One of my player plays a Way of the Shadows Monk, currently level 11. He was sent on a quest at level 1 by the Skull temple high priest, who kept his parents hostage. This quest was his origin story and for the first time now, the players are going to come back to the city with the Skull temple. Now, I don't know how I am suppose to play this one out.
- Either the parents are dead, or they were freed a long time ago. I am juggling with the idea that they were in on the idea of the quest and «faked» being hostages. Sort of like a rite of passage for him to grow or having him away for some time.
In the end, I want the high priest to be a powerful enemy of the party. He is plotting to remove the god-king from his throne and taking his place, so killing him will serve the city. However, I want the players to discover the plots first and trace them back to the high priest afterwards. But my PC will run to him as soon as he gets in town, and I need to be prepared for his wrath...
In terms of the family situation, you should analyze your player's relationship with their parents. This will dictate what choices they could make that make the most sense as a parent. You can play as acurate to this relationship as possible, or as far away from it as you can. The situation can either be a tribute for the character's family bond, or a terrible betrayal leading the PC to mature as a whole. Or just kill them off.
In terms of the priest situation, give the priest a shield guardian that protects them at all times. The priest is a powerful figure, and using a shield guardian makes the priest look more clean and less violent to his supporters. If the iron robot is only protecting the "innocent and kind" man, he isn't actively hurting anyone and ruining his reputation. The situation will likely play out like this: The players meet the priest, the monk attacks them, the shield guardian protects until the law authorities arrive, and the monk is arrested. Adding a shield guardian also creates a strategic element: How will they get rid of it? By attacking it? By stealing the amulet that commands it? Once the shield guardian is dealt with, the PCs can fight the Priest another day.
What kind of quest was it? Did the monk complete it? He could always release the parents with some safeguard that kills them if something happens to him or try to keep stringing along the monk.
Whatever you do, don't kill them off. Fridging backstory characters might work well in movies or books, but in game, it feels crappy for the player, especially if they've worked hard to get there. I love the idea of having them be in on it: it creates some nice conflict, since the character might be rightfully furious that his parents traumatized him and sent him on a potentially deadly quest so that he could live up to his bloodline or some malarkey like that. Choosing to accept or reject that heritage is a big and cool roleplaying decision either way!
Have the parents be mystically held hostage. As in the priest has locks of their hair and small samples of their blood that he can use to scry them and use dominate person to make one kill the other if they ever disobey him or leave town. That kind of hostage.
This way the parents are still hostages and has a plot line leading directly to the priest. When the player goes to get the locks of hair and other things have him find the Macguffin that leads into the plot you want the group to play out back to the rest of the party. It’ll give his parents quest weight, and the party won’t see it as a waste of their game time then.
The parents could even be living in a retirement community controlled by the priesthood.
Give him an "Uncle Iroh" that pulls him aside while hes walking up to the temple, he can inform and support the player while you continue the story with a mix of the ideas of DM_from_1975 and WallineDungeonMaster, at least i like them very much.
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One of my player plays a Way of the Shadows Monk, currently level 11. He was sent on a quest at level 1 by the Skull temple high priest, who kept his parents hostage. This quest was his origin story and for the first time now, the players are going to come back to the city with the Skull temple. Now, I don't know how I am suppose to play this one out.
- Either the parents are dead, or they were freed a long time ago. I am juggling with the idea that they were in on the idea of the quest and «faked» being hostages. Sort of like a rite of passage for him to grow or having him away for some time.
In the end, I want the high priest to be a powerful enemy of the party. He is plotting to remove the god-king from his throne and taking his place, so killing him will serve the city. However, I want the players to discover the plots first and trace them back to the high priest afterwards. But my PC will run to him as soon as he gets in town, and I need to be prepared for his wrath...
So, any ideas how I should play this one out?
In terms of the family situation, you should analyze your player's relationship with their parents. This will dictate what choices they could make that make the most sense as a parent. You can play as acurate to this relationship as possible, or as far away from it as you can. The situation can either be a tribute for the character's family bond, or a terrible betrayal leading the PC to mature as a whole. Or just kill them off.
In terms of the priest situation, give the priest a shield guardian that protects them at all times. The priest is a powerful figure, and using a shield guardian makes the priest look more clean and less violent to his supporters. If the iron robot is only protecting the "innocent and kind" man, he isn't actively hurting anyone and ruining his reputation. The situation will likely play out like this: The players meet the priest, the monk attacks them, the shield guardian protects until the law authorities arrive, and the monk is arrested. Adding a shield guardian also creates a strategic element: How will they get rid of it? By attacking it? By stealing the amulet that commands it? Once the shield guardian is dealt with, the PCs can fight the Priest another day.
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What kind of quest was it? Did the monk complete it? He could always release the parents with some safeguard that kills them if something happens to him or try to keep stringing along the monk.
Whatever you do, don't kill them off. Fridging backstory characters might work well in movies or books, but in game, it feels crappy for the player, especially if they've worked hard to get there. I love the idea of having them be in on it: it creates some nice conflict, since the character might be rightfully furious that his parents traumatized him and sent him on a potentially deadly quest so that he could live up to his bloodline or some malarkey like that. Choosing to accept or reject that heritage is a big and cool roleplaying decision either way!
Wizard (Gandalf) of the Tolkien Club
Have the parents be mystically held hostage. As in the priest has locks of their hair and small samples of their blood that he can use to scry them and use dominate person to make one kill the other if they ever disobey him or leave town. That kind of hostage.
This way the parents are still hostages and has a plot line leading directly to the priest. When the player goes to get the locks of hair and other things have him find the Macguffin that leads into the plot you want the group to play out back to the rest of the party. It’ll give his parents quest weight, and the party won’t see it as a waste of their game time then.
The parents could even be living in a retirement community controlled by the priesthood.
I hope these ideas help you.
Give him an "Uncle Iroh" that pulls him aside while hes walking up to the temple, he can inform and support the player while you continue the story with a mix of the ideas of DM_from_1975 and WallineDungeonMaster, at least i like them very much.