Post/Author/DateTime	Post
#1 whitishknight Dec 31, 2007 18:14:39	I recently stuck my players into Tyr. One is a Templar of Gulg who traveled there on a business deal and wound up getting hired by a merchant of House Shom to work for them, acquiring Kola Nuts to beat out House Inika. I also have a thri-kreen player who's wavering in joining the denizens of the Hungry Hungry Halfling in raiding the streets at night for elves. I was planning on having some elves attack the players, as they've allied themselves with the elf-eaters, but now I'm not quite sure what to do. The players are getting ready to return to Gulg so that the Templar may finish the Oba's task (guarding a shipment of [insert undecided thing here]). Upon arriving, I could start an adventure where the templar has to acquire a steady shipment of kola nuts to Tyr somehow. I might have the elves attack them on the journey (with a kreen slayer leading). But I'm really at a lost. I'm unfamiliar with Gulg's political structure, the merchant houses, and the elf tribes. So I'm making my way as best I can. Mostly I'm trying to instill into my characters that this world is a departure from standard fantasy, so I'd like to put some snags and some deception into everything. Their previous experiences have been used by Fort Iron as exterminators for their underground tunnels (read: landfill) and meeting up with a caravan to Tyr which ultimately was attacked by a defiled hunting cactus who wanted one the passengers (secretly a wizard, of course). The wizard ending up blowing a big chuck out of the wagon (and the cactus), and the group + wizard wound up lying their way into Tyr (having to explain why they have a half-burnt wagon with no merchants or guards aboard. So... yeah... I'm really at a lost here. Any ideas?
#2 huntmasteravatar Dec 31, 2007 20:28:28	gulg is not a very pleasant place for visitors and they could insult someone or break a law quite easily. they could become slaves very quickly. as far as i know outsider merchants are not very welcome. i'd say most citizens of gulg would ignore them, some would try and lure them into breaking laws so they became slaves, and very few would actually try and help them. then again having a templar of the oba on their side may help them succeed, although if the templar is found to be corrupted by the outside world the entire party could end up being sport for some hunters or outright killed. a safe bet would be to keep visitors in the visitor district and only talk to people when you have to. the trip from tyr to gulg should be a pain, few encounters with some caravan repairs and maybe the possible raiding tribe attack. as for in tyr, depending on how the halflings feel they may decide to use the kreen as bait, effectivly double crossing the players. so the players could end up at odds with both the elves and the halflings. if tyr's people, including the freeman council discovers a templars party is causing trouble they may believe the templar is their for less than honest reasons and decide to arrest the entire group, or worse yet, put them down for good. if your players are new i would really play on the fact that there are no people who do good for the sake of doing good, that lawful good characters are normally outlaws or criminals of the state and i would also play up the fact that only the strongest and most cunning survive on athas. another big part of athasian life is the experiance of having your transportation break down, stolen. and having to walk the rest of the way on foot or find replacement transpo. one or two days out, having the caravan break down and being unable to fix it would give the players a chance to see how harsh athas can be. Do not be afraid to kill off a player. new players generally dont have the mind set for athas adventuring until they have lost atleast one character. this gives them motivation to keep their next one alive longer, and it makes gaining higher levels very special. if you ever played fighting games (video games) like tekken or mortal combat or soul calibur there is a feature called "Survival". in a way this is how athas works. everytime you get alittle further its an accomplishment. it will also show the players that being a good person and all that morality can really be just a burden. it helps them develope their athasian persona better. die of thirst and create a new character, Or kill that weak looking person and take its water. makes them think things they may never have thought possible. hope my babbling helped.
#3 Pennarin Jan 01, 2008 2:14:42	A defiled hunting cactus, really? ...dare I say it? .... Lord Doomspike!! :P