The Party I DM a Homebrew for is headed to Ten Towns up in the far north of Faerun. They are trying to find a long lost magic item, but another person, a villain they haven't met yet, is already there and also trying to find and retrieve the item. (The Party has some inkling that the organization the villain works for is involved, but they don't know about him specifically.)
I am considering three different approaches to this situation and am not sure which might play better, allow for more player agency, be more fun:
The villain has a group of henchmen and an apprentice who are helping him look for the item. He has run into a dangerous obstacle while trying to get the magic item. The apprentice has therefore been tasked with watching out for the Party to arrive, and to ingratiate himself and then offer to lead them to the location of the item, to have the Party work to overcome the obstacle. It's essentially like Belloq in Raiders of the Lost Ark. The villain plans to step in and take the item once the party has defeated the challenge.
The villain is there by himself (this is justifiable due to this being a top secret attempt to find the item), and HE ingratiates himself with the party, doing the same thing his apprentice does in version 1) above. Reveals himself at the last minute, tries to take the magic item for his own and leave the party behind.
The villain is with a group of henchmen and possibly his apprentice but they are unaware of the Party's presence in the area. They are simply trying to get the item. The Party follows the same leads and is one step behind the villain's party the whole time. It's a race to get to the item.
My intention is that the villain will escape the area, with or without the item, since he is important to the adventure in ways the players don't know about yet. Losing him in a fight with the PCs would be a tough blow to the overall adventure and make it hard for the climax of the adventure to work. Is this a design flaw...
I do like the "agent amongst us" approach. The third option sounds like it could go awry if the party gets out ahead of the villain. If you "magically" keep the villain ahead of the party, some might view that as "railroad-y".
Unfortunately - PCs tend to be apathetic, or suspicious, of NPCs - so #1 and #2 might not go the way you planned.
#1 or #2 could be "flipping awesome" if you could get a player in on the scam, either someone who wants to rotate out a character, or a new player joining the group - "this is Bob, he'll be joining us for a few weeks....", when "Bob" is really playing a double agent. The players are less likely to be suspicious of a PC.
Just be reasonably sure that your party is OK with sudden betrayals.
I think relying on a particular story outcome, or a particular NPC is a design flaw. Either have the plot ( not the story - plot is what would happen if the party stays home; story is what actually happens) potentially advance in a way that doesn't rely on that particular NPC - or let the party "win" if they defeat the villain, and move onto the next adventure.
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Like Vedexent says, players can be suspicious of NPCs or at the very least, unpredictable with them. Consider the following:
DM: "Hi, I'm a stranger here to help you." Player: "Okay--insight check... Natural 20. (or some other good roll that exceeds your NPC's deception)" DM: "Okay, he's hiding some information/he's lying/he's not here to help you/it's a trap!" Player: "No thanks, stranger / I want to kill him, can we roll initiative now?"
All it takes is one player being mildly suspicious, and then the group passing an insight check and boom--this inside-man thing doesn't work out... I suppose this could be true for the second option proposed too. It's a gamble on your end if you absolutely don't want your players to find out this guy is a spy--and it's a gamble in your suspicious player's favor, I think.
The third option seems all well and good, but if your narrative cannot possibly handle the prospect of this adversary being killed at this place, then he simply should not be there. Just have his apprentice with some thugs, if his apprentice gets killed just give some ominous "the master will make you pay for this..." speech and introduce the main guy later.
I'm a fan of the third option. Being on a time limit can add to the drama and help get people into it more. I do like the second option also, but when I am a player, I am always suspicious of new characters. If you go that route consider giving it some sort of feat to aid in his deception.
A possible way to make the NPC "agent amongst us" work with suspicious players, is to set things up so they approach the NPC for help for some reason.
The artifact is deep in a complex, protected by mechanisms and puzzles, which are written in a language they don't speak. So, they enlist a local Sage to help decipher the writings. The Sage is very reluctant, does not want to go with the party, requires much in the way of convincing/bribing/etc. You could even play this up to humorous effect - the cranky Sage being a pain-in-the-butt to herd along, protect, etc - a seemingly narrow focused absent-minded professor type likely to fall off a cliff, wandering off to investigate things, etc.
Then, at a critical moment, it is revealed that the Sage was kidnapped/murdered, and has been replaced by an agent of the BBEG!
The Agent would have to speak/read the language in question, of course - but that makes sense if they've been tasked with retrieving the item as well.
The important thing here is that the Players have to approach the Agent and invite/compell them to come on the adventure. That way, they are much less likely to suspect that the BBEG is trying to plant an Agent in the Party, than if the Agent had approached the party attempting to join.
If you wanted to give the Party more of a chance, have the Agent depose the real Sage prior to the party trying to hire him - then drop subtle clues that the Sage isn't what they seem: little slips, odd areas of ignorance that the Sage should know, have the "Sage" get cornered in a combat encounter and be able to dispatch their assailant without help ( not so subtle, that one ), etc.
