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Okay so here's the situation as it stands.
I rolled a random encounter in the Narlmarches as my PCs followed the river from the Fairy Camp to the Thorn River Camp. Along the way they got a random encounter. Owlbear.
Okay, I think. They'll see it from about 60 ft, and sneak around it. Unfortunately the Owlbear rolled well, and the Sorcerer rolled poorly. After a brief battle, the sorceress was on 0 at the Owlbear's feet. The Ranger grabbed the sorceress and leaped into the river. The Alchemist, terrified of the Owlbear jumped into the water as well. The druid has melted into the forest in the hopes of catching up to his allies down river.
In Forest -
Kyte - Elf Druid and Lym (Snow Leopard Animal Companion)
In River -
Dhagodir - Half-Elf Alchemist
Jax - Human Ranger
Alexia - Half-Elf Sorceress (0 HP)
So some questions for the good folks on the Paizo boards:
How fast does Thorn River flow?
I have some ideas on how to resolve this situation but suggestions would be welcome.
My current options:
1) Next session begins exactly where we left off: The river carries them for a while and dumps them randomly on the shore downstream. Unfortunately the danger being that swimming could be considered a "strenuous action" meaning the Sorceress might start bleeding out in an effort not to drown.
2) Next session begins sometime after the cliffhanger: The river carries them for a while and dumps them in the Thorn River Camp (Pure Evil Dungeonmastering). For anyone familiar with my game there is another group of players in the Kamelands, and the Druid could contact them to rescue the captured party members.
3) Other options?
Any help would be appreciated, this party isn't scheduled to play for another fort-night.
I should say:
Go for option two. How fast the river streams i dont know. What is the season? In the spring it flows faster! Give the Druid a fair chance to find them. If he as put ranks in perception! If he did not do that: he is stupid and screw him.
If your party took the effort to put ranks in swim is hould go easy on them and give them fair chances to save them selves. If they don't put ranks in swim than, bad luck, now they will find out why it is so important to have skill ranks in swim!
The question is: did the deserve this or not!
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I don't believe in punishing the players. It was a combination of bad decisions and bad luck. But they are level 1 and most are very new to the game.
I do want them to feel there are consequences and dangers in exploring the Stolen Lands.
It is Autumn in my Golarion (since we started in Autumn here).
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Ok lets put it another way, years later when the you and your players are reminiscing about the good old days what sounds more memorable?
YOU: "Remember the time, you were like 1st level and got attacked by the Owlbear and you had to jump in the river to get away?"
FRIEND #1 "Yeah and my character almost drowned too!"
FRIEND #2 "Yeah lol, then we found the bandit lair."
or
YOU: "Remember the time, you were like 1st level and got attacked by the Owlbear and you had to jump in the river to get away?"
FRIEND #1 "Yeah. My character drowned."
FRIEND #2 "Yeah that sucked and then we had to go back to town so we could 'meet' your replacement character."
There will be plenty of opportunities for character death, imo this aint one of them.
A wise DM once said "You know what's better than seeing the look on player's faces when their characters die? The look on players faces when their characters almost die but just manage to get away."
Reebo
If it helps you at all swimming is not a strenuous action unless you try to move your full speed. Think about the time of day. If it's near night time then washing up near the Thorn River Camp wouldn't be too bad, just a bit of scouting really. Aside from being cold, wet, and near death.
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I don't have to think about 'years later' to picture reminiscing about the good old days. I've been DMing for over 30 years.
Trust me, if you're not willing to kill your PCs, the players know it. You're not fooling them.
Ken
I'm not willing to kill my PCs, yet they still manage to die. Funny how things happen.
All I'm saying is that there's good death and bad death. Drowning while escaping from an owlbear cause there's not other way out is a bad death. Up there with failing those rolls to put yourself out when your one fire because you heroically ran into a burning building to save a child. Lame on so many levels.
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I don't have to think about 'years later' to picture reminiscing about the good old days. I've been DMing for over 30 years.
