Introduction:
This one is all Marc Plourde’s fault. In our recent Gods of the Fall game, he ran this encounter in our first adventure. I thought it was a pretty interesting encounter because the setup gave us players a lot of choices and helped us define our characters. This is not a big set piece I know, but small encounters can mean a lot to players if it helps define themselves and the tone of an area or a campaign. You can find Marc Plourde’s writings and gaming tips over at his Inspiration Strikes Blog.
Scene:
Someone is on the street corner proselytizing to the people passing by. A group of folks with opposing views come and accost them in sight of the PCs. Quite a simple concept really but you can do a lot with this.
Mood:
So the mood for a scene like this is entirely in your hands. You are basically establishing two factions in your world. How do they act? If the corner crier is spouting blasphemies and member of the inquisition simply just walks up and shoots him with a blunderbuss, then you’ve established a tone for this conflict. The inquisition clearly thinks they can get away with this kind of blatant violence. If the two factions end up in a shouting match none resorting to violence you set a different tone. If it’s just simply a crowd of people heckling the crier then you’ve set a tone. The mood is clearly in your hands. What happens next is totally up to the players. Continue reading “Set Piece: The Proselytizer”