Need to kill some (PC) time to save "Chimes at Midnight" from imminent derailment [Archive] - Wizards Community

Need to kill some (PC) time to save "Chimes at Midnight" from imminent derailment [Archive] - Wizards Community

Post/Author/DateTime Post
treehouse916
04-18-06, 01:11 AM Hey, wasn't that a long title? Hope it got some attention.

If you aren't familiar with "Chimes at Midnight", it's an adventure in Dungeon #133 by Nicolas Logue. I just started running it on Saturday evening, and I'm having some difficulties.

Beware of spoilers below...

In my enthusiasm to get going on this module, I forgot something rather important...I staged the prologue (prison caravan breakout) on the 6th of Sypheros just as they were getting out of a meeting with someone about something in an unrelated future adventure. I did this because I wanted to use the intervening time between the prologue and the first day of the actual adventure (the evening of the 15th) to build up the six convicts as bad mofos via news clippings, wanted posters and word of mouth. Unfortunately, I stupidly forgot to account for the PCs actually wanting to look for them in this time period. :banghead:

Lesson learned: never assume that your PCs will just wait around for the adventure to start. The adventure starts when they are good and ready!

Anyway, here are the things that happened before the session ended and I could initiate damage control:

-They learned that Victor Saint-Demain was the arresting inquisitive on the case for all six escaped convicts.

-They visited Victor (whom they know from a previous adventure) and very nearly learned the truth, ending the adventure before it could really begin. He has managed to throw them off his trail momentarily by giving them the henchmen's case files to gain their trust. Because of this...

-...they now know everything there is to know about the six henchmen.

-By interviewing one of the prisoners who didn't manage to escape (a dreamlily-pushing goblin named Grat-something-or-other), they learned that Vrinn was the first one to escape, and that no one from the outside had helped them do it as far as he could see.

-They know about Durock's dealer Creeks, and where to find him (they are actually staying at the Anvil across the street).

Now, if you've read the module, you know where this is going if I don't intervene. I could just accelerate the time frame, but my players know when Wildnight is, and I really want to keep the climax of the adventure where it is.

Here's the timeline I have right now:

27th of Rhaan - Victor is rejected by Baron d'Medani

28th of Rhaan-4th of Sypheros - Victor broods

5th of Sypheros - Victor hatches a brilliant plan to get revenge, visits Vrinn on false pretenses; etc etc.

6th of Sypheros - Prologue (prison caravan breakout)

9th of Sypheros - Victor steals the Silver Basilisk

13th of Sypheros - Zelina is captured while tracking down SB

15th of Sypheros - Adventure begins

As of the end of last session, it was the evening of Sypheros 7. I need to delay them for eight in-game days, which is no easy task. I had originally planned to do something with Vrinn, who is well-situated to stir up trouble using someone else's face to throw the PCs off the trail. I am sort of hesitant to do that, however; the last adventure was a mystery with several red herrings, and I'd like to avoid using that tactic too often.

The PCs do have several enemies right now, including an assassin cult calling itself Kharmon Vaas (secretly controlled by a faction of the Lords of Dust), the Aurum, the Order of the Emerald Claw/Blood of Vol, the Dreaming Dark, and Daask. I was thinking about having one of these groups repeatedly send assassins to kill the PCs during their investigation; they would think that whoever was behind the prison break was doing this, and would naturally follow that trail instead of the 'cold' one that they are already on. When they get to the end, they find out that it's unrelated, but I placate them with some really juicy intel about the enemy in question.

Meh? Other ideas?
Nlogue
04-18-06, 04:15 AM As of the end of last session, it was the evening of Sypheros 7. I need to delay them for eight in-game days, which is no easy task.

Hey treehouse!

Okay, let's see...you might want to throw Fallen Angel (Dungeon #117) at them. Maybe up the incentives offered by the employer in that adventure to make the job too good to refuse even if they have to postpone tracking the criminals. If they don't take the bait on that, here's some troubleshooting plans:

1. Kill Creeks - have Victor find out Durok is jeapordizing stuff by going there and wack him. Should delay the PCs a bit. Victor may blame it on the Boromar clan (Creeks wasn't paying his dues), and maybe distract them with a little investigation into the halfings.

2. Did they look at the files yet? If not, make them fakes that give wrong information.

3. Have the Watch give them trouble for interferring. Maybe the PCs efforts are making a particular Watch Lieutenant look bad and he tries to bully the PCs into backing off. This is especially fun because the same Watch Lieutenant will have to come crawling back to them later when he can't find the baddies. Or, the Watch Lieutenant could even be a "contact" of Victor's who is under orders to get the PCs into trouble if they keep snooping around. Who knows the dirty Watch officer could become a long term thorn in the PC's side.

