Running Village Adventures - Parties and Themes

Fantasy RPGs sometimes set adventures in villages, but generally speaking, village adventures are uncommon. Other than for the weakest starting characters, villages are usually deemed insufficiently large or diverse to occupy heroes for long. Villages are usually present only as starting points or stopovers for low-level characters who are traveling through the wilderness, and to a dungeon of some sort.

My own Lukomorye setting is somewhat exceptional in this regard, not only because the population of pre-modern Russia was overwhelmingly rural, but also because villages were the center of Russian spiritual life. Each village lay at the boundary between settled life and the Forest, Order and Chaos, Christianity and the Old Faith. Most villages were sufficiently distant from other population centers to have to rely on its own strength in negotiating this divide. As a microcosm of this primal contest, each village can be said to attract diverse character types, from the parish priest, who nevertheless represents a universal institution (the Church), to the local healer, who traffics with leshys and poleviks (genii locorum that are fae and demonic creatures rolled into one). Though the village is regarded as a specifically human institution, nearly every settlement will have at least one (often more) changeling or shapeshifter. It is not unexpected to encounter a specialist, like a smith or a miller, who possesses some magical facility, and at holiday time, public celebrations might imbue mobs of people with some slight magical talent. 

At the same time, the village is not completely isolated from the outside world. Peasants travel to markets to obtain coin or needed tools, boyars (nobles) send representatives to collect rents, skomorokhi (traveling entertainers) come through for a performance, raiders, bandits and monsters storm in to take whatever is not bolted down, and fires, famines or plagues not infrequently force peasants to go on the road (or into the woods). All in all, villages can be vibrant hubs of life that can keep heroes busy for much of their adventuring careers. And of course, much that is true about the Russian-type village is true about many European (and non-European) villages (though the distances to urban centers would tend to be significantly shorter).

Villages also have structures and institutions that can attract people inclined toward an adventuring life. The hospitable rectory, the bathhouse, the haunted mill, or the house of the old maid who receives visitations from fire serpents might be found in any village, but if the PCs become bored or complacent with any element, the GM can always introduce new features or subtle changes to expected scenarios to keep the players on their toes. Villages are also often populated by superstitious peasants, which makes it possible to run games without supernatural elements, and still having a magical "feel". 

Viktor Vasnetsov, Skomorokhi
Note especially how different the streets and buildings appear
from the typically manicured fantasy village

* * *

There are various factors of village design that I plan to discuss in the course of this series, including spatial layout, peasant mentalities regarding the passage of time, and outsiders, the availability of services, social organization and social bonds, and placement in a wider world. In this first installment, I want to look at two aspects that are basic to any adventure: the in-game reasons for party coherence, and the main themes or occurrences that make the setting 'adventurable'.

Party Coherence

Why are PCs in a village-centric setting called together to undertake mighty deeds? Roll on or select from the following table (d6):

1. All of the adventurers hail from the same village. Perhaps they are not particularly notable, and their fellow peasants simply select them to help solve a particular problem. Possibly, the adventurers are indentured or enslaved, but are offered freedom in exchange for performing the task at hand. Contrariwise, they may be exceptional youths that come from surrounding villages, and are already looked upon as Folk Heroes (regardless of their actual Background).
2. The adventurers are servitors of a local lord. They are called upon to make the rounds to collect rents, defuse conflicts, or investigate any strange goings on in the lord’s domain.
3. The adventurers are gathered together by a contractor who has been hired to populate a new village (or an old village recently ravaged by plague, fire, or raiders) on an estate. They are given favorable (rent-free) terms for a certain period of time. The village becomes their base of operations, though older residents may not initially be happy to see the newcomers. 
4. The adventurers belong to a troop of traveling entertainers. Perhaps they are making their annual circuit, or perhaps they are looking for a place where they can winter, or lie low if hunted by authorities. Many villagers will be happy to see them, but expect tensions (or worse) with the local priest. There is no necessary reason for everyone (or even anyone) in the troop to belong to the entertainer archetype.  
5. The PCs are agents of a foreign prince, rival lord, or a group of bandits. They have come to scout out the village, because they intend to take it over. 
6. (Default) The adventurers are simply passing through en route to somewhere else. They may find places to stay, but treated as outsiders. Something worthy of their attention might come up. 

Ongoing Developments

One approach to designing village adventures is by placing them within ongoing developments that serve as a backdrop to the specific setting or story. The following list may be consulted to determine what has been going on within the last year, because life in a typical pre-modern village is rarely stable for long (which is the main reason for the inhabitants' likely conservative attitudes).

% Roll

01 - 20   Famine (alternatively, blight, drought, flood, poor weather)                                 

21 - 40   Fire (always a hazard in places where wood is the main construction material)

41 - 60   Local conflict between households or factions (recent leadership change likely) 

61 - 65   Recent murder(s), possibly unsolved

66 - 70   Bandit, nomadic, or monster raid                                                                          

71 - 75   Incidences of religious strife, heresy or apostasy 

76 - 80   Recent arrival of important or mysterious outsiders                                              

81 - 84   Plague

85 - 87   Outbreak of lycanthropy                                                                                        

88 - 91   The dead have risen

92 - 95   Monstrous births (or other portents)                                                                      

96 - 98   Sudden surges of magical activity

99 - 00   The recent discovery of a potent magical item, or buried treasure hoard              

Obviously, the percentages can be adjusted. Grittier, historical games may opt to restrict options to those below 85, while high magic settings may focus on the less likely occurrences above 85 (though even mundane settings can have outbreaks of lycanthropy - it's all a question of how it's ultimately explained). 

Next up: spatial layout and institutions