Stronghold Campaign

[Blackhawk748]

Ok this will be the first PF game ive ever run, but ive done this style of game before in 3.5. In the Campaign the great big Empire has imploded by years long civil war and any real sense of order and stability are gone. There are almost none of the original nobility in charge and most of the nobility that are left are simply hiding. So enter the PCs. They are in the Westerlands, which is across the sea from the Empire but was still part of it and as such is now a mess after the war. Each PC is leading a group of 100 people and has recently taken over a rundown Motte and Bailey, which they will have to fix up.

For this im using slightly tweaked Ultimate Campaign rules, im just scaling down the size of things. So first things, any immediate traps i should know about in PF? Any real big problems with Ultimate Campaigns?

As for the Campaign itself, while i have a few ideas for enemy lords, i could always use some more inspiration so any help you can provide would be much appreciated.

As always thanks much

Note: Its actually closer to 3.P as i am allowing 3.5 PrCs.

[Blackhawk748]

As ive just spent most of today making a Stronghold map, i have now realized that i need to make random events, however id like something more interesting than, "Wolves are attacking Sire", "The Cows are struck down by a strange malady Sire" or the ever classic "Rabbits are breeding at an extraordinary rate, our crops are threatened!"

Right now ive got:
"Zombies have risen from the grave Sire! They are attacking the people!"
"A (insert monster here) has come out of the (insert location here) and is attacking!"
"An angry druid is attacking us with (insert animal or vermin here) Sire! What do we do?"

Thats pretty much all ive got right now, they dont have to be negative, it could be good, like "While on patrol our men saved a caravan from some (insert minor threat) they have given us (insert item here) as thanks." Serious or humorous are fine.

[saracoth]

You might get some inspiration from Way of the Wicked 2: Call Forth Darkness. Some events from the Kingmaker adventure path may work just fine on a stronghold scale. I think there are kingdom events in Ultimate Campaign -- even if you aren't playing at that scale, they might be useful!

Here are some random ideas (some from those modules and some not):

• Natives and previous occupants. Possibly neighbors. For example, subterranean underdwellers or some intelligent undead. This leads to opportunity for cooperation, conflict, exploitation, or tenuous alliances and "cold war" situations. If it's kept from coming to a head immediately with some kind of alliance or truce, it allows for ongoing and escalating conflicts as a contrast to random-monster-of-the-week scenarios.
• Upsetting or drawing the attention of local animal life. Disturbing their hunting grounds. Could escalate to the druid idea you noted.
• Changes to terrain or environment. Maybe a tunnel or magical portal is discovered. This might add some life to a stale environment later in the campaign.
• Magical transportation can be a double-edged sword, adding convenience and expanding reach but possibly adding another vulnerable point to protect.
• Danger from within. Politics. Enemies disguised as allies. For example, a rabble rouser decrying the PCs for repeatedly leaving the settlement to do adventurer stuff (assuming they are going to do that) instead of playing administrators or protectors. And, given that this is 3.P, probably amassing more personal wealth week after week than the average commoner will see in a lifetime.
• People are disappearing. Messengers, hunters, or others with cause to leave the stronghold. It might still just be a monster-of-the-week, but used very sparingly it can add variety to "there's an X we need you to kill."
• PCs can be sent out for reasons other than threats. Maybe their local Alchemist needs samples from this creature or that. Heck, it could even be plants, minerals, etc. Creature fights might be omitted or be a surprise. Still, basically the equivalent of a video game fetch quest. They only reason they weren't as grating to me in Kingmaker was that the PCs were exploring everywhere anyway and would eventually fetch stuff without going out of their way. If your group isn't into that sort of thing, use this sparingly or disguise it well.
• Accidents. Also things that could be either accidental or deliberate. Maybe things are "quiet" for a while, with the only events of note being things like a house fire, a few families coming down with what seems to be a mundane illness, rats or mold getting into food stores. Alone they can seem like accidents, and strung together with no obvious threats in between might lead to paranoia. Whether it's justified or not is a question for you to settle.
• Bandits. Cliche, yes, but they have their niche.
• Neutral or friendly encounters and newcomers. Maybe the stronghold gets an occasional influx of refugees or a lone traveler. Some may be great (hey, we needed a doctor), so-so (a...cheesemaker? okay), or questionable. Perhaps someone is known, by PCs or one of their people, to be a criminal. Now they've escaped, come to your stronghold, and claim to have been wrongly accused all along. Do the PCs let him in, and if so in what capacity? What if he serves well as a guard and (after a while) seems to merit a position of authority? What, if anything, will he do in retaliation if spurned?
• Related to friendly encounters, maybe the PCs ultimately befriend a local by coming to their rescue or helping them solve a problem/kill a threat. They could become a source of future information, scouting, or other aid. Through having an alliance, their problems can become PCs problems. And the problems of a loner, wanderer, or non-humanoid may be different than those faced by a settlement, which could add variety.
• Religious problems. Could be political or violent, positive or negative. For example, a secret cult of a plainly bad religion. Alternately, maybe the settlers prefer to serve a different god than the party's Cleric or Paladin (if any) and demand a shrine. Or maybe there's no conflict between settlers and PCs, but they still demand a shrine or temple.
• Mundane disease can spread, especially in confined spaces like the PCs might have early on. It doesn't even have to be deadly, but forcing people to work through "just a few points of Con damage" could hurt morale, while coddling the people until they recover can hurt productivity.
• The people want or demand something that isn't good for them. Maybe your hunters managed to subdue an already-wounded animal or magical beast, and want to cage it up in the middle of town. However, it's a disaster waiting to happen.
• The people demand something that's good for them, but "bad" for the PCs. Maybe an upgrade to the arms and armor of the guards, including a selection of masterwork items for the elite, could be a hefty expense. If the stronghold is "missing" something that people would greatly appreciate and the PCs don't care about, this can be used to encourage them to add it.

I tried to present a few decisions with no clear perfect choice. Some groups don't like that kind of situation, so I'll leave it up to you. In any case, like anything else, probably best to not overdo it.

I can't think of major concerns about PF over 3.5. I've heard some complaints about Ultimate Campaign, but I can't remember the specifics. I've not yet used the downtime rules myself.

I've used the kingdom building rules back in Kingmaker. I don't know if you plan to go to that scale, but if you do my main word of warning there is be prepared for lots and lots of small numbers adding up to big ones over time. I found having some kind of spreadsheet to be very helpful to avoid mistakes, and a few people have shared spreadsheets for that purpose. Failing that, at least keep the tally of modifiers for buildings separate from characters separate from edicts.

[Blackhawk748]

I tried to present a few decisions with no clear perfect choice. Some groups don't like that kind of situation, so I'll leave it up to you. In any case, like anything else, probably best to not overdo it.

Thankfully my group enjoys the more sandboxy approach so most of your recommendations should work well.
Also thanks for the wall of helpful suggestions.