Post/Author/DateTime	Post
DoveArrow 11-22-05, 03:00 PM	These were the crimes that resulted from last night's game. The PCs were contracted by the Dezina Museum of Antiquities to recover some artifacts that were stolen from the museum. Following up on a lead, they discovered that the artifacts were bought by a wealthy, dwarven aristocrat from the House Kundarak and member of the Aurum. The dwarf lives in the Korranath District, and so the PCs decide to take a trip up to the Upper Central Plateau to stake out the dwarf's house. Based on their stakeout, the PCs learn that the windows of the dwarf's mansion are warded with alarm and area dispel magic spells, and that the main entrance into the dwarf's mansion is guarded by two warforged. Based on this information, the PCs decide that the best course of action is to wait until the dwarf leaves, at which point they decide to rush in, take out the warforged guards and hack down the door with a battleaxe. Keep in mind this is in broad daylight. Needless to say, these actions alerted the Sharn Watch who arrived on the scene at about the time that the PCs were running from a botched encounter they had with a crypt thing and two stained glass golems inside the dwarf's mansion. Seeing one of the PCs, the Sharn Watch called out "Drop your weapons and surrender!" Well of course, the PCs didn't surrender (as you may have guessed from the title of this thread). Instead, they turned invisible and used a summoned, troll skeleton that to knock out several members of the Sharn Watch so that they could clear an open path for their escape. Mind you, the Watch was already backing away from the troll skeleton, so the action of clearing a path was entirely unnecessary. Needless to say, this was not the shining moment of the PCs' career, and while I want to make the game enjoyable, I don't see how it's going to be possible to wrap this one up without the law getting involved somehow. What I want are some ideas about how to flesh this out into a campaign. Who or what is going to come after them? How are the courts going to handle it? When and if they're sent to jail, should that be part of the campaign, or should it go something like "A year later..." Let me know what you thnk. Thanks.
Just another user 11-22-05, 03:30 PM	On the top of my head: The dwarf is willing to let go the accusation and use his influence to release them if they agree to make some little jobs for him. If they refuse he'll then organize secretly their evasion, only to revel himself to them after it and make it clear that if they don't do exactly what he say it is back to the prison for them.
DoveArrow 11-22-05, 04:02 PM	On the top of my head: The dwarf is willing to let go the accusation and use his influence to release them if they agree to make some little jobs for him. If they refuse he'll then organize secretly their evasion, only to revel himself to them after it and make it clear that if they don't do exactly what he say it is back to the prison for them. You know, that is an idea that I don't think I would have ever thought of. I'll have to mull that one over for a while.
blargney the second 11-22-05, 04:21 PM	Strip them of everything except the clothes on their backs and send them to a forced labor camp for a few years. After a certain amount of time and whatever encounters you feel like, give them an easy opportunity to break out. They're working a seam of mithral together in the mines near Cragwar when they break through a wall into the armory vault of an ancient abandoned Dhakaani outpost. Place some interesting and useful equipment at this point. (Their other eq is still in Sharn, and they'll likely go back for it. Bear that in mind when handing them the keys to the vault!) Fill the outpost with whatever you want: mind flayers, dolgaunts, dolgrims, hobgoblin ghosts, etc. Give them a way out somewhere, then enjoy toying with your newly-escaped Brelishly-outlawed PCs! -blarg
DoveArrow 11-22-05, 04:25 PM	Strip them of everything except the clothes on their backs and send them to a forced labor camp for a few years. After a certain amount of time and whatever encounters you feel like, give them an easy opportunity to break out. They're working a seam of mithral together in the mines near Cragwar when they break through a wall into the armory vault of an ancient abandoned Dhakaani outpost. Place some interesting and useful equipment at this point. (Their other eq is still in Sharn, and they'll likely go back for it. Bear that in mind when handing them the keys to the vault!) Fill the outpost with whatever you want: mind flayers, dolgaunts, dolgrims, hobgoblin ghosts, etc. Give them a way out somewhere, then enjoy toying with your newly-escaped Brelishly-outlawed PCs! -blarg Fantastic! I'm sure that will make them chomping at the bit to come back to the table again and again. :P
exploding_brain 11-22-05, 05:30 PM	Give them a chance to escape, either by finding a place to hide in Sharn's underworld, or by getting out of town. Either option will require them to get help from powerful organizations who are not necessarily friends of the watch. Do they have any contacts with organized crime, the dragonmarked houses, churches (the church of the Silver Flame in Breland is often corrupt enough to help criminals, for the right price), cults of the dragon below, the emerald claw, spies form other nations, etc? Now they have to accomplish their original mission, and find proof the the dwarf they tried to rob is up to some kind of serious no good. They also need to do enough good for Sharn, or earn enough money to pay for their crimes, all while being hunted by the watch. They'll have to avoid capture by increasingly capable agents who come after them. Of course, every time they resist arrest or assault another agent of the watch, it will become even harder to get the Sharn government to forgive their crimes. That could make for some interesting combats.
