For many months, I have been seeking (desperately) to try to advance my numerically smaller party to the appropriate level. But it seems as though at every turn, they have prevented me from giving them the requisite experience necessary to tackle each new chapter of Shackled City.
This problem began in Life's Bazaar, when they did not explore Jzadirune and the Malachite Fortress (instead focusing only on rescuing the kids). Instead they diplomatically had the City Watch take care of cleaning out the remaining areas. I tried to push their buttons by having the Stormblades enter the picture and brag about all the treasure they found underneath, but it didn't work. They felt so good about rescuing the children, they really didn't care who took the credit (real good people...URG!). So, I had to find a few side roleplaying excursions to get them ready for Flood Festival...which worked...at least for a while.
Thankfully they systematically went through the Lucky Monkey and killed everyone to a man. However, once they entered the Kopru ruins, they began with the "realistic portrayal" of their charcters once again. Right now, they have killed 3/4 of the mooks + Triel and have 3 wands in their possession. Thankfully I had Jenya tell them that she needed a minumum of 4 from them to do anything substantial, so they are at least debating on leaving not doing so outright. Most of the party wants to leave and get the City Watch to clean the rest of the place out (now that they have confirmed its location with hard evidence). This would be DISASTEROUS for Zenith's Trajectory as they are only 6th level right now. I'm ready to pull my hair out at this point.
I can empathize with their perspective: they were to confirm the location of the wands and retrive as many as they could. Right now they are depleted of resources and need help to retrieve the remainder. They are not typical adventurers and so are not enthralled by the idea of gold/XP as a motivator. All of them are deeply involved in the conspiracy of Cauldron and the politics surrounding the recent changes in the city. I hope they stick around and expore some more of the Kopru Ruins, but I get this sickly feeling that they are going to "get out of Dodge" as quickly as possible now.
The situation is this (as of now): They took the Northern-most entrance into the complex and swept through (killing everything in their path) to Triel's bedroom. She was slaughtered, but not before the general alert was sounded. Two mooks got away to warn Skaven and Tarkilar about the situation. I figure Tarkilar won't care at all; whereas Skaven would probably go to the "spider room." I'm sending the remaining mooks to ambush anyone who tries to take the cage out of the complex (as it is the only way out of here).
Can anyone suggest a motivator to keep them going temporarily, or otherwise? Or even a way to get them to come back? Or perhaps a sidequest to give them the experience they will need...
Well, the city watch my still be licking their wounds from Jzadirune and the Malachite Fortress or perhaps they lost enough men to traps and monsters down there that they want to avoid anything like that; it does really come down to resources as far as what they can throw themselves into. If they haven't taken care of Skaven and Tarkilar, then the aforementioned Triad cultists should stage attempts to regain the wands to maintain their ransom gambit. Perhaps the monsoon is looking worse than they had thought and they may need 6 wands rather than 4 to fight back the flood waters. Or Jenya could ask them to wipe out the remainder of the evil cult; St. Cuthbert's dogma demands that evildoers be brought to justice in some form and the PCs, being fine upstanding citizens with a great deal of capability (far outstripping anyone in the Watch) are the perfect people to do it. Take their altruistic nature as an invitation to allow them to really feel heroic; they aren't scouring the dungeon for treasure, they're looking to prevent future threats from assailing Cauldron. If they still insist on the guards handling the rest of the dungeon, let them...and make sure it's a huge disaster that leaves many good men dead (setting up holes in the ranks for Vhalantru and the Blue Duke to bring in Half-Orc mercenaries under their control). The mooks in the Kopru Ruins are more than a match for the average guardsman, so imagine what facing Skaven or Tarkilar would do to the hapless watch members. And then if the disaster takes place, the Stormblades can scold them about leaving a job half done, needing the Watch to babysit for them and various other taunts and jabs.
Or you could start giving the roleplaying xp awards to make up for their lack of combat xp. For example, boost the amount of xp they gain for each captive rescued or wand recovered.
