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So, in Zenith Trajectory, my players subdue Zenith and decide to finish clearing out the dungeon. They make their way towards Dhorlot's lair. They find a pool of water with the fingerlings, and being suspicious, throw a chunk of meat into the pool. After seeing the water froth and the meat dissolve, they figure something nasty is in the pool. So, they use a wand of control water to reduce the water to a 10-foot square, and find all sorts of flopping, gasping draconic fingerlings. So far, so good.
At that point, one of my PCs playing a half-copper dragon starts wigging out and scooping up the fingerlings trying to save them. Then the PCs start a heated discussion on whether they should rescue the fingerlings, or destroy them else they become an army of evil that repopulates Bhal-Hamatugn. They start discussing if killing the 'helpless' fingerlings is evil. They spend an hour discussing this ... sigh.
The worst part is that a few of the players got very involved in this discussion, coming down squarely across from others on the argument, and I could see feelings of players getting hurt as one player threatened to go behind the party's back and quietly off the fingerlings while the party counted Dhorlot's treasure. The half-dragon wanted to transport the 500 or so fingerlings to a nearby elven community to be raised in a good environment (nurture vs. nature, whee!). My group is mostly mature and 30-ish, but once in a while they go off on a tangent and get far too caught up in a good vs. evil discussion.
With much mediation with players after last session, I think I've sorted out the problem, and the half-dragon will consent to the quick killing of the fingerlings, but he will save one or two that he will try to raise on his own. My gosh, what a headache.
Have you ever run into something like this? How would you handle it?
aren't metalic and cromatic dragons enemies? since these things are half black dragon wouldn't he want to killthem before their evil nature can grow?
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You'd think so -- but the player is trying to play his character with emphasis on his heritage, and he wants to save the poor orphan black half-dragons, and "raise them right".
And, my PCs are paranoid that killing them outright is an evil act, even though I'm telling them "it's certainly not a super-good act, but I wouldn't even fault a paladin for dispatching these creatures 'ere they mature".
Lillian an elven sorcerer / dragon disciple (brass) in my game was furious about the abomination of these creatures and actually came up with a very unique way of dealing with them. She tore the net down off the the entrance the kua-toa lair, baited them into a corner with rations and then netted them, and killed them via dry land drowning.
Sounds like your players are enjoying the situation. I say sit back and enjoy.
Sounds like your players are enjoying the situation. I say sit back and enjoy.
I agree;
The moral debate is a valuable part of the game. I say they did fine; it's a welcome break from hack and slash. The fate of the "orphans" could have been tweaked into a side plot for the party, if you wanted to carry it through in that way.
My party was evil, so that particular encounter wasn't an issue; after the party was attacked in the pool, they quickly backed out and used slippers of spider climbing to traverse the walls and avoid the pool.
You can read about it
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I am enjoying the moral quandries, indeed! I just have to be careful my players don't get too heated over the matter (or frustrated that some other players spent an hour debating rather than adventuring).
I'm looking forward to a number of moral quandries! One of my players is a member my version of the Striders, another of the Last Laugh, another a member of the Alleybashers!
My players would kill and eat them...That way there is no waste, and the fingerlings would become part of the great circle of life...besides, they are bite sized.
ASEO out
Two words, Wandering Monster.
After they've had thier little debate and you think it's time to get the game rolling throw them back into the game with some monster coming to see what all the fuss is about.