I'm approaching my wits end here. My AoW party came together in one of those coincidences and all had their own reasons for going into the Whispering Cairn. Now partway through 3FoE, I'm having trouble trying to build some team spirit to encourage them to stay together as a party. (Note this is not a player problem, this is all character-based)
What we have is:
- Rogue: A changeling from the Free City, came to Diamond Lake to stay a couple of steps ahead of the law, looking basically for profit and challenge. She's most likely to stay in the party.
- Sorceror: Pupil of Allustan and performer at the Emporium, looking to build capital to get the hell out of dodge. Gets on pretty well with the rogue, so may not be a problem.
- Druid: Told to investigate 'green worms and undead' by Nogwier, he is a loner and spends more time talking to his wolf than the party. Only went into Dourstone Mine because of direct threats from Balabar Smenk.
- Fighter: boyfriend of Constance Grace. Smenk has kidnapped Grace's son and is threatening unfortunate accidents if the fighter doesn't clear Smenk's relationship with the Ebon Triad up. Fighter is possessed of a certain 'sod you' frame of mind and tends to the belligerent. Also fairly rudimentary as regards the stranger ends of the world; the rest of the party haven't yet revealed the fact that the rogue is a changeling to him for fear of his reaction.
So as soon as they defeat the Triad, I foresee both Druid and Fighter having absolutely no reason to stay with the party. Does anyone have any ideas, or should I fudge a couple of damage rolls from the Faceless One and kill them? (too easy, I know).
As far as I see it, it's not your work as a DM to come up with reasons for the party to stay together. If the players like their characters and want to continue playing them it's they who has to come up with reasons for their character to stay with the party.
If you feel that the players with the more awkward characters want out then give them a heroic way to go. If they don't want out then they'll alter their character a little?
Have you discussed it with them?
I agree with evilash... if they're OOC interested in staying in the game, they should find ways to get their characters interested. Meet them halfway by discussing your concerns with them, and find out what would help them in-character. Also, I noticed your rogue is a changeling; if this is an Eberron camapaign you could easily provide more hooks to keep the party occupied with certain organizations, i.e. Gatekeepers and others. Plus, if your campaign allows slavery in some areas you could always sell off the kid to keep the fighter involved... evil AND in character :)
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as above ... it's not your job to spoon feed the role playing BUT it's a great idea story wise to sit down and find out motivations and ways of sticking with the party. If the players want to try new characters (esp. Druid and Fighter) then that's one thing, BUT the next adventure will have to be their hook to stick with it.
Here's some ideas off the cuff that I think could help with 1)Druid; 2)Fighter; 3)Rogue & 4)Sorc ...
1) There is enough in Blackwall Keep for Nogwier to send the Druid along to check on the region. The Lizard folk section is a bit of a cakewalk but a great opportunity for some roleplay and diplomacy - by having Nogwier recieve a message from her contemporary Hishka and have the player look into this for her. This enables you to play the Hishka-Shukak powerblock up (Awesomely interesting IMHO) without dropping background hints galore and watching PCs slaughter everyone indiscriminatly. The Druid could then help with the Sharn treaty (you're Eberron right?!) as a reason to keep going to the nasty city. Also a remember to play the Aberation card! Druids abhore an aberation (Gatekeepers and Khyber and all) and what is comming is Kyber-spawned Aberation central. As a bonus have the Ebon Aspect look as though it's breaking through an ancient Gatekeeper Druid Seal to Khyber! Remember Druid orcs saved the world in Eberron once from just such a thing. This might play out well depending on your Druid PCs particular sect leaning (or might lead to choosing one).
2) the Fighter! Well he's got the right girlfreind for this game ... She's a SPY for Lanod Neff (I take it you are using the dossiers as a hook pg 58 issue 124)!! If it all goes to poop Allustan (Neff's brother) could help regain the kiddy and then the PC might have a reason to help Allustan paying back the favour, especially if Smenk captures her too for more leverage against the PC fighter if his link to the 3FoE is discovered. Neff would call his brother in because he doesn't want to rock the boat politically (he's in hot water about those dossiers already). Allustan could help save Constance after his bit of Deus Ex-Machina would require some favour in return ala a trip to Sharn - best way to sell things to a beligerent character if under the guise of "I'll help you make a name for yourself in the Free City" type friendly manipulation. If that's not your style the fighter (if he's the Competative type) might have a friendly (or not so) rivalry with Auric and has a shot of taking that Championship Belt off him in the arena at the games.
3&4) the sorc' just needs follow Allustan's advice and let him and the rogue know that there is a trip to the big city with big rewards up their sleeves in as soon as the 3FoE are dealt with. The Emporium is a good intriuge point for the sorc though and will be great once you eventually meet up with ShagSolomon again in Alhaster - play up that relationship.
I think that unless the players REALLY want to retire their characters then this is a perfect group to continue the adventure with ... chat to then about pot twists like these and see what happens. I love the hiding the changeling's race from the rednecked fighter. That's GOLD. Love to hear what happens in HoHR LOL. Keep us informed
If all else fails, give the druid a vision.
Make it horrible and point to the gastly illustrations.
"These worms are tearing up the forrest and turning animals
into worm riddled undead.
Also, bring him into the gatekeeper's conspiracy.
They want to reseal some of the deeper mines in Diamond lake.
The dragon below is literally below their feet.
As for the fighter, he can get the goods on Smenk if he looks
for them.
Whoever has the most leverage wins.
"Here's your necromancers head. If anything happens to my sister, no matter who does it, I'm coming after your head
and I'm bring the law with me."
In the Hall of Harsh Reflections the changeling can actually
infiltrate the dopplegangers and undermine their loyalty.
Ebberon is a conspiracy game so get the characters involved.
That's my advice.
Roleplaying a PC means acting out a character's personality and interests, both of which may change over time. All people change over time, especially in dangerous situations. If your players like their characters, their characters will find reasons to stay with the group even if that requires a change of personality or interest.
TS
This is an issue i've always had with every campaign to some extent. We, DM and players, all know why we're hanging out and exploring together. The players often have less motivation to do so, if any....
Sometimes you may have to be a bit arbitrary as DM, the ideas suggested above are all valid, and good ideas for this campaign.
Always in an ongoing campaign, though, i find the best motivator is to never close one 'module' without nice hints to some extent of the bigger picture, some hint, however, vague, that there is more to do...the other connections of the Triad in this case for one thing...
Hmm... Some useful stuff there, thanks everyone.
We're actually playing in Greyhawk, not Eberron. I allowed the player to be a changeling by reasoning that she has doppelganger blood in her ancestry somewhere... which should lead to all SORTS of fun in HoHR! Hence the reluctance to reveal her true nature, there aren't all that many changelings in the Flanaess and suspicion and persecution would follow those too open about their talents.
I'm considering killing off Constance Grace. Part of the reason that Smenk is using her and the boy to pressure the party is that he has discovered that Grace is spying for the Mayor. Smenk plans to force her to be a double agent, feeding Neff false information while he uses the good stuff to lever even more power. However, others in town have also figured this out and are considering taking steps to prevent it. This may help sever Fighter's ties to town and persuade him that the open road may be a better bet.
She began manifesting sorceror powers as ways to entertain her siblings and friends (ie taking the cantrip Ghost Sound) and developed into a performer, using True Strike to do trick shots with a crossbow down at the Emporium. Allustan saw her show once and offered to teach her a few tricks about controlling and extending her abilities.
It's all arcane casting, after all, and I needed at least one of the party to know the wizard a bit.
isn't marzena a sorceror and pupil of Allustan as well?
Former pupil, but a point well made none the less. ;)