Campaign Complications (CBOH)

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Table 19: Campaign Complications in the table section lists some of the more common problems which humanoid PCs face on a daily basis. These are presented as suggestions for Dungeon Masters to draw from when setting up campaigns containing humanoid PCs. All Dungeon Masters are urged to expand and customize these tables for their own campaigns. The more powerful a humanoid PC is, the more often a complication should arise. Experienced DMs need not use the tables directly, but can use them as reminders of the types of problems humanoids face in human civilizations.
The campaign complications are divided into two groups: wilderness and civilization. When humanoid player characters are outside of settlements, they will face the types of complications listed on the Wilderness table. In human or demihuman villages, towns, and cities, the complications they must deal with are those of civilization. A brief description of these complications follows.
Adventurers: The humanoid character has become the target of an adventuring party, and must somehow find a way to throw them off its trail. The reason for the adventurers' interest should be worked into the campaign plot.
Arrested: The humanoid is arrested for committing a crime, for suspicion of a crime, or just because the local authorities don't like its presence. Often, when a humanoid commits a crime, it does not know or understand the local laws and customs, or it has fallen prey to unscrupulous exploitation.
Banished: For inadvertently committing a crime or social blunder in human civilization, the humanoid is banished from the settlement by a local mob, militia, or adventuring party.
Captured: The humanoid is captured by those hostile to it and must escape or be rescued. This complication is often used in conjunction with another, such as Banished, Arrested, Slavers, etc.
Challenged: A human or demihuman NPC decides to impress his or her peers by challenging a humanoid PC to a duel or contest.
Cleric: A cleric takes an interest in the humanoid. This interest can be with an eye to befriend or convert the humanoid, or it can be of a negative nature — an evil cleric needs the humanoid for some foul purpose, or a good cleric decides to eradicate the monster.
Educational Limitation: The humanoid runs into a problem due to a lack of knowledge concerning the settlement currently being visited. This could do with reading or language, with a knowledge of laws or customs, or even with understanding the local currency.
Exploitation: An unscrupulous human (or demihuman) takes advantage of the humanoid while pretending to befriend him. Exploitation can be overt: slavery, selling a humanoid to the battle pits, turning a humanoid into a carnival sideshow exhibit; or it can be subtle a swindler's con job, a human tricking the humanoid into fighting his enemies, etc.
Fear: Many humans and demihumans fear humanoids. To them, humanoids are nothing but foul monsters. In this type of complication, humanoids must deal with people who are deathly afraid of them.\
Humanoids: Other humanoids appear to hinder the humanoid character. These can be members of the original tribe, others of the same race, or humanoids from a different race. If they are from a different race, they could be hostile to the character's racial type.
Hunters: Hunters cross the humanoid's path. They can be searching for that humanoid or for one of like race (to sell to a battle pit or wizard, for example) or they could be after other game entirely and then decide to focus on the humanoid. Hunters might be of any race.
Local Authorities: The local authorities (militia, town leaders) take an interest in the humanoid. They may want to keep an eye on the stranger, hire the humanoid to do a specific task, or they harass the humanoid to drive it away.
Mob: An angry mob gathers and comes after the humanoid. They could be motivated by something the humanoid did (or is believed to have done), or they could simply band together out of fear or hatred. Monster The humanoid wanders near a monster's lair, and the monster decides it wants the humanoid for some reason (food, slave, etc.).
Physical Limitation: The humanoid runs into something in human society which is a hinderance based on its size or body type (steep stairs, door or furniture too large or small, etc.)
Prejudice: The humanoid encounters severe prejudice or outright hatred. There may not be specific restrictions or laws, but humans can hinder and abuse humanoids by refusing to serve them, throwing garbage at them, calling them names, cursing them, or simply going out of their way to avoid them.
Restrictions: A restriction or law hinders the humanoid. Samples: no humanoid can be served at a particular shop or establishment; no humanoid can enter a particular part of the city; no humanoid can enter the city itself; no humanoid can talk to citizens, etc.
Rogue: A rogue exploits the humanoid (see Exploitation).
Sentenced to Death: A death sentence is a hard thing to live with, and humanoids often blunder into them. These should be used only rarely, and they will often become the focus of a particular adventure.
Slavers: Slavers, either humanoid or human, hunt the humanoid character. If captured, the character might be sold or taken back to the slavers' community and put to work.
Social Blunder: Due to a lack of understanding or knowledge concerning social customs, the humanoid makes a blunder. This can be mild and amusing, or major and unforgiven. Any action can become a social blunder, from a humanoid not knowing the proper way to respond to a greeting, to the humanoid using a tribal greeting (which may frighten, anger, or amuse the humans at whom it is directed).
Superstition: One of the humanoid's superstitions (see Chapter Six) comes into play at an inopportune moment.
Trait: A situation develops wherein one of the humanoid's monstrous traits causes a problem.
Travelers: Traveling humans or demihumans encounter the humanoid and react in one of several ways: hostile, friendly, suspicious, curious, fearful, etc. This is one way to bring the problems of cultural interaction to a humanoid character in the wilderness. Warrior A fighter type encounters the humanoid and decides to test his strength against it, banish it, drive it away, or take other "heroic" action — usually to the humanoid's dismay.
Wizard: A mage desires the humanoid. Usually, wizards need humanoids to get special spell components (which may come from the humanoid's dead body!), to help with a magical ceremony, or to undertake a quest for which they have unique talents.