Post/Author/DateTime	Post
Warforged_Pierce 01-19-07, 08:27 PM	I got a problem with my players.they started fighting in the last war most fought for cyre & the mourning happens. now the players are in sharn & the players want 2 go back 2 the mournland & I don't know what 2 do 2 stop them from going the last war deal was supposed 2 give them a way 2 relate with eberron. there is also a npc trying 2 get the PC'S 2 take little oddjobs around sharn but the pc's aren't buying it . open 2 any suggestions. .... typing with a wii remote is difficult srry.
Nived 01-19-07, 08:37 PM	... I don't have a wii so I'll take your word for it. Please though, in the future try to be clearer. Ok, so the problem as I understand it is that your players aren't interested in doing odd jobs in Sharn because they want to take off into the Mournland to search for what they lost on the day of Mourning. Couple ways to deal with this. Stress to them, in character, through contacts or whoever that the Mournland is a dangerous place, hell on earth. Healing magic doesn't work there, the laws of reality break down. They aren't well enough supplied, they aren't skilled enough, and they aren't smart enough as it stands to survive in there. Thus you can gear the 'odd jobs' in Sharn as a way to build the proper funds to mount an expedition into the Mournland later.... because as low level characters its currently suicide. Trying to go into the Mourland without the proper skills (higher levels) and the proper equipment (goodberry wine, which aint cheap, and various magical weapons and devices) is like trying to solo walk to the south pole with nothing but your winter jacket. You're dead. The other way is similar... let them go to the Mournland and let them learn this leason first hand... of course this has a high risk of them dying before they learn.
Kassil 01-19-07, 08:40 PM	Why stop them?
goblin_pride 01-19-07, 08:46 PM	Some DMs get squeemish when it comes to delivering the TPK to PCs even when they deserve it (and in some cases are begging for it, against all warnings).
Alex_ 01-19-07, 08:55 PM	Apparently the players are unaware of just how dangerous the Mournland is. This doesn't mean that they're intentionally being stupid and deserve to die. They simply don't know how dangerous it is. I suggest, before trying to coerce them in game, explaining to them out of game that at this low of a level, adventuring in the Mournlands just isn't very practical right now. Tell them they stand a very high chance of getting killed if they try it right now. Then do what Nived said in game.
yrogerg 01-19-07, 09:05 PM	Roll with it. It sounds like you had a particular story in mind and laid out, and your players are telling you that they don't really want to hop aboard. Honestly, though, this is part of the problem with relying too heavily on a railroad (I don't consider the term to be pejorative, as it's just a necessary feature of collaborative story-telling) that doesn't take into account character motivations and desires. Why *would* the adventurers want to do random odd jobs rather than pick up the pieces of their shattered nation? When you include the Last War and the Mourning in the campaign, that *becomes* an adventure hook in itself, and you end up having to use something damned important to make them drop it. That said, it is worth pointing out that the Mournland is a dangerous place, and the characters would need to outfit and prepare themselves before they'd be ready to investigate it. These odd jobs might provide a way to support that as a future goal, but it will come back to the Mournland eventually. OtOH, I disagree with the other posters that it's *necessarily* a TPK; Remember, you're the DM, so even with its "dangerous" qualities, the Mournland, and encounters therein, are only as dangerous as you make them to be. So, roll with it. Change the story you had in mind, and either adjust the story so that the heading to the Mournland provides the hooks you're trying to bait, or just start planning less of the story in advance, so that you can react to your players' actions, and use them to advance a story that you all have input into. But ultimately, it's important to either supply hooks that do grab your player's attention, or allow them to supply their own hooks. Sometimes, they'll surprise you with some completely unexpected action that plays right into your plans.
Nived 01-19-07, 09:07 PM	Another reason I think the OP might not want to let them into the Mournland is how that's going to end.... what are they going to find? Their mother's house melted like so much candle wax. Their dead wife lying on a barren field with a look of abject horror on her face and hasn't decayed after being dead for two years.... a dead son or daughter... whose condition is best left unsaid? The Mournland is not a nice place and it's not a place for happy endings, but as the Eberron Campaign Setting says on page 251, "Stories don't always end well." If they keep pushing to go into the Mournland.... it's going to be a dark note... it almost is garunteed to be. Happy things do not happen there. The trick is somehow turning this into a positive for your campaign. Maybe it'll give them the drive to go back to Sharn and continue with your main plot, maybe you can toss them a bone and let there be a spark of light... have them save the last survivor or a much worse equiped expedition (An NPC who would be a perfect mouth piece for a stirring speech about finding something to live for... you know like the main plot). You shouldn't be afraid of player goals... even when they're as suicidal and horrific as going into the Mournlands. The trick is making it work for you.
yrogerg 01-19-07, 09:21 PM	If we had a better idea of what plot you were trying to prod them towards, we might be able to give more specific ideas, too. Granted, that would mean finding a computer to post from :P