8 Caravans at the Gates

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The road can be a dangerous place, and there is safety in numbers. Whether you hope to trade, find work, join the circus, or just travel from one place to the next in large groups, it can be helpful to discover which caravans are arriving and where they are going.
  1. A holy pilgrimage leaving town towards some holy land or church holding a special relic, or traveling from afar to visit a local church that houses some major holy relic. They travel by foot and the pilgrimage consists of 52 lay pilgrims (F0, 4 hp), 6 repentants (T4, 16 hp), 2 readers (C2, 10 hp), 1 subdeacon (C3, 18 hp), 1 deacon (C4, 18 hp), 1 protodeacon (C5, 20 hp), 1 priest (C6, 28 hp), 1 hierodeacon (M6 hp 18), and lead by a bishop’s titular (C8, 40 hp). Relics of the sort that draws pilgrims have very potent properties. Those undertaking such a pilgrimage will receive a major blessing at the very least.
  2. A band of fanatics roving about looking to recruit others to join their attack and pillaging “cause” and to lead such “worthies” back to their base of operations for initiation into their group. The band consists of: a leader (C7/F4, 36 hp) w/ 8 female devotees (F0, 3 hp), 4 female devotee acolytes (C1, 4 hp), 6 scouts (T1, 4 hp), 2 leading scouts (A3, 12 hp), 12 berserk warriors (F1, 8 hp), 33 fanatic berserkers (F0, 5 hp).
  3. A gypsy caravan stopping to re-supply and earn what money they can. The caravan consists of 48 nomads (F0, 4 hp), 5 nomad warriors (F2, 12 hp), 2 nomad lieutenants (F5, 30 hp), 1 gypsy fortune-teller (C5/T3, 20 hp), 1 gypsy chief (F7/T5, 35 hp). Each typical nomad is 1 in 6 likely to be able to pick pockets and/or open locks as a thief of level 1-6. The fortune-teller will have special spells that will read the character’s aura (improved know alignment), know something about the character’s past, and see some aspect of the character’s future (improved augury) and will use these powers on behalf of the character for a fee.
  4. A troupe of strolling players traveling from town to town seeking to put on a performance and earn (or steal) what money they can. The troupe consists of 24 entertainers (F0, 3 hp), 5 roustabouts (T1, 4 hp), 2 criminals (T2, 5 hp), 2 rogues (A3, 8 hp), 2 jongleurs (F3/T4, 10 hp), 2 animal trainers (R3, 24 hp), 1 fortune-teller (C3/T2, 8 hp), 1 prestidigitator (MU3/I3/T5, 10 hp), and a bard leader (F5/T6/B6, 48 hp). Entertainment will consist of song, dance, plays, games, animal acts, a full circus performance, a magic act, and fortune-telling.
  5. A noble entourage attending to diplomatic affairs or matters of state. The entourage consists of 6 servants (F0, 3 hp), 12 guardsmen (F0, 4 hp), 7 armingers (F1, 6 hp), 4 esquires (F3, 26 hp), 3 knights (F6, 30 hp), and the noble himself (F9, 45 hp). Player characters must exercise extreme care in how they address nobles, for they would sooner have the head of an insolent adventurer than lose face in front of their men. The only saving throw for a major breach of etiquette would be scoring a 96+ (d% + charisma adjustment) on an NPC reaction roll!
  6. A caravan of merchants traveling from town to town trading its wares. The caravan consists of 9 merchants (T2-5, 10 hp), 20 servants (F0, 3 hp), 36 packers/teamsters (F0, 4 hp), 40 guardsmen (F0, 5 hp), 30 mounted guardsmen (F1, 6 hp), 10 mounted leaders (F4, 25 hp), and 1 alchemist (MU6, 15 hp), the latter of whom may sell a few useful magic potions, tonics of questionable merit, can identify items for a fee, will purchase magic items when having the cash on hand to do so, and with a 1 in 6 chance of having a random miscellaneous magic item for sale (at 5-8 times the listed GP sale value!). At any given time, the caravan will possess a total of 60,000-80,000 gp worth of merchandise, 25,000-35,000 worth of equipment (horses, wagons, weapons, etc). Collectively, they typically purchase 1500-3000 gp in merchandise each month and generally must sell 4000-6000 gp worth of goods each month to remain solvent.
  7. A gang of bandits disguised as one of the following sorts of caravans (d4): 1-Pilgrims, 2-Strolling Players, 3-Knights, 4-Merchants
  8. A caravan disguised as ordinary merchants. The true nature of the caravan is (d6): 1-bandits, 2-fanatics, 3-double size noble entourage, 4-double size noble entourage plus any 1 of the four spellcasters (level 3-8), 5-outlaws, 6-mercenaries for hire.

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