Not by my hand, but its probably my fault for not having managed the scene better, I'm still getting my bearings as a DM - 20 year hiatus - and now only 6 sessions in.
Without getting into to much noodly detail - the party put themselves in a situation where they were outgunned seriously, in close quarters, with the local "mob boss" who they had crossed seriously.
There are other factions in play who wanted to keep one of the party members alive - so the "mob boss" didn't think it was wise to just have the party killed outright as an example. There was an attempt on behalf of the "boss" to try and negotiate an arrangement: essentially, "do this thing for me, take out one of my competitors - and I'll have it known that you did so at my bequest; that way, it appears that you work for me, your earlier public defiance is of no consequences, I gain something I want, and we can part company".
Until the ranger started antagonizing people, and then the Paladin pulls a weapon and ...
Well - we ran up against a hard time limit, so we snapped a picture of the battle-mat, and I saved the combat tracking spreadsheet - but there's a raging combat going on in a dockside tavern, which is tearing the place apart - and the party has already killed two of the mob enforcers.
So I've got a week to figure out what the hell to do, and I sure could use some advice.
Some relevant facts:
The party has just returned from a mission for the Exarch of the the city, but the party has not collected on their agreed upon rewards: the Bard wants to get her brother out of jail, the ex-scout ranger wants some information on people, etc. They are, therefore, very familiar faces to the "powers that be".
The patrons of the tavern all lit out of the place when the firefight started; so I'm pretty sure the local law enforcement is on its way.
At least one of the enforcers chased the Assassin out into the alleyway - got severely chewed up, and ran away; so I'm pretty sure the local Thieves Guild reinforcements are on their way.
The "boss" in question is a large fish in a small city - but the guild extends into other cities; even if the party wins, they're going to have a large multi-city thieves guild now gunning for them.
So ... I really don't know how to salvage the situation.
Possible options?
TPK the party with "attack to subdue" by city guard - Party wakes up in chains, on trial for Murder, Property Damage, etc. etc. etc. - ship party off to Jail. Plan jailbreak adventure.
TPK the party with "attack to subdue" by Thieves Guild - party wakes up in chains, sold into slavery. Plan slave escape adventure.
Party Wins baroom brawl - kills all the enforcers. Is now on run from Law and is being hunted by the Thieves Guild.
No matter what happens at this point, I'm pretty sure the Bard's brother is going to end up rotting in a cell on the lowest level of the dungeon, and any other rewards that party was going to collect on just went "poof". Not quite sure if the Paladin of a Lawful Protector Deity just F#%@#'d up with his Deity or not.
So ... any advice or thoughts on how to salvage?
Pretty sure this is at least 50% my F^$@% up - but I'd like to find a way out.
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Just because things look like they are heading a certain way, don't feel that you are forced to it. Decide where you want this to go... and have backup plans. If you want the party to mainly deal with the mob boss... then as the fight escalates, go to a cut scene. Suddenly the tavern is flooded with his enforcers and go to a social encounter. If they do poorly, have the mob boss do as he would... or maybe he trades them to the city for favor and now they wake up from the bags over the head to deal with a city official. If they do well in the social encounter, let them make their way out with partial rewards or owing the boss another favor for killing his guards. Either one could deal with the local thieves guild, not that they won't send a representative to make their point at some time in the future.
If you have one primary party responsible for the entire mess... clear out the rest of the room and have a one on one where they wake up in a cell with a shadowy figure asking questions.
All of your possible options look good to me if you just want to let it play out. But if you want to stop it before that point, you have the power to. Cut scenes and dialogue happen in movies, so why not have them here? Sounds like you are in for an interesting ride no matter which way you go... and you certainly have enough hooks to keep things interesting for the players for a time to come...
If things get way too far out of your control then you are always free to deus ex machina your way out of it. The guards arrive, the assassins arrive, the building catches fire, everyone who is anyone in the city is there hurling insults, spells and missiles at everyone else, then suddenly *pop*; a flash of purple light, and everything turns upside-down for a moment. The party shakes their heads and find they have been teleported away. Here they are now in the demesne of some great power (fey prince, great sorcerer, devil, god, djinn sultan, whatever). Maybe they have met this being before, maybe they offended it somehow, whatever reason you come up with they are now here, not there. The being wants them to do a thing and they have no choice. The being will also help them out in exchange; rescue the brother, sort out those legal issues, etc.