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Like Vedexent says, players can be suspicious of NPCs or at the very least, unpredictable with them. Consider the following:
DM: "Hi, I'm a stranger here to help you." Player: "Okay--insight check... Natural 20. (or some other good roll that exceeds your NPC's deception)" DM: "Okay, he's hiding some information/he's lying/he's not here to help you/it's a trap!" Player: "No thanks, stranger / I want to kill him, can we roll initiative now?"
Yes! Good point. Thank you for the example.
...but if your narrative cannot possibly handle the prospect of this adversary being killed at this place, then he simply should not be there.
Another good point. I am eager to introduce the villain at this point, but his role in the overarching villainous plan is kind of crucial. I like your suggestion about the apprentice giving some hint of the villain's villainy.
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The Party I DM a Homebrew for is headed to Ten Towns up in the far north of Faerun. They are trying to find a long lost magic item, but another person, a villain they haven't met yet, is already there and also trying to find and retrieve the item. (The Party has some inkling that the organization the villain works for is involved, but they don't know about him specifically.)
I am considering three different approaches to this situation and am not sure which might play better, allow for more player agency, be more fun:
My intention is that the villain will escape the area, with or without the item, since he is important to the adventure in ways the players don't know about yet. Losing him in a fight with the PCs would be a tough blow to the overall adventure and make it hard for the climax of the adventure to work. Is this a design flaw...
I do like the "agent amongst us" approach. The third option sounds like it could go awry if the party gets out ahead of the villain. If you "magically" keep the villain ahead of the party, some might view that as "railroad-y".
Unfortunately - PCs tend to be apathetic, or suspicious, of NPCs - so #1 and #2 might not go the way you planned.
#1 or #2 could be "flipping awesome" if you could get a player in on the scam, either someone who wants to rotate out a character, or a new player joining the group - "this is Bob, he'll be joining us for a few weeks....", when "Bob" is really playing a double agent. The players are less likely to be suspicious of a PC.
Just be reasonably sure that your party is OK with sudden betrayals.
I think relying on a particular story outcome, or a particular NPC is a design flaw. Either have the plot ( not the story - plot is what would happen if the party stays home; story is what actually happens) potentially advance in a way that doesn't rely on that particular NPC - or let the party "win" if they defeat the villain, and move onto the next adventure.
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.
Like Vedexent says, players can be suspicious of NPCs or at the very least, unpredictable with them. Consider the following:
DM: "Hi, I'm a stranger here to help you."
Player: "Okay--insight check... Natural 20. (or some other good roll that exceeds your NPC's deception)"
DM: "Okay, he's hiding some information/he's lying/he's not here to help you/it's a trap!"
Player: "No thanks, stranger / I want to kill him, can we roll initiative now?"
All it takes is one player being mildly suspicious, and then the group passing an insight check and boom--this inside-man thing doesn't work out... I suppose this could be true for the second option proposed too. It's a gamble on your end if you absolutely don't want your players to find out this guy is a spy--and it's a gamble in your suspicious player's favor, I think.
The third option seems all well and good, but if your narrative cannot possibly handle the prospect of this adversary being killed at this place, then he simply should not be there. Just have his apprentice with some thugs, if his apprentice gets killed just give some ominous "the master will make you pay for this..." speech and introduce the main guy later.
I'm a fan of the third option. Being on a time limit can add to the drama and help get people into it more. I do like the second option also, but when I am a player, I am always suspicious of new characters. If you go that route consider giving it some sort of feat to aid in his deception.
A possible way to make the NPC "agent amongst us" work with suspicious players, is to set things up so they approach the NPC for help for some reason.
The artifact is deep in a complex, protected by mechanisms and puzzles, which are written in a language they don't speak. So, they enlist a local Sage to help decipher the writings. The Sage is very reluctant, does not want to go with the party, requires much in the way of convincing/bribing/etc. You could even play this up to humorous effect - the cranky Sage being a pain-in-the-butt to herd along, protect, etc - a seemingly narrow focused absent-minded professor type likely to fall off a cliff, wandering off to investigate things, etc.
Then, at a critical moment, it is revealed that the Sage was kidnapped/murdered, and has been replaced by an agent of the BBEG!
The Agent would have to speak/read the language in question, of course - but that makes sense if they've been tasked with retrieving the item as well.
The important thing here is that the Players have to approach the Agent and invite/compell them to come on the adventure. That way, they are much less likely to suspect that the BBEG is trying to plant an Agent in the Party, than if the Agent had approached the party attempting to join.
If you wanted to give the Party more of a chance, have the Agent depose the real Sage prior to the party trying to hire him - then drop subtle clues that the Sage isn't what they seem: little slips, odd areas of ignorance that the Sage should know, have the "Sage" get cornered in a combat encounter and be able to dispatch their assailant without help ( not so subtle, that one ), etc.
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.