The start of the campaign was attending a party and now they're about to be sucked into the shadowfell. First session ended with portals opening and one is about to open under them at the start of session 2.
The only problem I have is that a few of them decided not to wear their armor to the party. My main goal at the table is for everyone to have fun. Part of me wants to let them retcon that they wore it or let them go home and grab it, But the other option is fate and what I had planned before I knew about it.
How rare is their armor? Like... if they've got magic armor... you should go ahead and give some BS excuse for why they still have it with them. If not, just let them arrive without armor and give them an opportunity to get replacement armor fairly early on. It could be funny if you have them encounter a group of bandits who are coincidentally the same basic size as them, so you can justify them getting replacement armor that easily fits them.
When in Rome ... wear a toga. Shortly upon arrival in the Shadowfell they're able to piecemeal some armor approximate to what they wore back in the prime material world, but like all the armor is black, and spikey, and ridiculous pauldrons with very metal iconography. This could be found through an encounter, or maybe among the remains of folk who could be, or rather could have been, their Shadowfell counterparts.*
*I do the Shadowfell "echo" thing in my games. I have a party that just crossed over to the Shadowfell with an NPC. If I lose a party member, I'll also have the NPC die, and then offer the Shadowfell "echo" of the NPC (the NPC was a nobody human name Giddy, their Shadowfell counterpart is Gideon Mindwreck, Dhampir Oath of Watchers Paladin who would be spitting image for Giddy if not for the martial prowess and better looks. I didn't do an echo of the fallen PC because 1.) not sure who may die and 2.) what's more dreadful than coming across a PC Shadowfell counterpart who's a baddie?
Magic armor: somehow Shadowfell echoes of the character's armor. Shadowfell works in dissonant harmony to Shadowfell echoes that resonate with the party ... sort of find their way. But lots of Skull and demon motifs on the armor.
Note: "echo" is used to describe both the fey wild and shadow fell, in my game I literalize it a bit.
Mmm... darn it that's a toughy... oh for the hindsight of a bag O armor holding that goes rather fittingly with a ball gown...
I think the situation could really add to the dire situation that being dragged into the shadowfell against one's will rather is... though I think you should be prepared to incorporate the parties first priority being re-equipping themselves in the shadowfell which I think is certainly possible and could be quite fun... rather depends of course if you wanted the characters to be dragged specifically to the middle of the death maze of shadows in the shadowfell by this incident... in which case the piles of dead corpses and dead knights of yore might offer a piecemeal solution
“It cannot be seen, cannot be felt, Cannot be heard, cannot be smelt, It lies behind stars and under hills, And empty holes it fills, It comes first and follows after, Ends life, kills laughter.” J.R.R. Tolkien, The Hobbit, or There and Back Again
Thank you for the good replies guys, I'm a new dm that is trying not to handhold my friends/players! I've pulled a few punches in other games and regretted it, so perhaps this will be a punch un-pulled! xx
That actions and decisions have consequences is part of the fun with ttrpg. So as others have said, retcon if it's magic armor, otherwise the hunt for armor will be part of the adventures and yet another seed to riff on for you as DM - good stuff :-)
“Travel is fatal to prejudice, bigotry, and narrow-mindedness, and many of our people need it sorely on these accounts. Broad, wholesome, charitable views of men and things cannot be acquired by vegetating in one little corner of the earth all one's lifetime.” - Mark Twain - Innocents Abroad
Replace the armor. If you ever want fancy parties where players don’t come armed to the teeth again, you need to preserve trust here.
Or don't replace the armor and the players will learn both to make contingency plans for next out-of-armor party and adapt and improvise for when they aren't fully geared. Kind of depend on both the style of players and the style of DM:ing.
Just run the events of the game as they transpire. Have them sucked into the shadowfell. Your PCs don't have to die as a result of having no armour, and it presents them with an immediate need to find new equipment. One of my players has a Barbarian who wears half plate, but he chose for a while not to use it because he felt more free that way. It wasn't game breaking.
