Newbie DM here and currently playing my first full campaign (Tomb of Annihilation) and I found myself in a very particular situation.
I have a group of 4 players and after striking a deal with a Garrison Major to get some zombies, they came back from their quest only to get super disrespectful toward the NPC and calling her name. That NPC is lawful evil and crooked but still in charge of the Flaming Fist force that is found in the area.
After she called the guard on the disrespectful player, the other one took his weapon out and was about to strike when the guard stopped him. They were both taken away. At this point I'm stumped and feel like she'd have them executed. The other 2 player and pleading and trying to fix the situation but I felt like the NPC wouldn't have it. So she took their weapons and banished them from the fort.
That session ended there. As a newbie DM, I have absolutely no clue what to do. It's still early in the campaign (session 4, level 3) and I wanna keep this one going.
Any advice would do, cause I don't know how to handle this one.
Find some way for them to 'atone' for their actions. They could be required to serve her for a set time/favors. You are the DM. You can bend the story to your will. I would just say there does have to be repercussions of some sort for the offenders.
Killing them off does not have to happen. Just because someone is evil does not mean the just kill. Smart NPCs would use the PCs to their benefit.
This is a great opportunity for an adventure! Have the L/E NPC charge them with a mission to atone for their rudeness (suicide squad style, only without the implants). Once they are underway they find out that the quest they are on is “evil” and now they have a dilemma. Do they complete the quest and clear their names, or do they resist and do the “good thing” making a powerful enemy. Either decision could have lasting in world effects that continue to lead to even more adventures, or it could resolve and be over with depending on how you want the story to go.
I don’t know ToA’s setting or story. Maybe they need to be in the fort or town regularly, but I feel like the captain could find some way to embarrass them in retribution or banish them from town. Maybe say there’s a brand that criminals get so that escapees can be identified in town. She brands them and sends them away looking like former inmates so that no one in town trusts them. Maybe they just have to post a massive bail and deplete their party funds. Maybe she comes back looking like the bigger person and says “You think you’re so much better than us? Prove it. There’s a monster...Kill it, and earn your boasts. Or more likely be killed and have your insolent tongues stilled for good.”
This major is in charge of the invading army (if you wanna call it that between the lines of the story) where they are profiting over the exploration of the current island/area. They ask for the adventurer to buy a 50gp charter that says that half of the treasure they find goes to the Flaming Fist. She is also has a side deal with local pirate to attack ships that comes to the area has she can keep track of who come and goes on the island.
I just see her as a very proud woman and having a gun pointed to her head would probably be a death penalty in my head. But having them do something for her might not be a bad idea. I'll think of a few options and have your opinion see if it make sense.
The played aren't new, I think I'm the less experienced of the lot. By chance, the two prisoners can't make next week session so might just do a 2 players session to see what they could do to help.
Calling names and an attempted assault? Execution's probably way too harsh a penalty. I'd say the two offending characters get arrested and put on a work gang for a week. If the other party members want her to pardon the offenders, they have to do some dangerous favor that she doesn't want to risk her own people on.
If they don't take her up on the offer, (SURPRISE!) when the two offenders are out on the work gang, the work crew gets ambushed by a third party anyway - fight and escape!
If players draw weapons and make to attack high ranking NPCs who have a lot of sway, then the consequences need to match what they've done. If players feel that they can just draw swords against everyone they encounter when they don't like them, then they should end up dead. Otherwise you're forced to run a Mary Sue adventure, where the players can get away (literally) with murder and miraculously things keep working out for them.
I like BigLizard's suggestion of planning a public execution and having a rescue mission. That's a good way out of it. Sounds to me like the NPC would be the type to want to show her power by publicly killing them.
I quite like the idea of sending them on a suicide mission too.
New players can get quite gung-ho and feel a bit invulnerable once they've won a few fights, gained a couple of levels. In a Curse of Strahd campaign, I've seen other players outright threaten Strahd to his face, and I effectively had to give him one of our magic items (a Horn of Blasting) to beg forgiveness for the drunk idiot.
Later, when we entered a magic item trader's tent the NPC had four powerful looking undead bodyguards. Our recently fallen Paladin decided to test his new Control Undead ability for the first time on one of her minions. The DM just sat back, looking super pissed off. The NPC was a level 18 necromancer, and she was intended to be there to help us out with potions and the occasional tasty magic item to buy. He just sat back and said, "Ok guys. You've got to give me a really damn good reason she doesn't just cast Finger of Death on you." It was clearly stressing him out a lot, so I took him aside and suggested that maybe she found our paladin's attempt pitiful? She Force Caged us all instead, and after I somehow made some incredible Persuasion rolls (with -1 modifier haha) I praised her beauty and got a date with her and she let us go.
