A brawl erupts against villagers in the square, while a mob of non-combatants seek to further interfere with the PCs. This battle is easy to adapt for any situation against fairly weak human(oid) combatants.
Battle takes place in a lit village square. Roads extend west and southeast beyond what's pictured here; extend as needed, winding about appropriately. Doors and windows to houses around the square are shut tight, so entry during combat isn't possible (though perhaps be prepared to improvise if a player decides crashing through a window is the best available tactic).
O P
O O M O ^
O M O N
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A small mob also fills sections marked M; while non-combatants, they will push and shove nearby PCs with hands, sticks, and tools. Any PC that starts their turn in one of those sections must succeed on Acrobatics vs. 1d6 or be knocked over, losing their Move for the turn and suffering -1 Resilience. Area Attacks will scatter the mobs, leaving comparatively harmless pockets of people spread around. However, melee attacks are largely ineffective against the big group.
It's generally assumed that the mobs will be stationary for the duration of combat, shouting and waving their arms and pitchforks. It's fine to allow them to Move if you want; they should remain connected (if both are still present), shifting only one of the two sections at the end of a round into a new section still adjacent to the other (unmoving) M.
| Adversary | Rank | Role | HP | Init |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Gangster | Regular | Artillery | 13 | 1d8 |
| Agitated Farmer | Mook | Brawler | 7 | 1d4 |
| Street Tough | Mook | Defender | 11 | 1d6 |
This is a pretty straightforward brawl with introduction-level difficulty. Adversaries with range and reach will try to stay in the M sections for protection. Not being particularly wily tacticians, they make minimal effort to work together, and they won't go out of their way to interrupt Incantations.
If the Adversaries are outnumbered 2-to-1 or worse, they flee; the scenario ends in victory.
Recognizing the PCs' prowess, no one else in the mob is willing to step forward to challenge them. The PCs may continue about their way for now, though the villagers may seek new champions better equipped to handle things in the future. If the villagers are misled or under evil influence or control, killing any of them may be considered less-than-heroic. The PCs can defeat the villagers without explicitly slaying them, but if they do (and these aren't bad people they're fighting), each such PC should lose 1 Karma.
Be cautious with rewards for this scenario, as its difficulty is relatively low. It is likely that the PCs somehow messed up to get into this sort of situation, or this scenario is being used as an introduction into a new adventure path.
The PCs are forced to flee. If they have to leave town or otherwise lose access to rewards or services, this may be punishment enough. If it's no big deal, have each PC suffer an Injury in the process of getting away. You could also have the PCs be captured, perhaps thrown into a cell to await trial or even execution, leading to a new adventure branch.
Up the difficulty by adding more mob sections. You could also add an extra mook or two to make the scenario a bit more challenging; Farmers are the better option.
If you want to make this a more central battle in your campaign, include a Necrophyte as the mob leader. For small player counts you'll need to swap out a few other enemies, but it's probably okay to edge this closer toward a level 2 scenario as long as your PCs are reasonably well-equipped (for level 1).
If you don't want a mob, include some other interesting terrain features. Perhaps there's a fountain or a well that could be used with forced movement to penalize an enemy. A stack of empty barrels or crates behind an inn might make a nice option for improvisation as a clever combatant tries pushing the stack over onto nearby foes. You could even have the Gangsters start on roofs of buildings, running along them (Acrobatics vs. 1d4) and tossing knives down at PCs from relative safety. In this case you'll probably need to give them a few more knives, or perhaps even a Blowpipe or Bullet Crossbow instead.