Just make sure that they can find equipment readily enough, but maybe not too easily. Assuming that the PCs are level 2 after one session, Hobgoblins wear chainmail so your heavy armour users can kill them and take it. Have a look at encounters you've already planned and see whether actually there ought to have been some armour available.
Replace the armor. If you ever want fancy parties where players don’t come armed to the teeth again, you need to preserve trust here.
If you live in a world where portals to the Shadowfell open under you at parties, you probably should go armed to the teeth, and this is a good learning experience for the players.
One alternative is to have the portals open under wherever they stowed their armour as well and have it drop through. When the party goes through the portal, have the feasting tables all crash down around them. Maybe they need to do a little encounter against some denizens of the shadowfell that see their gear and start picking through it.
Australian winter rules? "You can improve your lie in the rough if you can roughly prove you're not lying."
Seriously though, make it fun. If they spent their starting gold on that armor, then maybe they feel like they wasted their time and gold. If that's true, then maybe they'd have more fun if that were compensated for in some way. Aside from that, they're supposed to be adventurers. Stuff like this happens to adventurers all the time.
The sad fact is that armor in D&D is nearly useless anyway. It is far easier to hit than it is to avoid being hit, and armor doesn't do anything other than make it harder to hit. Worse yet, a natural 20 always hits and doubles the dice for damage. Studded Leather armor, which is something that never actually existed in the real world, has one less armor class than Plate assuming a 20 Dexterity. To make things worse, many spells don't even require hit rolls, most that do you can save for half, and ranged characters have the luxury of doing damage before the melee types get a chance to fight back.
If your characters didn't bring any armor, it won't matter much, and you can always let them bushwhack some Shadar kai in Studded Leather. There are very few classes that can't wear at least Light armor. The characters who can't wear armor at all have the powers needed to compensate for that.
Agreed with the keep it as is sentiment... and they WILL find a way to get some armor and/or weapons there. Count on it. And then, plan for it.
Which is way better for the story long term - make that armor memorable. It doesn't even have to be magic, but give it something interesting: shadows move across it differently, or it doesn't impose as much of a stealth penalty (be careful of that with heavy armor), or it just looks cool. Same with weapons. It's the Shadowfell... go nuts.
What would you rather be sporting at the the local tavern - a chainmail shirt you bought from bob the blacksmith, or a moon touched silver chain shirt with moving shadows on it from the fricking shadowfell that you found on your way to fight the (insert assorted details here)? Your AC is the same either way, but moon touched wins every time, because there's a story to it.
And story is what the game is all about.
(and look - if you're worried about disrupting the power of your game long term... give them a boatload of cool stuff that they can only use in the Shadowfell. If they got pulled in without their usual goodies, bury them under good stuff - let them loot a scene of battle to their hearts content (with level appropriate stuff) until they're totally kitted out. And then, when they get back to the real world, it all turns to smoke and drifts away... except for a token, a momento, some cool item that they actually earned that scales with what they had originally. As long as they get their old stuff back, and a little bit of goodness along they way, I guarantee they won't be pissed)
Remember - The DM giveth, and the DM taketh away. Which is cool as long as the DM giveth something else...
Replace the armor. If you ever want fancy parties where players don’t come armed to the teeth again, you need to preserve trust here.
Or don't replace the armor and the players will learn both to make contingency plans for next out-of-armor party and adapt and improvise for when they aren't fully geared. Kind of depend on both the style of players and the style of DM:ing.
But the easiest thing for them to do is just always wear armor.
The issue here is that some classes are just fine. You are not imposing the same restrictions on everyone, so players may feel you're punishing them for their class choice. I'm not saying you need to coddle your players, just that you shouldn't go to the other extreme where you completely disregard any given player's experience for the sake of the story you want to tell.
The fighter probably didn't even want to go to the party in the first place. They have no charisma skills and couldn't contribute much the whole time. Now they're in the Shadowfell with an AC of 10 when their character concept was to be a protector for the party. Meanwhile the warlock was the star of the party and when they get to the Shadowfell they can just cast Mage Armor and be at full power no problem. If I were the fighter, next party I'm just going to wait outside in my armor. That's the logical thing to do.
