Rest Sidequests: Trading Caravan

Tags: Wilderness, Combat Unlikely, Traders, Deception

Setup: The PCs have finished a campfire dinner and are about to start the first character’s watch when they spot a new campfire several hundred yards away.

• From this distance, the PCs can make out a couple wagons, but not much else.
• The PCs can walk over and check on the other campsite. A quick look at the wagons tells the PCs these are traders. The traders are running multiple scams. They don’t push too hard on any one scam and always claim any deception is a “misunderstanding.”
• The other camp’s occupants greet the PCs enthusiastically. They will share food and drink in exchange for news and stories. The other campers may even have a few rumors for the PCs as well.
• While exceedingly polite, the traders are always trying to make a sale or even buy items from the PCs. They have some gemstones that will allow them to buy expensive items, but these gems are generally worth half what they say and the flaws are difficult to find.
• If the PCs have a couple of low magic items, the traders explain one wizard in their group can combine the magic of the two resulting in a single better item. (Ex: Long sword +1 and Dagger +1 can become a Long Sword +2.) He will do this for a small fee overnight if the PCs leave the items, although one PC can stay behind. That PC’s next drink is drugged or perhaps he is put to sleep via a contact poison during a handshake, etc. The caravan then leaves abruptly and without notice.
• Regular items the traders sell are likely to have flaws that aren’t noticeable by firelight.

Follow-up Ideas:

• While the caravan won’t go to the same destination as the PCs if the traders took advantage of the PCs, the PCs may encounter it later.
• What happens if the PCs try to pass off the gemstones at the same value the traders claimed?