So, a little backstory. I decided to let one of my characters play a goblin and that happens to be the player that roleplays the most.
I run them through a murder mystery style scenario (head of the dinner party killed to start, players locked in, must figure out who did it, and take them out). We get to the end and, because I didn't want the other NPC's involved in the fight, the killer basically disabled them all at once right before the final fight (my mistake).
Players walk into the room where the NPC's are disabled. The goblin decided he needs some rations and takes flesh from the disabled NPC's (one of which happens to be the captain of the guard).
Final fight happened, they killed the boss, and, right before the session ended, the NPC's woke up.
The NPCs were disabled, but were they conscious of their surroundings? If so, the captain of the guard will surely have them arrested. If they weren't aware, they need to come up with an excuse about what happened. PC deception vs guard captain insight. I've had plenty of players do crazy stuff, and just have the world react in a way that would be somewhat realistic to the situation.
That's a pretty evil thing to do, especially if the person was conscious at the moment. You're literally peeling flesh from a sentient being, while it is completely conscious, and feeling every bit of the pain you are inflicting upon them. And only for the reason of "Oh, I wanted a snack." Even if they're a goblin, that's no excuse. There should be consequences for such an action. Not only for the goblin, but for the other characters who let this happen.
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"Ignorance is bliss, and you look absolutely miserable."
I let my players know when they are crossing an alignment line. If they are of lawful or good orboth for example and contradict either or both with an action. Or if the party is off mixed alignments like chaotic good, chaotic neutral for example: if a CN character in the presence of a CG wants to commit an evil act I warm them that the CG character(s) would have no choice but to act against them and also that deviation would have undesired consequences especially if repeatedly they so choose to cause inter player conflict.
Unless you are running an evil character campaign players should be avoiding overtly evil acts. Even CN alignment, as they would dabble in the grey area between good and evil but in with a leaning towards the good side in a good aligned campaign.
Any Good characters in the party, and probably most of the Lawful ones as well, should not be OK with the goblin's actions in any way, shape, or form. Snacking on a helpless person in that manner is an undeniably evil act. Very evil and chaotic to boot. How are the other players reacting?
Natural consequences. If the guard captain is aware of what happened and who did it the goblin now has a price on his head and will be lucky to live to see a trial. The rest of the party will also have made an enemy of the guard captain at the least, and more likely any and every NPC who was there to witness and any and every NPC who hears the story. Not only did the goblin member of the party strip flesh from a helpless man and eat it in front of him while he was alive, the rest of the party, the goblin's companions, did nothing to stop this, thus showing that they approve of this sort of behavior. I strongly suggest the party leave town before the Lynch mob comes for them.
Your players have decided that they want to play the monsters in a campaign where every man's hand will be against them and they will be seen as lawless, cannibal savages. If they complain about being treated this way, remind them of what the goblin player decided to do. If he uses the "I was only playing my character" defense, tell him that you are only playing the NPCs' characters and this is how they would react to it.
They were not conscious, but the goblin failed his deception check given with disadvantage because him saying he's going to eat someone had been a recurring theme in the mansion.
Considering that, I'd have them arrested, then let them try to escape. (Which they should, considering the above average skills of PCs) Then, work it in as a future obstacle. Wanted posters, bounty hunters, etc. Should serve as a reminder that their actions have consequences.
It would be very easy for you to hit them with an overwhelming force and have them arrested and beheaded. Definitely resist that urge and try to encourage the players to use it as character development. Not only for the goblin, but for the others as well.
A mildly related anecdote that went a different direction:
Had a player who ran as a cursed fighter: every day he went without consuming humanoid flesh he would degrade through stages of zombie-ism eventually becoming a crazed, mindless monster.
Many quests and adventures into the story, he actually joined the guard. He made a habit of taking parts from slain criminals for snacking later, and the guards warmed up to him in a rather grisly, Punisher-like way. His most loyal crew would form a circle around him to block the view of pedestrians.
Then legends started popping up in all the various places they went, even on the other side of the continent: "Heard about the man-eating guard from Mirabar? Don't want to be a pickpocket there!"
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Sigh... yeah... this happened...