All that being said, yeah I'd probably whisk them away as is and make one of the first encounters a chance to re-equip themselves. But this isn't something I'd do often or lightly, and I'd probably contrive a way to penalize the warlock too. Or I wouldn't have convinced the PCs to go unarmored in the first place if I knew what was going to happen there.
I guess what it really comes down to is if you let characters run all over town(this can be acceptable by city laws but, draws attention), attend parties(doesn't usually fly) and meet important city rulers(hard nope) in full armor and weapons. The people I run with generally don't. You may be able to conceal some armor or weapons, especially magic ones but, is there a consequence of doing so? Like being jailed? Like execution?
I have played many encounters that devolved from Stealth scouting encounters to full tilt combat and really missed my battle armor...oh well. The one thing I do agree with most others on is that if you decided that wearing armor to the party was not reasonable, try to find a way to allow the characters to restore themselves to effectiveness before a seriously dangerous combat ensues.
I really like the ideas put forth by MidnightPlat and Bishop69 about the Shadowfell possibly manifesting weapons and armor that are a twisted, dark reflection of the character's usual gear. Maybe like a subconscious Id(psychoanalysis: the part of the mind in which innate instinctive impulses and primary processes are manifest) perception of self and purpose combining in a stylized way.
Replace the armor. If you ever want fancy parties where players don’t come armed to the teeth again, you need to preserve trust here.
Or don't replace the armor and the players will learn both to make contingency plans for next out-of-armor party and adapt and improvise for when they aren't fully geared. Kind of depend on both the style of players and the style of DM:ing.
The fighter probably didn't even want to go to the party in the first place. They have no charisma skills and couldn't contribute much the whole time. Now they're in the Shadowfell with an AC of 10 when their character concept was to be a protector for the party. Meanwhile the warlock was the star of the party and when they get to the Shadowfell they can just cast Mage Armor and be at full power no problem. If I were the fighter, next party I'm just going to wait outside in my armor. That's the logical thing to do.
A fighter who doesn't want to go to a party because they are too paranoid that they can't wear their armour seems like a terribly boring character to play. No, it's not very logical (or hygienic) to always run around dressed in full combat gear in places where you don't expect combat. And what's wrong with letting the warlock shine for a but?
Also, if I was hosting a party and one of the invited guests was just standing around outside wearing full combat kit I'd probably call the cops...
Back to OP, you've gotten some wonderful suggestions that I can't but agree with. Have some things go through the portal with them that can be used for improvised weapons, or if the place they're being sucked into is where all people who come to the Shadowfell end up, there might be enough stuff to loot to make a piecemeal armour from. Then they can run around with that for a while until they find something better. I really like the idea of equipment that only works in the Shadowfell, that allows you to give them some cool things that they couldn't use anywhere else. I'd probably allow an Arcana check to have the players know some old legend of things like that that only can exist in the Fell as to prepare them for the fact that they might disappear when they come back to their home world.
I think he did not want to attend the party because there cha is 8 and they want to kill goblins dragons or whatever else. Everyone gets a time to shine the sorc wants to be in melee range of that fire giant as much as that fighter does a party with Social interaction. Your strategy only works on low level party’s you think level 10+ Pcs care what a guard want. If pcs are at a fancy event it’s likely they were summoned which means there services are wanted you don’t start off you business relationship with someone by putting them in a bad mood.
Op if you take there gear like that you are giving negative reinforcement for rp and. I mean at a party did the wizard bring a spellbook? Adventuring gear? Food?
I think he did not want to attend the party because there cha is 8 and they want to kill goblins dragons or whatever else. Everyone gets a time to shine the sorc wants to be in melee range of that fire giant as much as that fighter does a party with Social interaction. Your strategy only works on low level party’s you think level 10+ Pcs care what a guard want. If pcs are at a fancy event it’s likely they were summoned which means there services are wanted you don’t start off you business relationship with someone by putting them in a bad mood.
Hard to understand the atrocious spelling but I'll try to answer your strange claims.