DoveArrow 11-22-05, 06:21 PM	Give them a chance to escape, either by finding a place to hide in Sharn's underworld, or by getting out of town. Either option will require them to get help from powerful organizations who are not necessarily friends of the watch. Do they have any contacts with organized crime, the dragonmarked houses, churches (the church of the Silver Flame in Breland is often corrupt enough to help criminals, for the right price), cults of the dragon below, the emerald claw, spies form other nations, etc? Now they have to accomplish their original mission, and find proof the the dwarf they tried to rob is up to some kind of serious no good. They also need to do enough good for Sharn, or earn enough money to pay for their crimes, all while being hunted by the watch. They'll have to avoid capture by increasingly capable agents who come after them. Of course, every time they resist arrest or assault another agent of the watch, it will become even harder to get the Sharn government to forgive their crimes. That could make for some interesting combats. One of them has a connection to Gath, the lich priest of the Keeper who lives in the Necropolis just outside of Sharn (yeah, my PCs are not the nicest of people, but at least they're not evil... well, at least not yet). I honestly don't think that he's going to want that kind of attention brought upon him, but he may be able to provide them a place to hide until things die down. I'm not sure that they're going to have a lot of time to get out of the city, this being the kind of thing that hits front page news, but it's something to take into consideration. As far as accomplishing the mission, I'm sure it's still possible and I'm sure if they can find the artifacts they've been looking for, that there will be some leniency due to extenuating circumstances. However, the fact of the matter is, the PCs still attacked the Sharn Watch without provocation. That's a crime that, in spite of everything else, will need to be answered for.
nihility 11-22-05, 11:02 PM	I also like the idea of them fleeing to the underworld; it seems they would have been rather at home there to begin with, in fact. You might check the Grand Theft Skycoach (http://boards.wizards.com/showthread.php?t=338185) thread for some ideas. On a broader level, this might be a sign that the players are interested in a bit of mercenary or anti-hero flavor in the game. **Edit** That link's actually not that useful, but falling in with a criminal gang would be an easy way to maintain a mission-based game format, with the added twist that the PCs could perhaps try to take over or alter the gang towards good.
WolfHati 11-22-05, 11:10 PM	If players are being really dumb like that, they should reap what they sow. The truth is they screwed up bad, and are lucky to have escaped. They'll either have to face up to their actions and deal with the law or skip town for a while. Hiding in the underworld and lower tower levels probably isn't the best option since someone could easily turn them in for a reward.
