So my party just finished clearing out the den of the Lotus Dragons. They seem pretty bent on starting up some trouble with Heldrath Kellani, even before tailing Vanthus to Kraken's Cove.
Any thoughts on how to discourage such an action? I'm thinking that I'll have some hefty guards patrolling the grounds or something. They're only third level...I don't think that they ought to be moving after a noble family in Sasserine just yet...
My group ended up "owning" the Kellanis at higher levels (they came back to Sasserine after the kidnapping). At lower levels, though, it should be easy enough to disuade them. Toss in a few big magical beast dogs of some sort, place an alarm spell on the grounds. The noble families should have small private armies in charge of their security. Once they take a shot at it, call in the city guard. Arrest them. Lock them up. Give Vanthus a big head start.
Intimidating guards help, but offering another solution to the problem might as well. Lavinia sees that having busted the Lotus Dragons, there's enough evidence to take down the Kellanis. She can lead the way with filing charges against them in the Dawn Council, etc., etc.
This gives the players a sense that they don't have to resort to vigilante justice, but keeps the campaign focused on the real bad guys. And you can always keep the courtroom events going in the background--legal battles take time to fight--so if you want to resurrect them as enemies, you can have them win their case, or escape from jail, or whatever.
Intimidating guards help, but offering another solution to the problem might as well. Lavinia sees that having busted the Lotus Dragons, there's enough evidence to take down the Kellanis. She can lead the way with filing charges against them in the Dawn Council, etc., etc.
This gives the players a sense that they don't have to resort to vigilante justice, but keeps the campaign focused on the real bad guys. And you can always keep the courtroom events going in the background--legal battles take time to fight--so if you want to resurrect them as enemies, you can have them win their case, or escape from jail, or whatever.
Thats pretty much the way I handled it. The players turned over the evidence and the High Int Wizard and the Bard, thru Lavinia, presented the evidence to the Dawn Council. They were a little upset when I told them that the Kellani's were a powerful family and it would take time to investigate the allegations before any actions could be taken. They immediately started planning an assault on the Kellani house. I had Lavinia remind them that taking direct action like that would put them in a position where the Council would be their enemy.
This situation was made even more volitile during the 'Gambit', when one of the stiltwalkers was captured and questioned, revealing Heldrath as their employer.
I had Heldrath go into self-imposed exile (to Cauldron), essentially removing her from play and their attentions. I also had the DC find against the Kellani family, blocking them from holding any position of power in Sasserine government for the next 5 generations. This seemed to placate my group enough to get them back on track.
Cheers!