I recently ran a group of players through an adopted version of What Follows in Shadow, the adventure in the Wheel of Time Roleplaying Game. Instead of a cloak, one of the characters had reading glasses, which were special to her. This item became the focus of Fain's attention, and the reason he targets them. When Fain sneaks in to the inn where the party is staying, and makes off with the glasses, the players laugh and say, "Oh well." That was that.
Did this happen to anyone else? Other than the fact that an adventure with such a tenuous, though original, hook is not that great... did anyone find their players indifferent to Fain's obsession with one of their items? How did / would you adjust play to encourage the player to care more about the family heirloom they stand to lose?
One thing that struck me as odd... the players did not wonder why a beggar would go to such trouble for one item or insignificant importance. They never questioned how such a person could afford to pay thugs to ambush them - even after they discovered the price they charged for their services.
These issues seemed obvious to me, but I guess they weren't. I'm not so keen on running this adventure again. It's fairly weak, IMnsHO. However, I still feel that I, as a DM, might have done a better job of QBing the situation. Any suggestions - about the adventure itself, or similar situations you've run into with your groups?
I recently ran a group of players through an adopted version of What Follows in Shadow, the adventure in the Wheel of Time Roleplaying Game. Instead of a cloak, one of the characters had reading glasses, which were special to her. This item became the focus of Fain's attention, and the reason he targets them. When Fain sneaks in to the inn where the party is staying, and makes off with the glasses, the players laugh and say, "Oh well." That was that.
Did this happen to anyone else? Other than the fact that an adventure with such a tenuous, though original, hook is not that great... did anyone find their players indifferent to Fain's obsession with one of their items? How did / would you adjust play to encourage the player to care more about the family heirloom they stand to lose?
One thing that struck me as odd... the players did not wonder why a beggar would go to such trouble for one item or insignificant importance. They never questioned how such a person could afford to pay thugs to ambush them - even after they discovered the price they charged for their services.
These issues seemed obvious to me, but I guess they weren't. I'm not so keen on running this adventure again. It's fairly weak, IMnsHO. However, I still feel that I, as a DM, might have done a better job of QBing the situation. Any suggestions - about the adventure itself, or similar situations you've run into with your groups?
Is your group genuinely interested in playing? It sounds to me like just about any group of adventurers worth their salt would want to at least recover and item that was stolen from them.
I don't see why they would just laugh like that. It wouldn't matter if I said that the bad guys stole a two inch section of rope from them, they would still go on the quest to find it. It sounds like the group you game with doesn't get into role playing. Are they young and inexperienced? The people I game with are all people that I went to school with and are close friends, so they'd at least humor me and try the quest. I will admit that when we first started playing we hit a few bumps. I had one friend create a dungeon where whatever your spot check was, you instantly got transported to a room that was designated as that number. We bounced around from room to room for about twenty minutes fighting minions and finally got into the boss chamber. We were about ready to give up on the quest when that happened anyway. So I know how these guys may have felt. Also, you did everything you could to lay the hook for them to start the adventure. I, as a player and a DM, can recognize a good adventure hook and I would have played it through.
A bit from my Hoarde
Is your group genuinely interested in playing? It sounds to me like just about any group of adventurers worth their salt would want to at least recover and item that was stolen from them.
I think they were a bit more keyed in to the presence of the Trollocs and the run-ins with the Whitecloaks. Fain's pestering them might have just seems incidental, I don't know. I do think, though, that someone good enough to sneak past them to steel the item, any item... and wealthy enough to hire thugs to take them out at 50 gp a pop... that person might be more than he seems.
They are very new players. Only one has played anything before. That might have been part of it. It may, though, have just been a case of their minds being so focused on the trees that they didn't see the forest.
I have never seen that module, but if someone stole my sunglasses in real life I would be irked - but wouldn't miss work to chase them down (depending on how it was done of course). Its not worth my time - if there was something quirky in how it was done thats something else - if for example it was a successful pick pockets - I would think tht success implied the victim didn't notice for a bit.
But clearly gaming is not the real world - if the DM bother to mention it - it is mentioned for a reason, but I may not have been the players fault.
The build up is IMO critical - if the person is followed for an extended period, if other easier more valuable things are not taken, if the effort is well out of proportion to the value of the item - this type of clue needs to be delivered - maybe they were. Most good players try to work with the details the DM is givin them - but sometimes a party gets locked onto a tangent and screws up the intended flow.
Don't take it personally.
A DM I had after each session snt out a quick survey:
Best Roleplayer in the Group (which earned them an xp bonus)
Favorite Part
Least Favorite
Comments
This allowed the DM to see what was working and what wasn't and people would ask questions about the game in those emails - did this make sense and so forth. The adjustments were subtle, but the game quickly came into line with what everyone wanted to get out of it.
Maybe something along these line would help you and your players.
A DM I had after each session snt out a quick survey:
Best Roleplayer in the Group (which earned them an xp bonus)
Favorite Part
Least Favorite
Comments
I already do something like this... though verbally. It's working rather well.