First of all, there is no logical reason what so ever why a character with a charisma of 8 wouldn't enjoy going to a party. Quite the contrary, a character with low charisma might be delighted to finally be invited to a party. Also, unless you lack imagination entirely then you can have a perfectly wonderful time roleplaying a social event even with a low charisma character and without rolling a single die.
Second of all, why do you assume that only a fighter or low charisma character would want to "kill goblins dragons or whatever else"?
Third, unless the characters or utterly amoral people with no respect for fellow beings then yes, they would care about what a guard wants. Or are you suggesting that they murder hobo their way through the city guard just because they aren't permitted to loiter around someone's house dressed fully for combat? Speaking off, do you know what is also a bad way to start of a business relationship? Showing up at the meeting wearing full battle gear when the invitation clearly stated Black Tie.
Op if you take there gear like that you are giving negative reinforcement for rp and. I mean at a party did the wizard bring a spellbook? Adventuring gear? Food?
Quite the opposite. It is very much a positive reinforcement to roleplaying if the players volountarily dress for the occasion rather than allowing them to magically have all the gear they want at all times without any kind of ramifications or consequences. It's not very immersive to have the PC running around carrying adveturing gear and armour in a high society setting without anyone asking any questions.
As someone who of course never wore IIIa with plate inserts and molle bedazzled rig of holsters and pouches to a formal event, but who has also had to work the floor or be in a "face" position in such environment, I have worn well "tailored" II and IIIa soft vests with well tailored suits and shirts (for me the shirts were always the key thing) at formal functions ... where even folks who knew me thought I'd probably stopped track work in favor of heavy lifting gains...
So the realism of "combat gear" being brought to pomp and circumstance is fairly valid. Just to brainstorm a compromise though, maybe the fighter has functional ceremonial armor that doesn't provide as much AC as whatever they normally wear but is still something. Elvin chain I think was floated here in this thread and could be part of of calculus.
I mean, yes, if you're showing up for a social event showing up in full plate with a helm covering your face is out of the question unless it's like a gathering of the Legion of Doom, and they spent their party budget on venue and entertainment and there's no catering. Whatever "realism" folks are trying to ascribe to, past efforts at nailing that down seem to me to place the "real" timeline of D&D as Eternia of the Masters of the Universe franchise, and that place never changes (probably why it's called Eternia). Anyway folks wore ceremonial armor all the time in Masters of the Universe (even though the world's mightiest warrior wore furry briefs and a harness). Also while sure this may be "unrealistic" but many written, illustrated and filmed versions of King Arthur's Knights had them rolling into the Round Table pizza party with well polished battle rattle, and it's a unrealistic staple of attending court in some many other fantasies as well. So at the end of the day, DMs call on how armor may fit in or faux pas'ed their fantasy world's social etiquette.
In this specific instance I'm still standing my advice that if they declared not taking it, own that declaration but give them opportunities to parallel their equipment in the Shadowfell with "echoed" gear. I think some folks are being a little harsh on the retcon hectoring, when we're talking about a relatively new DM creating a contrivance to get the characters to the Shadowfell and seems conflicted on whether they wanted "naked fish out of water" or "adventuring in the Shadowfell as they are accustomed to adventuring." DM has the prerogative to fix this however they please and I imagine the players will be nowhere near as judgey on this as some of the posters trying to enforce their presumptions on game integrity.
The only thing I'd probably rule out of what they'd show with at a social function are the backpacks, bedrolls, rations, etc. While I like the possibilities "unarmored" poses a low level party, I could see plenty of fantasy cultures welcoming weapons, armor, wands, and staves through the door. Or maybe a LOTR Rohan weapons check:
As someone who of course never wore IIIa with plate inserts and molle bedazzled rig of holsters and pouches to a formal event, but who has also had to work the floor or be in a "face" position in such environment, I have worn well "tailored" II and IIIa soft vests with well tailored suits and shirts (for me the shirts were always the key thing) at formal functions ... where even folks who knew me thought I'd probably stopped track work in favor of heavy lifting gains...
So the realism of "combat gear" being brought to pomp and circumstance is fairly valid.