Trust me, if you're not willing to kill your PCs, the players know it. You're not fooling them.
Ken
I'm not willing to kill my PCs, yet they still manage to die. Funny how things happen.
All I'm saying is that there's good death and bad death. Drowning while escaping from an owlbear cause there's not other way out is a bad death. Up there with failing those rolls to put yourself out when your one fire because you heroically ran into a burning building to save a child. Lame on so many levels.
right on!! make their deaths mean something.
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You don't think it means something to die saving a child?
That's about the best kind of death there is.
Ken
I think the implication is he never got to the child because he caught on fire on the way in. Which is a bad death. Right up there with killing the monster and realizing it was protecting a nest full of children that are now asking why you killed their mommy.
One way things could go:
...
*Snip*
How fast does Thorn River flow?
*Snip*
I don't have the adventure in front of me, but I think there is a general description of the characteristics of the rivers in the Module (How Wide and I thought How Fast). I'll check when I get home if no one else can check this before then.
I would pick up where you left off and would let the Sorceress Swim at 1/4 Speed (i.e. not take a full round action to move at 1/2 speed) or drift with the current (maybe to be Pulled/Helped to shore by a companion as a Swim Check (+5 to DC, made by the PC doing all the work) without the risk of HP Loss.
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Contributor, RPG Superstar 2008 Top 4, Legendary Games
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*Snip*
How fast does Thorn River flow?
*Snip*I don't have the adventure in front of me, but I think there is a general description of the characteristics of the rivers in the Module (How Wide and I thought How Fast). I'll check when I get home if no one else can check this before then.
I would pick up where you left off and would let the Sorceress Swim at 1/4 Speed (i.e. not take a full round action to move at 1/2 speed) or drift with the current (maybe to be Pulled/Helped to shore by a companion as a Swim Check (+5 to DC, made by the PC doing all the work) without the risk of HP Loss.
It's Appendix II at the end of the adventure part of "Stolen Land" - has info on each of the rivers.
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It's Appendix II at the end of the adventure part of "Stolen Land" - has info on each of the rivers.*Snip*
How fast does Thorn River flow?
*Snip*I don't have the adventure in front of me, but I think there is a general description of the characteristics of the rivers in the Module (How Wide and I thought How Fast). I'll check when I get home if no one else can check this before then.
I would pick up where you left off and would let the Sorceress Swim at 1/4 Speed (i.e. not take a full round action to move at 1/2 speed) or drift with the current (maybe to be Pulled/Helped to shore by a companion as a Swim Check (+5 to DC, made by the PC doing all the work) without the risk of HP Loss.
Hmm, still no mention of River Speeds, I only ask because I'm wondering if the river flows fast enough to out run an Owlbear.
In any case I just set up the event for the "Thorn River Rescue". I've already had 8 of my 11 players sign up. I think the other three haven't only because they aren't online yet.
I might post up my plans for the adventure here within the next day or so.
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Day 3
So we began with Alexia the sorceress on 0 hp, Jax the Ranger and Dhagodir the Alchemist flowing down the river away from our Owlbear assailant.
The rushing water threatened to drown our heroes, but fortunately those who were weaker were aided by the stronger. Unfortunately they could do little besides keep their heads above water. When the waters slowed down enough, the trio found themselves at the feet of a rather large group of bandits.
Meanwhile
The Druid followed the party down river as fast as possible. Seeing his allies get picked up by the Bandits he quickly formulated a plan. Knowing the general area his other allies were headed in the green belt, he made for a hard ride towards the Sootscale Caverns (he had recovered a rough map from some previous kobolds defeated).
Riding to the point of exhaustion. He managed to find the other party members, and solicit their help.
Meanwhile
The captured trio were tortured by the bandits for information. The ranger lost a finger to Kressle's brand of interrogation. He swore she would pay.
Meanwhile
The party was riding back when they met up with Perlivash. Kyte the druid asked Perlivash to fly ahead and let their captured allies know that rescue was fast approaching.