Well, the city watch my still be licking their wounds from Jzadirune and the Malachite Fortress or perhaps they lost enough men to traps and monsters down there that they want to avoid anything like that; it does really come down to resources as far as what they can throw themselves into. If they haven't taken care of Skaven and Tarkilar, then the aforementioned Triad cultists should stage attempts to regain the wands to maintain their ransom gambit. Perhaps the monsoon is looking worse than they had thought and they may need 6 wands rather than 4 to fight back the flood waters. Or Jenya could ask them to wipe out the remainder of the evil cult; St. Cuthbert's dogma demands that evildoers be brought to justice in some form and the PCs, being fine upstanding citizens with a great deal of capability (far outstripping anyone in the Watch) are the perfect people to do it. Take their altruistic nature as an invitation to allow them to really feel heroic; they aren't scouring the dungeon for treasure, they're looking to prevent future threats from assailing Cauldron. If they still insist on the guards handling the rest of the dungeon, let them...and make sure it's a huge disaster that leaves many good men dead (setting up holes in the ranks for Vhalantru and the Blue Duke to bring in Half-Orc mercenaries under their control). The mooks in the Kopru Ruins are more than a match for the average guardsman, so imagine what facing Skaven or Tarkilar would do to the hapless watch members. And then if the disaster takes place, the Stormblades can scold them about leaving a job half done, needing the Watch to babysit for them and various other taunts and jabs.
James- This is all very good advice. I think I will steal a few of your ideas and implement them simultaneously. When they bring the wands back, Jenya will tell them that 4 wands are insufficient. If they still deny their responsibilities at this point, I will have the City Watch head in and take catastrophic casualties...which will be a perfect segway to allowing the half-orc mercenaries to fill in the ranks for the next chapter. I hope this comes back to haunt them later in the game, when they realize it was Lord Vhalantru's direct intervention that pushed Captain Skallerang to put so many men in the field. I will also add insult to injury by having the Stormblades publicly mock them for getting the watch to babysit them...which might hurt their reputation.
Or you could start giving the roleplaying xp awards to make up for their lack of combat xp. For example, boost the amount of xp they gain for each captive rescued or wand recovered.
Urthblade- I was thinking of giving each party member 100xp/wand returned. You think this sufficient?
I think it's awesome that your players are having their characters act more like real people than XP sucking vaccuum cleaners. If they're not high enough level when they go to the next adventure, reduce the challenges a bit, or give them role-playing awards, but you sound like you have a good bunch of players.
I think it's awesome that your players are having their characters act more like real people than XP sucking vaccuum cleaners. If they're not high enough level when they go to the next adventure, reduce the challenges a bit, or give them role-playing awards, but you sound like you have a good bunch of players.
Farewell2kings- No doubt, these guys are a great bunch to play with. Its just that for the purposes of this adventure, the group has to be at a certain skill level to advance onward and I don't want to get into a downward spiral of continuously reducing all the challenges. Are there any sidequest you might suggest between FF and Zenith T? What do you do for RP'ing rewards in your game?
I'm running the Age of Worms adventure path right now, and to be honest, I haven't calculated XPs a single time so far (the PCs have just gotten to 9th level). I just take a look at what the adventures say about when the PCs should level up, and when a good session break comes at about that point, I give them their level. Really, if the purpose is to run this specific set of adventures, there's no need to be so precise with XPs.
I'm running the Age of Worms adventure path right now, and to be honest, I haven't calculated XPs a single time so far (the PCs have just gotten to 9th level). I just take a look at what the adventures say about when the PCs should level up, and when a good session break comes at about that point, I give them their level. Really, if the purpose is to run this specific set of adventures, there's no need to be so precise with XPs.
I can't say that I've done exactly the same thing, but close. Until I have a character die or the players avoid major parts of the adventure, I don't think I'm going to worry about it much.
The above ideas about letting gaurd become depleted as a direct result of the players inattentiveness and using the opportunity to introduce the half-orcs is an excellent one. I may pinch this myself.