Well, except for the fact that you have just disproven this in the previous paragraph. Yes, people can wear weapons and armour to an event but those who do are a) working some kind of security, b) noticed for their equipment and most importantly c), adapting their gear to the occasion. You don't go in full BDU and an assault rifle when you are supposed to at least somewhat blend in with the guests wearing black ties. Ceremonial armour and a dress sword? Absolutely. Carrying your greataxe because you are a barbarian and "this is the way of my people"? Sure, you might pull that of but considered being "quaint" but showing up in your dirty, bloody and dented adventuring gear? That could just as well be taken as an insult to the host who is expected to take care of security and the safety of their guests.
Rollback Post to RevisionRollBack
To post a comment, please login or register a new account.
The start of the campaign was attending a party and now they're about to be sucked into the shadowfell. First session ended with portals opening and one is about to open under them at the start of session 2.
The only problem I have is that a few of them decided not to wear their armor to the party. My main goal at the table is for everyone to have fun. Part of me wants to let them retcon that they wore it or let them go home and grab it, But the other option is fate and what I had planned before I knew about it.
What would you do?
How rare is their armor? Like... if they've got magic armor... you should go ahead and give some BS excuse for why they still have it with them. If not, just let them arrive without armor and give them an opportunity to get replacement armor fairly early on. It could be funny if you have them encounter a group of bandits who are coincidentally the same basic size as them, so you can justify them getting replacement armor that easily fits them.
Watch Crits for Breakfast, an adults-only RP-Heavy Roll20 Livestream at twitch.tv/afterdisbooty
And now you too can play with the amazing art and assets we use in Roll20 for our campaign at Hazel's Emporium
When in Rome ... wear a toga. Shortly upon arrival in the Shadowfell they're able to piecemeal some armor approximate to what they wore back in the prime material world, but like all the armor is black, and spikey, and ridiculous pauldrons with very metal iconography. This could be found through an encounter, or maybe among the remains of folk who could be, or rather could have been, their Shadowfell counterparts.*
*I do the Shadowfell "echo" thing in my games. I have a party that just crossed over to the Shadowfell with an NPC. If I lose a party member, I'll also have the NPC die, and then offer the Shadowfell "echo" of the NPC (the NPC was a nobody human name Giddy, their Shadowfell counterpart is Gideon Mindwreck, Dhampir Oath of Watchers Paladin who would be spitting image for Giddy if not for the martial prowess and better looks. I didn't do an echo of the fallen PC because 1.) not sure who may die and 2.) what's more dreadful than coming across a PC Shadowfell counterpart who's a baddie?
Magic armor: somehow Shadowfell echoes of the character's armor. Shadowfell works in dissonant harmony to Shadowfell echoes that resonate with the party ... sort of find their way. But lots of Skull and demon motifs on the armor.
Note: "echo" is used to describe both the fey wild and shadow fell, in my game I literalize it a bit.
Jander Sunstar is the thinking person's Drizzt, fight me.
Mmm... darn it that's a toughy... oh for the hindsight of a bag O armor holding that goes rather fittingly with a ball gown...
I think the situation could really add to the dire situation that being dragged into the shadowfell against one's will rather is... though I think you should be prepared to incorporate the parties first priority being re-equipping themselves in the shadowfell which I think is certainly possible and could be quite fun... rather depends of course if you wanted the characters to be dragged specifically to the middle of the death maze of shadows in the shadowfell by this incident... in which case the piles of dead corpses and dead knights of yore might offer a piecemeal solution
“It cannot be seen, cannot be felt, Cannot be heard, cannot be smelt, It lies behind stars and under hills, And empty holes it fills, It comes first and follows after, Ends life, kills laughter.” J.R.R. Tolkien, The Hobbit, or There and Back Again
Thank you for the good replies guys, I'm a new dm that is trying not to handhold my friends/players! I've pulled a few punches in other games and regretted it, so perhaps this will be a punch un-pulled! xx
That actions and decisions have consequences is part of the fun with ttrpg. So as others have said, retcon if it's magic armor, otherwise the hunt for armor will be part of the adventures and yet another seed to riff on for you as DM - good stuff :-)
Golf rules.
