Post/Author/DateTime	Post
Raven Dark 09-11-05, 10:54 AM	About 1 month ago I came up with an idea for my players to try out. I would give them 4 pre-made characters to play an an Eberron one-shot adventure. I thought it would be a fun learning experiance because everyone would get a character archetype that they typically did not play in their normal games. All the players agreed to give this idea a shot; so I made up the characters and had the players pull the character names from a hat to see who they got to play. We just finished the game last night with disasterous results. The characters were hired by a member of the ir'Dain family in Sharn to venture into the Mournlands and find one of their family members who was lost there on the Day of Mourning. Seeing as the majority of the characters ran a person-finding business, this is what they did best, and they were the best at doing it. They flew by airship to the mournlands and, due to a clash with a greater air elemental, crashed on the border of Darguun and the Mournland. As the few survivors of the crash, they faced a two choices: a large border patrol bent on enslaving/killing them (300+ heavily armed and armored goblinoids) or the dead gray mists of the Mournland. At this point (OoG) one of the players expressed his disatisfaction with his character, claiming that it sucked because HE DIDN't MAKE IT. I told him that was the point of the whole game--to try something new and unusual. That player in particular is accustomed to playing "power builds" and being the heroic-kill-everything-pseudo-leader-of-the-party character, but today he was a relatively weak support character who's best combat options were a monk's belt, wondrous figurine of duel lions, and a fully charged CL 9th wand of magic missile. He quit after the first encounter of the adventure. What's worse, his character was the LEADER of the organization who finds people. Without him, there isn't much reason for the other players to search for their target. After all how many workers continue a project IRL when thier boss quits? In the end, this particular player's negativity spread to another player (who happened to REALLY enjoy his character) and I ended up with 2 players out of my original 4. The 2 who quit used magic to teleport back home to safety. So now I have 2 players (one of which was reduced to 2 HP by that goblinoid army's volley of arrows) who have fled into the Mournland (the most dangerous place in the campign setting). The problem? The entire adventure I spent a week setting up is meant to be difficult for 4 players. For only 2 it will be suicide! So, how do I keep the adventure fun for the remaining 2 players (they seem to have enjoyed it so far) without killing them btoh and how do I deal with the other 2 players who don't think there is any point in continuing the game ever again?
LichEye 09-11-05, 11:21 AM	It doesn't sound like it is salvagable. If you've lost half the players, and there is no hope of them returning to the game, then ditch it. I respect what you are trying to do; you are giving the players an opportunity to play something that they normally wouldn't. What I would do now is either ditch the thing completely, or invite the two missing players back and ask everybody to make new characters. If there are elements that you need the characters to have, ask your players if they would like to play those elements, and I guarantee you - unless they are complete pricks - your players will meet you halfway.
Phrennzy 09-11-05, 12:11 PM	Yep - if this is your regular group, and half of them don't want to play the characters you gave them, let hem make new ones. Perhaps the teleporting pair will send them as replacements. I can see how someone who plays a Heavy Hitting Fighter won't want to play the halfling archer. My partner plays wizards - in D&D and WoW, and won't play anything else. He thinks fighters are boring because all they do is hit things with swords. If I gave him a fighter PC to play, he would not enjoy it. Some people do not want to try something new. Sounds like your friend is one - at least where D&D is concerned. Either scrap the campaign - but keep the idea in your note book for their next 9th level foray - or let everyone 'rewrite' their characters. Much more fun all the way around. Trudging thru with just half the group will suck.
weasel fierce 09-11-05, 01:00 PM	Sorry to hear that. The disgruntled player knew ahead of time what was going to happen though. Complaining later is simply unfair. I'd propably give him a new PC of his choice, at 1-2 levels lower