As just a bit of background, I had homebrewed some adventure for the players, and then we got into Rime of the Frostmaiden. Rather than start over, they carried over their characters and we fast-tracked through chapter 1. The players are now level 4 in chapter 2 and have just properly entered the Ten Towns (Bryn Shander specifically). I realize this isn't exactly properly playing through the campaign, but from this point on it was going to be pretty "by the book", meaning the wilderness exploration, etc.
What do my players happen to do in Bryn Shander? Our rogue attempts to steal a spyglass from a shopkeeper, gets caught, can't escape the guards, and gets thrown in prison. The rest of the party then later rush the entrance of the prison in an attempt to free their party member, murdering the several Bryn Shander guards around the area. That's where we last left off with this standoff and chaos.
Our session is tonight, and I'm a bit at a loss. I'm all about freedom so I welcome the shenanigans, but do I try and steer the campaign back on track? Or do you have an idea of how to present a punishing repercussion? Where should I take this craziness?
How invested are those players in their chars so far? And what is the style of play in your group? Are they into drama and character arcs or are they just interested in killing monsters?
a) If they just care about killing monsters and having a fun encounter simulator, you can kill them off and start over or you can have them become outcasts and be hunted. They will enjoy that, but this might ruin the scenario, don't know it.
b) If they value drama and character arcs, they will hate themselves for having done that, you can create a sidequest that they can clean their reputation by getting the resources and skills of reviving all the guards. THis could be a really cool arc for them, again though, i don't know the scenario.
c) If the scenario allows it, you can go the happy accidents route and have them find out, that the guards they murdered were actually really evil, they did a terrible thing but had they known what they and their boss was up to, they would have wanted to stop them. That's a lot of work though, and might not be possible in your scenario :)
Couple things to maybe consider - are your players prone to murderhobo-esque tactics or is this a one-off circumstance? Are they invested in the plotline presented in RotF?
If murder is the "per-usual" name of the game, I would suggest that you talk to them out of game about what is driving the decision to follow that course of action.
Just a one-off incident and they are, in earnest, trying to free their friend and death was an unintentional side effect, remind them that they can declare any and all damage as non-lethal.
Not interested in the campaign as written? Scrap it and play a campaign that everyone can agree upon.
Several times in the process of the adventuring day, we as DMs present a challenge or obstacle that has any number of solutions. If our players sense that we are forcing their hand, like arresting and jailing a PC, we can expect that violence is a likely solution. I urge you to make sure that the PCs initiate combat, not the NPCs, and that the NPCs don't default to lethality first. Start the NPCs as diplomats trying to diffuse the situation and urge the PCs to remember they're supposed to be helping the Town. The PCs should still have to pay for their crimes, or at the very least make reparations to the families that lost someone.
Last suggestion, before initiative is rolled, or combat re-joined, flat out ask each of your players if killing off townspeople is what they really want to do. If violence is what they want, give them a nod, an "ok then" and go all out. Townspeople will most likely refuse to assist, supply or otherwise help the PCs. Hiring higher level mercenaries might also become a thing.
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“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
I would assume that the guards can be revived, and the rogue was jailed for thievery. So, perhaps the rogue faces a stiff fine for thieving, and the rest of the party has to pay for the resurrection, plus a fine. This could be part of the hook to the rest of the adventure. If you have a cleric, has to assist the town in some clerical manner. Same for wizards, wh may have to give up some magical treasure they find to the town.
Idea would be to let them get hooked into RotF but maybe face a penalty for their actions.
Had this happen to me with a half orc barbarian with no real concept of buying and selling. He saw a bastard sword hanging on the wall of a smithy and took it. Caused some damage to the wall (it was locked on). Smith called the guards, who got dropped by the barbarian's fists. They eventually got him to jail, where he proceeded to bust out of most of the shackles they had him in. Party's paladin had to come in and pay a fine to get him out.
DM turned that into a great arc later on, as the guards went for a little revenge a few levels later. Did not work out well for them. Guard Sergeant got dropped and fortunately my PC made a (rare) INT roll and figured out that killing him was a bad idea, so he just robbed him of everything. We had a few more encounters over the space of several modules.
Probably too late to help you, but I see a "suicide squad" type scenario working out here.
Players face banishment/prosecution/really nasty bounty hunters and complete loss of reputation except that [insert politically powerful NPC] shows up and tells them she can wipe the slate clean if they [insert the super dangerous thing that will advance the campaign] and come back with the [insert mcguffin]. This could kill all those birds with one stone.