Sieylianna 11-22-05, 11:29 PM	On the top of my head: The dwarf is willing to let go the accusation and use his influence to release them if they agree to make some little jobs for him. I think this is the best approach. Otherwise, they should face assassins from House Kundark or the Aurum about once a month until they're dead. From what you presented, there is nothing to indicate that the dwarf had any idea the items were stolen and he has friends in high places to ensure the local authorities see things his way. I just don't see any other option which allows for a viable campaign to continue with these PCs. Ed
rampant 11-23-05, 04:11 AM	eventually everyone runs out of assasins, or bounty hunters, just skip town and kill anything that comes after you
DragonWatcher 11-23-05, 09:49 AM	Dove, The real problem that I see (and it seems that you see as well), is that even if the dwarf drops his charges, the group still has the charges of assaulting officers at their feet. This is not something that the dwarf is going to be able to help out with... or at least not easily. The "out" that I see is tied in with the idea that most of the Sharn Watch are corrupt. So, with that in mind, I see a couple possibilities: 1. The PCs are found by a less-than-reputable member of the Watch, who offers to help them escape justice for a "small" fee. This fee can be a monitary bribe, or a mission to be conducted on his/her behalf. If it were a mission, I would make it something distasteful so that the PCs feel that they're selling their souls for their freedom, and make them wonder if it's worth the price. After payment, the records of the assault, etc. will "vanish". 2. The Watch members that the PCs assaulted were corrupt and being paid by the dwarf to make problems disappear for him. They have been under investigation by one of the honest Watch Commanders for a while now, and the assault was witnessed by an undercover agent. The Watch Commander now feels that he has the perfect tool to bring these corrupt watchmen to justice in the PCs (since his superiors are likely corrupt as well, and won't punish these watchmen). He tracks down the PCs, and makes a similar offer to them. Their problems will disappear if they help him dig up dirt on the personal dealings of these watchmen (and possibly those who are paying them for extracuricular services). There are likely other directions that this can be taken too, but those are two possibilities that I can see.
lugnut71 11-23-05, 10:26 AM	Yeah the dwarf problem is pretty easy. I would set it up that he is unlikely to press charges to keep attention off himself. (The guards may have to search his house for evidence, things along those lines). But dealing with the guards they assaulted that is the tricky thing.
exploding_brain 11-23-05, 10:34 AM	When the PCs assaulted the watch, did they kill anyone, or merely injure them? In either case, the PCs can probably buy their way out of the assault on the city watch charge. If watchmen died, the price would be much higher, but either way, a judge can probably pass down a sentence along the lines of, "I am giving the defendants a sentence of X years at hard labor, and a fine of (%25 of the PCs wealth), to reimburse the city for the cost and inconvenience caused by the assault (medical care, replacement watchmen, support for widows and orphans). In acknowledgment of their services on behalf of the city and people of Sharn, I am suspending the sentence of hard labor, conditional on the defendants continued good behavior."
Euangelion 11-23-05, 11:10 AM	Everyone is forgetting about the most important organization to the PC's: the one that hired them in the first place. Anything that the PC's do while under the Museum's employment will reflect back on the Museum. Thus the curator must be willing to use whatever influence he/she (Can't remember which, since I'm at work) has to help the PC's out since ultimately it's his/her rear that's on the line (since the PC's can always reveal who it was who hired them in the first place). Certainly such a fine, upstanding, influencial citizen has some influence in law enforcement circles (especially considering the antiquities scene!!).
DoveArrow 11-23-05, 12:10 PM	Okay, after reading over some of your ideas, and after having taken a skim through Sharn: City of Towers, I have decided on the following course of actions: 1. The event hits front page news. Both the Sharn Watch and House Kundarak are furious, and a zelekhut inquisitive has been hired to find the PCs and bring them to justice. Because of this public reaction, and because the museum had hoped to keep this business quiet, they decide to sever all connections with the PCs. 2. At some point, the zelekhut catches up to the PCs and attempts to bring them to justice. If the PCs are arrested, a trial takes place. The judge is bribed, and members of the jury are bribed by the dwarf aristocrat, granting the prosecution a +4 bonus to their Profession (barrister) check. If found guilty of all charges, a mark is placed on the PCs' identification papers, their equipment is confiscated, and they are ordered to pay a hefty fine (I haven't decided how much, but I'm guessing 1,000 gp) to pay for damages and grievances caused by their actions. If found not guilty... well then they get off lucky. Meanwhile, if the trial reveals that the PCs were attempting to retrieve stolen items for the Museum of Antiquities, the dwarf may be willing to admit to having the items, but claims that he had no idea that they were stolen. This is not true, (he actually agreed to pay the Boromar Clan for the items if they were able to retrieve them), but when you're rich, and you live in Sharn, the truth is what you pay for it. 3. The PCs are released, a little meaker, possibly a little weaker, but hopefully a lot wiser than they were before. Meanwhile, the game goes on. Let me know what you think, whether I should add some little extra bits for flavor, or if this all sounds good. Thanks.
nihility 11-23-05, 06:39 PM	Suppose the PCs defeat the zelekhut. Is that the end of the matter, or would more forces be dispatched?