4. Frame the PCs for a crime - that should keep them busy for awhile while they try to prove their innocence...and get them mad as all heck when they finally get to confront Victor (who they probably find out was behind their framing). Pick an NPC they have a motive to kill and have Victor take them out and make it look like the PCs did it. Fun!

5. Called out of town. Give em a job that they have to leave Sharn for - maybe an old friend/family member in some outlying Brelish town (or somewhere farther away) is having serious troubles and needs the PCs help.

Okay, hope that helps a bit treehouse. Keep me informed and I'll totally try to help any way I can. Good luck! :)

Nick
Endless_Helix
04-18-06, 08:12 AM Another thing you could do is have a crime boss all the henchmen had some contact with. Victor could give the PC's the name or codename or what have you, of this BBEG, suggesting that there might be a connection between the crime and the crime boss. Then have them walk into an ambush. They'll (probably) do one of two things,

a) They blame Victor and go to him angrily, try to rip out his throat etc, etc.
Victor should point out that they are working with him, and thus the underworld is probably not the friendliest to them right now. Basically he calms them down and has them research the address for the crime lord.

b) They don't blame Victor, and research the address of this crime boss.
They've just basically skipped the above step and done your work for you.

Next is the crime bosses house, and they walk in to find that the crime boss has been killed in a ritual murder.

That gives you plenty of time to set up things.
treehouse916
04-18-06, 11:53 AM Hey, thanks for the quick responses.

Hey treehouse!

Okay, let's see...you might want to throw Fallen Angel (Dungeon #117) at them.

Hey Nick!

Unfortunately, my Dungeon subscription didn't start until #122 or so, so I don't have this one...is Fallen Angel one of Keith Baker's? I know he did Steel Shadows...

2. Did they look at the files yet? If not, make them fakes that give wrong information.

They have looked at the files, and those files told them pretty much everything in the Gather Information boxes. It actually works out pretty well, because they caught both Victor and I completely off-guard by tracing everything back to him so quickly, so giving them the case files was a last, desperate move to buy time on both his part and mine. I suppose I'm sort of feeling the villain's frustration right now as he scrambles to cover his trail, which helps me roleplay him better. It also provides a very convenient reason for Victor to begin hating the PCs (as of the end of the last adventure, they were fast-growing allies). After all, Victor's opinion of his own brilliance doesn't leave any room for a bunch of meddling kids ruining all of his careful plans ;)

I think I'm going to go with these two ideas in conjunction:

1. Kill Creeks - have Victor find out Durok is jeapordizing stuff by going there and wack him. Should delay the PCs a bit. Victor may blame it on the Boromar clan (Creeks wasn't paying his dues), and maybe distract them with a little investigation into the halfings.

Another thing you could do is have a crime boss all the henchmen had some contact with. Victor could give the PC's the name or codename or what have you, of this BBEG, suggesting that there might be a connection between the crime and the crime boss. Then have them walk into an ambush. They'll (probably) do one of two things,

Except rather than using Boromar, I'm going to use Daask. I need to get started on a medium-priority Daask crime boss who Victor can frame for Creeks' murder (probably by having Vrinn kill Creeks in a public place while disguised as the crime boss's chief hitman). My PCs currently have a few lingering (if vague) suspicions that Daask is behind the whole thing because of Durok and another affiliate of the syndicate who they actually fought and killed in the prologue. For this reason, the crime boss should probably be Durok's old boss. I'm thinking about making him an ogre mage - my PCs are only 5th level, but they are gestalt, so I think they could handle one.

In addition to the prestige they'll get for bringing down a dangerous crime lord, I'll placate their inevitable frustration at discovering the false trail with plenty of treasure and experience.

So, I need to detail a Daask crime lord, his minions, his fortress and a trail of clues that leads to him in a time-consuming manner. I also need to come up with a backup plan in case they don't take this bait for some reason. For that, I think I'll use this:

3. Have the Watch give them trouble for interferring. Maybe the PCs efforts are making a particular Watch Lieutenant look bad and he tries to bully the PCs into backing off. This is especially fun because the same Watch Lieutenant will have to come crawling back to them later when he can't find the baddies. Or, the Watch Lieutenant could even be a "contact" of Victor's who is under orders to get the PCs into trouble if they keep snooping around. Who knows the dirty Watch officer could become a long term thorn in the PC's side.