Or the party could tell [politically powerful NPC] to shove it, and then be ready to bring on the bounty hunters, but you gave them a shot at redemption...
I'm definitely too late to the party, but I would give the following advice:
The players are not holding up to their end of the deal, and have forgotten how the game works.
First up, they know that they are playing from a module sourcebook - possibly one you have invested money on specifically so that they can play it. You have invested not only time, but money.
When players resort to this kind of behaviour - typically referred to as being 'murder hobos' - they have forgotten how D&D works. They are viewing the game world as a place where their actions don't have any real consequences. This is demonstrated by the fact that they have murdered town guards, and effectively made themselves into the villains of the story, where they're supposed to be the heroes. Every character who participated in killing innocent guards to save a thief is playing a Chaotic Evil alignment whether they think they are or not, as the killing of innocents who are there to protect innocents is about as evil as you can go. This isn't suited to almost any module in D&D, as they assume the players will want to help out the innocent and vulnerable. A whole party of characters who don't want to are not suitable to be PCs.
I don't agree with this idea of resurrecting the guards. Dead should be dead, except in exceptional circumstances or where the PCs have access to resurrection spells. Resurrection costs a single 1,000gp value diamond; those should be extremely rare, even for high level players. If you allow freely occurring resurrection then every noble can resurrect basically anyone he wants to, and death becomes quite meaningless, ruining the plot hooks in most games.
I would resolve this by looking through the module book to see who the strongest NPCs are in the region. Have them come together and track down the PCs. Bring as many guards as can be spared from the towns. The PCs have chosen to become the villains. The NPCs wouldn't tolerate their behaviour. This will then impact all that they do in the module, if they survive - but they likely won't. The NPCs should not be aiming to recapture the PCs after they jailbreak their friend: they are an outlaw gang, Wanted: Dead. This is the effect of the PCs actions in the world. You can't have a free-roaming, player led game where they do whatever they want in a vacuum when it suits them.
Assuming that the book has NPCs who can actually bring the players down, I'd then have a talk to them after they're all dead about how they want to play D&D going forward. If they want to play as CE characters, then homebrew a campaign for them where they can be as evil as they want.
As just a bit of background, I had homebrewed some adventure for the players, and then we got into Rime of the Frostmaiden. Rather than start over, they carried over their characters and we fast-tracked through chapter 1. The players are now level 4 in chapter 2 and have just properly entered the Ten Towns (Bryn Shander specifically). I realize this isn't exactly properly playing through the campaign, but from this point on it was going to be pretty "by the book", meaning the wilderness exploration, etc.
What do my players happen to do in Bryn Shander? Our rogue attempts to steal a spyglass from a shopkeeper, gets caught, can't escape the guards, and gets thrown in prison. The rest of the party then later rush the entrance of the prison in an attempt to free their party member, murdering the several Bryn Shander guards around the area. That's where we last left off with this standoff and chaos.
Our session is tonight, and I'm a bit at a loss. I'm all about freedom so I welcome the shenanigans, but do I try and steer the campaign back on track? Or do you have an idea of how to present a punishing repercussion? Where should I take this craziness?
Thanks all
How invested are those players in their chars so far? And what is the style of play in your group? Are they into drama and character arcs or are they just interested in killing monsters?
a) If they just care about killing monsters and having a fun encounter simulator, you can kill them off and start over or you can have them become outcasts and be hunted. They will enjoy that, but this might ruin the scenario, don't know it.
b) If they value drama and character arcs, they will hate themselves for having done that, you can create a sidequest that they can clean their reputation by getting the resources and skills of reviving all the guards. THis could be a really cool arc for them, again though, i don't know the scenario.
c) If the scenario allows it, you can go the happy accidents route and have them find out, that the guards they murdered were actually really evil, they did a terrible thing but had they known what they and their boss was up to, they would have wanted to stop them. That's a lot of work though, and might not be possible in your scenario :)
Couple things to maybe consider - are your players prone to murderhobo-esque tactics or is this a one-off circumstance? Are they invested in the plotline presented in RotF?
If murder is the "per-usual" name of the game, I would suggest that you talk to them out of game about what is driving the decision to follow that course of action.
Just a one-off incident and they are, in earnest, trying to free their friend and death was an unintentional side effect, remind them that they can declare any and all damage as non-lethal.
Not interested in the campaign as written? Scrap it and play a campaign that everyone can agree upon.
