Welcome to the next post in a series where I describe the adventures during a 5th Edition Dungeons & Dragons campaign I ran a little while ago.
In the last post, the party found themselves in jail after a barroom brawl. They were freed on condition that they find the notorious outlaw Enthor of the Woods, and either persuade him to surrender or kill him. This was, of course, a trap; he completely outmatched them, and they approached him with open hostility. They ended up fleeing the scene and leaving the Duchy of Filrath with their tails between their legs.
Return to Tuadun Again
When the adventurers returned to Tuadun, they were a little unsure what to do next. They reported to mayor Gerd Ardrix to pass him the share of the trading profits he was due. He was very pleased with the success of their trading, but less happy to hear of the brawl and ramifications of their subsequent failure to solve the issue of Enthor.
With the hag problem they'd previously encountered dealt with (or so they thought), Gerd had no immediate need for their services, but told them they were heroes and welcome to stay in town.
Naturally, the characters took that as an excuse to head for the tavern. After all, it what good adventurers do, isn't it ?
Image created by AI in NightCafe Studio
The Noticeboard
On the way to the tavern, they saw Captain Porubh of the Tuadun Constabulary setting up a noticeboard in the town square, not far at all from the pub. On it were posters offering a variety of adventure opportunities. I've shown these below, screenshotted from the original - hopefully they show up okay !
The final poster was crossed out in red ink and marked as claimed; Captain Porubh mentioned to the party that even though the dragon had been slain by them in town rather than in the woods, he had the reward that he'd been holding pending their return.
The idea with these posters was to give the players a bit more agency. I had an out-of-character discussion with them, just so they understood the options open to them, as well as checking that they were comfortable with the concept (luckily, they were !)
The idea was that new posters would be regularly added, and that there were other parties of adventurers out there who might take up some they hadn't used so they shouldn't assume that an adventure would wait for them indefinitely. The overall number of options would remain roughly the same, however.
There was a mix of adventure hooks here, with varying levels of difficulty and duration. I made it clear that some of the harder ones would really stretch their abilities, but that even the most lethal would be unlikely to end with a TPK (Total Party Kill, for those who aren't familiar with D&D slang).
Having a noticeboard like this is a fairly standard trope in D&D. I really like it because it helps to prevent railroading (a situation where the storyline follows a pre-determined course set by the DM). That's a lazy and easy way for both DM's and players to work, but ultimately takes away player agency as they can just cruise along a pre-determined storyline with little influence over the outcome. Anything which presents players with significant choices can be a big help in breaking railroading.
Next time... the characters choose an adventure...
Previous posts in this series;
The Tarak D&D Campaign - Setting Part 1
The Tarak D&D Campaign - Setting Part 2
The Tarak D&D Campaign - Setting Part 3
The Tarak D&D Campaign - Player Creation and Briefing
The Tarak D&D Campaign - Arrival At Tuadun
The Tarak D&D Campaign - Mayor Gerd's Problems
The Tarak D&D Campaign - Saving Shepherd Mirag
The Tarak D&D Campaign - Mother White and Sister Raben
The Tarak D&D Campaign - The First Venture Into the Heimial Forest
The Tarak D&D Campaign - An Unpleasant Encounter
The Tarak D&D Campaign - Back to the Woods, and an Important Discovery
The Tarak D&D Campaign - Back Into The Bad Woods
The Tarak D&D Campaign - The Hags' Lair
The Tarak D&D Campaign - Tuadun Attacked !
The Tarak D&D Campaign - Finishing off the Brigands
The Tarak D&D Campaign - Trading and Partying In Filrath
The Tarak D&D Campaign - Enthor of the Woods