I'm preparing for the intermission between the first two adventures, and was curious how my fellow DMs had dealt with Nualia and co?
I'm thinking of trying and sentancing them, and am struggling to come up with an adequate sentance for them. Three counts of consorting with goblins? I'm really at a loss. Also wondering if its worth having them maintain a presence or to leave them to be forgotten in the face of newer NPCs.
So, it's storytime comrades! Do share what happened in your games. How did you pad out your intermissions? What happened to Nualia and co.?
Well, she'd planned to sacrifice the whole town, so there's the small matter of 1200 counts of attempted murder and conspiracy to commit murder. Add arson, graverobbing, desecration of a corpse, incitment of violence, and mayhem.
As for the sentence: hanging.
In my game the PCs killed Nualia in combat at Thistletop, so it was a non-issue. They captured Tsuto at the Glassworks and turned him over to the Sheriff; Tsuto was transferred to Magnimar for trial but was ultimately poisoned by Justice Ironbriar (Tsuto's father) before the trial took place.
My group just completed the Catacombs of Wrath. They captured Tsuto alive and, after one session of intimidation-filled interrogation, I had him hang himself in the town jail.
In our game we captured Tsuto, Erylium, Nualia, Orik Vancakerkin, Lyrie and Gogmort. We brought them back to Sandpoint and Justice Ironbriar was brought in to try them. After a short and efficient trial the first five were sentenced to various lengths of incarceration (between 5 and 15 years based on culpability and pleas for mercy) and hard-labour in the Hells (Magnimar's prison). The justice later pulled some strings to have Nualia and Tsuto's identities/documents changed so they'd be released after a year, but we had that rectified after the party found him to be corrupt. Two of the players even go to visit with some of the prisoners on ocassion; one because he's somewhat enamoured of Lyrie and the other (me) cause he's hoping to reform them while gathering information about the Thassilonians' current schemes.
My PCs captured Tsuto and a goblin in the last session, wherein they did the Glassworks. They turned both prisoners in to Vachedi at the town jail (in my campaign Sheriff Hemlock's still out getting reinforcements from Magnimar and is shortly going to get waylaid on his way back when a saboteur poisons all their horses).
The goblin is going to be murdered while in jail to keep him from talking (not that he has anything left to say that he didn't already tell the PCs -- this is mostly to foreshadow how easily manipulated "justice" is here, especially if you're a goblin), and Tsuto is eventually going to get transferred to Magnimar, from whence he will probably be sprung by Ironbriar's intercession (I'm doing the variant where Ironbriar is Tsuto's secret daddy). Tsuto was pretty lame in combat at the Glassworks so I'm hoping to be able to advance him a few levels and have him be less of a total disaster in the rematch round.
Any other NPCs who get captured are likely to be summarily executed. Medieval justice was quick and brutal, and I don't see much reason to diverge from that standard for the rest of the NPCs in Burnt Offerings. Unless the PCs latch on to them and turn them into interesting RP hooks, I've got all the recurring faces I need already.
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In the campaign I am running, Tsuto was captured and sent to Magnimar for trial with Justice Ironbriar. (I took that from a thread on here somewhere.) He hasn't been heard from again... Of course, at the time, the party had no reason to suspect that there may be something wrong with Ironbriar.
Orik surrendered to the party and professed an interest in rehabilitation so he was assigned to the town guard to protect Sandpoint from an expected goblin invasion. The party continued to check up on him during the next few adventures, and he was there to help with the stone giants.
Other named characters in Burnt Offerings were killed in combat so I didn't have to do anything with them.
As for captured goblins, the were interrogated and then ordered killed by the town.
In the Hook Mountain adventure, a couple of ogres surrendered after one character promised to spare their lives. The party released them after extracting a promise that they would leave the area and not return. The ogres, upon seeing how easily they were beaten readily agreed and took off running.
In our game, we captured Tsuto and found his diary complete with all his lovelorn sketches of Nualia. My character was a cleric of Calistria, so I disguised myself as Nualia and snuck into his cell, then wormed his plan out of him, then told him "I" was turning him down in favor of the bugbear (whom he'd written about in his diary also).
When I left the cell, he was gibbering insanely in horror, mind broken. He got executed the morning we left for Thistletop.
In our game, we captured Tsuto and found his diary complete with all his lovelorn sketches of Nualia. My character was a cleric of Calistria, so I disguised myself as Nualia and snuck into his cell, then wormed his plan out of him, then told him "I" was turning him down in favor of the bugbear (whom he'd written about in his diary also).
When I left the cell, he was gibbering insanely in horror, mind broken...
...I had him hang himself in the town jail.
Ah, if only those two games could be combined that way...
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The only one of my baddies that survived to be captured was Orik (he surrendered after he witnessed Tsuto's decapitation at the hands of one of my PCs in Thistletop).
Because I want my PCs to know Ironbriar in advance of meeting him late in the second chapter, they have been asked to make a trip to Magnimar to testify at Orik's trial. He is a bit of a sympathetic character so I expect my PCs to ask for lenience and so he will most likely be sentenced to exile and to serve the Black Arrows for 5 years. I am running with the medium experience track so my PCs will most likely be meeting Ironbriar again on a matter related to a couple of sidetracks I have in mind for between BO and SM.
(edit) As for the charge, I am playing the laws as strict Common Law
- i.e. there is no code of laws, no written constitution and so the actual charge is immaterial. Judges in this system are learned figures and have authority granted to them by the state to do what they think is right in legal matters, based on precedent and their own judgment of what is fair. Orik was a member of a group that was conspiring to destroy a town, that will be enough of a charge for me.
