Info
table-of-contents
Introduction
Link to original
Suggested Encounters
NPC Families
Related Locations:
- can be encountered anywhere
First watch (sunset to midnight)
Second watch (midnight to dawn)
The Wandering Folk Train
A Moving Scenario for AD&D
Note: This has been modified version from the original adventure (full credits, below). It has been changed to fit the world of Antheros and the Haven Irregulars campaign. Key changes include converting stats to D&D 5e and renaming “gypsy” to “wandering folk”.
DM Notes
The Wandering Folk Train, written for the AD&D® game, is a “moving town” adventure that player characters may encounter almost anywhere, usually on a road between two towns or cities. Among the various wagons, two distinct types will be found: the household wagon and the merchant wagon. Each type is pulled by two or four draft horses.
The household wagon is like a predecessor of today’s modern motor home. It is occupied by one or two families and contains beds and storage space for household items and family possessions. A normal-sized door is located in the back, which is the main entrance, led to by a single step, while another smaller entrance can be found in front behind the bench that the drivers occupy when the wagon is moving. Each side of the wagon has a pair of shuttered windows.
The merchant wagon is only slightly different from the household wagon. It has just one entrance, the rear door, and no windows, with a larger step on the back end to seat one or two guards. It is used to carry merchandise that will be sold or traded by the Wandering Folk to help support themselves. The carrying capacity of a merchant wagon is 12,000 gold pieces of weight.
Type | (on the road) | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| A. | Household | Balkrin Vanagas | Balkrin Vanagas Zanthira Vanagas Ismek Vanagas Selynis Vanagas | |
| B. | Household | Kordaal Vanagas | Hyrina ‘Mama’ Vanagas Kordaal Vanagas | |
| C. | Household | Scordraal Pakmydis | Scordraal Pakmydis Cannelia Pakmydis Premirina Pakmydis Ambrosis Pakmydis Aldor Pakmydis Albar Pakmydis | |
| D. | Merchant (armour & weapons) | Ambrosis Pakmydis | Aldor Pakmydis Albar Pakmydis | |
| E. | Merchant (food & soft goods) | Javyd Gudas | Survillo Gudas Dravyn Gudas | |
| F. | Household | Tierza Gudas | Javyd Gudas Tierza Gudas Survillo Gudas Dravyn Gudas Ryndana Gudas Mazyna Gudas | |
| G. | Merchant (specialty items & tools) | Bronkar Prusas | Dinmiel Prusas Rymvid Galinys | |
| H. | Household | Trynkara Prusas | Bronkar Prusas Trynkara Prusas Dinmiel Prusas Ezerina Galinys Rymvid Galinys |
Even though the Folk may be between towns, not all towns are close together. If the band is traveling through hostile or wilderness areas, guards will be following their wagons on horseback instead of sitting on the rear seats of the merchant wagons. Balkrin, the leader of the group and ordinarily the driver of the first wagon, will be riding a horse at the front of the caravan. Balkrin’s wife, Zanthira, will be driving the family wagon at these times.
If adventurers come upon the caravan between sunset and early morning, they will find the Wandering Folk wagons positioned as shown in the accompanying illustration of an encampment. Guards will be posted as specified below. During daylight hours the caravan will be moving in the order described in the table, above.
High prices, light fingers
The Vanagas family is a band of Wandering Folk who make their living traveling between cities and towns, trading for whatever merchandise is available in each town they visit. They have been in this business for two generations and have their seasonal paths well charted, knowing which markets prosper in which cities at what time of year. Their merchandise will usually reflect the town that they have visited most recently. They will sell or trade merchandise in dealings with non-Folk on the road, but their prices in such a case will normally be marked up 50% to 100% over normal retail prices (the extra cost of convenience).
Exorbitant pricing is not the only thing that will annoy adventurers who try to deal with Folk. The Wandering Folk of legend were known for their light fingers and artful trading. Wise customers will keep a close watch on their belongings to avoid having to buy them back.
And Folk seem to have an affinity for turning a character’s ill fortune to their best advantage. If food or drink is “accidentally” spilled on a character’s clothing, the Folk may offer to clean the garment. That seems fair enough – but if your favorite jersey comes back missing the fancy embroidery that was attached to the collar, don’t bother to ask what happened; it would be improper to insult your hosts.
While their treatment of strangers is chaotic at best, Wandering Folk react very differently toward one another. They would never steal from other Folk or betray their common trust in any other way. They have a strict code of honor that they do not usually apply to the rest of the world.
How to use this material
The suggested encounters described above represent eight ways in which the members of the Wandering Folk group could interact with player characters. Drawing upon the details given about the Folk throughout the accompanying text, the DM could easily come up with several more possible encounters. To get the most out of this module, it is strongly recommended that the DM not simply look upon the Folk as adversaries of the player characters. Even though Balkrin and his band are not the most scrupulous people an adventurer would ever want to meet, neither are they particularly dangerous, especially in an encounter with player characters of around 3rd or 4th level (or higher).
Credits
Designed by Richard Fichera
Artwork by Bob Maurus
Published in Dragon, Issue, January 1985