her ancestral home has been awarded to her. She last saw it when she was five. She's putting together an exploratory and settlement force to rebuild the town.

City Streets by Kaitlynn Peavler

I've settled on this particular scenario for a few reasons:

• The characters should have some familiarity with the land but twenty-five years under not only foreign but potentially alien rule can really change a place. Similar to the Lord of the Rings when they decide to go into the mines.
• The enemies could have left behind valuable journals with information about long lost artifacts or temples that they had been hoping to get their hands on for centuries but couldn't because they didn't have access to the area. They still might have been lacking crucial information when they got here, information that the PCs' side has.
• The characters all have a purpose but that purpose can co-exist with the normal sort of D&D game where you go out and kill monsters and steal their loot. More on that later.
• The party will be larger than the player characters but still limited without resorting to game master fiat. Only so many people can go in the initial group. Also, the players and game master can build that group together, along with all of the connections between members and stuff. If the group wants it, there can be children and spouses as well.
• When they get there, some resources will be limited, again without game master fiat. However, many of them can be unlocked through player choices. More on that later as well.
• Specific to Commander Blackwell, I can add a mystery to the town or her family without making her good or bad since she left when she was too young to really understand things. This can give a more typical story arc to the setting while retaining much of the sandbox feel.

There are other reasons I'm sure I'm forgetting but these are a good start. Now let's look at the bigger picture. I know this sort of build the town subsystem/mini game has been done before. Pathfinder has something in Ultimate Campaign for instance, although I feel that system is meant to be more of a simulation and, while it fits into Pathfinder quite well, I'm hoping for something that's lighter and is meant more to drive story and be a way to simplify and connect the typical parts of a D&D-style game. It's probably easier to explain that by giving some examples of what I'm exploring.

Dungeon Treasure Adds Influence

So, I remember seeing a bunch of D&D loot charts that would include things like gems, object d'art, etc instead of just coins. This was meant to break up the monotony a bit and maybe make the world seem a bit richer. Sometimes they would serve as convenient hooks for getting players to role play or interact with things, but often they just got recorded on the group's balance sheet and by-and-large forgotten.

What if, instead, the group got the gold (or equivalent barter) for them, and the town created a museum to hold them? People might come to the town to see the artifacts as tourists, research them as sages, or seek healing from holy relics. Industries could develop around them if they are special enough and schools could even be built.

I haven't decided yet, but one idea would be to add to certain types of loot the idea of influence points, similar to experience points for players. I could build out a whole leveling system for the town, pegging population growth to it, giving advancement trees and feats. Influence points could also be given for things that are not tied to murdering monsters and stealing their loot, such as discovering natural wonders like the Great Falls or the Singing Rocks. I'm not 100% sold on a leveling system yet, but I do love the idea being able to layer on existing elements of the typical D&D game.

NPCs as Important Resources and Influencers

Likewise, many games have you save kidnapped people. Those people easily could become important NPCs in the town. They along with the NPCs attracted due to the town's influence, could be resources the PCs turn to when they need something or when they need to hire a role not filled by the party. Part of me is attracted to them being a once-per-session resource the party can use, something I've seen in a lot of non-D&D games, but I realize that clashes a bit with D&D. Session lengths can vary widely in D&D and I think that's one of the main reasons many of the refreshes are tied to in game time (along with the expectations some have of verisimilitude). Alternatively, asking an NPC to do a task could cost in-game time units but that would require a bit of bookkeeping. Offering both might help but would be more work for me.

Luxury Items as Currency

However, this leads me to another point I'm really excited about, making all sorts of non-combat, mundane items potentially important. Want to recruit higher-level hirelings and henchmen? Get the things they want in town. Want to increase their morale when they are out with you? Buy some of the luxury goods crafted by those NPCs who fell in love with Riverbend. I personally find this much more satisfying than the reliance on charisma (although I realize that part of the history of that was to make that ability score meaningful) and your mileage may vary. But I find this a decent way to make building the town important and giving PCs access to important resources without limiting their access to essential items like weapons.

I still have a ton more to write about this, but I think it's a good stopping point for today. I admit, I've always loved those challenges in school where you had to take random stuff and create something cool and useful out of them, similar to the Apollo 13 air filter challenge, so that's driving my desire for more NPC interaction and crafting. I also love building things and playing Don't Starve and Terraria has rekindled that a bit.

Image: City Streets by Kaitlynn Peavler. It's from her Deck of Legends Kickstarter project that has about 50 hours left. Due to the generosity of the backers, all of the art will be released to the Creative Commons. Check it out: http://www.kickstarter.com/projects/thedandmom/deck-of-legends