Play it like it lies.
“Travel is fatal to prejudice, bigotry, and narrow-mindedness, and many of our people need it sorely on these accounts. Broad, wholesome, charitable views of men and things cannot be acquired by vegetating in one little corner of the earth all one's lifetime.” - Mark Twain - Innocents Abroad
Replace the armor. If you ever want fancy parties where players don’t come armed to the teeth again, you need to preserve trust here.
Or don't replace the armor and the players will learn both to make contingency plans for next out-of-armor party and adapt and improvise for when they aren't fully geared. Kind of depend on both the style of players and the style of DM:ing.
Just run the events of the game as they transpire. Have them sucked into the shadowfell. Your PCs don't have to die as a result of having no armour, and it presents them with an immediate need to find new equipment. One of my players has a Barbarian who wears half plate, but he chose for a while not to use it because he felt more free that way. It wasn't game breaking.
Just make sure that they can find equipment readily enough, but maybe not too easily. Assuming that the PCs are level 2 after one session, Hobgoblins wear chainmail so your heavy armour users can kill them and take it. Have a look at encounters you've already planned and see whether actually there ought to have been some armour available.
If you live in a world where portals to the Shadowfell open under you at parties, you probably should go armed to the teeth, and this is a good learning experience for the players.
One alternative is to have the portals open under wherever they stowed their armour as well and have it drop through. When the party goes through the portal, have the feasting tables all crash down around them. Maybe they need to do a little encounter against some denizens of the shadowfell that see their gear and start picking through it.
Australian winter rules? "You can improve your lie in the rough if you can roughly prove you're not lying."
Seriously though, make it fun. If they spent their starting gold on that armor, then maybe they feel like they wasted their time and gold. If that's true, then maybe they'd have more fun if that were compensated for in some way. Aside from that, they're supposed to be adventurers. Stuff like this happens to adventurers all the time.
The sad fact is that armor in D&D is nearly useless anyway. It is far easier to hit than it is to avoid being hit, and armor doesn't do anything other than make it harder to hit. Worse yet, a natural 20 always hits and doubles the dice for damage. Studded Leather armor, which is something that never actually existed in the real world, has one less armor class than Plate assuming a 20 Dexterity. To make things worse, many spells don't even require hit rolls, most that do you can save for half, and ranged characters have the luxury of doing damage before the melee types get a chance to fight back.
If your characters didn't bring any armor, it won't matter much, and you can always let them bushwhack some Shadar kai in Studded Leather. There are very few classes that can't wear at least Light armor. The characters who can't wear armor at all have the powers needed to compensate for that.
<Insert clever signature here>
Agreed with the keep it as is sentiment... and they WILL find a way to get some armor and/or weapons there. Count on it. And then, plan for it.
Which is way better for the story long term - make that armor memorable. It doesn't even have to be magic, but give it something interesting: shadows move across it differently, or it doesn't impose as much of a stealth penalty (be careful of that with heavy armor), or it just looks cool. Same with weapons. It's the Shadowfell... go nuts.
What would you rather be sporting at the the local tavern - a chainmail shirt you bought from bob the blacksmith, or a moon touched silver chain shirt with moving shadows on it from the fricking shadowfell that you found on your way to fight the (insert assorted details here)? Your AC is the same either way, but moon touched wins every time, because there's a story to it.
And story is what the game is all about.
(and look - if you're worried about disrupting the power of your game long term... give them a boatload of cool stuff that they can only use in the Shadowfell. If they got pulled in without their usual goodies, bury them under good stuff - let them loot a scene of battle to their hearts content (with level appropriate stuff) until they're totally kitted out. And then, when they get back to the real world, it all turns to smoke and drifts away... except for a token, a momento, some cool item that they actually earned that scales with what they had originally. As long as they get their old stuff back, and a little bit of goodness along they way, I guarantee they won't be pissed)
Remember - The DM giveth, and the DM taketh away. Which is cool as long as the DM giveth something else...
But the easiest thing for them to do is just always wear armor.
