Tuesday, October 15, 2024

Encounters: Highwaymen

<- Encounter index

Roll 1d10. After using an encounter, remove it and write a new one.

Wilds

  • 1 rookie highwayman in need of robbery experience. Wants to apply to a highwayman company.
  • 2 servants of highwaymen interview the party to determine if they are worthy of being robbed.
  • 3 highwaymen and their dog on a picnic in beautiful landscape, discussing the finer points of highway robbery.
  • 4 fans looking for their highwayman idol, Danil the Dagger-Demon.
  • 5 highwaymen ride up to the party and congratulate them on the honor of being robbed by the Crimson Crossbows.
  • 6) Insolvent noble tries highway robbery, along with 5 servants. Dislikes the uncomfortable wilderness.
  • 7 dwarven highwaymen. Methodical and professional. Ask for an inventory of the party’s valuables to calculate whether they are worth stealing.
  • 8) 3 highwaymen meeting 5 aspirants hoping to join their company, questioning them and testing their skills.
  • 9) 5 highwaymen robbing 4 traders. One trader secretly in love with the highwayman leader.
  • 10 highwaymen of the absolute elite. Will only rob royalty and high nobility. They laugh at the party’s poverty and raggedness.

 

Rural

  • 1 noble was rude to a highwayman company, who took his money, his horse, his servants, and his clothes. Furious, wants revenge.
  • 2 highwaymen visit the village leader to discuss buying intel on passing rich travellers.
  • 3) 2 lovestruck youths compete for the affectations of a visiting highwayman.
  • 4 highwaymen ride through the village with great pomp and circumstance. Villagers fascinated.
  • 5 highwaymen hiding from pursuing soldiers in a friendly farmer’s barn.
  • 6 highwaymen arrange a dance at the village green.
  • 7 highwaymen forced to stay at cheap inn. Disgruntled.
  • 8) 5 highwaymen meet 3 fences to sell stolen goods.
  • 9 highwaymen crash the local economy through excessive spending of stolen wealth.
  • 10) Two companies of 5 highwaymen in the street with weapons drawn, arguing about robbery rights in the local area. Villagers hide indoors.

 

Town

  • 1 highwayman in jail. Mob of angry fans demand their release.
  • 2 concerned citizens speaking in public about the dangers of glamorizing the highwayman way of life. Townsfolk mostly disinterested.
  • 3 incognito highwaymen spying on merchant company.
  • 4 elven highwaymen on decade-long break from robbery, overheard talking about their hidden treasure.
  • 5 highwaymen daringly rob the party in the middle of the street (after bribing the guards). It’s mostly a publicity stunt.
  • 6 highwaymen hiring porters for an extravagant clothes shopping trip.
  • 7 highwaymen, the Regents of the Road, have massive bounty placed on their heads by town officials.
  • 8 actors making a play about legendary highwayman “Perfect Johnny” said to operate in these parts. The script writer would love to meet him.
  • 9 drunken fans debating which highwayman is the best. Brawl will begin soon.
  • 10 highwaymen holding a ball at the fanciest tavern in town.

Wilderlands Encounter Index

So, I'm starting a Rolemaster campaign set in the Wilderlands. Rolemaster has a nice big chart of NPC encounters (Rolemaster Classic Creatures & Treasure 10-03), but I wanted some more detail for my encounters. So I'm going to try and write encounter tables for each kind of NPC, one for each area type (Wilds, Rural, Town, and City). I'm counting all rural and town areas in the Wilderlands as "border" areas. Note, not all NPCs appear in all types of areas.

Here is an index of the NPC types. I'll add links as I write them up.

Locals, working

Locals, playing/relaxing

Locals, traveling

Locals, hauling goods

Local rowdies

Actors/minstrels

Fishermen/hunters

General travelers

Merchants

Messengers

Nobles

Pilgrims

Priests

Refugees

Assayers/tax takers

Constables

Police guards

Police patrol

Militia unit

Soldiers

Scouts/watchers

Military guards

Military patrol

Military unit

Assassins

Bandits

Beggars/cripples

Burglars

Highwaymen

Muggers

Pickpockets

Cutpurses

Raiders

Spies

Thieves

Trackers/searchers

Vigilantes/fanatics

Adventurers