So I did it. Yup. I killed the whole lot of them. On Parrot Island. I set it continuing up for a group vote and they have chosen to continue. I have been struggling with how to get the ball rolling again. What would you do to get the party back on track?
Neomorte
Lavinia is still wondering what happened to her brother and, now, the adventurers she recently met. She meets the new PCs and sets them on the same track which leads them to.....Parrot Island. Let them try again. Course if you TPK again, they'll string you up.
I used the opening boat chase scene in Mad God's Key for my player's to meet Lavinia. You could use something like that or just tell them they've met Lavinia and off you go.
I was considering this as they had all but defeated the bad nasty that was under parrot island:
Lavina hires some people to investigate the disappearance of the old party. They discover their bodies and the note that was to be discovered there after defeating the BBEG that was present (quite literally the only thing left). This fight unnerves the replacements and forces Lavina to yet again seek new hires giving her the current party and sets them to finding her brother via the information recover under Parrot Island.
Sound OK?
Parrot Island is one bottleneck, but there are others later that are as bad or worse. I think you should consider giving your players some kind of break in character creation; more attribute points, fate points, or whatever, so they have a chance to actually complete the story.
This has been a great point of contention in the RPG community around here. What is most important; challenge or continuity? I prefer continuity, but each group must decide for itself.
Have the Ravens retrieve their corpses. Now not only do they have something to totally lord over the party, but the party is indebted to Lavinia for mortgaging her estate to pay for their raising.
Take a look at Shannon Appelcline's near-identical experience, and in particular posts 17 and 20 (on page 2). In brief, he ran a new set of characters through a side quest (to boost their XP), commissioned by Verik and Larissa Vanderboren a few weeks in the past; on returning, they find their patrons dead, and Lavinia hires them to find her other missing heroes.
Take a look at Shannon Appelcline's near-identical experience, and in particular posts 17 and 20 (on page 2). In brief, he ran a new set of characters through a side quest (to boost their XP), commissioned by Verik and Larissa Vanderboren a few weeks in the past; on returning, they find their patrons dead, and Lavinia hires them to find her other missing heroes.
Now that is a VERY good idea.
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My group TPK'd from the baboon swarm and alot else on the way from the shipwreck to Farshore. I am restarting them at 9th level, all with reasons to journey to Farshore, approaching and seeing the town ablaze. Hopefully they will earn the favor of Lavinia, and may even find the old PC's if they go looking....
My group TPK'd from the baboon swarm and alot else on the way from the shipwreck to Farshore. I am restarting them at 9th level, all with reasons to journey to Farshore, approaching and seeing the town ablaze. Hopefully they will earn the favor of Lavinia, and may even find the old PC's if they go looking....
the utterly crazy baboon mob - my players took a quick look at it and slammed the door shut as fast as they could. Then they smothered/suffocated them with smoke blown in through a small hole created with a pick and the "mountain hammer" maneuvre. Not the most heroic moment in their career, but.... well the rules for "mobs" are pretty much broken, especially with regard to area effect attacks.
That thing just screams TPK, if the players have no idea about how deadly these things are.