Your power is absolute, and if the party is going to get themselves into absolutely ridiculous situations then they better get used to you using absolutely bizarre methods to keep the adventure moving.
Thanks guys - I really appreciate the feedback, and I've had a discussion with my most reasonable and fair minded of my players to see what they thought of the whole situation.
I think the solution here is the deus ex machina "guard rescue", and have the "powers that be" throw everyone - party and guild - into the pokey for a ten-day or so to sort everything out.
This will have enough repercussions to give the party pause:
They'll miss the one plot adventure hook they had cued up, and piss off the people for whom they agreed to take the commision ( a shadow organization that the Warlock/Assassin is part of, so that will be interesting ).
They'll have made an enemy of the larger thieves guild, and considering the Bard's family are members, I foresee an downturn in fortunes for that family; the city authorities are unlikely to release the Bard's imprisoned brother - essentially she'll use up her "favor" not being sent to the penal mining colony for murdering citizens in a dockside tavern on a Thursday afternoon - plus its likely that she's shown sufficient lack of restraint and discretion that her working as a government spy & informant ( something she wrote into her backstory as an explanation as to why the authorities haven't come down on her like a ton of bricks yet ) will be discontinued
The tavern owner whose establishment got "shot up" ( "hacked up"? ), will need to be compensated, which the party probably can't afford ( they're low level, not exactly flush ), so "in recognition of past services" the city will cover the shortfall for them ( not the full amount, just the amount they can't pay ) plus a "generous allotment for short term living expenses" - say 10 g.p. per character ( which in my campaign world is about $1,000 buying power ).
The Cleric's family doesn't need to be made that much on an example - she didn't loudly and publicly threaten the mob boss with death in front of his people - so I'd say burning down her Father's place of business, and marking the family home's front door with the mark of the thieves guild, plus some hassling of him through business contacts should be retaliation enough.
I'm not sure what would be sufficient penalty for the Ranger - who really doesn't have any family / relationships / wealth to impact, and who bears at least 50% of the responsibility for the Players' part in this out of control situation - but I have a few days yet.
Plus - if the Mob Boss survives the rest of the battle ( I'm thinking I'll play out the combat fairly and without bias for a few more rounds and let part of the party go down before getting rescued ) he'll be a long term adversary.
Disclaimer: This signature is a badge of membership in the Forum Loudmouth Club. We are all friends. We are not attacking each other. We are engaging in spirited, friendly debate with one another. We may get snarky, but these are not attacks. Thank you for not reporting us.
An NPC they're friends with turns out to be a wizard and saves them by teleporting them out of the tavern to a safe location. What he wants in return? Them to sort the mess out. Make the players solve this situation.
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Not by my hand, but its probably my fault for not having managed the scene better, I'm still getting my bearings as a DM - 20 year hiatus - and now only 6 sessions in.
Without getting into to much noodly detail - the party put themselves in a situation where they were outgunned seriously, in close quarters, with the local "mob boss" who they had crossed seriously.
There are other factions in play who wanted to keep one of the party members alive - so the "mob boss" didn't think it was wise to just have the party killed outright as an example. There was an attempt on behalf of the "boss" to try and negotiate an arrangement: essentially, "do this thing for me, take out one of my competitors - and I'll have it known that you did so at my bequest; that way, it appears that you work for me, your earlier public defiance is of no consequences, I gain something I want, and we can part company".
Until the ranger started antagonizing people, and then the Paladin pulls a weapon and ...
Well - we ran up against a hard time limit, so we snapped a picture of the battle-mat, and I saved the combat tracking spreadsheet - but there's a raging combat going on in a dockside tavern, which is tearing the place apart - and the party has already killed two of the mob enforcers.
So I've got a week to figure out what the hell to do, and I sure could use some advice.
