My game is about a third of the way through There Is No Honor; we ended the session right after the combat on the Blue Nixie, with Vark swimming away (sans weapons) to make his escape, one other thug captured, and the rest slain (well, dying, but the PCs made no moves to stabilize them).
Now, I'm running a rather unusual group in that the PCs are all drow. Yes, that's right, an entire group of drow. There's a backstory reason why they're tolerated in Sassarine, but they're not liked by any stretch of the imagination.
The logical thing, then, is that Vark will run to the Watch, claiming that the PCs were smuggling contraband on the Blue Nixie and that he and some companions had been watching the Nixie for just such skullduggery. Unfortunately for Vark, the PCs overpowered his impromptu posse, slaying most of them. Vark was lucky to escape with his life!
Then, the Watch will arrest the PCs, locking them away in the dungeon and throwing away the key - but the PCs will have a chance to talk their way into a "fair" trial...that, or a certain friendly noble will pull some strings :)
In the actual trial, the case against the PCs has several points:
* Vark's testimony as a harbor official
* Testimony from Vark's surviving henchman, captured and "robbed" by the PCs
* Two witnesses who claim that Vark intercepted the PCs as they were setting sail.
* Forged papers putting the Blue Nixie under suspicion of smuggling, with Vark empowered to investigate/stop the activity.
* Testimony of the Watch that, indeed, the corpses on the Nixie have wounds matching the PCs' weapons, along with blood and gore all over the PCs and their gear at time of apprehension.
I'm thinking the case FOR the PCs will take care of itself - players are never passive! - but I have a few ideas in mind:
* Lavinia's testimony. Unfortunately, all she does is lend some respectability to a "my word vs. yours" scenario...where the PCs have racism working against them.
* Discredit the witnesses. Gather Information checks give enough info to make them look bad (DC 15), destroy their testimony (DC 20), or implicate Vark for a trial of his own (DC 25).
* Uncover the forgery. If the PCs realize it's a fake, they can point it out in court...if not, but they're suspicious (why wouldn't they be?), they can hire someone to scrutinize it.
* Spells like Zone of Truth, Speak with Animals, Commune, Detect [alignment], etc. would give strong evidence in favor of the PCs
This will play out tomorrow night, so I'll update after the session and let you all know how it works out!
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I almost did this myself. why well because in my game we had an alchemist thrower, Lavinia parents killed in a fire. then they burnt down the taxidermy shop by accident,a side quest to some plantations and a barn gets burned down,I had the harbor master die in a fire, oh no all evidence points to the pcs as fire starters but they managed to hide behind the nobility of Lavinia until they could prove there inocence.
My game is about a third of the way through There Is No Honor; we ended the session right after the combat on the Blue Nixie, with Vark swimming away (sans weapons) to make his escape, one other thug captured, and the rest slain (well, dying, but the PCs made no moves to stabilize them).
Now, I'm running a rather unusual group in that the PCs are all drow. Yes, that's right, an entire group of drow. There's a backstory reason why they're tolerated in Sassarine, but they're not liked by any stretch of the imagination.
The logical thing, then, is that Vark will run to the Watch, claiming that the PCs were smuggling contraband on the Blue Nixie and that he and some companions had been watching the Nixie for just such skullduggery. Unfortunately for Vark, the PCs overpowered his impromptu posse, slaying most of them. Vark was lucky to escape with his life!
Then, the Watch will arrest the PCs, locking them away in the dungeon and throwing away the key - but the PCs will have a chance to talk their way into a "fair" trial...that, or a certain friendly noble will pull some strings :)
In the actual trial, the case against the PCs has several points:
* Vark's testimony as a harbor official
* Testimony from Vark's surviving henchman, captured and "robbed" by the PCs
* Two witnesses who claim that Vark intercepted the PCs as they were setting sail.
* Forged papers putting the Blue Nixie under suspicion of smuggling, with Vark empowered to investigate/stop the activity.
* Testimony of the Watch that, indeed, the corpses on the Nixie have wounds matching the PCs' weapons, along with blood and gore all over the PCs and their gear at time of apprehension.I'm thinking the case FOR the PCs will take care of itself - players are never passive! - but I have a few ideas in mind:
* Lavinia's testimony. Unfortunately, all she does is lend some respectability to a "my word vs. yours" scenario...where the PCs have racism working against them.
* Discredit the witnesses. Gather Information checks give enough...
We had the trial last night. It might have gone more in-depth if I'd thought of it sooner, then the party would have had more time to think about defenses.
A few items in the defense's portfolio surprised me, like bringing up some facts from the battle aboard the Nixie: One of the thugs took an arrow in the crow's nest, so he fell to his death. Vark's story that the PCs were trying to repel an inspection party doesn't make that type of death plausible.
An investigation into the criminal history of Vark and his thugs was also suggested.
Strangely enough, the party didn't mention magic even once. A good Zone of Truth or Divination would really have shaken things up. Even the Detect Evil/Good spells would have been enlightening ("you can clearly see, Lord High Justice, that the defendants are Good in the eyes of the gods. Surely their word is trustworthy?")