I haven't really emphasized the 'crooked cop' aspect of Sharn's pulp noir style, so this would be a good opportunity to introduce such a character. I'll probably use this anyway in a future adventure, so there's no reason not to work on this now just in case.

Post/Author/DateTime	Post
treehouse916 04-18-06, 01:11 AM	Hey, wasn't that a long title? Hope it got some attention. If you aren't familiar with "Chimes at Midnight", it's an adventure in Dungeon #133 by Nicolas Logue. I just started running it on Saturday evening, and I'm having some difficulties. Beware of spoilers below... In my enthusiasm to get going on this module, I forgot something rather important...I staged the prologue (prison caravan breakout) on the 6th of Sypheros just as they were getting out of a meeting with someone about something in an unrelated future adventure. I did this because I wanted to use the intervening time between the prologue and the first day of the actual adventure (the evening of the 15th) to build up the six convicts as bad mofos via news clippings, wanted posters and word of mouth. Unfortunately, I stupidly forgot to account for the PCs actually wanting to look for them in this time period. :banghead: Lesson learned: never assume that your PCs will just wait around for the adventure to start. The adventure starts when they are good and ready! Anyway, here are the things that happened before the session ended and I could initiate damage control: -They learned that Victor Saint-Demain was the arresting inquisitive on the case for all six escaped convicts. -They visited Victor (whom they know from a previous adventure) and very nearly learned the truth, ending the adventure before it could really begin. He has managed to throw them off his trail momentarily by giving them the henchmen's case files to gain their trust. Because of this... -...they now know everything there is to know about the six henchmen. -By interviewing one of the prisoners who didn't manage to escape (a dreamlily-pushing goblin named Grat-something-or-other), they learned that Vrinn was the first one to escape, and that no one from the outside had helped them do it as far as he could see. -They know about Durock's dealer Creeks, and where to find him (they are actually staying at the Anvil across the street). Now, if you've read the module, you know where this is going if I don't intervene. I could just accelerate the time frame, but my players know when Wildnight is, and I really want to keep the climax of the adventure where it is. Here's the timeline I have right now: 27th of Rhaan - Victor is rejected by Baron d'Medani 28th of Rhaan-4th of Sypheros - Victor broods 5th of Sypheros - Victor hatches a brilliant plan to get revenge, visits Vrinn on false pretenses; etc etc. 6th of Sypheros - Prologue (prison caravan breakout) 9th of Sypheros - Victor steals the Silver Basilisk 13th of Sypheros - Zelina is captured while tracking down SB 15th of Sypheros - Adventure begins As of the end of last session, it was the evening of Sypheros 7. I need to delay them for eight in-game days, which is no easy task. I had originally planned to do something with Vrinn, who is well-situated to stir up trouble using someone else's face to throw the PCs off the trail. I am sort of hesitant to do that, however; the last adventure was a mystery with several red herrings, and I'd like to avoid using that tactic too often. The PCs do have several enemies right now, including an assassin cult calling itself Kharmon Vaas (secretly controlled by a faction of the Lords of Dust), the Aurum, the Order of the Emerald Claw/Blood of Vol, the Dreaming Dark, and Daask. I was thinking about having one of these groups repeatedly send assassins to kill the PCs during their investigation; they would think that whoever was behind the prison break was doing this, and would naturally follow that trail instead of the 'cold' one that they are already on. When they get to the end, they find out that it's unrelated, but I placate them with some really juicy intel about the enemy in question. Meh? Other ideas?
Nlogue 04-18-06, 04:15 AM	As of the end of last session, it was the evening of Sypheros 7. I need to delay them for eight in-game days, which is no easy task. Hey treehouse! Okay, let's see...you might want to throw Fallen Angel (Dungeon #117) at them. Maybe up the incentives offered by the employer in that adventure to make the job too good to refuse even if they have to postpone tracking the criminals. If they don't take the bait on that, here's some troubleshooting plans: 1. Kill Creeks - have Victor find out Durok is jeapordizing stuff by going there and wack him. Should delay the PCs a bit. Victor may blame it on the Boromar clan (Creeks wasn't paying his dues), and maybe distract them with a little investigation into the halfings. 2. Did they look at the files yet? If not, make them fakes that give wrong information. 3. Have the Watch give them trouble for interferring. Maybe the PCs efforts are making a particular Watch Lieutenant look bad and he tries to bully the PCs into backing off. This is especially fun because the same Watch Lieutenant will have to come crawling back to them later when he can't find the baddies. Or, the Watch Lieutenant could even be a "contact" of Victor's who is under orders to get the PCs into trouble if they keep snooping around. Who knows the dirty Watch officer could become a long term thorn in the PC's side. 4. Frame the PCs for a crime - that should keep them busy for awhile while they try to prove their innocence...and get them mad as all heck when they finally get to confront Victor (who they probably find out was behind their framing). Pick an NPC they have a motive to kill and have Victor take them out and make it look like the PCs did it. Fun! 5. Called out of town. Give em a job that they have to leave Sharn for - maybe an old friend/family member in some outlying Brelish town (or somewhere farther away) is having serious troubles and needs the PCs help. Okay, hope that helps a bit treehouse. Keep me informed and I'll totally try to help any way I can. Good luck! :) Nick
