New GM requesting setting help
Note- this is based in 5e
If anyone is currently in my physical game, and reading this forum, please stop because SPOILERS AHEAD
Alright, so I have a setting worked out based around a town on the frontier, linked to the rest of civilization based around a single tenuous supply road to the south. The town is basically a hotspot and base for many adventurers and explorers heading out into the unknown north, where many orcs, gobins, and other monsters of savage lands are. I have spent most of my time trying to populate the northern unknown, with the plan being that the PCs will set out to explore this area, encountering various tribes of barbarians, goblins, lizardfolk, and giants, and either befriending or making them enemies. My PCs are currently low level, and have spent some time out in the wilds exterminating some goblin raiders, and investigating a missing party(Giant Spider attack). The idea behind this is that this is phase 1, when I get time somewhat leveled up.
Phase 2 begins with the leader of the town announcing that he has heard of a hobgoblin legion headed by a fearsome warrior Olag the bloody-handed, who is marching for the town, intending to destroy it and sweep down into the rest of civilized lands. To this extent, I want him to be sending out scouts and envoys to the various tribes of the region to try and get allies, that the PCs were supposed to be finding some of in phase 1.
My current problems are that I sort of jumped the gun, and had the Captain(Leader of town) announce that the army exists and is headed for the town. This was kind of early, because the PCs were making motions to go leave the town and try to reach the rest of civilization. So I tried to get them to go help defend the town by showing this clear and present threat, and instead they decided to help escort the last caravan out of town. I don't have the rest of the world very well developed, so I feel like I need to try and find a way to keep them in this general area around the town and in the wilds.
My present solution is to have a large band of orcs attack the caravan, cutting the part of the convoy they are in off and forcing them to head back to town.
My actual encounter plan is such: Rockslide happens, splitting the convoy in 2, and then a massive orc warchief yells to kill the weaklings and have a band of orcs descend on the convoy, killing the weaker people and capturing the stronger fighters. Have the main warchief jump down onto the other part of the convoy,(Putting him out of somehow getting sniped by player range) while having an almost overwhelming amount of orcs and a smaller, more killable warchief try to attack their portion of the convoy and capture them. Note to the PCs that the orcs are trying to nonlethal blow on the stronger NPCs in the convoy, so that they don't have a TPK, and that if they are taken out, I have them wake up in a orc stronghold as slaves.
I see this as a good way to introduce a secondary evil adversary (Main orc Warchief), who I have referenced to earlier in the past sessions. Hopefully this gets them stuck in the town, and then I can have the Captain send them out to harass the legion on the march, and get up to the business of gathering allies and other interesting things.
My worries is that this is going to feel very railroady to the players. Can I get any advice from here on alternative solutions to this problem, or other ways I can help improve the present setting. I know that parts of the setting seems very vague, and I'm open to suggestions on how to elaborate on them
If anyone is currently in my physical game, and reading this forum, please stop because SPOILERS AHEAD
Alright, so I have a setting worked out based around a town on the frontier, linked to the rest of civilization based around a single tenuous supply road to the south. The town is basically a hotspot and base for many adventurers and explorers heading out into the unknown north, where many orcs, gobins, and other monsters of savage lands are. I have spent most of my time trying to populate the northern unknown, with the plan being that the PCs will set out to explore this area, encountering various tribes of barbarians, goblins, lizardfolk, and giants, and either befriending or making them enemies. My PCs are currently low level, and have spent some time out in the wilds exterminating some goblin raiders, and investigating a missing party(Giant Spider attack). The idea behind this is that this is phase 1, when I get time somewhat leveled up.
Phase 2 begins with the leader of the town announcing that he has heard of a hobgoblin legion headed by a fearsome warrior Olag the bloody-handed, who is marching for the town, intending to destroy it and sweep down into the rest of civilized lands. To this extent, I want him to be sending out scouts and envoys to the various tribes of the region to try and get allies, that the PCs were supposed to be finding some of in phase 1.
My current problems are that I sort of jumped the gun, and had the Captain(Leader of town) announce that the army exists and is headed for the town. This was kind of early, because the PCs were making motions to go leave the town and try to reach the rest of civilization. So I tried to get them to go help defend the town by showing this clear and present threat, and instead they decided to help escort the last caravan out of town. I don't have the rest of the world very well developed, so I feel like I need to try and find a way to keep them in this general area around the town and in the wilds.
My present solution is to have a large band of orcs attack the caravan, cutting the part of the convoy they are in off and forcing them to head back to town.
My actual encounter plan is such: Rockslide happens, splitting the convoy in 2, and then a massive orc warchief yells to kill the weaklings and have a band of orcs descend on the convoy, killing the weaker people and capturing the stronger fighters. Have the main warchief jump down onto the other part of the convoy,(Putting him out of somehow getting sniped by player range) while having an almost overwhelming amount of orcs and a smaller, more killable warchief try to attack their portion of the convoy and capture them. Note to the PCs that the orcs are trying to nonlethal blow on the stronger NPCs in the convoy, so that they don't have a TPK, and that if they are taken out, I have them wake up in a orc stronghold as slaves.
I see this as a good way to introduce a secondary evil adversary (Main orc Warchief), who I have referenced to earlier in the past sessions. Hopefully this gets them stuck in the town, and then I can have the Captain send them out to harass the legion on the march, and get up to the business of gathering allies and other interesting things.
My worries is that this is going to feel very railroady to the players. Can I get any advice from here on alternative solutions to this problem, or other ways I can help improve the present setting. I know that parts of the setting seems very vague, and I'm open to suggestions on how to elaborate on them