Just Arriving In Town

What are the characters' rooms like? Whether the heroes are being accommodated by friends, by an inn, or by a local ruler or noble, the fighter should check out their rooms in terms of defensibility. If the heroes are attacked in their rooms in the middle of the night in the dark, the fighter should know (because he's prepared himself in advance) how many exits there are from the room, whether they are open, closed, or locked, how defensible the room is, what story it is on and how far it is to the ground, etc. He might wish to consult with the Rogue, who might be inclined to check for secret doors or traps, or on the feasibility of going up to the roof when the heroes go out the window.

What are the local laws? The fighter should find out what the local ordinances are concerning the carrying of weapons and the wearing of armor. If it turns out that either is illegal or restricted, he ought to let his friends know about it. Contrary to what some campaigning groups think, local communities have the right to make such laws and enforce them . . . and when player-characters defy the local authorities, refuse to take off armor or abandon weapons, and even attack and kill local peace officers, the PCs are for the moment villains, not heroes.

The other character classes have their own subjects to explore in the same situations. By comparison:

Mages can take responsibility for: Learning the history of the current situation, how it came to be; perhaps there's a clue to getting things fixed in the history of the matter. Getting details of the magic of the situation; only a mage can properly evaluate these details; perhaps the mage can arrange or research a counter-spell useful in the situation.

Priests can take responsibility for: Learning what the local priests think of the situation. Communing with their deities to see if the deity has any prophecy, advice or admonition to offer. Provisioning the party; the priest is best suited to arranging for ordinary provisions (food, clothing, etc.).

Rogues can take responsibility for: Putting an ear to the street (that is, the people of the street) and seeing what's afoot; it's always a clue to the resolution of a problem if the rulers say one thing and the common people say something different about a situation. Evaluating infiltration and break-in opportunities; the rogue is best suited to determining how possible and useful it would be to getting a spy in the enemy camp, breaking in to a specific site, etc.

Naturally, all these descriptions are generalizations. Any specific character might be particularly talented at one of these roles, even if he belongs to a "wrong" character class. But someone should undertake each of these tasks; otherwise, the characters are going into a situation knowing less than they could know about it.

Table of Contents