Last night I have gotten an awesome plot idea.
PCs were accompanying three peasants, a farm maid and a halfling on their way from one village to another as they have spotted an ogre. Instead of avoiding him or killing him, they bickered for like 20 min OOC what to do and eventually ogre spotted them and charged them. He rolled well, killed two human peasants in the process while the rest of the party bailed.
The halfling remained, trying to parley.
And here starts my story.
Ogre captured halfling as his "pet" (had him on a rope like a small dog a while) but then they started to talk. Halfling was kind of a bitter person, fed up with farming life and humans pushing him around. Also, he did not like adventurers very much. So he started to slowly suggest things to ogre. Under halfling's tutelage ogre's ambushing skill would wastly improve. Halfling would help him with scouting and would in fact, during combat, place himself next to giant's head as a pair of additional eyes and tactical adviser. (and perhaps crossbow shooter?)
Bandit rating of the ogre went up and fast. So here are my questions:
- what sort of raids should ogre-halfling team perform? (perhaps striking at night, hitting something that puts villagers at disatvantage)
- sucesfull raider should attract other raiders - goblins, orcs, human bandits to join him. Perhaps even a family of other ogres. How should I approach this?
- should halfling get any levels and if so, which?
Anyway: team ogre-halfling is rampaging throught the villages. How do I advance this further?
thanks
>>46289103
I think it should be pretty obvious.
They rule Barter Town
>>46289103
>- should halfling get any levels and if so, which?
mastermind rogue
great CHA score
>>46290868
This is absolutely the best example you're going to get. You could also go the Banjo Kazooie route and have the halfling be kind of fed up with how dumb the ogre is while still being his friend/companion and pretty much living on his back. It's also a good comparison because it shows a duo that compliment each other's abilities perfectly.
>>46289103
>perhaps striking at night
Halflings don't have darkvision
>>46291675
I think ogres do. Not certain about that. But even then, the halfling can scout things out during the day and direct the ogre back at night. OP, depending on how malicious the halfling is he could be either a Mastermind or an Assassin. Also what edition are you playing? I assume 5e because someone suggested that and wasn't corrected.
>>46291780
OP here. It's 5e. I'd like to go along Matermind route with halfling.
>>46291825
NPCs dont have classes
>>46289103
The problem with this is, what are the other PCs going to be doing during all this time? Running two concurrent games is a bitch at the best of times.
I have the humorous notion that after the halfing and ogre start to really bond the PCs will return and 'save' their compatriot from his captor.
>>46291872
OP here.
Well, true. I may pick something from PHB like assassin or thief.
>>46291873
Not actually running a game with ogre+halfling. They are both NPCs. I just want to flesh out their story.
>>46289103
>>46292018
Personally I kind of have a huge leaning toward 1simulationist play as a GM, so if I were you I'd keep it as organic as possible, while keeping it within the players' peripheral vision:
Don't just have all the raiders gather to be this guy's minions offscreen; the next time the party fights a bunch of bandits/goblins/whatever, have a few with distinctive features try their best to escape...if they do succeed, congratulations, these NPCs have a mutual grudge to bond over.
If the PCs ignore a plot hook or skip over a job for some reason, have the little halfling fucker pick it up with his buddy and reap whatever rewards, both material and otherwise, you were otherwise planning to dole out.
>>46291675
racist
>>46290868
This.
>>46292168
This actually a great idea. Have the duo be basically amoral rather than flat out evil. They'll work as highwaymen if they want, but it's for the money, not the love of killing. They'll save a merchant's son from kidnappers, but it's for the money, not because they think it's the right thing to do.
>>46291872
Unless you give them classes dumbass.
>>46292168
In terms of raids, the whole idea is that the halfling adds intelligence to the team, so think full-on heists rather than rampages.
It depends on how well developed these villages are and what their main sources of wealth might be, but I can at the very least see a trojan horse situation, getting the ogre into a warehouse hidden in a cart full of turnips or something and allowing them to plunder everything and take out the guards from within their defences - or the reverse; lure people into a trap/ambush asking them to help him unearth hidden treasure or some similar malarky.
There are plenty of good two-man cons that can operate on the "he's evil, but you can trust me" basis. The ogre could act simply as a distraction to draw guards away from a particularly lucrative area while the rogue works his magic...personally I quite like the idea of doing a Die Hard 3; nobody expects an ogre to do anything with a chest full of bonds/contracts /property deeds taken during one in a string of random smash-and-grab attacks except burn it or throw it in a river...