Same campaign, our rogue decided that when the vampire Strahd turned up to collect on a bargain we'd made with him to kill some goblins, she'd sneak into his coach and try to rob him (???). She failed her stealth rolls, he saw her, and then punched her so hard in the head she got a permanent injury that meant she had to make a DC20 check before performing any action. She retired that character and had to start a new one.
In the game I run, my PCs have tried to steal from a friendly level 10 wizard (they are level 4) with the result that he Charmed the offender, humiliated him, and then doubled his prices. But soon they are going to accidentally free a Lich from her 600 year confinement (they may, or they might choose not to, but odds on they will). When they do, the Lich is going to be grateful but there is a chance that one of them might attack her. If they do? She will kill the offender in a single spell. I can't justify a Lich doing anything else, even if they did free her. A random act of violence towards her and the offender is going to die. It may even be a TPK, but I've been very clear that the world is the world, and if they **** up and try to attack a (friendly) Lich then they will suffer the consequences, alas.
One thing to always remember is that a dead character (or even a party) isn't the end of a DnD campaign. If your party gets TPK'd (Total Party Killed) then they can roll new characters and maybe even start them off discovering the bodies of the recently deceased characters. That way the story continues and the players can reminisce about the time they accidentally charged twenty ogres at level 3.
Lol all of you make excellent point. The NPC has a few deal with pirates... I might send them to kill one of the pirates. But I also like the prison/execution heist episode. You guys are making me think a lot about the ways this can end. Funny enough, both prisoners cannot make it next week session so I decided to have a 2 players session next week with the free PCs. There is a few "royalty" in the neighbor town so let's see if they can't get them to help.
I write down emails to the group of what the session was the previous day, if you guys want to see what exactly happen let me know ;)
Rule # <too many to number> Players will never do what you expect. That being the case I usually try to have a few options open. I played through Tomb of Annihilation as a player last year and didn't find this outpost, we must have gone off on some other wild tangent. If it is like some of the outposts we found, you could have the fort attacked by zombies (or whatever) and...
a) that opens up the possibility for a jailbreak.
b)lets them pitch in to defend the fort and redeem themselves
c) lets something get taken from the fort and there is your hook for the side quest
Okay, quick disclaimer, your encounters at your table are your business and you decide what's best without letting me or anyone else push you into anything you don't really want to do. That said...
OMFG a prison break heist in the middle of zombie invasion with the PCs trying to navigate their way between Flaming Fist mercenaries and packs of undead would be so EPIC!!! (that and as FiveofClubs says, that might be just the thing for this NPC to lay down her pride and say "I will forgive your past transgressions if you take up arms and help me drive these bloody undead out of my fort!")
Remember that ToA is a time crunch. The PC's have a set amount of time to get to the end. Not sure how much you explained or are using this part of the adventure, but you can lean on that as a pretty hefty consequence for their actions. If they are locked up for several days, they should be feeling the pressure. You could even have Syndra magically contact them to check on their progress, only tip find out they are delayed due to their actions, and react accordingly. Then, after they break out, they should realize that they need to stay on point in order to not lose more time.
Newbie DM here and currently playing my first full campaign (Tomb of Annihilation) and I found myself in a very particular situation.
I have a group of 4 players and after striking a deal with a Garrison Major to get some zombies, they came back from their quest only to get super disrespectful toward the NPC and calling her name. That NPC is lawful evil and crooked but still in charge of the Flaming Fist force that is found in the area.
After she called the guard on the disrespectful player, the other one took his weapon out and was about to strike when the guard stopped him. They were both taken away. At this point I'm stumped and feel like she'd have them executed. The other 2 player and pleading and trying to fix the situation but I felt like the NPC wouldn't have it. So she took their weapons and banished them from the fort.
That session ended there. As a newbie DM, I have absolutely no clue what to do. It's still early in the campaign (session 4, level 3) and I wanna keep this one going.
Any advice would do, cause I don't know how to handle this one.
Thanks!
She’s lawful evil?
she’d feel like they need to be executed.
looks like the other players need to plan a prison break, or ready their Reincarnation spells.
if the prison break option is chosen, then what are the consequences/butterfly effect with the lawful evil NPC for that?
all in all, this is a good teachable moment for the players themselves, that they can’t just be rude murderhobos to every NPC without repercussion.