I'm preparing for the intermission between the first two adventures, and was curious how my fellow DMs had dealt with Nualia and co?
I tried to make the legal side seem vaguely realistic. For court charges, here's what I went with:
Tsuto - charged with 1 count of murder in the 1st degree with special circumstances (Lonjiku), 14 counts of murder in the 2nd degree, 2 counts of attempted murder, assault and battery, kidnapping, 2 counts of blackmail, conspiracy, grave robbing, trafficking with goblins, promoting a proscribed cult, and engaging in proscribed cult activity.
* Found guilty, sentenced to death, no appeal (will make an appearance at the Seven's Sawmill)
Nualia - charged with 1 count of murder in the 1st degree, 4 counts of murder in the 2nd degree, arson, conspiracy, trafficking with goblins, promoting a proscribed cult, engaging in proscribed cult activity, engaging in necromantic rites, and entering into a demonic pact.
* Found guilty, sentenced to death, no appeal (will make an appearance at the Seven's Sawmill)
Orik - charged with conspiracy, trafficking with goblins, and promoting a proscribed cult. He changed sides, ended up helping the party in battle with Nualia. Turned out to be critical, battle might have been TPK otherwise. Generally made him to be sympathetic, but not goody-goody. Several characters testified on his behalf at the trial.
* Found guilty of conspiracy only (in role of bodyguard), suspended sentence, probation (charged to serve with the Black Arrows, will reappear in chapter 3)
This thread is full of good ideas, guys.
My PCs have (surprisingly) left everyone alive, and my party face (essentially my only player with much initiative) seems reluctant to hand any of them over. Game time hasn't swung around yet, but I can't see Belor allowing them to ride into town with prisoners and simply take them where they please.
The plan is to a) have Nualia escape, or b) steer my players to magnimar to prepare them for skinsaw murders and have one of her minions act as a fall guy. My party face wants to redeem Nualia, but this isnt something that's going to happen overnight, and it would be a much more engaging subplot if she can become a recurring antagonist.
Tsuto and Nualia were killed in combat. Orik was surprised and knocked unconscious with one sneak attack, but healed and the heroes discovered he was not really that bad. They discussed the goblin situation with him, and learned what he knew. He asked them not to hurt Lyrie when they faced off against her, and accompanied them. He tried to talk alone to Lyrie, but she turned against him and the party had to intercede. After a brief struggle, she was unconscious and bound. When all was said and done in Thistletop, the party left Orik a suit of armour to replace his, Lyrie's spellbook, a sword, some food, and the still-unconscious Lyrie, and set him free.
Now, Lyrie only used some of her spells in the fight. She still has some, and will quickly gain the upper hand against the lovestruck Orik when she wakes up. This will work brilliantly to set her or both up as recurring characters/enemies.
Tsuto was the only one who survived because some of the PCs had childhood ties to him.
Tsuto was sent to Magnimar for trial, PCs were asked to escort and testify.
Justice Ironbriar presided and sentenced Tsuto to the Hells.
Ironbriar released him later and included him in the Skinsaw Cult.
My session has rolled around and my PCs have handed over Tsuto and Lyrie, claiming Nualia to be dead. My party face has spent the rest of the day lugging her around everywhere trying to redeem her. Incredibly roleplayed, but this isn't a subplot I want to roll overnight, so I stayed true to form with the diplomacy dcs for a hostile character. Really god-damned high. In retrospect I kind of regret it, I've always been a roleplay over roll-play kind of guy...
But once he lets her go or she escapes we can drag this out over the course of the campaign. It also lets me paint her as a potential suspect for the skinsaw murders, which is good, as I fear I've overplayed Aldern a little too much.
One last bump saying that the session wrapped up much better than expected.
My PC decided to roleplay the rest with me over MSN. He cut Nualia loose, and was promptly stabbed to bits by her, telling her his name before coughing blood onto her cheek and hitting the ground like a stone as she dissapeared into the storm. F@@$ yes.
Nualia the party killed, deeming her too dangerous and deranged to let live. They were probably right.
Tsuto was captured following the battle at the Glassworks and thrown into a cell for a few weeks while transport to Maginmar was arranged. I had added in a subplot with an attic whisperer haunting Ameiko's inn, the undead spirit of an orphan Tsuto had murdered as a boy. Rather than battle the spirit, once they realized it was looking for Tsuto, the PCs gladly told him. Tsuto was found the next morning in his cell with his throat torn out and his body covered in dozens of tiny bites, leading to the immortal line, "I didn't think it would kill him! I thought it was only going to torture him forever!"
Lyrie was a Shoanti in my game, and so the Shoanti arcanist in the party took pity on her and let her go, albeit after confiscating her spellbook. The PCs found her again in Maginmar, working for a trading company scribing scrolls and trying to get enough money to buy a new spellbook. It was then that the party's Shoanti proposed marriage. It was purely for economic reasons; she had no interest in him and he was gay, but it prevented her from having to suffer the indignity of charity.
Orik was likewise let go after confiscating his most dangerous loot, because the party recognized he was an okay guy with questionable taste in friends. His rehabilitation involved helping Ameiko get the Glassworks fully functional again, and teaching the party knight his secrets of fighting with weapon and shield (after seeing his illustration with the awesome shield, I had to change his feats around!). The two of them became quite close, although never quite a couple, much to the nervousness of her unicorn cohort (exceedingly concerned with questions of virginity) and her PC beguiler squire (whose relationship with her took a turn for the dark and possessive once his magical powers grew stronger and his alignment started sinking).