THEY DIDN'T BREAK INTO THE PRISON.

I posted about how my players were breaking into a prison about a week ago. They then proceeded to NOT break into the prison, instead going to the super very evil church that controls the entire city to get a curse removed. They made a bet with a corrupt priest (Princess Bride style) since they'd bought a poison from the black market that morning that if the priest drank the drink with poison in it, they would have to remove the curse for free. However, they forgot to dictate what they would owe the priest if they lost. And don't worry, there was an anti-toxin, they didn't actually take any damage.

So, now they're in the evil church, in a very dangerous position, and I'm not sure what to do from here. Any tips?

You could either start a cult storyline, a boss fight with said priest, or just have them get kicked out of the church to try and steer them back towards your planned story

or just wing it

The priest could make them go on some sort of quest that leads back to the original storyline, perhaps commanding them to fetch an important object. This could lead to a fight if they refuse, a side quest if they agree, or the PC's could try to charm their way out. If they are commanded to fetch an object, they can also decide if they hold to their word and deliver it to the priest or if they double-cross the priest and don't give the item back. Or lie and say they will retrieve it and scamper off, although if you don't want them doing that, the priest could make them take an acolyte or something to watch over them and make sure they don't run off or double-cross.

I’m assuming they don’t know the church is evil and the priest is corrupt. In that case, I might make it deceptively simple and come back to bite them. The priest asks them to deliver the cup to their friend the next town over. It’s one they use in some church rituals and his friend has need of it for a cleansing he’s doing. The cup seems pretty boring. Non-magical, just a cup. Has a symbol of the temple’s god on it. The friend seems normal. Grateful for the delivery, even tips them 50 gp for their efforts. They drop it off, nothing happens.

Then, many sessions later, they find the cup is the same one being used in the evil cultist’s plan. Some other good guys we’re watching the priest, so he needed some patsies to make the delivery for him.

Quote from Xalthu >>

I’m assuming they don’t know the church is evil and the priest is corrupt. In that case, I might make it deceptively simple and come back to bite them. The priest asks them to deliver the cup to their friend the next town over. It’s one they use in some church rituals and his friend has need of it for a cleansing he’s doing. The cup seems pretty boring. Non-magical, just a cup. Has a symbol of the temple’s god on it. The friend seems normal. Grateful for the delivery, even tips them 50 gp for their efforts. They drop it off, nothing happens.

Then, many sessions later, they find the cup is the same one being used in the evil cultist’s plan. Some other good guys we’re watching the priest, so he needed some patsies to make the delivery for him.

Isn't 50GP like a +20 month income?

To add to the above, have the receiver of the cup then ask them to deliver something to the prison warden.  While waiting for the warden to meet them, somehow tell the party they were supposed to break into the prison.  Now they have an inside view of a part of the prison.  You could have the warden stay in his office and the party is escorted through the prison to the office, then escorted back a different way.  Max the area they covered, but not the total area of the prison.

The escort is a low to mid level guard, proud of the security of the prison and gives the party a "detailed" tour of the security of the prison.  Being not very high ranking, he does not know all of the security measures.  Nor would he know about some wings as he would mention his lack of access.

Quote from Character77006 >>

Quote from Xalthu >>

I’m assuming they don’t know the church is evil and the priest is corrupt. In that case, I might make it deceptively simple and come back to bite them. The priest asks them to deliver the cup to their friend the next town over. It’s one they use in some church rituals and his friend has need of it for a cleansing he’s doing. The cup seems pretty boring. Non-magical, just a cup. Has a symbol of the temple’s god on it. The friend seems normal. Grateful for the delivery, even tips them 50 gp for their efforts. They drop it off, nothing happens.

Then, many sessions later, they find the cup is the same one being used in the evil cultist’s plan. Some other good guys we’re watching the priest, so he needed some patsies to make the delivery for him.

 

Isn't 50GP like a +20 month income?

 Depends on your job 🙂

I don’t try to make economic sense in D&D. It’s probably a big number to the payer, but to a party of 5 PCs, it’s trivial.

You’re right, though. Just set the number where it makes sense. Keep it low if that’s better. Or make it high, and let it be a tip off that something is up. If the party is clever and wonders where this guy got that kind of money. 

Lean into the corrupt nature. Manipulate them into doing something if they lose that comes back to bite them, hard, later. They later see evidence of the temple's wrongdoing and realize they were dealing with bad guys. Maybe the priest adds a secret curse as he removes the first, and now it's super easy to pick pocket them, monsters can instinctively feel their presence, something along those lines. Dealing with the devil (or a devil-like evil being's priest) is dealing with evil.