[Setting Help/Adventure Hooks] Pimp my Valley!

[sporkpimp]

So the setting of the D&D campaign I've started (my first! hooray!) starts out in a valley territory called Link Ridge. Link Ridge is named such because it's at the meeting of two mountain ranges, and also because it looks kinda like a chain link when drawn on a map. It is bisected by a major river with minor tributaries flowing down from various peaks. (See my avatar? Imagine the circle is the mountains and the slash is the river. It flows North to South.)

The Facts:
The Barony of Link Ridge was also the metaphorical "link" between Nerath and the wild lands to the north, where the monstrous races roam. Even though Nerath has fallen (150+ years ago in my setting's time), Link Ridge remains because of its natural defenses and a strong human castle at the Northern mouth of the river (the seat of the Baron, who styles himself a King these days since no contact has been made with higher nobility in centuries).

There is a causeway across the river leading to the castle-town. There's an old wizard's tower to the West of it, where our Deva PC recorporated. (The castle itself sits on the East bank.) There are woods with Elves in them within the valley, nomadic Halflings who roam the rivers, and at least one Dwarven settlement in the northeastern ridge which sees regular trade with the castle town -- they elected our Dwarven PC to be their representative. There's a hole to the underdark somewhere in the Eastern ridge, where our outcast Drow PC comes from. In the Northwestern mountains there used to be human mining operations, but they've largely been wiped out except for the occasional survivor like our Human PC. There were once Goliaths, but they may have been wiped out like the tribe that our Goliath Guest PC called family.

Link Ridge is bigger than Switzerland but smaller than Ireland. It may or may not be an ancient crater that has been deformed by time and the flow of water. Most of the maps are generations out of date, the world slowly shrinking as the castle's sphere of influence shrinks and more and more land is taken over by bandits, monsters, and exiles (and the occasional wandering wizard, as our Human PC's community was unfortunate to discover.)

The Problem:

It's also boring. A big part of the Heroic tier for my PCs is going to be exploring the valley and the mountains for fun and profit. I'm finding myself a bit stumped in regards to cool things to find.

I like my little setting and I think it has potential, but it needs to be fleshed out. What kinds of settlements could they find out there? What sorts of terrain and hazards? Where would they find the kinds of mysterious magical loot that adventurers love to stumble upon? What are the cool implications of the setting that I haven't figured out yet?

[Gyrfalcon]

- There's a volcanic vent underneath one corner of Link Ridge, home to all sorts of vermin, minor fire creatures, pure elemental magics, etcetera. Grab whatever you want from White Plume Mountain and go at it.
- When Nerath was still a going concern, there was a religious militant order dedicated to Ioun that took on a fair amount of responsibility for keeping the northern border secure and scouting into its reaches to identify goblinoid chieftains and other unifying threats. Their chapter houses along the border have been abandoned for more than 200 years now, but still make excellent dungeons.
- Nerath fell because of the actions of an evil nihilistic cult that released monsters into the castles and cities of each of its major provinces, all at once. Link Ridge survived in part because a circle of druids was able to magically trap many of the more dangerous monsters in a stasis field, in the old haunted woods in the southwest foothills. The spells are beginning to crumble, though... leading to the gradual release of dire wolves, carrion crawlers, bulettes, and possibly even a bar-lgura demon or young dragon.
- There's a tribe of goblins in the northern wildlands, clever but overmatched by the orcs, gnolls and ogres that share the land, and seriously thinking of migrating south. It's up to the PCs whether they fight the goblin migration, allow it to pass through in return for payment/favors, or maybe even try to carve out a chunk of land for the goblins to settle on in return for a military alliance.
- Oh, remember that evil Nerath-destroying cult? There's a disciple of it still around (possibly a lesser vampire by now) who wants to finish the job. Given the chance, he'll try and set lizardfolk and zombies loose on the barony, make pacts with devils and oni, and maybe finish things off by opening up a major path to the Underdark just in time for the Paragon tier.

[larqven]

I'm almost wondering what the problem is--you have an enormous territory that is largely shut out from the outside world but has a lot of potential enemies. There's been a lot of people getting 'wiped out' who is doing the wiping? That question alone may get your crew through the heroic tier. Goblinoids, lots and lots of the various flavors of goblinoids are the usual suspects at low levels. So are Orc tribes, and gnolls are the clown princes of barbaric freakiness; gnolls should be presented as subtle and terrifying in their ability to stalk and raid even in small numbers.

What's the political situation? You have a baron who has become a 'King'--what's he like? Did he personally declare himself king, or was it his grandfather? For what it's worth; the valley you've described is huge for a mere barony, although frontier dominions typically have larger (and poorer) areas than those closer to imperial center. The land sound pretty good though, there could have been several baronies located in a land larger than Switzerland.

Were the humans sharing the valley with demihuman realms? Dwarves might have been much stronger in the past and ruled all the mountains and much of the hills and lowlands back when the barony was part of Nerath? Maybe the dwarves might want some of that land back? That could make for a difficult negotiation for your crew with the dwarf PC needing to really step up and more role play than fighting.

Maybe there is strong duke to the south, amused at the upstart king, who wants to reestablish or add the valley to his domain? Also, if a barony can become a kingdom; than its not impossible to imagine the 'king' being bumped off by other nobility within the valley itself. There too, is the possibility of political fun if you or your players go for that; secret agents, doppelgangers, goblin tribes working and raiding for the conspirators, etc. Maybe there is a hobgoblin 'civilization' to the north that will cause your adventurers no end of trouble at low to mid levels. What if, as the previous poster pointed out, that nastier barbarians are encrouching, massive horde of gnolls and orcs working together. Your assignment might be to save the enemy kingdom lest it collapse and endanger the valley?

You've got a stated connection to the underdark and drow--drow are damn scary when they hit the PCs at low levels. Troglodytes are also in the offing and more to the level of the PC's; maybe a few drow are using trogs as flunkies to get sacrificial victims? Speaking of evil fey, there is also the possibility of evil fey from the feywild; hags along the river that menace trade leaving the valley to the south. Maybe evil eladrin will unleash a wild hunt for their amusement--will the native elves allow it or help the heroes oppose it?

Maybe there are hidden minotaurs in the valley or on the other side of the mountain wall? What if they were a cause of the goliaths dissappearing, the heroes might have to locate the minotaur community, free goliath slaves, maybe help good minotaurs stop a baphomet cult and their savage minotaur enforcers? Don't forget dragons, a family of dragons might also be part of the 'wiped out' puzzle; it would make perfect sense for dragons to sieze upon a large, but remote and isolated realm to set up to rule and hunt. Throughout their careers, your crew might hunt down and kill the malefactor dragons, with each dragon getting stronger than the last (complete with flunkies!), until the dragons leave or decide to play by some neighborly rules.

All this--and I never even came up with any undead or shadowfell connections!;)

Hope that this gives you a few ideas.:)

[pnewman15]

How about some Dragons? You mention one being 'released' but what about one who is just visiting? Dragons fly so they could be from outside the valley. There's no need to explain what they eat, because what they eat isn't on the map. This week they were just flying a little out of the way.

What about plateaus? There could be a few square miles of 'whatever you want' right next door, but up these 500' cliffs.

How about some more PC race details - Maybe the Eladrin live in Anasazi style cliff villages and use their fey step to get from building to building but any invader is going to need ladders?