Venture-Lieutenant, Alaska
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So I ran this adventure last night for the second time; first time went without a hitch. The second group, however decided after defending the caravan from the initial skeleton attack that staying with the caravan was much more important than risking going off into the woods to track down the source of skeletal attacks. The party split up so the more scouty PCs could follow the tracks while the heavier ones stuck with the wagon to defend it. They successfully spoke with Feren and were given the information about the location of the hobgoblin hideout. At that, they went back to the wagon to report.
And never left it. They argued with the NPCs that it didn't matter if the woods remained unsafe because it was their job to protect the caravan. They would report the existence of the hideout to the Society and come back if and when ordered to do so. With that, they walked out of the adventure. They all completed their own faction missions; none required entering the hobgoblin lair.
I didn't award chronicle sheets because it was an online game and had some time to ponder the situation and post here. I'm all for getting the same group back together to finish the mission and continue in the in-game weeks that would have passed like nothing ever went wrong, handwaving away the fact they basically ignored about four NPCs strongly urging them to investigate the information they received. I also consider it reasonable to tally up the rewards for the skeleton/worg encounters and hand out those along with the 1 XP and (at least 1) prestige points for "successfully" guiding the caravan through the Chitterwood.
I'm only hoping to perhaps get some reflection from other GMs, or maybe advice and stories about players that take the adventure hook, sniff the bait, and decide it isn't worth their time to find out where the line goes.
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So I ran this adventure last night for the second time; first time went without a hitch. The second group, however decided after defending the caravan from the initial skeleton attack that staying with the caravan was much more important than risking going off into the woods to track down the source of skeletal attacks. The party split up so the more scouty PCs could follow the tracks while the heavier ones stuck with the wagon to defend it. They successfully spoke with Feren and were given the information about the location of the hobgoblin hideout. At that, they went back to the wagon to report.
And never left it. They argued with the NPCs that it didn't matter if the woods remained unsafe because it was their job to protect the caravan. They would report the existence of the hideout to the Society and come back if and when ordered to do so. With that, they walked out of the adventure. They all completed their own faction missions; none required entering the hobgoblin lair.
I didn't award chronicle sheets because it was an online game and had some time to ponder the situation and post here. I'm all for getting the same group back together to finish the mission and continue in the in-game weeks that would have passed like nothing ever went wrong, handwaving away the fact they basically ignored about four NPCs strongly urging them to investigate the information they received. I also consider it reasonable to tally up the rewards for the skeleton/worg encounters and hand out those along with the 1 XP and (at least 1) prestige points for "successfully" guiding the caravan through the Chitterwood.
I'm only hoping to perhaps get some reflection from other GMs, or maybe advice and stories about players that take the adventure hook, sniff the bait, and decide it isn't worth their time to find out where the line goes.
Good morning from St. Louis!
I've ran this scenario I would say, at least 10 times since it came out, and I've seen some interesting ways of how the parties handle this. From doing the bare minimum to complete the scenario and having the NPC's push them along, to finding out what REALLY is in the caravan
However, overall, I greatly enjoy running this scenario. I consider a semi-sandbox, because you give the players this caravan and tell them, "Escort it safely and take care of anything that bothers it, BUT!, don't look inside". Ohhhh, my players squirm when they hear that.
To answer your question though, even though what the players are told is , and I quote from Drendle:
arrangements necessary to ship you to Isger in the morning, where you’ll meet the caravan you are tasked with escorting through the goblinoid-infested woods."
Then, You, as the GM, are told this, again quoting, "In order to protect both their own assets and Pathfinder cargo, the Sczarni have
approached the Society, asking for a group of Pathfinders to guard the next scheduled caravan and, if the opportunity presents itself, track down the source of the attacks."
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This EXACT same thing happened when I GMed it. I did exactly as described above and reminded them that Dreng told them to protect the caravan AND clear the path, and they got the hint. Sometimes, players need reminding about the mission, and I feel that's O.K.
Sometimes, those mission briefings are long and the actual mission gets lost in the jargon. Keeping the adventure going is more important than failing a mission because of a muddled briefing.
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Venture-Lieutenant, Alaska
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From this, I would have reminded the players that the Guaril sent the caravan with protection to defend itself and that they were there to investigate WHY the attacks are happening.
Basically this, but they all easily agreed that it was more important to go along with the caravan for the week-long trip, even though the NPC team assured them it would be alright if left alone. They basically looked at their bulging muscles and said "no thanks, we're guards" and stuck to it.
Only reason I called the session at that point was it was so late two players were having trouble keeping engaged and it seemed perfectly logical for them to go to Druma and ride back out to the woods. My question is does it constitute a failed mission for letting so much time lapse between encounters, and if so, what would be the partial rewards for doing effectively half of the mission.
It was just so weird they felt like they were making tough role play choices by thinking investigating the attacks meant dooming the cart.
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RPG Superstar Season 9 Top 32, RPG Superstar 2014 Top 16, RPG Superstar 2013 Top 16
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I don't have the scenario in front of me here at work, but IIRC, the players are specifically instructed to do what they can to eliminate the threat for all future caravans, not just the one they're on at the time. So in fact, they didn't do the assigned task.
As per the Guide to Organized Play, you need to complete 3 encounters to get your XP, and it looks like they only did 2 (the skeleton ambush and the wargs). So they get a chronicle, and therefore can't replay it, but get no XP and only the gold from the encounters they completed.
Although I suppose if you haven't given them chronicles yet, you could get them back together, and say "Well, you escorted that caravan back to safety. Now let's go back and clear out that infestation!" Then just finish the scenario, and call it a two-parter.
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From this, I would have reminded the players that the Guaril sent the caravan with protection to defend itself and that they were there to investigate WHY the attacks are happening.Basically this, but they all easily agreed that it was more important to go along with the caravan for the week-long trip, even though the NPC team assured them it would be alright if left alone. They basically looked at their bulging muscles and said "no thanks, we're guards" and stuck to it.
Only reason I called the session at that point was it was so late two players were having trouble keeping engaged and it seemed perfectly logical for them to go to Druma and ride back out to the woods. My question is does it constitute a failed mission for letting so much time lapse between encounters, and if so, what would be the partial rewards for doing effectively half of the mission.
It was just so weird they felt like they were making tough role play choices by thinking investigating the attacks meant dooming the cart. ** spoiler omitted **
That's kind of a tough situation. There's absolutely no problem with picking up a session from where it left off. However, their character, until they get a chronicle sheet and are concluded with the adventure, are technically "held hostage" by the scenario until they...
A. Get a chronicle sheet for what they did
B. Finish it and get a chronicle sheet
Either way, it should get resolved pretty soon, because until their adventure is concluded in some fashion, their characters are still considered to be in the middle of the mission.
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Venture-Lieutenant, Alaska
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Oh, in a mostly irrelevant side question, this is my first time running a module twice. How does one usually report when you're not getting credit? Leave the -# part of ID blank? Or just put the same one that got credit last time? I know it isn't the most important thing, I'm only curious if there's a rhythm the Society likes.