DoveArrow 11-23-05, 10:13 PM	Suppose the PCs defeat the zelekhut. Is that the end of the matter, or would more forces be dispatched? I've actually been thinking about this very issue and I'm hoping that I can create an impossible encounter for the PCs. For example, I'm thinking about adding some Hit Dice, and class levels to the zelekhut to make him a little more powerful. I'm also thinking about adding a squadron of the redcloak battallion and some members from the Black Book to beef things up a bit. Still, your concern is a very real one and to tell you the truth, I'm not sure what would happen if the PCs were able to escape the zelekhut. I'll have to think about it.
drss 11-23-05, 11:10 PM	I think this is a great situation to be a DM. I dont know your players, but I'll speak assuming they are not all about hacking and slashing, but are role players as well. First, give the law a fair fight: You control the officers against the player characters. I dont think you should let them off so easily by just giving them a viable exit, because without consequences a game wont be fun. I'm not saying you should punish them, but make them work hard to fight. The most likely outcome is having them captured. After captured, they'll go through the whole process of being out in jail and going on trial. There is a whole bunch of role playing opportunities here with jailers, lawyers, inquisitors etc. The players can help make a case for themselves. Definitly go through the motions there. If I am DM, I wont resolve the issue through the trial, but I'd still make them go through parts of it just to make the world feel more realistic. After the preliminary hearing, the real plot begins. I dont know what the artifacts are and how they fit with your story, but this is a good place to add some complexity to the story. Each character are given some paperwork to sign in private, they are promised that they will walk free just like that, just by having one of their members take the fall, what will they do? They are promised that the "fall guy" wont be punished, but whoever it is will have to spend two days away from the group for some unknown reason. So, whoever turned out to have the most vote as the fall guy will probably be a bit steamed about being picked. And thats what the secret 2 days are for. He'll be offered the opprotunity to betray his team by the influencial mastermind behind their release. The wealthy dwarf and the Museum both have their agendas and are at odds; the mastermind is a 3rd, hidden hand in the conflict and the character is going to be his agent. This is all fine and dandy, but it goes 1 step deeper. This whole thing was a set up staged by the Museum and the Dwarf. They know someone is behind the scenes, but they dont know who. This is a temporary truce, a bried colaborative effort to draw out the identity of the mastermind. This set up explains why the dwarf has such insane security, and why the Sharn officers just happen to show up at the right time, and why the inquistor told them nothing was reported stolen by the museum as far as he knows (I added that, obviously, since they players will probably say they are just helping the Museum retrieve stolen goods). A web of lies and intrigues is thus set into motion, with the players at the center of it all. Evil, ambitious players may even want to turn against all the forces and win the conflict himself, defeating all the other factions. In fact, this sounds good to me. I'll have to run this myself for the sake of it.
Mr. Wilson 11-24-05, 01:34 AM	Everyone seems to forget the first rule as a PC: It is far better to die than to surrender to the watch/face justice. I know of no player's that I have ever played with that willingly gave up: they all went down swinging, or betrayed the group to make an escape. It's a point of pride with players. If you attempt to apprehand the PC's, then be willing to start a new campaign when it blows up. It's like stripping PC's equipment and levels; you are far more likely to face po'd players that way than through flat out killings. At least, that's been my experience through many years of gaming.