Meanwhile
Perlivash approaches the prisoners invisibly. Dhagodir convinces Perlivash to return his alchemical equipment. Soon after the other PCs arrive.
Hell Breaks Loose
Highlights
- Cavalier declares a challenge against Kressle. Kressle laughs, and orders all of her nearby bandits to turn the Dwarf into a pin-cushion. He goes from 14 to exactly 0. Rolls a one when he tries to hit Kressle, and starts bleeding out.
- Dual axe-wielding Barbarian outfights Kressle.
- Alchemist accidentally sets fire to his own wooden prison (it's becoming a theme).
After the fight, the Owlbear wandered into the camp.
1 Owlbear vs. 11 PCs. Poor thing never stood a chance.
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That sounded awesome DM_aka_Dudemeister, I'm glad you went with that plan instead of drowning a PC or two ;-)
You should invest in a digital recorder, a game like that sounds like it would be fun to listen to. Unless of course this is a PbP game in which case nevermind.
Though if it is a tabletop game how do you fit 11 players around the table?
Reebo
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That sounded awesome DM_aka_Dudemeister, I'm glad you went with that plan instead of drowning a PC or two ;-)
You should invest in a digital recorder, a game like that sounds like it would be fun to listen to. Unless of course this is a PbP game in which case nevermind.
Though if it is a tabletop game how do you fit 11 players around the table?
Reebo
Fit them into a university lecture theater instead :D
It was chaotic at times, we only had from 6-9 p.m. to play.
So I removed pretty much all expectations, ignored Random Encounters and tightly controlled pacing by switching between groups by location.
The players have a healthy fear of death, but I utilized some meta-game tricks to do so. A few days before the game I said to the players whose characters were in the river:
"Prepare a back-up character please, y'know. Just in case."
One of the captured PCs lost a finger to Kressle's axe for refusing to co-operate with interrogation, so there was definitely something at stake.
I wish I could have recorded it, although it wouldn't have made much sense. It got pretty chaotic in that room at times. When you have 11 people all seeking attention, there are times you need to put your foot down a lot. Combat wasn't so bad.
It was the heated interrogations after wards. The majority of the PCs were "Good" and although they had no problem killing in the heat of battle (to defend their friends or themselves), the idea of executing bandits didn't sit well with them. The Ranger who had decided to go from CG to CN after losing a finger to Kressle slit her throat while the PCs were debating. This led to a brief punch up.
The player of the ranger is thinking of changing characters, as his current character conflicts with the majority of the PCs quite a lot.
I love this AP.
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It was the heated interrogations after wards. The majority of the PCs were "Good" and although they had no problem killing in the heat of battle (to defend their friends or themselves), the idea of executing bandits didn't sit well with them. The Ranger who had decided to go from CG to CN after losing a finger to Kressle slit her throat while the PCs were debating. This led to a brief punch up.The player of the ranger is thinking of changing characters, as his current character conflicts with the majority of the PCs quite a lot.
I love this AP.
Please tell me that brief punch up was "in game"?!
Every DM loves inter party conflict, it gives us a chance to sit back and watch the fireworks. Ofcourse in can get out of hand but mature players should know how to handle themselves. I hope yours were.
Kingmaker sounds awesome I just wish I knew about it before starting my home-brew sandbox style campaign. Maybe I'll run it one day.
Keep posting your game updates mate
Reebo
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Please tell me that brief punch up was "in game"?!
Every DM loves inter party conflict, it gives us a chance to sit back and watch the fireworks. Ofcourse in can get out of hand but mature players should know how to handle themselves. I hope yours were.
Kingmaker sounds awesome I just wish I knew about it before starting my home-brew sandbox style campaign. Maybe I'll run it one day.
Keep posting your game updates mate
Reebo
LoL, yeah it was in game of course.
I've been keeping a journal Here.
I'm going to do my best to keep it updated, as well as posting my player's journals that they've been keeping as well.