{"id":529,"date":"2018-11-08T09:00:12","date_gmt":"2018-11-08T14:00:12","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.torchbearerrpg.com\/?p=529"},"modified":"2018-11-27T09:36:25","modified_gmt":"2018-11-27T14:36:25","slug":"way-down-in-the-hole","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.torchbearerrpg.com\/?p=529","title":{"rendered":"Way Down in the Hole"},"content":{"rendered":"\n
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Castle Erobring by Kurt Komoda<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

As a Torchbearer GM, your job is to create opportunities for players to make choices.
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The communities you\u2019ve placed on your map have problems! Not only do they face the possibility of real-world horrors like natural disasters, war and plague, the lands surrounding them are filled with goblins, dragons and evil enchanters. The dungeons and hazardous locations on your map won\u2019t just exist in isolation (for the most part), they\u2019ll create direct and indirect threats to the settlements on your map, and the people in those places will notice!
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Always consider how the dungeons and hazardous locations you put on your map might threaten one or more settlements on the map. Maybe some of them aren\u2019t immediate threats: They\u2019ll evolve over time from isolated incidents to threat, unless the players intervene. Others might lay dormant, and will only become threats if the PCs disturb something they shouldn\u2019t. Some, of course, will present an immediate problem.
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In Starting Fresh<\/a>, I placed three dungeons on my map to start: Under the House of the Three Squires in the south, The Dread Crypt of Skogenby just a hop, skip and a jump to the west, and Thelon\u2019s Rift in the north.
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The Dread Crypt represents the immediate threat. It was dormant until some villagers disturbed the ancient barrow, and now an evil spirit is haunting the village and killing people. It doesn\u2019t get more immediate than that. But there\u2019s also room for evolution. The players may decide to pursue another adventure first. In that case, the threat presented by the Dread Crypt will grow: More undead will boil out of the crypt and invade Skogenby, destroying the village and flooding nearby communities like Asktoft with refugees from the slavering undead horde. The PCs could still turn the tide, but the danger will be greater.
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Under the House of the Three Squires is the delayed threat. While the initial victims will have lost their lives if the players don\u2019t tackle this adventure immediately, the monsters don\u2019t immediately threaten the surrounding countryside. However, if left undisturbed, they will soon begin raiding merchants and travelers using the Post Road. Asktoft and even Holtburg will begin to feel the sting of the cut trade route over time.
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Thelon\u2019s Rift is my dormant site. Reputedly filled with fabulous treasure, it will stay in stasis until the PCs tackle it (or I get inspired to do something evil). I don\u2019t want to spoil this adventure too much just yet, but the PCs can definitely unleash something horrible if they step wrong within the Rift.
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In placing your own dungeons, try to include a mix of threats. If every dungeon and villain presents an immediate threat, you\u2019ll make your players feel helpless. They\u2019ll feel like their choices don\u2019t matter because no matter what they do, everything else will get even more terrible. On the other hand, if every dungeon and villain is dormant, they\u2019ll feel like their choices don\u2019t have consequences: It won\u2019t matter what they choose to prioritize because everything else will stay the same.
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And make sure to spend some time considering how your threats might evolve over time. Not only will such evolution help your players feel that their characters exist in a living, breathing world in which their choices matter, it will also help ensure that time you spend prepping a dungeon isn\u2019t wasted. You won\u2019t have to worry about the PCs leveling past the adventures you\u2019ve worked on. Instead, you\u2019ll spend a little bit of time updating a given adventure to keep it compelling.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Have You Heard the One About…<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

As I mentioned at the outset, your job as a Torchbearer GM is to create opportunities for players to make choices. Once you\u2019ve created your dungeons and thought about how they\u2019ll threaten your setting, you need to put some information in the players\u2019 hands so they can weigh their options and decide what to prioritize.
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Rumors are one of the best tools at your disposal to do this. When the PCs arrive in a settlement, let them know what people are buzzing about. Maybe you roleplay a bit when they visit the tavern, and the barkeep or some drunken wag fills them in on the latest gossip. Maybe they hear tales from fellow travelers as they wait to pass through the town\u2019s gate. Or you could just tell the players outright what people in town are talking about.
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The first time my players went to town in my new game, they heard the following rumors:<\/p>\n\n\n\n