Has anyone got an adventure that consists mainly of traveling with a caravan? Doesn’t have to be as guards for hire, in fact it would be even better if the PC’s weren’t. Any system is okay, but DW is preferred.
Has anyone got an adventure that consists mainly of traveling with a caravan?
Has anyone got an adventure that consists mainly of traveling with a caravan?
Not for DW, but Ultraviolet Grasslands is what you want. You can get a free preview copy from DTRPG or the full thing for $1 as a Patreon backer. It has rules for caravans, and so much content. The whole thing is one long trip.
Have you looked at the GURPS adventure, “Caravan to Ein Arris?” The price is right – it’s free!
warehouse23.com – Warehouse 23 – Caravan to Ein Arris (GURPS Fourth Edition)
Definitely seconding UVG
Night of Frozen Shadows might interest you. It’s a Pathfinder adventure but it’s focused on a long caravan journey. I’m just working from memory, though, so don’t come back and kill me if I’m wrong!
“So what rumors have each of you heard about the caravan you’re traveling with? Okay, and what rumors have each of you heard about the lands you’re traveling through? Okay, and are you heading TO somewhere, and if so, where and why, or are you getting AWAY from somewhere, and if so, where and why?”
If their answers don’t give you enough to work with, or you want some extra surprises:
* One of the wagons, being run by someone secretive enough to be outright suspicious-looking to everyone else, is carrying several crates of cursed magical relics for destruction by the temple of Helferth. They’re keeping it a secret because some of the items inspire supernatural greed and covetousness in all who behold them.
* One of the wagons, carrying “exotic spices”, is actually full of all sorts of exciting contraband. The owner is friendly enough, and offers to sell the PCs some interesting things on the down low if they seem cool and have coin (or do the merchant a solid at some point during the trip).
* One of the wagons is carrying prisoners to the castle to await the Queen’s judgment. No, you’re not allowed to talk to them. Bunch of lying treasonous dogs, all of them.
* Some bandits attack. It’s obvious, right? What may be less expected is the commotion attracting a dire owlbear who assaults both groups indiscriminately.
* The bridge is out. The merchants get into a heated debate about fording vs caulking, whatever THOSE words mean. Can the PCs weigh in, or perhaps even provide an alternate solution using magic, wilderness-savvy, or plain old lateral thinking?
* A dragon swoops down and demands tribute: 10% of the goods from each wagon. And whichever PC has the highest charisma.
Yochai Gal The majority of UVG is system-neutral enough that running it with DW rules wouldn’t be overly hard.
Fear of a Black Dragon, the Gauntlet podcast that talk about using mainly DCC and other OSR modules with DW, did an episode of UVG back in June.
gauntlet-rpg.com – The Ultraviolet Grasslands
I ran Caravan to Ein Arris a long time ago, and it was a lot of fun—I was using Sorcerer and Sword. I found it easy to convert from the given format into a web of relationships that were relevant to the character backgrounds and bonds.
It’s written in the “sequence of scenes” style that became popular in the 1990s, but unlike most adventures written in that style today, it acknowledges that the players have free will and it offers scope for open-ended play. Any of the vignettes it includes could become the single-minded focus of your campaign if you follow the players and expand on the material they interact with.
What made it work for me was the vivid personalities that drive the adventure. If you have vivid personalities, you can easily abandon the predicted sequence of events and just watch the fireworks happen as the players clash with or manipulate or undermine or become ensnared in the web of relationships.
Thanks everyone!
Ask Mike Holmes about his game, Caravans
For a really twisted idea: a Caravan game thru Lamentations of the Flame Princess’ Lovecraft world of Carcosa or the “exotic east” of the Purple Lands of Yoon Suin.
Dirk Detweiler Leichty made an “almanac” for his game Rogue Warrior Sage that was based on either a pilgrimage or a caravan, and it was super evocative with good grabby questions that’s work well in DW, too.
Lessseee… here it is!
drive.google.com – RWS-Atlas.pdf
I did a simple one shot a few years ago where a caravan was being attacked by goblins. It turned out the goblins were being guided by drums, and once the players found the drum-masters and killed them, the goblins dispersed.
It also turned out that one of the lead caravans was carrying the remains of a dead god. The cleric decided to consecrate it and banish the evil. It was a cool solution.