watervole | Inspiration needed

Can anyone think of interesting tasks/problems to throw at an RPG party?

Imagine a world a bit like Narnia and a party of real people from our world.

This is not a campaign where I can toss regular wandering monsters at the players to keep them occupied - the land simply isn't that hostile.

The long-term campaign has a political objective, but they need short-term encounters to make life interesting.

Imagine a group that includes one scout leader (a competent Jack of all trades), a Royal Marine Reservist (a supply/logistics expert), a 14 year old girl and a martial arts expert. Add two infant harpies for good measure.

They can cope with low level combat, but I don't want scenarios where they're attacked by wolves/bears/etc.

I'd prefer puzzles, or things that they need to build/fix.

They're currently travelling with a group of actors and helping out with the show.

Magic is extremely rare, apart from the existence of creatures like centaurs and dryads.

The party tend to be good at helping people they meet on the way.

Cultural/logisitical/imaginative problems (and the occasional bit of non-fatal combat) are what I need.

Ideas?

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Irrigate a plateau?

Throw in some charcater problems. How about a farmer pays them to rescue his kidnapped daughter from a monster only to find the 'monster' merely looks odd and the daughter loves him and has run away from an overbearing parent.

Even better have the farmer *blackmail* them into doing it >:->

Hmm, they meet a dryad who's distraught because she can't return to her tree which has been chopped down... further investigation reveals she's a Dutch Elm dryad or equivalent and her tree was infected and threatening the entire forest and all the dryads and they assumed she'd die too, except she hasn't..

There's some money in civil engineering problems - broken waterwheel, lock, windmill, wagon, plough, whatever - especially if it (as another comment suggests) causes you a problem because you're in an animist world where the spirit of the river can intervene.

If you're feeling cruel, something like the arrangement of waterwheel and river is obviously wrongheaded to someone from the modern world; no-one knows why, but it will become clear when the characters "fix" it and the spirit of the wossname becomes somewhat irate, leading them to nice) have to put it all back or nasty) kill the innocent spirit of the wossname, and either way to complete ingratitude on the part of the locals.

Do you have an overall plot? Maybe try and have little incidents that introduce characters who will be key later, or have some forshadowing in a little one-sesh miniplot.

It's a good one, but I've already thrown that one at them. they fixed teh watermill (with some help from the river spirit) a couple of months ago.

Hm. Commerce, then? The locals have suffered a serious crop failure; what can be traded for more food? C21st Europeans should be far more likely to consider commerce as an option than peasant villagers - particularly going out and trading rather than waiting for traders to come to you.

Involvement in local criminal investigation? Sure, "accused of a crime" is an old cliche, but a travelling band of actors is always going to be a prime suspect for petty theft or to take the blame for drunken fights - perhaps not without justification. And in a magical world the judicial process might be very odd and unsatisfying to our PCs. If one of the NPC actors _is_ guilty and is found so for reasons that look wrong to our PCs, they can bust 'em out of jail only to find out that they _are_ guilty, and comedy ensues.

These are both a bit obvious really.

Actors have sometimes been accused of "stealing away" children, perhaps one of the young performers actually ran away, but the parents don't know that? (And, of course, if the parents turn out to be abusive...)

Alternatively, there was a certain Doctor Who episode featuring Shakespeare where magic got mixed up with the play! :-)

Something investigative?

Local legend/curse/whatever that needs to be resolved, but will require talking, negotiating, possibly interrogating, maybe some minor illegality (eg breaking and entering) to prove that someone's lying about something?

Thanks. That sparked a useful idea which I used last night.

I'd do it, but I can't think of an apropriate 'monster'. There's relatively few non-human races - a dwarf would probably be the only one that the daughter might fancy - and they're reasonably well known. A faun might be plausible, but they're more likely to be after a quick fling then elopement. Still, it might be possible. I'll ponder that one.

I'm trying to do this - many of the scenarios carry 'fringe' information that gives clues to the larger plot line. There are some recurring NPCs as well - and they have their own motives and plot lines.

I think I can use that one. This economy is fairly clued into trade, but theft is theft. A suitable crime should fill up one session. Now all I need is a crime that could be blamed on a being with no hands...

I like that one, but I've already established the youngest member of the company as the son of the lead actor. The company is in fact currently oversize, so they wouldn't take anyone who asked.

Then again, I might be able to find a twist that would work...

I like the idea, but am stumped for a suitable legend/curse. Random background info. HOrses are important, white horses tend to be venerated, unicorns are rarely seen and always special.

THere is some ancestor worship. There is a large scale 'curse' on the land due to the breaking of a major artefact - the party seek a way to resolve this long term.

Culture is roughly Tudor, but with Roman and pagan elements added in.

Try "White horse (or unicorn?) found dead in village quite-a-lot-of-years ago".

And now, either
1) A curse has recently struck the town as reprisal for someone killing it
2) Sabotage, under guise of curse
A) To pin blame on someone for natural death
B) To expose the real killer (possibly by family of whoever was blamed)

Lots you can do with a curse, real or imagined

Theft of consumables?

Eating the food stores, drinking the innkeeper's best wine, that sort of thing?

If your troupe have a reputation for Partying Hard, then the opportunity and motive present themselves...

That's good to know :)

Couldn't be the party members -they're rich by local standards and could prove it if pushed, but perhaps one of their travelling companions.

(I was thinking their pet harpies made ideal scapegoats, but there are limits to what a harpy can steal - and these are young ones, only just getting the knack of flying)

Can you think of a way of blaming a harpy? Harpys are generally disliked and viewed as sheep stealers, feeders on corpses, generally ugly and unlucky.

The party have two infant harpies (vocabulary at the level of a small toddler) that are getting used to being around people...

Inspiration needed

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