Quote from: Aglondir on November 06, 2021, 01:12:40 AM

Quote from: SHARK on November 04, 2021, 10:52:23 PM
Greetings!

I often find myself using Border Outposts and Border Forts a lot in my campaigns. They feature routinely. I have several basic floor plans that I use, and a few different pre-prepared garrison compositions always ready to go. I also have a set of about 25 "stock" kinds of character types I populate these places with as NPC's, from a standard kind of average soldier; an experienced veteran; a Corporal; a Sergeant; a Quartermaster; Lieutenant; Captain; Company Scout; Teamster; Blacksmith; Bowyer; Weaponsmith; Traveling Pilgrim (M); Traveling Pilgrim (F); Traveling Pilgrim Adolescent; Traveling Monk; Visiting Food Merchant; Visiting Dry Goods Merchant; Bearded Trapper; Veteran Hunter; Visiting Miner; Traveling Preacher; Preacher's Daughter; 23; Visiting Barbarian (Friendly); Visiting Tobacco Merchant; 25

Mostly composed of typical people likely to be stationed in such a place, or likely to be visiting regularly, or a likely enough local that travels through the area.

Often, just from some quick social interactions with NPC's, and a brief consulting of the area notes, and all kinds of adventures almost instantly develop.

Do you use Border Outposts and Border Forts often?

Semper Fidelis,

SHARK

Shark,

Great post. The last adventure I ran with a keep was a one-night game of D&D for Halloween. A group of bandits had turned the ruins of an abandoned keep into their lair, accosting passengers on a nearby road. The town depended on the road for trade with another nearby down, and enlisted the PCs to solve the problem. The bandits had started a rumor that the keep was haunted, which the PCs figured was just a ruse. Much to their surprise (and the bandits as well) a ghost lived in the dungeon beneath the keep. Granted it wasn't really that deep, but everyone had a good time.

Questions:

1. In your NPC roster, what's the difference between a corporal and a sergeant? is it just a matter of rank, or do they have specialized functions?
2. Is there a noble family that owns the keep? Or is it more of a military garrison?

Greetings!

Thank you, my friend! Your adventure on Halloween sounds like fun! And a dungeon below the keep! *laughing* Ah yes! So many opportunities!

To your questions; Well, yes, a Corporal is different from a Sergeant in rank and responsibility. A Corporal is typically a squad leader, in charge of 8 to 15 men. A Sergeant can be in charge of anything from a squad to a platoon of four squads. That is structurally. Experience wise, they are also different. Corporals have been soldiering for usually 6 years or less, while Sergeants have been serving for 6 years and more. Often 8, 10, or 12years. Different grades of Sergeant go on for even longer, as a kind of permanent enlisted status. Sergeants, of different ranks--Sergeant, Staff Sergeant, Gunnery Sergeant, First Sergeant, Master Sergeant, Sergeant Major--all have different kinds of responsibilities, and some can have wildly different specializations.

I generally have a kind of quasi-Ancient World/Dark Ages theme in my campaign, so I have a random table I can quickly determine if a particular Keep, border fort, or border outpost is owned and controlled by a local Noble family, or if it is occupied by a professional, official military force. Sometimes, there can of course even be both--a local Nobleman can also have officially recognized rank and authority in a realm and have responsibility over various military forces, whether such forces are officially recruited and organized by a Republic, a Kingdom, or an Empire.

Semper Fidelis,

SHARK

If you're looking for a border fort that's very well fleshed out with a real late Roman Empire feel, you should check out The Sinister Stone of Sakkara for ACKS.  Could easily port it over to other systems and it adds details like period-inspired feasts, jars of olive oil as wealth, etc.  And there are some very cool images of the fort itself in the module.

Quote from: Persimmon on November 06, 2021, 09:59:27 AM
If you're looking for a border fort that's very well fleshed out with a real late Roman Empire feel, you should check out The Sinister Stone of Sakkara for ACKS.  Could easily port it over to other systems and it adds details like period-inspired feasts, jars of olive oil as wealth, etc.  And there are some very cool images of the fort itself in the module.

Great suggestion Persimmon.  I'll definitely check this out.  I'm looking for something to kickstart the next phase of my current campaign.

Shark, I think they're really important! The first adventure I wrote for ACKS features a fully-statted out border fort with maps, floorplans for each building, garrison, stats, and more. That's in Sinister Stone of Sakkara. Capital of the Borderlands (the gazetteer for the region) then explains the overall structure of the borderlands with a full roster of forts.

and I for one thank you for that.