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Anyone run a caravan based game

   
I found this info that was pretty useful.

Camels do not like hot weather. Usually camel trains do not set off until the cool autumn comes around.

Usually the camel train sets off in the afternoon. Before its departure, the grooms load goods on the camels with the head camel carrying tents, grain, kitchen utensils and water. When everything is ready, the grooms link the camels by tying the rope camel herders tied on the camel's nose onto the saddle of the lead camel. Four grooms will travel in a group, leading a caravan of 28 camels.

First of all the camel train will walk in between two bonfires. In the past, when traveling in the desert, grooms often met natural and man-made calamities, such as storms, dry weather, wild animals, illnesses and bandits. Powerless, the grooms could do nothing but pray for good fortune. They believed that if they walked in between two bonfires, all disasters and illnesses could be driven off.

The bells accompanying the camel caravans in the desert have provided interesting themes for poems, paintings and music. Instead of being hung on the camel's neck, bells in the shape of an iron bucket are hung on a stick on the saddle of the last camel. In the vast and silent deserts, the sound of slow and rhythmic camel bells is the only music for the grooms. However, the real purpose of using the bells is to prevent camels from being lost. Camels are very timid. Even when a hare passes by, it will be frightened and jump. To avoid breaking the camel's nose, they tie a loose a knot which can be undone by a pull is tied on each camel's nose. So a startled camel may leave the caravan without the groom's knowledge. But if grooms walking ahead of the camel train don't hear the bells, they will know that the camels are lost and will look for them.

In addition, the bells can be used as the signal of the camel train. In the past, bandits often robbed goods on the way. When approaching dangerous spots, grooms would hide the bells. Without hearing the familiar sound, camels would know that their masters wanted them to keep on without making noise.

The bells can also be used as alarm bells. Upon hearing the bells, foxes, hares and gerbils that come out to look for food will escape in a hurry or hide in holes. Thus they will not disturb the camels.

Camels are loyal companions and guides to desert travelers. Before a storm, alert camels will lie on the ground. The grooms stay close to them to avoid the onslaught of the storm. In addition, camels often guide grooms to water sources. Therefore those who raise camels look after them well as they depend on them for survival at times. For example, as camels do not like hot weather, grooms often start their journey at nightfall and stop traveling at midnight in order to avoid the scorching sun of the day. For fear that the hard stones of the roads will hurt the hooves of the camel, they often carefully choose good roads, and even take the trouble of walking through deserts. If they must travel on rough ground they will tie soft sheepskin onto their feet.

A caravan would be normally composed of a number of files, of up to 18 camels each. Each of the rank-and-file caravan men, known as the camel-pullers, was in charge of one such file. On the march, the camel-puller's job was to lead the first camel of his file by a rope tied to a peg attached to its nose, each of the other camels of the file being led by means of similar rope by the camel in front of it.

Two files formed a ba, and the camel-pullers of the two files would help each other when loading cargo on the camels at the beginning of each day's march or unloading it when halted. To do their job properly camel-pullers had to be experts on camels: as Lattimore comments, "because there is no good doctoring known for him [a camel] when he is sick, they must learn how to keep him well." Taking care of camels' health included the ability to find the best available grazing for them and keeping them away from poisonous plants; knowledge of when one should not allow a camel to drink too much water; how to park camels for the night, allowing them to obtain the best possible shelter from wind-blown snow in winter; how to properly distribute the load to prevent it from hurting the animal; and how to treat minor injuries of the camels, such as blisters or pack-sores.

There is more info here.

It was this info that got me thinking about an adventure like this

Quote:
Originally Posted by Infinity View Post
I adore this.
Thank you. I have a whole elaborate culture built around it, and a character meant for the "setting".

Quote:
Originally Posted by nine tail fox View Post
I want to run a game that focuses around the players being part of a caravan. Has anyone had any luck running such a game? Any reference out there that might help?
Caravan to Ein Arris is a GURPS staple one-shot, which is heavily centered on caravan life in a particular caravan/world. If you're considering GURPS, I'd look there, if not, it might be useful as a reference guidepost.

Just found the Caravan to Ein Arris. It is up free on sj game site. just did a search and found it as a free game.

definitely worth a look. Might put it in the Pathfinder Golorian setting. I think half the fun will be the areas that can be visited.

I'm currently designing a campaign for D&D 2nd ed Greyhawk where the PCs are in a merchant caravan. It is a convoy of covered wagons, enclosed wooden "gypsy" type wagons, carts, and several animals in tow. The PCs will play at least 2 characters- 1 adventurer (basically caravan guards) and 1 0-level member of the caravan (merchant, artisan, passenger, etc). The concept is a traveling town. Encounters can occur on the trail, within their stops (which will be towns, villages, outposts, forts, keeps, castles or their own camp-town), or as the PCs leave the convoy to explore (ruins a few leagues off the trail, an abandoned mine rumored to hold a treasure horde, or a small group of bandits with a large reward on thier heads). They may enter a town under control of an evil ruler, or the ruler may request the PCs help the town with a problem, or the caravan may make enemies within the town.

Endless options and the player's 0-level characters will actually be in charge. The members of the caravan vote for the next destination after examining detailed maps with points of interest marked on them. This will occur during the time just after the Greyhawk Wars, so the populace is a mess. Some towns may still have humanoid problems, some may be suffering due the loss of most of their males to the war, etc.

I am doing research now, studying the "from the ashes" maps and history. I should have an ad up this week.

There's currently 2 caravan games up- 1 2nd ed d&d, 1 pathfinder

Quote:
Originally Posted by jarlain View Post
There's currently 2 caravan games up- 1 2nd ed d&d, 1 pathfinder
Nothing for regular 3.5 though? Too bad. Your earlier concept sounded rather interesting.




 

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