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Good day fellow DM!
Newbie DM here and currently playing my first full campaign (Tomb of Annihilation) and I found myself in a very particular situation.
I have a group of 4 players and after striking a deal with a Garrison Major to get some zombies, they came back from their quest only to get super disrespectful toward the NPC and calling her name. That NPC is lawful evil and crooked but still in charge of the Flaming Fist force that is found in the area.
After she called the guard on the disrespectful player, the other one took his weapon out and was about to strike when the guard stopped him. They were both taken away. At this point I'm stumped and feel like she'd have them executed. The other 2 player and pleading and trying to fix the situation but I felt like the NPC wouldn't have it. So she took their weapons and banished them from the fort.
That session ended there. As a newbie DM, I have absolutely no clue what to do. It's still early in the campaign (session 4, level 3) and I wanna keep this one going.
Any advice would do, cause I don't know how to handle this one.
Thanks!
Find some way for them to 'atone' for their actions. They could be required to serve her for a set time/favors. You are the DM. You can bend the story to your will. I would just say there does have to be repercussions of some sort for the offenders.
Killing them off does not have to happen. Just because someone is evil does not mean the just kill. Smart NPCs would use the PCs to their benefit.
Are these new(ish) players too? They might not have realized yet that their actions in game have in-game consequences.
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This is a great opportunity for an adventure! Have the L/E NPC charge them with a mission to atone for their rudeness (suicide squad style, only without the implants). Once they are underway they find out that the quest they are on is “evil” and now they have a dilemma. Do they complete the quest and clear their names, or do they resist and do the “good thing” making a powerful enemy. Either decision could have lasting in world effects that continue to lead to even more adventures, or it could resolve and be over with depending on how you want the story to go.
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I don’t know ToA’s setting or story. Maybe they need to be in the fort or town regularly, but I feel like the captain could find some way to embarrass them in retribution or banish them from town. Maybe say there’s a brand that criminals get so that escapees can be identified in town. She brands them and sends them away looking like former inmates so that no one in town trusts them. Maybe they just have to post a massive bail and deplete their party funds. Maybe she comes back looking like the bigger person and says “You think you’re so much better than us? Prove it. There’s a monster...Kill it, and earn your boasts. Or more likely be killed and have your insolent tongues stilled for good.”
ToA spoilers:
This major is in charge of the invading army (if you wanna call it that between the lines of the story) where they are profiting over the exploration of the current island/area. They ask for the adventurer to buy a 50gp charter that says that half of the treasure they find goes to the Flaming Fist. She is also has a side deal with local pirate to attack ships that comes to the area has she can keep track of who come and goes on the island.
I just see her as a very proud woman and having a gun pointed to her head would probably be a death penalty in my head. But having them do something for her might not be a bad idea. I'll think of a few options and have your opinion see if it make sense.
The played aren't new, I think I'm the less experienced of the lot. By chance, the two prisoners can't make next week session so might just do a 2 players session to see what they could do to help.
Calling names and an attempted assault? Execution's probably way too harsh a penalty. I'd say the two offending characters get arrested and put on a work gang for a week. If the other party members want her to pardon the offenders, they have to do some dangerous favor that she doesn't want to risk her own people on.
If they don't take her up on the offer, (SURPRISE!) when the two offenders are out on the work gang, the work crew gets ambushed by a third party anyway - fight and escape!
If players draw weapons and make to attack high ranking NPCs who have a lot of sway, then the consequences need to match what they've done. If players feel that they can just draw swords against everyone they encounter when they don't like them, then they should end up dead. Otherwise you're forced to run a Mary Sue adventure, where the players can get away (literally) with murder and miraculously things keep working out for them.
I like BigLizard's suggestion of planning a public execution and having a rescue mission. That's a good way out of it. Sounds to me like the NPC would be the type to want to show her power by publicly killing them.
I quite like the idea of sending them on a suicide mission too.
New players can get quite gung-ho and feel a bit invulnerable once they've won a few fights, gained a couple of levels. In a Curse of Strahd campaign, I've seen other players outright threaten Strahd to his face, and I effectively had to give him one of our magic items (a Horn of Blasting) to beg forgiveness for the drunk idiot.