Several times in the process of the adventuring day, we as DMs present a challenge or obstacle that has any number of solutions. If our players sense that we are forcing their hand, like arresting and jailing a PC, we can expect that violence is a likely solution. I urge you to make sure that the PCs initiate combat, not the NPCs, and that the NPCs don't default to lethality first. Start the NPCs as diplomats trying to diffuse the situation and urge the PCs to remember they're supposed to be helping the Town. The PCs should still have to pay for their crimes, or at the very least make reparations to the families that lost someone.
Last suggestion, before initiative is rolled, or combat re-joined, flat out ask each of your players if killing off townspeople is what they really want to do. If violence is what they want, give them a nod, an "ok then" and go all out. Townspeople will most likely refuse to assist, supply or otherwise help the PCs. Hiring higher level mercenaries might also become a thing.
“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
I would assume that the guards can be revived, and the rogue was jailed for thievery. So, perhaps the rogue faces a stiff fine for thieving, and the rest of the party has to pay for the resurrection, plus a fine. This could be part of the hook to the rest of the adventure. If you have a cleric, has to assist the town in some clerical manner. Same for wizards, wh may have to give up some magical treasure they find to the town.
Idea would be to let them get hooked into RotF but maybe face a penalty for their actions.
Had this happen to me with a half orc barbarian with no real concept of buying and selling. He saw a bastard sword hanging on the wall of a smithy and took it. Caused some damage to the wall (it was locked on). Smith called the guards, who got dropped by the barbarian's fists. They eventually got him to jail, where he proceeded to bust out of most of the shackles they had him in. Party's paladin had to come in and pay a fine to get him out.
DM turned that into a great arc later on, as the guards went for a little revenge a few levels later. Did not work out well for them. Guard Sergeant got dropped and fortunately my PC made a (rare) INT roll and figured out that killing him was a bad idea, so he just robbed him of everything. We had a few more encounters over the space of several modules.
Probably too late to help you, but I see a "suicide squad" type scenario working out here.
Players face banishment/prosecution/really nasty bounty hunters and complete loss of reputation except that [insert politically powerful NPC] shows up and tells them she can wipe the slate clean if they [insert the super dangerous thing that will advance the campaign] and come back with the [insert mcguffin]. This could kill all those birds with one stone.
Or the party could tell [politically powerful NPC] to shove it, and then be ready to bring on the bounty hunters, but you gave them a shot at redemption...
I'm definitely too late to the party, but I would give the following advice:
The players are not holding up to their end of the deal, and have forgotten how the game works.
First up, they know that they are playing from a module sourcebook - possibly one you have invested money on specifically so that they can play it. You have invested not only time, but money.
When players resort to this kind of behaviour - typically referred to as being 'murder hobos' - they have forgotten how D&D works. They are viewing the game world as a place where their actions don't have any real consequences. This is demonstrated by the fact that they have murdered town guards, and effectively made themselves into the villains of the story, where they're supposed to be the heroes. Every character who participated in killing innocent guards to save a thief is playing a Chaotic Evil alignment whether they think they are or not, as the killing of innocents who are there to protect innocents is about as evil as you can go. This isn't suited to almost any module in D&D, as they assume the players will want to help out the innocent and vulnerable. A whole party of characters who don't want to are not suitable to be PCs.
I don't agree with this idea of resurrecting the guards. Dead should be dead, except in exceptional circumstances or where the PCs have access to resurrection spells. Resurrection costs a single 1,000gp value diamond; those should be extremely rare, even for high level players. If you allow freely occurring resurrection then every noble can resurrect basically anyone he wants to, and death becomes quite meaningless, ruining the plot hooks in most games.
I would resolve this by looking through the module book to see who the strongest NPCs are in the region. Have them come together and track down the PCs. Bring as many guards as can be spared from the towns. The PCs have chosen to become the villains. The NPCs wouldn't tolerate their behaviour. This will then impact all that they do in the module, if they survive - but they likely won't. The NPCs should not be aiming to recapture the PCs after they jailbreak their friend: they are an outlaw gang, Wanted: Dead. This is the effect of the PCs actions in the world. You can't have a free-roaming, player led game where they do whatever they want in a vacuum when it suits them.
Assuming that the book has NPCs who can actually bring the players down, I'd then have a talk to them after they're all dead about how they want to play D&D going forward. If they want to play as CE characters, then homebrew a campaign for them where they can be as evil as they want.