jamez 11-24-05, 02:01 PM	If they do escape let them in on the fact that if they can get to Fort Bones in Karrnath they could sign up for a year (or less if the Commander sees fit) service and have there past erased. Anyone can show up there, give whatever name they want and are made citizens of Karrnath on the spot. It could be a huge chase across the continent to evade the law and border guards just to get there. Then you could have a bunch of adventures vs. Valenar Elves and the dangers on the Talenta Plains. And as the Elves and the Karrns are still fighting the Last War behind everyones back, it would give a good reason to use Heroes of Battle! Or, you could skip it all and let the year go by uneventfully. Of couse, if you are on some kind of timetable this doesn't work so well. Just some thoughts!
drss 11-24-05, 11:35 PM	Everyone seems to forget the first rule as a PC: It is far better to die than to surrender to the watch/face justice. I know of no player's that I have ever played with that willingly gave up: they all went down swinging, or betrayed the group to make an escape. It's a point of pride with players. If you attempt to apprehand the PC's, then be willing to start a new campaign when it blows up. It's like stripping PC's equipment and levels; you are far more likely to face po'd players that way than through flat out killings. At least, that's been my experience through many years of gaming. I've had very different experiences in regards to that. People I've played with do the exact things your people dont.
Errant 11-25-05, 12:22 AM	Suppose the PCs defeat the zelekhut. Is that the end of the matter, or would more forces be dispatched? IMC, if the PCs evaded the watch/zelekhut's attempts to bring them to justice, I'd put bounties on their heads and wanted posters up in every section of Sharn. All over Breland if they let themselves be seen leaving the city. That way, you can still have the watch/zelekhut keeping an eye out for them PLUS you can throw any (kind of) NPC you like at them as a straight up encounter, ambush or double cross. The longer the PCs go without being caught &/or the more trouble they get up to, the higher the bounty gets. This does have the risk of having the PCs start competing to see who gets the highest price on their head, but it also adds an edge to the gam when potential patrons, partners and merchants avoid contact because they don't want to be implicated as accessories. A high bounty will bring the most pursuit down on the PCs' heads, but even a small amount could be incentive enough for tougher bounty hunter to try and collect on if they "happen" to come across the PCs while in the same area. If they cause enough trouble &/or flee Sharn, there's always House Deneith's Sentinel Marshals too. The important thing is that there has to be consequences. If none of the Watch were killed, the PCs might face little more than fines, but they'll still be reminded that they can't just do whatever they like.
boytbpc 11-25-05, 08:42 AM	The section in Sharn City of Towers covers this. Basically the first poster nailed it. Have the PCs captured. If that takes a platoon of guards with saps, then do it. Then, throw them in jail and have a few wicked "OZ"-like scenes of the PCs avoiding the shower. Then, have the dwarf come up to them and say, "We're going to court tomorrow. I've already bought off the judge, the jury and your lawyer, I've also bought off the guy in the room who makes sure that no magic spells are active during the trial. This means for you, bad, bad things. Now, we have an alternative. I've got this little problem, and I think you might be able to help me. You see there's this really groovy place called Khyber and...."
Good Agnostic 11-26-05, 01:04 PM	just don't forget that the Sharn City Watch will always remember what they did. Good luck dealing with the Watch after this. The PC's are going to be marked for harassment in the future. The rank and file members of the Watch are NOT going to be happy when the perps of such a public beat down of the Watch get to skate free after a crooked trial. I wouldn't be surprised, at all, to see future issues of the Inquisitor have articles about these adventurers being found dead, one by one. Some under mysterious circumstances that the Watch, *gosh*, just can't figure out. And of course, one or more might return to their old Watch attacking ways, but this time end up dead. "Stop resisting." "Thunk, thunk, swipe, gash, pierce, bleed." "Stop resisiting."
HarmonysTwilight 11-26-05, 03:08 PM	In my Sharn the watch is speckled through it's ranks with "Blinkers" (Happen to not be looking if the price is right). Of course if you assume a Watchman is a Blinker and bribe the wrong guy talk about a bad day. There is also the underworld. The monster gang, proper name on the tip of my tongue, would certainly take on board new talent. And I think they've well displaye dwhat they're willing to do. EDIT - Dhaask... I just remembered. The halflings may well smuggle them to Talenta in exchange for help with the Valenar. House Lyrandar is sending and expedition to Xen'Drik and will sneak them out of the city on an airship if they agree to help. Riedran spies will smuggle them out if they will do an odd job. The list is endless... and all of this only plays on minor things. I always allow PC's to do a little work on border guard duty to Drooam for the Brelish Army as long as their screw ups aren't too severe in Sharn. Of course if you go buy (pun intended) the City Of Towers sourcebook the worst they may be in for is branding and exile from Sharn.
