Your typical town hub, with all amenities your adventurers need. The Keep, Barracks, Justice Hall, Sage, Temple, Inn, Blacksmith, Almonry, Porter, Oracle, Cellar, Port, Lighthouse, Carpentry, Forge, Distillery, Tavern, Stables, Chapter House, Market, and a hidden Dungeon. You know. The usual stuff.
Edit. Forgot! a Wizard Tower! of course you have a wizard tower! 😄
I'm working on a generic medieval village setting to be used as the cornerstone of a West Marches style campaign or the entry point for a domain-level Birthright style campaign. The village has a lot going on (100 sites & 300 NPCs), but a required key feature of a campaign hub is limiting / discouraging players from just wandering off somewhere else.
From a medieval low-fantasy somewhat-historical village point-of-view, I thought of a set of valid exit strategies for a commoner to leave the village they were born into (being a ship crewman, an ordained cleric, or a scholar). Is there any other venue you can think of that could make a commoner independent / subject to another landlord?
Thank you
Juan
Uprooting Yourself from the Village. Almost all occupations in the village are meant to spend your whole life at the village. You were born at the village and you will die at the village. Even if you travel to nearby ports or markets as a Seaman on a ship (02.1 & 02.2) or trading caravan as an Agent (04.3), set on an expedition to faraway lands as a diplomatic Envoy (02.4), or journey on a quest from the Landlord himself as a Knight (01.2), a Herald (01.5), or Catchpole (05.5), you come back to the village after you are done. Unless you mess up somehow. Then you are left behind stranded there, and good luck being an outcast in a foreign land.
There are very few but notable exceptions to this general rule, that will (legally) allow a character to travel under a different banner than the one of the Landlord of their birthplace:
· Crewmen: becoming a permanent Crewman on a newly christened ship (02.2) will let you travel by sea under the banner of the King to where the ship has a trading chart.
· Clerics: becoming a Cleric of the Local Cult (11.1) might assign you to a different town or village on their orders, usually without compensation to the Landlord.
· Scholars: becoming a Scholar at the School (14.4) will allow you to apply to positions at other towns or cities, provided they compensate the Landlord for your release.
What types of adventures can you run in a typical medieval fantasy village? I found those 7. Others like Exploration / Journey don't fit the small territorial scale, or Retrieve / Attack don't fit the communal societal dynamic.
Do you have other broad category that could describe adventures you can run in a medieval fantasy village? How do you feel about my descriptions on each type? Do they reflect what you consider the essence of each type to be about?
Maybe "Types" is not the right technical word so that's why I'm having trouble finding posts about it. You might have noticed by now that I'm not a native English speaker. Is there a technical term in English this is discussed as?
Thank you for your time.
Juan
Adventure Types
There are a number of adventure types you can run in a medieval village by using this Companion guide.
Challenge*. As part of the seasonal calendar, there are several events that offer the characters an opportunity to participate in an open challenge of skill. The Horse Races Day at the Stables (07.2), the Day of Sausages at the Slaughterhouse (07.3), the race around the circle of columns at the Stonemason Station (12.1), the Ringen Revel at the Guardhouse (13.4), the Rolling Cheese Day at the Clay Pit (15.5), lifting sacks at the Malthouse (16.3), walking the catwalk at the Leather Workshop (17.3), are some of these Challenge type adventures. These events may be anticipated by the party and they can quest to train and make preparations to better their chances of success in those challenges. The reward is usually the prestige of succeeding at the challenge, perhaps receiving a prize, increasing their reputation within the organizing Clan and Guild, maybe meeting someone special, or possibly getting a job or adventuring opportunity for their fame. Once the party succeeds on a particular challenge, keep in mind that fame is feeble, and a contender may arise next season to claim it from them.*
Upstaging*. The village offers, a typically medieval, stratified and mostly immovable social structure, but some players will have the eagerness to alter its configuration or outmaneuver its restraints. From an unknown Forester becoming President of the Assembly, to the Local Cult meddling with the Hidden Week, letting your players affect changes on the social structure of your world or the public position of your non-player characters gives them a powerful sense of agency and ownership over a campaign. That serves as a most valuable reward, above and beyond any material or mechanical effect their characters themselves may gain. Upstaging has a confrontational aspect that is primarily public and political. Clans, social ranks, community duties and events, are important, and the village has plenty of those. Taking part in public life is important, and the seasonal calendar is the fixture of matches the party will play to upstage any public figure. Just remember that a typically medieval world is, as noted before, a stratified and mostly immovable social structure, and that is a notion so rooted in folks’ mentality, that it may surpass trusted loyalties and even bonds of blood or marriage. Upstaging may be a perilous adventure indeed.*
