I was a little worried when the Ranger started asking "how do we feel about property damage? Shall we just burn the Tavern down?" - but they didn't actually try.
The entire party TPK'd - attacks to subdue - except for the Cleric/Rogue which stealth hid under the table once she ran out of spells, and the Warlock/Assassin who escaped over the rooftops as the Guard were busting down the doors into the Tavern. He then proceeded to leap from roof to roof to the Guard Keep to report the whole incident - and was subsequently and quickly arrested, since the Guard were already looking for the party to arrest them ( based on the descriptions of the freaked out bar patrons who ran for the Guards when weapons were drawn ). Cleric surrendered; everyone else had gone down.
The party had their little scene in jail. The Bard lost her CI status.
The Paladin Player had to arrive late, so he really just arrived for the trial; I'll have to deal with the implications later. That's fine - I already owe him a one-on-one scene ( which we conduct at the table anyway ), since he went up to level 3 and has to commit to his Oath; so he's going to have a Vision, in which case his God ( Keddon God of Protection, Law, and Forge in Veccoria ) will lay out what the expectations are of the Path of the Paladin, let him know that he has been "called" to that path, but the choice is his whether or not to fully commit to the Path ( 3rd level Oaths ) and to the code of conduct, or decline, and return to his former life ( read, class change to 3rd level Fighter ) - but once he commits to the Path, he is bound to the path ( no more excuses ).
The investigation interviews by the Bearer of the Law went well, no one except the Warlock attempted to resist Zone of Truth, and he failed.
I did an odd little mechanic where each of the interviews were happening at different times ( game time ), but we did them simultaneously in Real Time. I did round robin questions, player to player - and each answered one question from the Investigator. Any other players had the opportunity to give a different version of the answer in their own "timeline", but they were free to just assume they gave a similar answer as the Player who was answering the round-robin, so we didn't needlessly answer questions twice - but Players had the option to answer differently if they so wished. Picture a cop show, where multiple characters are being interviewed at the same time, and the camera keeps cutting back and forth from interview to interview.
That led to a little bit of positive meta-gaming, as the Players starting trying to figure out amongst themselves what had really happened, and what each of the characters had actually witnessed, since they had to answer truthfully under the effects of the spell. I found that kinda cool.
I actually adjusted some of the judgments up and down based on what the Players actually believed and intended ( or were flippant about ).
Then we had the Speaking of the Law by the investigator/judge - party was fined for disturbing the peace, damages to the Nereid tavern, and a lesser charge of assault instead of murder, as the Speaker ruled that they had reasonable expectation of self-defense, but ruled that their actions has greatly inflamed the situation, and that they had used "disproportionate force" in their response to the threat.
Party took their lumps, pooled their resources, paid their fines.
Warlock totally got the implication when I told him how long the entire affair had taken - and that he'd missed his deadline.
Bard player walked away from the table grinning, saying "wait until I get a letter to my family about this" ... it will be interesting to see what her reaction will be when she realizes she started the guild civil war, and that most of her family is dead ( only 1 member ), fled ( some), disavowed her actions and declared neutrality ( most, but she can't tap them while they're struggling to remain neutral ), or willing to serve her up as a means to buy peace and end the war ( the Guild Master - who is apparently a Great Uncle ).
All it all, I think it went well - most of the party seems to have gotten the point ( actions have consequences ), none of the Players seemed to resent what happened, and we've got some interesting developments to work through in the next couple of weeks.
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.
I would give Paladin only one oath. The one from unearthed arcana. Oath of redemption
May I ask why? This path doesn't seem to be about the Paladin's Redemption ( which I could kind of see in this case ).
Even if it was, I think I'd cut the Paladin slack, but only because this is the Player's first time playing, and his first character; I wouldn't afford that to an experienced Player.
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.
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.
In some instances, I've seen a near party wipe turn into a whole new side adventure. Your party gets knocked out by the guild. While you are out, evidence is planted to suggest that you are the ones who attempted to assassinate the king. Now, you have to break out of prison and either clear your name or flee. Both result in wide reaching consequences. How harsh of a punishment is issued for treason? Maybe they lose a finger? A hand? Maybe those things happen on the escape. If they want it back, they will need to speak with someone who knows how to regenerate limbs. But don't expect a Lord's Wizard or any major city to aid you because that could be seen as instigating an act of war. So now you have to find an obscure hermit or someone who isn't affiliated with politics in order to restore your limbs.
As for the specific player, it shouldn't even be a question that you can't just write in perks of your backstory. You can ask but nothing is certain. This sorta thing irks me. If you are the queens daughter and you think that you can leave on an adventure, come back and the first thing you do when you get back is demand free lodging because of your position, I'm going to write in a coup that threw your family out of power and you will be arrested in the middle of the night, the tavern rewarded for reigning you in, and you will need to escape or risk being beheaded. It's an evolving world and there are plenty of ways that your backstory can be usurped by events beyond your control and I personally have no problems with those sorts of things. Although, I also ask for backstories up front and try to work them into major narratives.