The issue here is that some classes are just fine. You are not imposing the same restrictions on everyone, so players may feel you're punishing them for their class choice. I'm not saying you need to coddle your players, just that you shouldn't go to the other extreme where you completely disregard any given player's experience for the sake of the story you want to tell.
The fighter probably didn't even want to go to the party in the first place. They have no charisma skills and couldn't contribute much the whole time. Now they're in the Shadowfell with an AC of 10 when their character concept was to be a protector for the party. Meanwhile the warlock was the star of the party and when they get to the Shadowfell they can just cast Mage Armor and be at full power no problem. If I were the fighter, next party I'm just going to wait outside in my armor. That's the logical thing to do.
All that being said, yeah I'd probably whisk them away as is and make one of the first encounters a chance to re-equip themselves. But this isn't something I'd do often or lightly, and I'd probably contrive a way to penalize the warlock too. Or I wouldn't have convinced the PCs to go unarmored in the first place if I knew what was going to happen there.
My homebrew subclasses (full list here)
(Artificer) Swordmage | Glasswright | (Barbarian) Path of the Savage Embrace
(Bard) College of Dance | (Fighter) Warlord | Cannoneer
(Monk) Way of the Elements | (Ranger) Blade Dancer
(Rogue) DaggerMaster | Inquisitor | (Sorcerer) Riftwalker | Spellfist
(Warlock) The Swarm
I guess what it really comes down to is if you let characters run all over town(this can be acceptable by city laws but, draws attention), attend parties(doesn't usually fly) and meet important city rulers(hard nope) in full armor and weapons. The people I run with generally don't. You may be able to conceal some armor or weapons, especially magic ones but, is there a consequence of doing so? Like being jailed? Like execution?
I have played many encounters that devolved from Stealth scouting encounters to full tilt combat and really missed my battle armor...oh well. The one thing I do agree with most others on is that if you decided that wearing armor to the party was not reasonable, try to find a way to allow the characters to restore themselves to effectiveness before a seriously dangerous combat ensues.
I really like the ideas put forth by MidnightPlat and Bishop69 about the Shadowfell possibly manifesting weapons and armor that are a twisted, dark reflection of the character's usual gear. Maybe like a subconscious Id(psychoanalysis: the part of the mind in which innate instinctive impulses and primary processes are manifest) perception of self and purpose combining in a stylized way.
A fighter who doesn't want to go to a party because they are too paranoid that they can't wear their armour seems like a terribly boring character to play. No, it's not very logical (or hygienic) to always run around dressed in full combat gear in places where you don't expect combat. And what's wrong with letting the warlock shine for a but?
Also, if I was hosting a party and one of the invited guests was just standing around outside wearing full combat kit I'd probably call the cops...
Back to OP, you've gotten some wonderful suggestions that I can't but agree with. Have some things go through the portal with them that can be used for improvised weapons, or if the place they're being sucked into is where all people who come to the Shadowfell end up, there might be enough stuff to loot to make a piecemeal armour from. Then they can run around with that for a while until they find something better. I really like the idea of equipment that only works in the Shadowfell, that allows you to give them some cool things that they couldn't use anywhere else. I'd probably allow an Arcana check to have the players know some old legend of things like that that only can exist in the Fell as to prepare them for the fact that they might disappear when they come back to their home world.
I think he did not want to attend the party because there cha is 8 and they want to kill goblins dragons or whatever else. Everyone gets a time to shine the sorc wants to be in melee range of that fire giant as much as that fighter does a party with Social interaction. Your strategy only works on low level party’s you think level 10+ Pcs care what a guard want. If pcs are at a fancy event it’s likely they were summoned which means there services are wanted you don’t start off you business relationship with someone by putting them in a bad mood.
Op if you take there gear like that you are giving negative reinforcement for rp and. I mean at a party did the wizard bring a spellbook? Adventuring gear? Food?
Hard to understand the atrocious spelling but I'll try to answer your strange claims.