Investigation*. If an event happens to draw the attention of the party or harms their personal interests, the players may decide to take part on the matter and uncover a way to undo its effects, prevent it from happening again, or unravel the ultimate nature and causes of the event itself. That may lead to other types of adventures, such as fighting a Monster, entangle themselves in a Conspiracy, or Crafting a wonderous solution to the problem. But the first stage of that journey usually starts with searching and analyzing the locations, witnesses, facts and material evidences that complete the picture surrounding the event’s circumstances. The reward for this type of adventures is primarily a plot hook for its follow-up resolution, but they are also an interesting opportunity for worldbuilding, group thinking and clever interaction with non-player characters. Do not forget to consider an Investigation phase for your adventures, and try to make it meaningful to the resolution of the matter at hand, whether that’s through allegiances and strategies to be developed to approach it, or maybe through tools and tactics to be employed to face it.*
Monster*. Many of the events described below depict interactions with wild or supernatural creatures. I’m guessing you don’t need much advice on those. Just don’t rush into them. Start with a scene describing something the Monster has done outside its lair. Then use a scene to describe how the environment changes as the party reaches the Monster’s lair. Only then offer them an interaction that may allow them to test their assumptions and preparations, even allowing them a way to retreat and reformulate their approach, before facing them with the Monster itself in its full potential.*
Conspiracy*. People of the village make the fabric for most of the regular calendar and extraordinary events. Everyone has an agenda and a wide variety of personal interests and crisscrossed loyalties. Outsider visitors, whether regular or unexpected ones, including nobles or emissaries, only serve to spice up more of that enigmatic combine. Nothing in the village happens without someone knowing about it, someone being deceived by it, someone fostering it, someone obliged by it, someone opposing it, someone benefiting from it, and someone being harmed by it. The characters can discover, insert themselves, disguise, uncover, aid or hamper such plots and associations. Picking a side will always be a double-edged sword, since conspiracies are never neutral businesses. There is no right or wrong here, and the reward gained from a side will match the retribution from the other. So, these types of adventures are seldom optional, but thrusted upon the party by the circumstances. Their true worth is in the way they will shape and reinforce their own worldview and allegiances from then on.*
Survival*. A grim dark scenario of famine, plague, moral panic or war. Medieval communities always stand one poor harvest, one harsh winter, one epidemic outbreak or one enemy raid away from catastrophe. This type of adventures revolves around scarcity, uncertainty and choosing the lesser of two evils. The trial is seldom about a single battle or obstacle, but about enduring a prolonged crisis while preserving the people, resources and institutions that allow the village to continue existing. Characters may organize relief efforts, secure alternative sources of food, negotiate aid from outsiders, protect vulnerable locations, maintain public order, or simply escort supplies around. Such adventures may overlap with side Investigation, Conspiracy and Monster scenarios, since dire circumstances tend to reveal hidden tensions or awaken old threats, but Survival is the core of the challenge. The reward is measured not only in material gain, but in the lives and knowledge saved, the trust earned and the future secured. A village that survives a season of extreme hardship will remember those who carried it through the darkness, while a failure may leave scars upon what is left of the community for generations.*
Crafting*. Some scenarios cannot be solved by force or endurance, diplomacy or guile, but require the devise and creation of something extraordinarily valuable or useful. Such undertakings usually begin with identifying a need or conceiving a plan or design, followed by gathering rare materials, consulting knowledgeable artisans, testing methods and overcoming the setbacks inevitable to any ambitious work. The project may be as humble as improving a mill wheel, as prestigious as forging a ceremonial blade, or as wondrous as restoring a relic or site capable of confronting a supernatural threat. Crafting naturally encourages exploration, negotiation and cooperation between different Clans, Guilds, and named heroes of the land, each possessing skills, resources and traditions the others lack. The finished creation is the obvious reward, but the true value of these adventures lies in the relationships forged, knowledge acquired and lasting changes introduced into the world. A crafted work may continue shaping the village, and the land, long after the season in which it was made has passed.*
* Edit: typos
TLDR a table for random characters and locations on a medieval fantasy town, also usable as a calendar and a rooster of factions.
