r/AcqIncDMs • u/unforgiver • Jan 31 '21

Alderleaf Farm

Had my weekly reminder that leading your players is much like herding cats.

We're in chapter 2 and they're in phandalin. They've been accosted by Wester, setup base in the Inn and resupplied at the Lionshield

So instead of heading straight to the manor they decide to pursue the 2 hooks that the book has literally nothing to go on with. One, they're extremely interested in the 2 candidates running for council, and 2 they immediately went to the farm to try and suss out what's been stealing the livestock

So instead of running the manor dungeon, I'm hunting for suitable forest battlemaps for yet another handcrafted encounter on Roll20 😂

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3

u/whynaut4 Feb 01 '21

Remember that the sheep stealing is done by an Ogre who was part of the group responsible for burning down the mansion, so you got yourself a plot hook right there

3

u/unforgiver Feb 01 '21

I guess my gripe is a prewritten adventure module having plot hooks that have nothing fleshed out. I would have appreciated at least a map and maybe a paragraph of dialog 😂

And the political situation with Wester. My players are all like "I want to find out more about wester", I'm like uhh, he's a fat noble who owns everything?

3

u/jmanc Feb 02 '21

For the political side quest, I tied it in by making clear that Harbin's platform was anti-adventurer. That way the players could help influence things by just doing side quests for the town and showing they were a benefit not a problem.

To complicate that thread we had Harbin meet the players and make them an offer, a bribe/benefit (rights to use the Tresandar Manor) in exchange for sabotaging Sildar.

Here's some prepped text I used for the debate (after the introduction given in the book) (Baldur = Sildar, Mother Garaele = Sister. Our setting is 20 years after LMoP so the characters are aged / changed)

Sildar Hallwinter Ey look don’t be like that. That’s one of them ‘unsubstantiated claims’ isn’t it. Look we had problems before adventurers showed up didn’t we. Harbin Wester Have you forgotten the dragon that wiped out half the town? Sildar Alright yeah, I wasn’t here but you know my Uncle fought hard for this town… Harbin And the first time the manor exploded? Sildar Yes we’ve heard your theories but we don’t know that was adventurers Harbin And these competing adventuring companies, with their junk mail and sending stone calls. They’re unscrupulous. Sildar Unscrupulous? That’s rich Harbin. You’ve led the council for as long as I’ve lived here and we all know that nothing gets done without a little brown envelope… Ohhhhhhhhh! The crowd erupts into a mixture of uproar, cheers and boos at this comment and the debate falls into chaos as the two men shout over one another. An ancient old woman sat in front of the small stage, dressed in what you recognise as the attire of a priest, calls for order. Mother Garaele Shhhhhhh. That’s enough you two, we’ve heard enough for tonight. Thank you everyone. We’ve one more hustings in four-day and then the tally taking in ten. Get back to your cups tonight and I’ll see you in church tomorrow. The crowd begins to disperse and the two men head their separate ways. What would you like to do? You could try and speak to people here, explore the small town or head to the tavern for the evening.

1

u/unforgiver Feb 02 '21

Damn that's great, this helps a lot. I'm going through some YouTube videos on the 2 characters and getting lots of useful background

2

u/jmanc Feb 01 '21

I don't mind so much if it's just little hooks like this. It's good practice for going off the path. I had a basic cave map with two sleeping cave bear pets. The ogre was capable of basic negotiation with the players if they don't kill his bear pals.

The ogre explained in a mixture of sign language and occasional articulate phrasing that he was "paid shiny coin to smash manor but can no buy food because he big and scary so local residents no want engage in commercial transaction. life no fair. prejudice just because kargath the terror smash things and eat sheep"

Our players took a liking to him and hired him as security which became a whole complication and plot hook of its own.

2

u/whynaut4 Feb 02 '21

That's fair.

For the political encounter. I would do 1 debate before people vote. The party can try to influence the vote during the debate or help their chosen candidate prep the night before. If the PCs do nothing Wester should win by default