Living In Poland

[unkated]

Originally Posted by Adm.Lee

Hmmm. I've had it in mind to someday run a "settling down" campaign, in which the PCs decide to spend the winter (or longer) in a village. I wonder if having a castle would sweeten the deal?

Are castles usually very close to villages/small towns, within them, or out of town?

Now, to be fair, most of the castles are ruins, in the time of T2K. Poland did not have much of a tourism industry under Communism, nor did it have much in the way of spare funds for refurbishing ruins.

For example, the two mentioned above, Bobolice & Mirow are (indeed) close; less than 4000 ft apart. However, by the end of the 18th century, both were roofless ruins. Mirow is a still ruin; Bobolice was bought privately in 1999 renovated starting in 2004. go to the sites to see pics)

• Bobolice Castle
• Mirow Castle

Still, they are built on local high ground, and have partial stone walls - just fine for stopping bullets (if not rain and now).

The tunnel between them is legendary - as is a treasure and a couple of ghosts.

This place actually has some fun aspects to it:

The players can build a cabin or renovate an uncomfortable room and stay in the castle as a strong point. It is on a local high ground, with fingers of stone reaching into the sky. The wind will make all kinds of eerie noise.

You can have peculiar things happen -

Someone on watch in the middle of a dark (and stormy) night sees a young lady in a white dress who wanders off and disappears after a brief but confusing conversation in Polish (especially if the character does not speak Polish). She cannot be found; inquiries in village the next day, get the villagers exchanging glances, and then one explains the legend...

Villagers having fun with the Americans? Or something supernatural? (Or just never bother to explain).

Is there a tunnel? You can mention the legend, and see how much time you can get you players to expend on searching the cellars. Or, maybe there is a tunnel - legends can be true, after all. From which end can it be found?

Is there something to a witch guarding something in the tunnel? Can you intrigue your players into looking into it? Can they find things to make them unsure - is that doorway carved in stone deep underground and blocked by stone just a carving, or is there something behind it? How much effort do your players want to expend to find out?

Is the rumored treasure real? You can have the villagers ask how the search for the treasure is going, whether they can help (for pay), what will they do with the treasure if they find it...

The villagers can be playing with the Americans as a local joke (having been poking around in the ruins for a century and not finding anything). Farmers have to find something to do in winter.

Or is there truth to the legend of the treasure? (But then, how was it not found?

(Thank you, internet, for bringing all kinds of minor detail of far away places right to my screen.)

Uncle Ted

[Adm.Lee]

Originally Posted by unkated

This place actually has some fun aspects to it:

...
You can have peculiar things happen -

...

Villagers having fun with the Americans? Or something supernatural? (Or just never bother to explain).

...
The villagers can be playing with the Americans as a local joke (having been poking around in the ruins for a century and not finding anything). Farmers have to find something to do in winter.

Or is there truth to the legend of the treasure? (But then, how was it not found?

This is EXACTLY the kind of thing I now want to add to a "Let's settle down" campaign that I'd like to run someday! Thanks for the ideas!