We played the Birthright system for many years (not so much the setting). But I've run one full campaign, three partial ones, and many scattered scenarios. The one thing I always needed up-front was a list of sites on the Domain (as territorial divisions were called) of the landlord Regent (counts, barons, etc), and the name of the guy running each of those sites. Well, here it is. If your ever needed a whole bunch of factions to quarrel for things way below an end-of-the-world story plot, or places for your players to go around town, or people for them to meet, the place where that unexpected thing has happened, or the person everyone rumors about, roll a d20/d6 and you've got it. Hope you find it useful.
The Season Calendar displays a third of the Year (Winter, Rise and Fall seasons). Each Season comprises twenty 6-day weeks, each week devoted to a particular group within the community, each of the five working days to a particular clan within that group, and the sixth day of every week to rest.
The 19 weekly groups, and the clans within each of them, shape a series of factions, that share similar interests and take care of their own members. Factions are represented by a name and heraldry adorned by their most distinctive tool. Only one week in a Season (week 10) is left void of dedication, because it is believed supernatural forces act during those times.
Within a week, the member clans of the faction are listed, by the working site and social function they occupy, as well as the title / surname of the clan's patriarch/matriarch. Surnames are reserved for nobility (normally the name of their lands), so common folks use their profession as their surname / clan's name.
So, how do you use this?
Each time the DM needs to come up with a random event or encounter, that random person or location can be determined by rolling a d20 and a d6, and cross-referencing the results with the week (d20) and clan (d6) in the calendar. Most events will mean a challenge to overcome, but in case of a result of 6 on the d6, the event will be positive and helpful for the party or the landlord.
Edit: an additional thing I forgot to mention is that clans are sorted by social stature, meaning No. 1 is the Guild leader. All guild leaders represent their factions at the Guildhall (20.3), and among those is the President elected, who is thr one dealing directly with the landlord.
Un vampiro, una gárgola, un orco y un lich son enviados a darle una lección a la ciudad de Gullyburg por continuar enviando héroes a su dugeon. Con esta sesión one-shot de rol de improvisación encaramos tres preguntas interesantes.
Pueden los PCs ser monstruos? Gary Gygax opinaba que no, que los PCs monstruos en 1ra edición no funcionaban. Las ediciones posteriores del juego incorporaron personajes monstruos (demasiado para mi gusto), pero jugamos estilo 1ra para mostrar que no era para tanto.
Puede la mecánica impro manejar escenarios de decisión táctica / posicional? Usamos el mapa de Gullyburg (diseñado por mi), que tiene mucho detalle y escondrijos, y lo llenamos de personajes de todo tipo, yendo por el aire y el agua, y para nosotros funciona perfecto.
Las partys de personajes tienen que estar balanceadas? En OSR, el éxito depende más de la habilidad del jugador que la habilidad del personaje. Siempre vas a preferir un jugador nivel 20 con un personaje nivel 1 que a la inversa. El DM es quien personaliza el desafío al nivel del personaje. Cuando elegís un personaje, básicamente estás eligiendo a qué nivel de oponentes te vas a enfrentar, pero no es más o menos difícil en un nivel alto que en un nivel bajo. Por eso van a ver que los oponentes de los personajes monstruos más bajos son menos poderosos que los oponentes de los personajes más poderosos. Sólo tenés que estar seguro de ser un jugador del nivel del personaje que elegís, si no, estás en problemas.