DoveArrow 11-27-05, 02:57 PM	just don't forget that the Sharn City Watch will always remember what they did. Good luck dealing with the Watch after this. The PC's are going to be marked for harassment in the future. The rank and file members of the Watch are NOT going to be happy when the perps of such a public beat down of the Watch get to skate free after a crooked trial. I wouldn't be surprised, at all, to see future issues of the Inquisitor have articles about these adventurers being found dead, one by one. Some under mysterious circumstances that the Watch, *gosh*, just can't figure out. And of course, one or more might return to their old Watch attacking ways, but this time end up dead. "Stop resisting." "Thunk, thunk, swipe, gash, pierce, bleed." "Stop resisiting." I expect that the PCs are going to have a hard time with the Watch for a while, regardless of what happens. I don't know that the Watch will necessarily resort to bodily harm, but I imagine they'll try to make things as difficult as possible for the PCs within the limits of the law. Meanwhile, while I initially thought that the idea of the dwarven aristocrat hiring the PCs was an interesting idea, I don't think I'm going to use it in my campaign. What I see him doing instead is bribing the judge and jury to help 'insure' that the PCs get what's coming to them.
yrogerg 11-27-05, 03:17 PM	In the campaign I was in in the summer, we ended up in a similar situation with the law: we were accused of a double-murder (that was likely the work of any of the numerous enemies we had at that point) and of an attempted arson (which actually was caused by one of our less... stable party members. In any case, the Boromars, who had been courting us for a while at that point anyway, agreed to help us get out of the city until the heat died down, in exchange for helping them "retrieve" someone that was hiding out in Blackpit (I think?). On our way out of the city, we got ambushed by a bunch of Tharask bounty hunters, and they managed dropped all but one character before they were defeated. We pretty much only survived because some unnamed voice had warned us of the ambush just in time. A few months later, the heat had died down, and we headed back. (Later, we found out that it was a Ranger/Rogue/Assasin agent of House Tharkanen who had been watching out for us the whole time. Most of the rest of the campaign centered around the various factions attempting to use our party against each other, culminating with our group "failing" to secure allies for Boromar's climactic raid on the Dassk stronghold in the Temple of the Dark Six.)
Mr. Wilson 11-28-05, 05:36 AM	I've had very different experiences in regards to that. People I've played with do the exact things your people dont. So, you're saying that you've played in groups where the players willing surrendered to the watch to face justice when they committed a crime?
DragonWatcher 11-28-05, 10:43 AM	So, you're saying that you've played in groups where the players willing surrendered to the watch to face justice when they committed a crime? My group has always played heroic good-guy characters, and have surrendered to the law on any occasion that I brought it in. Not every player wants to play a completely lawless, evil, butcher.
DoveArrow 11-28-05, 01:27 PM	My group has always played heroic good-guy characters, and have surrendered to the law on any occasion that I brought it in. Not every player wants to play a completely lawless, evil, butcher. Yeah, I have to say that I'm just as surprised as Mr. Wilson. During my first session as DM, my players were playing a bunch of dwarves. During a particularly grisly and not altogether altruistic session, they wound up killing a bunch of grigs that were playing pranks on them. Personally, I thought that was a little coldhearted, since the grigs weren't doing anything other than playing tricks on the PCs, so I had a treant come in, pick up one of the PCs, and had him tell the PC to raise his friends. Well, after burning the treant down, the PCs cut out its face and nailed it to the front of their ship with a sign that said "Don't :censored: with a dwarf's dignity!" Needless to say, I learned that when I want to teach the PCs a lesson, I need to use something a little more powerful than a CR 8 creature. Incidentally, the zelekhut now has four more HD, three levels of rogue and two levels of fighter, bringing him up to a CR 15 creature. He will also be accompanied by a squadron of Redcloaks (probably eight), that I believe are each CR 7 (I'll have to look at CoT to be sure). Anyway, I believe that should be a significant enough threat against a CR 5 party. We'll see.
