I have recently hit a problematic situation in my campaign. First a bit of context. During the secession of interest I had let some new players join as a sort of cameo. The PC’s had only one magic user and she was one of the new players. (Note, the player is not new to DnD, just to the campaign.) The players had to escape a city where they were wanted criminals. They would ultimately manage to get out of the city but the methods they used were very questionable. Normally once out of the city they would be fine, mostly due to the feudal society. But because of their methods they are now being chased by an organization of mages. Because of the magic of this order and some of their tactics, they know the names and faces of every party member. The PCs stand no chance. I need a way for the PCs to survive. After the cameo was over the party now has no spell-casters and can’t preform magic. How do I handle all of this?
How important would you say your PCs are in the grand scheme of this mage organization? If the mages are really that much more powerful than the PCs, maybe sending agents to track the party down and kill them simply isn't worth the investment. Consider the fact that Scrying (the most threatening option a mage would have for tracking a creature) is a 5th-level spell with a 10 minute cast time for 10 minutes of observation. That's a lot of work to track down some punks who don't even have their own caster in the group.
Another thought: is this mage society popular with the common folk? Commoners always have ways of hiding from the powerful and privileged.
How many members does this magic organization have? Do they really have enough people to send groups of mages after the party?A group of mages would also probably not go about without some form of non-magical escort. Even if that were the case, other types of people would be better at hunting the party down or finding them - rogue types and hunter types.
It also depends on the level of the party.
Like Mdhe said, do the common people like these magical dudes? The party could get support from the commoners.
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"Sooner or later, your Players are going to smash your railroad into a sandbox."
-Vedexent
"real life is a super high CR."
-OboeLauren
"............anybody got any potatoes? We could drop a potato in each hole an' see which ones get viciously mauled by horrible monsters?"
I imagine a party that is being hunted. knowing that magic can be used to look for them and probably find them.
the party while on the run are talking hastly, what do we do says one. the other contemplates what to do. a switch between searching the character sheet and asking questions to the DM while knowing you cant have endless discussions.
one says: i might be able to create discuisses? another says i am good at animal handling. perhaps stealing a cart and horses? another says. perhaps we should split up and meet somewhere?
perhaps we can find people that can change our appearance? hastly a concoxion of ideas form a plan. they split up and meet at a location 1 day from now. where they will try and either take a boat or steal or procure horses. another will work on a discuise.
the idea is to create an " accident" so the mages might think they are dead. the only moral question remains..... how do we procure bodies for mages to find and make them believe it might be us,,,,,,,,,
To paraphrase Matt Colville, your job as DM is not to solve the players' problems. Your job is to create problems for them to solve. And, in this case, they helped you do your job by creating problems for themselves. And Actions do have Consequences. Don't just waive them. You're supposed to be the impartial adjudicator, which means the NPCs get a fair shake too.
The Players need to work it out. They should come up with some ideas. And then you decide if its viable or not. Example: They want to acquire a ring of mind shielding to prevent being scried on then you decide if it's available for purchase, a dungeon crawl is needed or a rival (to the mages) organization is going to provide it for them. But keep in mind that Scrying just lets the caster see and hear them for ten minutes, it does not inform the caster of the target's location. Unless, of course, they're in an easily recognizable location or they mention their location.
And remember to have fun with this. The mages could use Sending spells to interrupt long rests. "As you fall asleep you hear the following UrMomma joke!" This can happen whenever you want unless they counter it with something like Tiny Hut (which they can pick up with a scroll and the Ritual Caster feat) or some magical item.
Thanks a lot for the help. I should consider the ability of the mages to actually spend resources on the PCs and also be mindful of the fact that the players should find a way on their own. Thanks for your help!
I have recently hit a problematic situation in my campaign. First a bit of context. During the secession of interest I had let some new players join as a sort of cameo. The PC’s had only one magic user and she was one of the new players. (Note, the player is not new to DnD, just to the campaign.) The players had to escape a city where they were wanted criminals. They would ultimately manage to get out of the city but the methods they used were very questionable. Normally once out of the city they would be fine, mostly due to the feudal society. But because of their methods they are now being chased by an organization of mages. Because of the magic of this order and some of their tactics, they know the names and faces of every party member. The PCs stand no chance. I need a way for the PCs to survive. After the cameo was over the party now has no spell-casters and can’t preform magic. How do I handle all of this?
How important would you say your PCs are in the grand scheme of this mage organization? If the mages are really that much more powerful than the PCs, maybe sending agents to track the party down and kill them simply isn't worth the investment. Consider the fact that Scrying (the most threatening option a mage would have for tracking a creature) is a 5th-level spell with a 10 minute cast time for 10 minutes of observation. That's a lot of work to track down some punks who don't even have their own caster in the group.
Another thought: is this mage society popular with the common folk? Commoners always have ways of hiding from the powerful and privileged.
How many members does this magic organization have? Do they really have enough people to send groups of mages after the party?A group of mages would also probably not go about without some form of non-magical escort. Even if that were the case, other types of people would be better at hunting the party down or finding them - rogue types and hunter types.
It also depends on the level of the party.
Like Mdhe said, do the common people like these magical dudes? The party could get support from the commoners.
"Sooner or later, your Players are going to smash your railroad into a sandbox."
-Vedexent
"real life is a super high CR."
-OboeLauren
"............anybody got any potatoes? We could drop a potato in each hole an' see which ones get viciously mauled by horrible monsters?"
-Ilyara Thundertale
I imagine a party that is being hunted. knowing that magic can be used to look for them and probably find them.
the party while on the run are talking hastly, what do we do says one. the other contemplates what to do. a switch between searching the character sheet and asking questions to the DM while knowing you cant have endless discussions.
one says: i might be able to create discuisses?
another says i am good at animal handling. perhaps stealing a cart and horses?
another says. perhaps we should split up and meet somewhere?
perhaps we can find people that can change our appearance?
hastly a concoxion of ideas form a plan. they split up and meet at a location 1 day from now. where they will try and either take a boat or steal or procure horses.
another will work on a discuise.
the idea is to create an " accident" so the mages might think they are dead.
the only moral question remains..... how do we procure bodies for mages to find and make them believe it might be us,,,,,,,,,
To paraphrase Matt Colville, your job as DM is not to solve the players' problems. Your job is to create problems for them to solve. And, in this case, they helped you do your job by creating problems for themselves. And Actions do have Consequences. Don't just waive them. You're supposed to be the impartial adjudicator, which means the NPCs get a fair shake too.
The Players need to work it out. They should come up with some ideas. And then you decide if its viable or not. Example: They want to acquire a ring of mind shielding to prevent being scried on then you decide if it's available for purchase, a dungeon crawl is needed or a rival (to the mages) organization is going to provide it for them. But keep in mind that Scrying just lets the caster see and hear them for ten minutes, it does not inform the caster of the target's location. Unless, of course, they're in an easily recognizable location or they mention their location.
And remember to have fun with this. The mages could use Sending spells to interrupt long rests. "As you fall asleep you hear the following UrMomma joke!" This can happen whenever you want unless they counter it with something like Tiny Hut (which they can pick up with a scroll and the Ritual Caster feat) or some magical item.
Thanks a lot for the help. I should consider the ability of the mages to actually spend resources on the PCs and also be mindful of the fact that the players should find a way on their own. Thanks for your help!