Some relevant facts:
So ... I really don't know how to salvage the situation.
Possible options?
No matter what happens at this point, I'm pretty sure the Bard's brother is going to end up rotting in a cell on the lowest level of the dungeon, and any other rewards that party was going to collect on just went "poof". Not quite sure if the Paladin of a Lawful Protector Deity just F#%@#'d up with his Deity or not.
So ... any advice or thoughts on how to salvage?
Pretty sure this is at least 50% my F^$@% up - but I'd like to find a way out.
Thanks,
My DM Philosophy, as summed up by other people: https://drive.google.com/file/d/1rN5w4-azTq3Kbn0Yvk9nfqQhwQ1R5by1/view
Disclaimer: This signature is a badge of membership in the Forum Loudmouth Club. We are all friends. We are not attacking each other. We are engaging in spirited, friendly debate with one another. We may get snarky, but these are not attacks. Thank you for not reporting us.
Just because things look like they are heading a certain way, don't feel that you are forced to it. Decide where you want this to go... and have backup plans. If you want the party to mainly deal with the mob boss... then as the fight escalates, go to a cut scene. Suddenly the tavern is flooded with his enforcers and go to a social encounter. If they do poorly, have the mob boss do as he would... or maybe he trades them to the city for favor and now they wake up from the bags over the head to deal with a city official. If they do well in the social encounter, let them make their way out with partial rewards or owing the boss another favor for killing his guards. Either one could deal with the local thieves guild, not that they won't send a representative to make their point at some time in the future.
If you have one primary party responsible for the entire mess... clear out the rest of the room and have a one on one where they wake up in a cell with a shadowy figure asking questions.
All of your possible options look good to me if you just want to let it play out. But if you want to stop it before that point, you have the power to. Cut scenes and dialogue happen in movies, so why not have them here? Sounds like you are in for an interesting ride no matter which way you go... and you certainly have enough hooks to keep things interesting for the players for a time to come...
If things get way too far out of your control then you are always free to deus ex machina your way out of it. The guards arrive, the assassins arrive, the building catches fire, everyone who is anyone in the city is there hurling insults, spells and missiles at everyone else, then suddenly *pop*; a flash of purple light, and everything turns upside-down for a moment. The party shakes their heads and find they have been teleported away. Here they are now in the demesne of some great power (fey prince, great sorcerer, devil, god, djinn sultan, whatever). Maybe they have met this being before, maybe they offended it somehow, whatever reason you come up with they are now here, not there. The being wants them to do a thing and they have no choice. The being will also help them out in exchange; rescue the brother, sort out those legal issues, etc.
Your power is absolute, and if the party is going to get themselves into absolutely ridiculous situations then they better get used to you using absolutely bizarre methods to keep the adventure moving.
Thanks guys - I really appreciate the feedback, and I've had a discussion with my most reasonable and fair minded of my players to see what they thought of the whole situation.
I think the solution here is the deus ex machina "guard rescue", and have the "powers that be" throw everyone - party and guild - into the pokey for a ten-day or so to sort everything out.
This will have enough repercussions to give the party pause:
I'm not sure what would be sufficient penalty for the Ranger - who really doesn't have any family / relationships / wealth to impact, and who bears at least 50% of the responsibility for the Players' part in this out of control situation - but I have a few days yet.
Plus - if the Mob Boss survives the rest of the battle ( I'm thinking I'll play out the combat fairly and without bias for a few more rounds and let part of the party go down before getting rescued ) he'll be a long term adversary.
My DM Philosophy, as summed up by other people: https://drive.google.com/file/d/1rN5w4-azTq3Kbn0Yvk9nfqQhwQ1R5by1/view
Disclaimer: This signature is a badge of membership in the Forum Loudmouth Club. We are all friends. We are not attacking each other. We are engaging in spirited, friendly debate with one another. We may get snarky, but these are not attacks. Thank you for not reporting us.
An NPC they're friends with turns out to be a wizard and saves them by teleporting them out of the tavern to a safe location. What he wants in return? Them to sort the mess out. Make the players solve this situation.