First of all, there is no logical reason what so ever why a character with a charisma of 8 wouldn't enjoy going to a party. Quite the contrary, a character with low charisma might be delighted to finally be invited to a party. Also, unless you lack imagination entirely then you can have a perfectly wonderful time roleplaying a social event even with a low charisma character and without rolling a single die.
Second of all, why do you assume that only a fighter or low charisma character would want to "kill goblins dragons or whatever else"?
Third, unless the characters or utterly amoral people with no respect for fellow beings then yes, they would care about what a guard wants. Or are you suggesting that they murder hobo their way through the city guard just because they aren't permitted to loiter around someone's house dressed fully for combat? Speaking off, do you know what is also a bad way to start of a business relationship? Showing up at the meeting wearing full battle gear when the invitation clearly stated Black Tie.
Quite the opposite. It is very much a positive reinforcement to roleplaying if the players volountarily dress for the occasion rather than allowing them to magically have all the gear they want at all times without any kind of ramifications or consequences. It's not very immersive to have the PC running around carrying adveturing gear and armour in a high society setting without anyone asking any questions.
As someone who of course never wore IIIa with plate inserts and molle bedazzled rig of holsters and pouches to a formal event, but who has also had to work the floor or be in a "face" position in such environment, I have worn well "tailored" II and IIIa soft vests with well tailored suits and shirts (for me the shirts were always the key thing) at formal functions ... where even folks who knew me thought I'd probably stopped track work in favor of heavy lifting gains...
So the realism of "combat gear" being brought to pomp and circumstance is fairly valid. Just to brainstorm a compromise though, maybe the fighter has functional ceremonial armor that doesn't provide as much AC as whatever they normally wear but is still something. Elvin chain I think was floated here in this thread and could be part of of calculus.
I mean, yes, if you're showing up for a social event showing up in full plate with a helm covering your face is out of the question unless it's like a gathering of the Legion of Doom, and they spent their party budget on venue and entertainment and there's no catering. Whatever "realism" folks are trying to ascribe to, past efforts at nailing that down seem to me to place the "real" timeline of D&D as Eternia of the Masters of the Universe franchise, and that place never changes (probably why it's called Eternia). Anyway folks wore ceremonial armor all the time in Masters of the Universe (even though the world's mightiest warrior wore furry briefs and a harness). Also while sure this may be "unrealistic" but many written, illustrated and filmed versions of King Arthur's Knights had them rolling into the Round Table pizza party with well polished battle rattle, and it's a unrealistic staple of attending court in some many other fantasies as well. So at the end of the day, DMs call on how armor may fit in or faux pas'ed their fantasy world's social etiquette.
In this specific instance I'm still standing my advice that if they declared not taking it, own that declaration but give them opportunities to parallel their equipment in the Shadowfell with "echoed" gear. I think some folks are being a little harsh on the retcon hectoring, when we're talking about a relatively new DM creating a contrivance to get the characters to the Shadowfell and seems conflicted on whether they wanted "naked fish out of water" or "adventuring in the Shadowfell as they are accustomed to adventuring." DM has the prerogative to fix this however they please and I imagine the players will be nowhere near as judgey on this as some of the posters trying to enforce their presumptions on game integrity.
The only thing I'd probably rule out of what they'd show with at a social function are the backpacks, bedrolls, rations, etc. While I like the possibilities "unarmored" poses a low level party, I could see plenty of fantasy cultures welcoming weapons, armor, wands, and staves through the door. Or maybe a LOTR Rohan weapons check:
Jander Sunstar is the thinking person's Drizzt, fight me.
Well, except for the fact that you have just disproven this in the previous paragraph. Yes, people can wear weapons and armour to an event but those who do are a) working some kind of security, b) noticed for their equipment and most importantly c), adapting their gear to the occasion. You don't go in full BDU and an assault rifle when you are supposed to at least somewhat blend in with the guests wearing black ties. Ceremonial armour and a dress sword? Absolutely. Carrying your greataxe because you are a barbarian and "this is the way of my people"? Sure, you might pull that of but considered being "quaint" but showing up in your dirty, bloody and dented adventuring gear? That could just as well be taken as an insult to the host who is expected to take care of security and the safety of their guests.