'Way back in issue #91, in this magazine
's letter column, someone claimed that
townsfolk and peasants would be very wary
and respectful of adventurers because they
know that, say, a fifth-level fighter could
easily kill five of them each round, while
they couldn?t hurt him. Well, in general
that?s true, but the exceptions can kill you
very fast. Here are some reasons not to
abuse the locals.

    First, there?s history. If there has been a
war recently in the area, most of the local
people probably fought in it, and quite
likely gained a level or two; some of them,
the better natural fighters, may have gained
half a dozen levels, or even more if it was a
long war. These guys aren?t going to stand
for being pushed around by a bunch of
punk adventurers. They?ll just go home,
put their old armor on again, and come
back and teach you a lesson. This is essentially
what happened to the James-Dalton
gang in Northfield, Minnesota -- they ran
into too many Civil War veterans who
hadn't forgotten how to shoot.

    Second there's geography. If you decide
to pick on people in a small farming village
in the middle of a large, peaceful, civilized
area, you?re probably safe ? but what are
you doing there in the first place? Adventurers,
meaning you, are usually out on the
edges of civilization, and frontier towns are
a different proposition altogether. If a town
has survived for any length of time in the
foothills of the troll mountains, it is a very
safe bet that the people know just how to
deal with troll raiding parties. A troll raiding
party can consist of up to a dozen 6 HD
monsters. If your adventurers are stronger
than that, by all means start something. At
least you'll be putting some excitement into
their daily routine.

    The same goes for single houses. The old
woman who lives in that small hut next to
the evil swamp registers as neutral good to a
know alignment spell, so she hasn't survived
because she?s one of the monsters.
That leaves two alternatives. Possibly she is
very dumb and very lucky, but it?s much
more likely that she's a retired adventurer
of least 15th level. ("Don't the monsters
bother you?" "Only the suicidal ones." Evil
doesn?t mean dumb; she has them well
trained.) People who live in dangerous
regions can usually handle the dangers ?
and they can probably handle you, too.

    Third, there?s the police. Monsters in a
dungeon don?t scream for help when you
start to beat them up, but people in towns
do, and the watch usually comes running
fast. They may not be ace fighters (unless,
as mentioned already, they have tough
neighbors), but they can give you problems.
For one thing, the law is stacked in their
favor. They?re wearing armor, and carrying
both missile and large melee weapons. You
aren?t. You either checked yours at the gate
when you entered town, or left them in your
room at the inn. The local ordinances simply
do not allow fully armed thugs (you) to
roam the streets. Civilians who want to
keep out of jail wear at most the equivalent
of a leather jacket for armor, and carry a
dagger or short sword. Also, you can?t win
by intimidating the local guard. If the guard
fails to keep peace in the town, the mayor
will call out the militia; if that fails, a regiment
of the regular army will be next.

    Fourth, there?s competition. The dangers
and opportunities that attracted you to the
region around this town have probably also
attracted other parties of adventurers who
are also making this town their headquarters.
One of these parties would probably be
glad to accept the mayor?s urgent request to
?Throw these bums out for us ? we?ll let
you keep their money and equipment.?

    Fifth, there's shyness. Some powerful
people do not want to be known as powerful.
For example, some vampires think it?s
fun to terrorize a whole area, but others are
smarter and realize that becoming well
known means getting onto the hit list of
every paladin for 200 miles around; this is
very hazardous to one?s health. So the old
peasant couple living in semi-retirement on
the outskirts of town may well be just what
they seem; but if they happen to be keeping
house for the local vampire you had better
not bother them, at all.

    Finally, there's retirement. If the townspeople
and the town guard can?t handle
you, the local lord may not bother to hire
other adventurers or call out the militia; he
may just come after you himself. That?s
because a lord is very likely to be an adventurer
who got too powerful for the dungeon,
so he retired from adventuring, set up a
castle, and became the lord. Since you
haven?t retired yet, that means he has more
(probably a lot more) levels than you do,
and so do his two captains and six lieutenants.
If he needs magical help, he?s on good
terms with most of his neighboring lords, a
couple of whom are retired magic-users and
can get here in a day if he sends an urgent
call for help. And of course most of the local
clerics are on his side. Assuming only a
conservative response from one neighbor,
let?s add it up: One 15th-level fighter, two
11th, six 8th and dozens of lower-level
fighters, plus one 15th-level M-U, one 11th,
two 8th and five lower-level magic-users,
plus clerics as needed. Does your party of
half a dozen 5th-8th level adventurers really
want to stir up that much trouble?