So, a little backstory. I decided to let one of my characters play a goblin and that happens to be the player that roleplays the most.
I run them through a murder mystery style scenario (head of the dinner party killed to start, players locked in, must figure out who did it, and take them out). We get to the end and, because I didn't want the other NPC's involved in the fight, the killer basically disabled them all at once right before the final fight (my mistake).
Players walk into the room where the NPC's are disabled. The goblin decided he needs some rations and takes flesh from the disabled NPC's (one of which happens to be the captain of the guard).
Final fight happened, they killed the boss, and, right before the session ended, the NPC's woke up.
Now what?
The NPCs were disabled, but were they conscious of their surroundings? If so, the captain of the guard will surely have them arrested. If they weren't aware, they need to come up with an excuse about what happened. PC deception vs guard captain insight. I've had plenty of players do crazy stuff, and just have the world react in a way that would be somewhat realistic to the situation.
That's a pretty evil thing to do, especially if the person was conscious at the moment. You're literally peeling flesh from a sentient being, while it is completely conscious, and feeling every bit of the pain you are inflicting upon them. And only for the reason of "Oh, I wanted a snack." Even if they're a goblin, that's no excuse. There should be consequences for such an action. Not only for the goblin, but for the other characters who let this happen.
"Ignorance is bliss, and you look absolutely miserable."
I let my players know when they are crossing an alignment line. If they are of lawful or good orboth for example and contradict either or both with an action. Or if the party is off mixed alignments like chaotic good, chaotic neutral for example: if a CN character in the presence of a CG wants to commit an evil act I warm them that the CG character(s) would have no choice but to act against them and also that deviation would have undesired consequences especially if repeatedly they so choose to cause inter player conflict.
Unless you are running an evil character campaign players should be avoiding overtly evil acts. Even CN alignment, as they would dabble in the grey area between good and evil but in with a leaning towards the good side in a good aligned campaign.
Any Good characters in the party, and probably most of the Lawful ones as well, should not be OK with the goblin's actions in any way, shape, or form. Snacking on a helpless person in that manner is an undeniably evil act. Very evil and chaotic to boot. How are the other players reacting?
Natural consequences. If the guard captain is aware of what happened and who did it the goblin now has a price on his head and will be lucky to live to see a trial. The rest of the party will also have made an enemy of the guard captain at the least, and more likely any and every NPC who was there to witness and any and every NPC who hears the story. Not only did the goblin member of the party strip flesh from a helpless man and eat it in front of him while he was alive, the rest of the party, the goblin's companions, did nothing to stop this, thus showing that they approve of this sort of behavior. I strongly suggest the party leave town before the Lynch mob comes for them.
Your players have decided that they want to play the monsters in a campaign where every man's hand will be against them and they will be seen as lawless, cannibal savages. If they complain about being treated this way, remind them of what the goblin player decided to do. If he uses the "I was only playing my character" defense, tell him that you are only playing the NPCs' characters and this is how they would react to it.
They were not conscious, but the goblin failed his deception check given with disadvantage because him saying he's going to eat someone had been a recurring theme in the mansion.
Considering that, I'd have them arrested, then let them try to escape. (Which they should, considering the above average skills of PCs) Then, work it in as a future obstacle. Wanted posters, bounty hunters, etc. Should serve as a reminder that their actions have consequences.
It would be very easy for you to hit them with an overwhelming force and have them arrested and beheaded. Definitely resist that urge and try to encourage the players to use it as character development. Not only for the goblin, but for the others as well.
A mildly related anecdote that went a different direction:
Had a player who ran as a cursed fighter: every day he went without consuming humanoid flesh he would degrade through stages of zombie-ism eventually becoming a crazed, mindless monster.
Many quests and adventures into the story, he actually joined the guard. He made a habit of taking parts from slain criminals for snacking later, and the guards warmed up to him in a rather grisly, Punisher-like way. His most loyal crew would form a circle around him to block the view of pedestrians.
Then legends started popping up in all the various places they went, even on the other side of the continent: "Heard about the man-eating guard from Mirabar? Don't want to be a pickpocket there!"