The Dark City of Hork: Introducing the City to the Party

Orc King by Mananedo on Deviant Art

In building the city of Hork, I’ve been asked questions of how to include characters, orcs and other races, who are not from the city, into the setting. The game masters (GMs) asking the questions are wanting to bring in characters of different levels and backgrounds, from above and below the surface. Most of them haven’t been running an ongoing game, but like to introduce characters greater than first level.

I have taken from those conversations to provide some ideas here to help give Hork a place in a variety of campaigns people may be running, or would like to try. It can work as a place where a specific encounter occurs at a particular setting, a location for an entire adventure, a home base for the party, or as a location for an entire campaign. The concepts here are generalities that can be applied for all of these possibilities.

Instead of condensing my notes from the conversations, I’m using them as a starting point to expand upon. This is leading into a series of articles. I know I won’t be presenting world-shattering new material, but my goal is to present information to spark your imagination, and, provide some fun.

The concepts aren’t unique. I am taking some of the information most GMs know and understand and apply it with the twist of playing in a city with a different set of morals and cultural applications. Or, giving some ideas on how you could be playing a party of anti-heroes.

Who is in Your Party?

Most cities designed for roleplaying games (RPGs) are created with the intent of having the players as heroes. The goal of the player-characters (PCs) is to confront and destroy the evil in the world they know. When they come to an evil city or country it is to gain a certain piece of information or an item and to get out intact. This goes back to the world of Greyhawk and Iuz. Hork can be used in that manner, and in such wouldn’t require much adaptation to the campaign setting as a whole.

Now we are looking at the concept of using a place like Hork as a setting that party members are going to be staying in, or coming back to often.

In setting up adventures and campaigns a GM usually needs to know who their characters are. There isn’t as much time when you are running a game in a sandbox setting and players have a number of characters in their stables to play. But, if you know you’re creating an adventure that you want to up the enjoyment on, ask who the players who they are going to bring into the adventure far enough in advance to make adjustments for those specific PCs.

Drow Wizard by johnnyhr on deviant art

Having a setting that is meant to be different, like Hork, makes understanding the characters more important for the GM. This is because the level of interaction between the PCs and the setting (this includes the mores, laws, non-player characters, etc.) is meant to challenge the players to think outside their established means of play.

The discussions I’ve had have led me to believe the GMs asking the questions haven’t been involved with an adventure where the party isn’t made up of heroes. There is nothing wrong with this, gaming is principally designed to promote the heroes of the world. Hork, and similar settings are the counterpoints. Here is a place where the villains come from. And, in turn, give the players a chance to create and play them.

I have taken a tangent, so, if you are using the dark city as a place where your players will be the evil creatures lurking in the shadows, then it is more important to know who they are. If possible find out what their goals are. Get at least an inkling of what drives this character forward to do the things they do. Why? Most GMs will be in a situation when running a party of this type. These are characters just as likely to deliver the killing blow as they are to save a party member.

There will always be monsters to run because evil doesn’t just consume the good, they consume anything and everything that is in the way of their goals. The difference comes as the GM is now also taking on the role of playing the heroes who are trying to keep evil in check.

An example of this in my campaign is I am now developing a community of dwarves my orcs want to hunt down and eliminate out of the underdark area they want to control. Usually as a GM, creating this situation means having the dwarf community under attack and the dwarfs bring in the heroes to defeat the orcs. This is done knowing the capabilities of the dwarfs and the orcs and the party is the wildcard in the scenario. Now, instead, I am creating the dwarf community who doesn’t yet know they are being plotted against by the orcs. They have their defenses based on the understanding they have of the current situation and the wildcards are a party of orcs who will be working to overcome their defenses.

Drawf by babagannoosh99 of deviant art

In talking with some authors, creating the setting for an anti-hero can be more time consuming. This is mostly because it is not how we have been brought up. A GM needs to create a situation for the PCs that is compelling and sympathetic enough for them to be involved and enjoyed, but promotes the evil side.

A GM can bring in any level of characters, of any class and any race to Hork. Characters raised in the city would have more knowledge of the history and a better understanding of how the city and its laws work. Bringing characters in from outside the city (which I did) means you can give them hints, expectations, and misinformation. Each race and class fits in differently in the city, like any city. Outsiders will have a different social status than natives. The longer they become residents, status changes.

But, it all starts with knowing where the PCs start, and what are their goals.

Feel free to change to city to fit your needs. Have fun with the parts that work, and if it doesn’t fit your game, leave it out. RPGs are about having fun creating other-worldly adventures and playing characters who are not yourself, or greater than yourself.

The next article on Hork will be a collection of hooks: bringing a party to the city, keeping them there, and bringing them back.

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