Sithis 11-28-05, 01:35 PM	Wait, all this talk of assassination and years hard labor for assaulting the Sharn Watch? In the City of Towers novel: The main character threw a watchman off a lift during a tussle. The watchman survived due to a feather fall charm, but the end result of that was a PO'd watchman who was going to beat the snot out of him and maybe would have thrown him over himself, not an all hands hunt throughout Sharn. Granted Sharn is a harsher place than modern-day America, but in the US assaulting an officer carries penalties of 90 days in jail and a year of probation, not being shipped away to prison camps or quietly disappeared. Make them wanted men, but the sort of wanted men that are one of the many faces on the post office wall, not one of the 10 most-wanted. If they're spotted have the watch bring in some of their better men (have them estimate based on the previous encounter) and if they're arrested give them a few months in jail, a reasonable fine, and a harsh warning about not doing it again.
Wolfwood2 11-28-05, 02:49 PM	Incidentally, the zelekhut now has four more HD, three levels of rogue and two levels of fighter, bringing him up to a CR 15 creature. He will also be accompanied by a squadron of Redcloaks (probably eight), that I believe are each CR 7 (I'll have to look at CoT to be sure). Anyway, I believe that should be a significant enough threat against a CR 5 party. We'll see. So one of the most powerful beings in the world is hunting the PCs over an attempted theft and resisting arrest. Ooookay. The best way to handle it is to put it to the players plainly. "Look guys, after that little stunt, I'm thinking the law should be after you pretty heavily. Your choices are to stick around and take your medicine one way or the other, have your characters flee the city and don't come back, bail on this campaign and start a new one, or try and convince me to just pretend the whole incident never happened. But I've got to warn you, as a DM it's not much fun for me to be ignoring the logical consequences of what the PCs do, so I'd take some convincing on that point. "Now I don't want to waste your time or mine, so let's just decide now what way you want this to go. If you want to stay and take your medicine, feel free to think up something clever to get out of this. But I warn you, I won't be pulling any punches."
DoveArrow 11-28-05, 03:53 PM	So one of the most powerful beings in the world is hunting the PCs over an attempted theft and resisting arrest. Ooookay. My primary reason for resorting to the zelekhut is to establish some damage control. If the PCs decide to attack the guards again, I don't want the game to become an out-of-control, chaotic evil campaign. Meanwhile, I don't think it's completely unbelievable that one of the most powerful creatures in the world is hunting down the PCs. After all, in addition to breaking and entering, and resisting arrest, the PCs attacked two warforged, beat them unconscious, then did the same to three members of the Sharn Watch. Personally, I think that's a reasonably violent crime to alert a zelekhut to the situation. The best way to handle it is to put it to the players plainly. "Look guys, after that little stunt, I'm thinking the law should be after you pretty heavily. Your choices are to stick around and take your medicine one way or the other, have your characters flee the city and don't come back, bail on this campaign and start a new one, or try and convince me to just pretend the whole incident never happened. But I've got to warn you, as a DM it's not much fun for me to be ignoring the logical consequences of what the PCs do, so I'd take some convincing on that point. "Now I don't want to waste your time or mine, so let's just decide now what way you want this to go. If you want to stay and take your medicine, feel free to think up something clever to get out of this. But I warn you, I won't be pulling any punches." I may do a speech that goes something like that, but it won't be exactly the same thing. I really don't want to abandon my game, particularly since I've already written out three modules for it and they're each about ten pages long. Fleeing the city is just as much of a problem because again, it's essentially abandoning what I've written so far and starting over again. Bringing in the law, giving the PCs a slap on the wrist, and releasing them again seems like the best course of action because it addresses the situation, establishes some ground rules, and returns the game to some degree of normality.