The title gave the basic context, hello all! Just your average DM here with a slight issue. We're running the Lost Mine of Phandelver and the Goblin Den in Cragmaw Cave led to a rather... Unfortunate series of events. For context's sake, there are 3 players in total, and all are at level 1 currently. Let's tell the story in broad strokes, shall we?
They went through the initial ambush as you'd expect, one Goblin even surviving for 3 rounds while running away on 1 hit point on the trail with a spear embedded in his back, and then headed to the town. Some good ol' classic DM hints and nudges later, the party heads back to the... Cave. Yes, the cave, not ambush site. They saw the trail earlier during the ambush, but just didn't follow it at the time, and now they've decided to go off-road to save some time and rolled a natural 20 on survival, so I let them bypass the trapped trail.
Once inside, they calmed down the wolves with some food and headed up the chimney. A player even used pitons and rope to make it easier for the rest! Lovely stuff. Bugbear's killed, loot is found, rests are had, and a path of dead Goblins is left behind as they make their way to area 6 via the bridge. Yeemik asks for the usual "kill Klarg" thing, but he's already dead, so he instead demands 40 gold. A very hefty sum admittedly, but they had enough if they wanted to pay it (or maybe they could have used the frog statue from Klarg's treasure room). Threats are thrown, an Eldritch Blast flies by, and suddenly we've got a fight on our hands.
It... Quickly leads to 2 characters hitting the dirt in the first round when the Goblins rolled a natural 20 on initiative. The third player? He ran away back to town, rented a room and went to sleep. A chance to surrender was offered, but he just kept on running. This... Leads us to the present: a split party, with one recovering from the conflict and the other two captive (and at the moment unconscious) after being stabilized. End of session. Sildar's still alive (but also unconscious after being hit) for those curious. We've got a captivity scenario on our hands... What are your thoughts on possible courses of action, folks?
The guy who ran back to town recruits some of the more capable villagers to go back and take on the goblins and rescue the party. The other party members can play the NPC rescuers. They offer the gold they got paid for bringing the wagon to Phandalin as payment.
Once the rescuers rescue the party, they tell the PC who ran in no uncertain terms that he's out of the group for bailing on them in their time of need. That PC can head back to wherever and the player can roll up a new character, because (even though he saved the day) in NO WORLD would you keep risking your life with someone who turns and runs at the first sign of real trouble. And the player gets to learn something about co operative social gaming.
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The title gave the basic context, hello all! Just your average DM here with a slight issue. We're running the Lost Mine of Phandelver and the Goblin Den in Cragmaw Cave led to a rather... Unfortunate series of events. For context's sake, there are 3 players in total, and all are at level 1 currently. Let's tell the story in broad strokes, shall we?
They went through the initial ambush as you'd expect, one Goblin even surviving for 3 rounds while running away on 1 hit point on the trail with a spear embedded in his back, and then headed to the town. Some good ol' classic DM hints and nudges later, the party heads back to the... Cave. Yes, the cave, not ambush site. They saw the trail earlier during the ambush, but just didn't follow it at the time, and now they've decided to go off-road to save some time and rolled a natural 20 on survival, so I let them bypass the trapped trail.
Once inside, they calmed down the wolves with some food and headed up the chimney. A player even used pitons and rope to make it easier for the rest! Lovely stuff. Bugbear's killed, loot is found, rests are had, and a path of dead Goblins is left behind as they make their way to area 6 via the bridge. Yeemik asks for the usual "kill Klarg" thing, but he's already dead, so he instead demands 40 gold. A very hefty sum admittedly, but they had enough if they wanted to pay it (or maybe they could have used the frog statue from Klarg's treasure room). Threats are thrown, an Eldritch Blast flies by, and suddenly we've got a fight on our hands.
It... Quickly leads to 2 characters hitting the dirt in the first round when the Goblins rolled a natural 20 on initiative. The third player? He ran away back to town, rented a room and went to sleep. A chance to surrender was offered, but he just kept on running. This... Leads us to the present: a split party, with one recovering from the conflict and the other two captive (and at the moment unconscious) after being stabilized. End of session. Sildar's still alive (but also unconscious after being hit) for those curious. We've got a captivity scenario on our hands... What are your thoughts on possible courses of action, folks?
The guy who ran back to town recruits some of the more capable villagers to go back and take on the goblins and rescue the party. The other party members can play the NPC rescuers. They offer the gold they got paid for bringing the wagon to Phandalin as payment.
Once the rescuers rescue the party, they tell the PC who ran in no uncertain terms that he's out of the group for bailing on them in their time of need. That PC can head back to wherever and the player can roll up a new character, because (even though he saved the day) in NO WORLD would you keep risking your life with someone who turns and runs at the first sign of real trouble. And the player gets to learn something about co operative social gaming.