Adventure Idea: The town who cried Orc

Your party has been traveling for a few days, you stop in a small village of farmer, maybe 5 hours total. Your invited to stay in a barn as its all that is available. Your group is awoken in the middle of the night from screams, some of the animals look brutally murdered, and the half orc teenager is covered in blood.

There is a lot of commotion, and the family who took the orc in fight to protect him, eventually everyone decided to deal with it in the morning.

In the morning the people are upset what has happened and want to know what the parents will do about their adopted child. The boy says he does not remember anything or know what has happened.

The party can investigate (skill challenge by DM) and it is revealed that the animals were killed with weapons, something the boy did not poses, and that apparently there is a blood trail as if corpses were being dragged off in the distance.

If the PC's fail the investigation then the town demands the boy be locked up at night.

The next night the attack happens again, assuming the PCs are ready they find the boy out again, but he does not appear to be himself, but the party does catch a glimpse of a small creature running into the woods, successful perception checks reveal some sort of wolf or werewolf creature

the town blame the boy again, and demand he be exiled, if the PCs stand up for the boy, then the town tells them they are no longer welcomed here and the boy is now their responsibility

This should entice the part to explore the outskirts of the woods even further.

The exploration leads the party to a small goblin encampment, who dress up as wolves and have been attacking the farmlands for food. The boy helps when he can (treat as 1st level barbarian)

After the battle is over, the party is greeted by a orc druid, who says he heard of the half orc and has been watching him for a few years now, he offered to take the boy on a spirit walk and the party is welcomed to join

After the ritual the boy learns he comes from a long line of warriors, and he was entering a blood rage that he has not learned how to control yet, luckily he only killed some goblins

The DM may reward each player who participates in the ritual with a bonus that lasts until the next extended rest. I recommend using the Constant Benefits from any animal like familiar.

The boy says good by to his family and sets off to find himself; and the party continues on the way.

This mini adventure can easily be completed in one game night while the party is traveling. Its presents plenty of opportunity for your group to role play as well as have some fun in combat.

This adventure idea also gives you a chance to introduce a re-occurring NPC, perhaps the boy finds a group of his own, or gets mixed up in the wrong crowd. In any case the boy never forgets those who fought for him.

Until next time, keep your dice on the table