Take the opportunity to add in more side treks that help flesh out the major NPCs, plot points and characters backgrounds. Make sure you design them to best suit your heroic party.
What about a murder mystery that leads them around the town and to various important NPCs where roleplay and investigation is the main tool they use. Perhaps they find a body in the Phantom Lake (Kopru Ruins) that has a scroll case which has a scroll and a hidden message indicated that the body belonged to a missing professor from the Bluewater Acedemy (by the way I'm stealing this idea straight from one of the item description I wrote up for Skies treasury). The trail leads to Ophella and a secret meeting but a half torn symbol on the back reveals it is from the Taskerhill Family...Ideas like this help the party explore the city and more importantly the important NPCs within it.
Other side treks could include:
- retrieving components from the nearby jungles for Vortimax the potion maker (earning them potion discounts, access to the Bluecrator Acedemy and a powerfully grumpy mage ally)
- hunting the remainder of the Alleybashers and even storming their near defenceless guildhouse (perhaps revealing/introducing one of the Cagewrights as the disguised insider who thganks them for finishing his job so effectively before disappearing)
- Investigating the origins of the strange Laugh laugh coins and their printer
- taking a trip to Sasserine to return the earth oracle to the Chisel (I have my own write up of Sasserine which I created if you want a copy though it is rather large so be warned;))
- The Flood Season Demonskar Ball would prove an excellent method of introducing NPCs and providing a roleplaying adventure that your players seem to favour. I wrote up a version of this on this board and a more completed one on the RPGenius site if you wish to use it. If XP is a concern change the Demonskar Point rewards into XP rewards as well. Otherwise come up with one of your own.
- Have the players explore some of the surrounding environs: The Haunted Village, the Frost Giants Lair, the jungles aroung the Spire of Long Shadows and Shatterhorn. There are plenty of opportunities for adventure and foreshadowing of future events and NPCs.
Best of all though make one up to directly suit your players and their characters. These are always the best adventures IMO.
Hope this helps
Delvesdeep
Another nice idea to get your players advanced enough is to run character specific side treks if possible. If these guys like role-playing their characters and prefer story over numerical supremacy, look into their backgrounds and then see what underdeveloped part of Cauldron or the local area could hold something or someone of interest. Have they parted on good terms with Shensen, Fario and Fellian? Maybe they could use a hand with something. Kingfisher Hollow is indicated as the base of a slaving operation; who doesn't hate slavers? This can be a great opportunity to flesh out the setting and introduce future movers and shakers. Maybe they wind up over their heads in the jungles or underground and the Necrocants or Stormblades happen to be around and in similarly dire straights. Holy temporary tense team-ups, Batman!
|
Some of the caravans have been ambushed, forcing the traders to ask the town guards to help them guarding the caravans (especially on the way back, as they transport foodstuffs necessary for the survival of the city). Since Vhalantru is behind those attacks (to further his riches), he is very much in favor of this, as it also gives him an excuse to hire more half-orc guards.
In my campaign the characters overheard a discussion between Vhalantru und Serveren Navalant during the festivities of the Flood Season. Navalant was clearly against this, as there are some difficult times in Cauldron right now with the appearance of a Beholder in their town. This will be the last time the party will see the Lord Mayor alive. Vhalantru will take Navalant out of the picture directly afterwards and press his agenda through the city council.
Lots of great ideas for sidequests already. As far as RP XP in my campaign, I allow players to secretly set personal goals for their characters. Anytime they take steps or accomplish something to advance their character's personal goal during a gaming session, I award 100xp or more, depending on what they did.
I also give my players 100xp each session if they posted their character's thoughts on the last gaming session in my campaign thread on Paizo. I've found that even when all they do is hack and slash during a particular session, the campaign log posts helps them focus on the RP aspects of the game.
If you're players don't care about XP then don't care about XP, just level them up. Sounds like they are getting their fun in plenty of other ways.
Also, discuss it with them of course!