Later, when we entered a magic item trader's tent the NPC had four powerful looking undead bodyguards. Our recently fallen Paladin decided to test his new Control Undead ability for the first time on one of her minions. The DM just sat back, looking super pissed off. The NPC was a level 18 necromancer, and she was intended to be there to help us out with potions and the occasional tasty magic item to buy. He just sat back and said, "Ok guys. You've got to give me a really damn good reason she doesn't just cast Finger of Death on you." It was clearly stressing him out a lot, so I took him aside and suggested that maybe she found our paladin's attempt pitiful? She Force Caged us all instead, and after I somehow made some incredible Persuasion rolls (with -1 modifier haha) I praised her beauty and got a date with her and she let us go.
Same campaign, our rogue decided that when the vampire Strahd turned up to collect on a bargain we'd made with him to kill some goblins, she'd sneak into his coach and try to rob him (???). She failed her stealth rolls, he saw her, and then punched her so hard in the head she got a permanent injury that meant she had to make a DC20 check before performing any action. She retired that character and had to start a new one.
In the game I run, my PCs have tried to steal from a friendly level 10 wizard (they are level 4) with the result that he Charmed the offender, humiliated him, and then doubled his prices. But soon they are going to accidentally free a Lich from her 600 year confinement (they may, or they might choose not to, but odds on they will). When they do, the Lich is going to be grateful but there is a chance that one of them might attack her. If they do? She will kill the offender in a single spell. I can't justify a Lich doing anything else, even if they did free her. A random act of violence towards her and the offender is going to die. It may even be a TPK, but I've been very clear that the world is the world, and if they **** up and try to attack a (friendly) Lich then they will suffer the consequences, alas.
One thing to always remember is that a dead character (or even a party) isn't the end of a DnD campaign. If your party gets TPK'd (Total Party Killed) then they can roll new characters and maybe even start them off discovering the bodies of the recently deceased characters. That way the story continues and the players can reminisce about the time they accidentally charged twenty ogres at level 3.
I think a prison break sounds like an awesome solution to this. That's probably the way I'd head, if possible.
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Prison break sounds awesome. You know what this mean, everyone.
HEIST EPISODE!!!
Lol all of you make excellent point. The NPC has a few deal with pirates... I might send them to kill one of the pirates. But I also like the prison/execution heist episode. You guys are making me think a lot about the ways this can end. Funny enough, both prisoners cannot make it next week session so I decided to have a 2 players session next week with the free PCs. There is a few "royalty" in the neighbor town so let's see if they can't get them to help.
I write down emails to the group of what the session was the previous day, if you guys want to see what exactly happen let me know ;)
Excellent solution!
Rule # <too many to number> Players will never do what you expect. That being the case I usually try to have a few options open. I played through Tomb of Annihilation as a player last year and didn't find this outpost, we must have gone off on some other wild tangent. If it is like some of the outposts we found, you could have the fort attacked by zombies (or whatever) and...
a) that opens up the possibility for a jailbreak.
b)lets them pitch in to defend the fort and redeem themselves
c) lets something get taken from the fort and there is your hook for the side quest
Everyone is the main character of their story
OH GOD!
Okay, quick disclaimer, your encounters at your table are your business and you decide what's best without letting me or anyone else push you into anything you don't really want to do. That said...
OMFG a prison break heist in the middle of zombie invasion with the PCs trying to navigate their way between Flaming Fist mercenaries and packs of undead would be so EPIC!!! (that and as FiveofClubs says, that might be just the thing for this NPC to lay down her pride and say "I will forgive your past transgressions if you take up arms and help me drive these bloody undead out of my fort!")
I might just steal this for myself, lol...
Remember that ToA is a time crunch. The PC's have a set amount of time to get to the end. Not sure how much you explained or are using this part of the adventure, but you can lean on that as a pretty hefty consequence for their actions. If they are locked up for several days, they should be feeling the pressure. You could even have Syndra magically contact them to check on their progress, only tip find out they are delayed due to their actions, and react accordingly. Then, after they break out, they should realize that they need to stay on point in order to not lose more time.
I didn't put a time crunch because I feel like it was rushed. I did say that the people that have been rez'ed are slowly decaying.
She’s lawful evil?
she’d feel like they need to be executed.
looks like the other players need to plan a prison break, or ready their Reincarnation spells.
if the prison break option is chosen, then what are the consequences/butterfly effect with the lawful evil NPC for that?
all in all, this is a good teachable moment for the players themselves, that they can’t just be rude murderhobos to every NPC without repercussion.