City State and the Wild Orcs of the Purple Claw
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Post Posted: Sat Nov 26, 2005 10:27 am 
 

So I am taking up the mantle of DM for the first time.  Decided to use the Wilderlands setting and run a campaign in reverse for the players.  We have been playing the typical heroes for quite some time and I wanted to shake it up.  So being inspired by a campaign story hour I read somewhere, I decided that we would go with Savage Species and make the players play orc, goblins, half-ogres etc.

Reading through the PG to the Wilderlands, Wilderlands Box Set, and the City State book, I thought the ideal location to base the campaign would be in Dearthwood near the City State.  PC's are struggling for survival against a few different races, druids, rangers, the City State itself, it seems a good place to start.

Now, reading all of the material above leaves me questioning something.  What keeps the orcs of the Purple Claw from entering and exiting the City State at will?  Is it because they are "wild" orcs and would obviously never think of such a thing?  Would they be so noticeable that gate guards of the City State would deny them access?  What keeps these surrounded orcs from entering the City State on a regular basis and re-supplying, stealing food and weapons, or causing further mischief?

Perhaps this has been discussed elsewhere in Judges Guild products that have been previously published, if so I could use some answers.

Thanks for answering my first post on this site, I hope to post a bit more in the future.

-neg

  

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Post Posted: Sat Nov 26, 2005 2:31 pm 
 

Neg,

In a word, nothing.

I consider the relationship between the Orcs of the Dearthwood and the City State at this point to be much along the same lines as that of the Saxons and the Franks during Charlemagne's early rule. Sometimes they are at war, sometimes they are at peace. When they are at wr, it is death to step into each other's territory. When they are at peace... it is merely dangerous. But trade occurs. Certainly, no Orc of the Purple Claw will be allowed in willy-nilly. Usually, an Orc will need to leave hostages, plus his weapons, to get into the city. Of course, if the Orc wants to go in incognito, and "dress down" to try to represent himself as an Orc of a different, unrelated tribe, that is also possible.

IMC, Orcs all pretty much look the same from tribe to tribe, though they are broken up into Black, Gray, and White varieties (Strong, Average, Weak, in that order). Most encounters are with Gray Orcs, with leaders being Black Orcs. Goblinoids are another matter, and each Goblin tribe is recognizable by appearance. But Orcs can easily pass themselves off as members of another tribe simply by changing their clothes... few non-Orcs are familiar enough with Orc dialects to know the difference of one accent to another when the Orc is speaking Alryan, too, so that's not a serious problem (though some Dunael Rangers of the Dearthwood can tell the difference...)

The Goblin thing is not official yet, though, so it would not limit your campaign (and shouldn't even if it were "official," as Bob's Rule #1 is "Do with the Wilderlands what you will.")



  
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