    Lords aren't the only ones who retire.
The venerable cleric who presides at the
local chapel probably never got past level 4
and has obviously not fought in many
years. On the other hand, she just may
have been Chief Priestess in the capital city,
and a leading member of the Imperial
Council before she retired to her native
village to live out her last years. Do you
really want to take on a 22nd-level cleric,
even if she has forgotten how to swing a
mace? This one you do have a fair chance
of spotting in advance, if you notice that the
local inn is obviously prepared to handle
parties that expect the finest, and ask why.
There is perhaps a 10% chance on any day
that she will be receiving 1d6 important
visitors from the capital, and their retinue,
who have come to ask her advice on matters
of religion or state. (Make that a 100%
chance of d10 + 10 visitors if it happens to
be her birthday or a high holy day.)

    I trust I don't have to spell out the kind
of reaction the central government would
have to the murder of a retired Imperial
Councilor.

Not all dangerous retirees are famous.
For example, you come to a nice country
inn and start to bully the proprietor. His
middle-aged wife quietly slips out of the
room. A few minutes later she comes back
wearing her old girdle of cloud giant
strength, + 4 plate armor, and a helmet that
projects a globe of invulnerability around
her; she?s carrying a +3 vorpal blade and
has on a few other magic items. Before she
fell in love, married and settled down she
was a 14th-level fighter, and you are about
to learn that under AD&D® game rules, age
does not seriously affect fighting ability
until you reach 60. If you suddenly become
very polite and apologize profusely, she may
let you go.

    In general, remember that the ace gunfighter
whose only desire is to settle down
and run his own ranch is a standard figure
in Western novels. Presumably, many characters
in your fantasy world have the same
desires. According to the DM's version of
Murphy?s Law, if you keep taking advantage
of helpless peasants and townsfolk,
you?ll soon find one of the not-so-helpless
ones ? and at the worst possible time for
you.
 

THE FORUM
In his article "Locals aren't all yokels" (issue
#109), Ralph Sizer said that the best way to
prevent PCs from assaulting the local serfs is to
make every 3rd one a 15th level <Wizard>. There are
more subtle ways to deal with wayward players,
however.

For example, threatening the old hermit could
result in the party failing to find the location of
the exit to the Maze of Darkness. Their next
characters won't make the same mistake. Or, the
PCs could find themselves without armor, weapons,
or shelter as the whole town shuts down in
mourning for its recently departed mayor.

This type of DM control encourages good roleplaying.
Mr. Sizer's method merely helps reduce
the game to a brawl.

Jaldhar Uyas
Jersey City, N.J.
(Dragon #111)
 

In his letter to The Forum in DRAGON #111,
Jaldhar Uyas missed the points of my article,
“Locals Aren’t All Yokels,” which appeared in
#109. I probably should have made them explicitly,
instead of purely giving examples. At any
rate, four reasons for not abusing the peasants
are:

(1) In a dangerous region, it's reasonable to
assume that the people who live there are good
enough to handle the dangers. If you’re looking
for those who can’t, try the cemetery.

(2) The AD&D rules for high-level characters
setting up a castle mean that the local authorities,
who have retired, are higher level than the
adventurers who haven’t yet.

(3) In a reasonably strong kingdom, the central
government will react strongly against
anyone who overthrows the local authorities. In
other words, if you win a fight under (2) above,
you may soon wish you hadn‘t.

(4) Finally, a DM who wishes to can certainly
think of other good reasons to have an occasional
high-level character among the local
populace -- NOT the "every 3rd one" Mr. Uyas 
thought I meant -- 1 every 10 towns should 
be enough to keep the players honest.  
To these, we should add Mr. Uyas' suggestion, 
which I should have thought of but didn't. 

(5) Don't abuse the locals because they may 
not help you later when you need it.  Of course, 
this only works if you are likely to meet the 
same locals again later; in many exclusively 
underground dungeon campaigns you won't 
meet them.  Add to this one afterthought of my
own: 

(6) If you do abuse the locals, you'd better 
inspect all your equipment very carefully.  
Material components for spells bought locally 
may turn out to be fake, the blacksmith may rig 
the new shoe he puts on your horse so it falls 
off at the most dangerous place on your next 
day's journey, and so on.  If you anger the local 
alchemist, you're really in trouble -- he'll get 
together with the local vintner to give you 
something that tastes wonderful, but costs you a 
level a sip. 

Ralph Sizer
Providence, R.I. 
(Dragon #113)