Endless_Helix 04-18-06, 08:12 AM	Another thing you could do is have a crime boss all the henchmen had some contact with. Victor could give the PC's the name or codename or what have you, of this BBEG, suggesting that there might be a connection between the crime and the crime boss. Then have them walk into an ambush. They'll (probably) do one of two things, a) They blame Victor and go to him angrily, try to rip out his throat etc, etc. Victor should point out that they are working with him, and thus the underworld is probably not the friendliest to them right now. Basically he calms them down and has them research the address for the crime lord. b) They don't blame Victor, and research the address of this crime boss. They've just basically skipped the above step and done your work for you. Next is the crime bosses house, and they walk in to find that the crime boss has been killed in a ritual murder. That gives you plenty of time to set up things.
treehouse916 04-18-06, 11:53 AM	Hey, thanks for the quick responses. Hey treehouse! Okay, let's see...you might want to throw Fallen Angel (Dungeon #117) at them. Hey Nick! Unfortunately, my Dungeon subscription didn't start until #122 or so, so I don't have this one...is Fallen Angel one of Keith Baker's? I know he did Steel Shadows... 2. Did they look at the files yet? If not, make them fakes that give wrong information. They have looked at the files, and those files told them pretty much everything in the Gather Information boxes. It actually works out pretty well, because they caught both Victor and I completely off-guard by tracing everything back to him so quickly, so giving them the case files was a last, desperate move to buy time on both his part and mine. I suppose I'm sort of feeling the villain's frustration right now as he scrambles to cover his trail, which helps me roleplay him better. It also provides a very convenient reason for Victor to begin hating the PCs (as of the end of the last adventure, they were fast-growing allies). After all, Victor's opinion of his own brilliance doesn't leave any room for a bunch of meddling kids ruining all of his careful plans ;) I think I'm going to go with these two ideas in conjunction: 1. Kill Creeks - have Victor find out Durok is jeapordizing stuff by going there and wack him. Should delay the PCs a bit. Victor may blame it on the Boromar clan (Creeks wasn't paying his dues), and maybe distract them with a little investigation into the halfings. Another thing you could do is have a crime boss all the henchmen had some contact with. Victor could give the PC's the name or codename or what have you, of this BBEG, suggesting that there might be a connection between the crime and the crime boss. Then have them walk into an ambush. They'll (probably) do one of two things, Except rather than using Boromar, I'm going to use Daask. I need to get started on a medium-priority Daask crime boss who Victor can frame for Creeks' murder (probably by having Vrinn kill Creeks in a public place while disguised as the crime boss's chief hitman). My PCs currently have a few lingering (if vague) suspicions that Daask is behind the whole thing because of Durok and another affiliate of the syndicate who they actually fought and killed in the prologue. For this reason, the crime boss should probably be Durok's old boss. I'm thinking about making him an ogre mage - my PCs are only 5th level, but they are gestalt, so I think they could handle one. In addition to the prestige they'll get for bringing down a dangerous crime lord, I'll placate their inevitable frustration at discovering the false trail with plenty of treasure and experience. So, I need to detail a Daask crime lord, his minions, his fortress and a trail of clues that leads to him in a time-consuming manner. I also need to come up with a backup plan in case they don't take this bait for some reason. For that, I think I'll use this: 3. Have the Watch give them trouble for interferring. Maybe the PCs efforts are making a particular Watch Lieutenant look bad and he tries to bully the PCs into backing off. This is especially fun because the same Watch Lieutenant will have to come crawling back to them later when he can't find the baddies. Or, the Watch Lieutenant could even be a "contact" of Victor's who is under orders to get the PCs into trouble if they keep snooping around. Who knows the dirty Watch officer could become a long term thorn in the PC's side. I haven't really emphasized the 'crooked cop' aspect of Sharn's pulp noir style, so this would be a good opportunity to introduce such a character. I'll probably use this anyway in a future adventure, so there's no reason not to work on this now just in case.