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You only lose if you die. Any time else, there's opportunity for a come back.
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So - it went well.
I was a little worried when the Ranger started asking "how do we feel about property damage? Shall we just burn the Tavern down?" - but they didn't actually try.
The entire party TPK'd - attacks to subdue - except for the Cleric/Rogue which stealth hid under the table once she ran out of spells, and the Warlock/Assassin who escaped over the rooftops as the Guard were busting down the doors into the Tavern. He then proceeded to leap from roof to roof to the Guard Keep to report the whole incident - and was subsequently and quickly arrested, since the Guard were already looking for the party to arrest them ( based on the descriptions of the freaked out bar patrons who ran for the Guards when weapons were drawn ). Cleric surrendered; everyone else had gone down.
The party had their little scene in jail. The Bard lost her CI status.
The Paladin Player had to arrive late, so he really just arrived for the trial; I'll have to deal with the implications later. That's fine - I already owe him a one-on-one scene ( which we conduct at the table anyway ), since he went up to level 3 and has to commit to his Oath; so he's going to have a Vision, in which case his God ( Keddon God of Protection, Law, and Forge in Veccoria ) will lay out what the expectations are of the Path of the Paladin, let him know that he has been "called" to that path, but the choice is his whether or not to fully commit to the Path ( 3rd level Oaths ) and to the code of conduct, or decline, and return to his former life ( read, class change to 3rd level Fighter ) - but once he commits to the Path, he is bound to the path ( no more excuses ).
The investigation interviews by the Bearer of the Law went well, no one except the Warlock attempted to resist Zone of Truth, and he failed.
I did an odd little mechanic where each of the interviews were happening at different times ( game time ), but we did them simultaneously in Real Time. I did round robin questions, player to player - and each answered one question from the Investigator. Any other players had the opportunity to give a different version of the answer in their own "timeline", but they were free to just assume they gave a similar answer as the Player who was answering the round-robin, so we didn't needlessly answer questions twice - but Players had the option to answer differently if they so wished. Picture a cop show, where multiple characters are being interviewed at the same time, and the camera keeps cutting back and forth from interview to interview.
That led to a little bit of positive meta-gaming, as the Players starting trying to figure out amongst themselves what had really happened, and what each of the characters had actually witnessed, since they had to answer truthfully under the effects of the spell. I found that kinda cool.
I actually adjusted some of the judgments up and down based on what the Players actually believed and intended ( or were flippant about ).
Then we had the Speaking of the Law by the investigator/judge - party was fined for disturbing the peace, damages to the Nereid tavern, and a lesser charge of assault instead of murder, as the Speaker ruled that they had reasonable expectation of self-defense, but ruled that their actions has greatly inflamed the situation, and that they had used "disproportionate force" in their response to the threat.
Party took their lumps, pooled their resources, paid their fines.
Warlock totally got the implication when I told him how long the entire affair had taken - and that he'd missed his deadline.
Bard player walked away from the table grinning, saying "wait until I get a letter to my family about this" ... it will be interesting to see what her reaction will be when she realizes she started the guild civil war, and that most of her family is dead ( only 1 member ), fled ( some), disavowed her actions and declared neutrality ( most, but she can't tap them while they're struggling to remain neutral ), or willing to serve her up as a means to buy peace and end the war ( the Guild Master - who is apparently a Great Uncle ).
All it all, I think it went well - most of the party seems to have gotten the point ( actions have consequences ), none of the Players seemed to resent what happened, and we've got some interesting developments to work through in the next couple of weeks.
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.
I would give Paladin only one oath. The one from unearthed arcana. Oath of redemption
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.
Paladins Order could (should?) punish him for destroying the good look of order. Now he has to clear his name helping other people's redemption.
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.
In some instances, I've seen a near party wipe turn into a whole new side adventure. Your party gets knocked out by the guild. While you are out, evidence is planted to suggest that you are the ones who attempted to assassinate the king. Now, you have to break out of prison and either clear your name or flee. Both result in wide reaching consequences. How harsh of a punishment is issued for treason? Maybe they lose a finger? A hand? Maybe those things happen on the escape. If they want it back, they will need to speak with someone who knows how to regenerate limbs. But don't expect a Lord's Wizard or any major city to aid you because that could be seen as instigating an act of war. So now you have to find an obscure hermit or someone who isn't affiliated with politics in order to restore your limbs.
As for the specific player, it shouldn't even be a question that you can't just write in perks of your backstory. You can ask but nothing is certain. This sorta thing irks me. If you are the queens daughter and you think that you can leave on an adventure, come back and the first thing you do when you get back is demand free lodging because of your position, I'm going to write in a coup that threw your family out of power and you will be arrested in the middle of the night, the tavern rewarded for reigning you in, and you will need to escape or risk being beheaded. It's an evolving world and there are plenty of ways that your backstory can be usurped by events beyond your control and I personally have no problems with those sorts of things. Although, I also ask for backstories up front and try to work them into major narratives.
You only lose if you die. Any time else, there's opportunity for a come back.