RPG Superstar Season 9 Top 16, RPG Superstar 2015 Top 32
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I have an interesting situation, and I hope to have some helpfull sugestions on how to run this so the PCs have at least a good chance of surviving.
The party is level 3 and consists of:
Two-Handed Weapon Fighter
Witch
Cleric of Serenrae
Ranger (archery)
Druid with raptor animal companion
The party did really well cleaning up the bandit camp, and captured Kressle. The fighter, being played by a very creative player, bought an elixer of love and used it with the alcohol they found in the camp to give it to Kressle. She failed the will save, but won the sense motive check. Impressed, she went along with ruse. Several weeks later in game, and she convinced the party to take her along when they went after the Stag Lord.
The party scouted out the fort, but didn't go into the field. She neglected to tell them about the zombies though. They eventually decided to sneak up to the walls and set the fort on fire. The fighter and Kressle waited on the North side of the fort, while the rest of the party went around to the South side. The zombies popped up, and almost everyone fell in battle. They defeated all the zombies though, and used all of their oil to set the South side on fire.
However, Kressle played dirty and knocked out the fighter. She used him and the parties gear (which was conveniently packed into a wagon not far from the fort) and horses to bargain her way into the good graces of the Stag Lord.
I have the fighter tied up in the basement. Dovan will wake him up, Auches will there as well, but mostly to keep the fighter in line. Akiros will come in at some point to tell Dovan and Auches to go and help drive the PCs in the forest to buy time so they can finish bringing their gear into the fort. Kressle will of course be there at some point to taunt the fighter.
I have some idea as to what the motivations of the NPCs would be. Dovan would want to torture the PC.
Akiros would want to keep him unharmed for ransom, but also start to wonder if maybe the party would be his ticket to redemption.
Kressle would just want to tease the PC, but really is more into taking her share of the loot and leaving the area.
The Stag Lord would be drunk, as the alcohol would be part of the loot.
This leaves things a little complicated with the rest of the party. I am sure they could handle themselves, but they have been relying on the fighter in combat to do most of the work, and have focused their efforts in the past towards supporting him. They are also going to be without any gear they left on the wagon.
To be perfectly honest, they sort of did this to themselves. They gave Kressle a longer leash then they should have, parked their stuff only a couple hundred yards into the forest, and split the party in a way that left Kressle with an opportunity.
Thoughts?
Would Dovan really want to torture the PC, or since it's another, better equipped fighter, send Auchs down there to beat 'im up and make him scream? If your group did what ours did and killed Dovan without talking to him first, they'd never know that Auchs was too stupid to start things on his own initiative.
From what I know of the NPCs, I do not believe that Kressle would care about the PC fighter at all. As you mention, she got her shifty loot and back in the Stag Lord's good graces, that should be all for her.
As for Akiros, what CAN he do, realistically? Challenging Dovan to keep the fighter intact doesn't seem like too good a plan. Yeah, he's scripted to want to help a party to achieve something better, but this fighter dragged in by Kressle who so easily played and robbed the party, when looked at from a critical angle, doesn't seem as though they might make it through. Maybe he could keep the Stag Lord more drunk so that when the PCs show up to get their friend, he'll be even less of a challenge, but that's not that much effort on his part.
Your cleric of Sarenrae is going to have to step up. Even mine who is the penultimate harm none who might be spared hippy-type cleric of Sarenrae let Oleg and Kesten deliver justice to Kressle when our group captured her, but then, she had a pretty fast and tight friendship with Svetlana and was frankly appalled by the violence inherent in the woman.
I think getting the party at least SOME of their equipment back would be a big help. If Akiros has hopes for the party, perhaps he could somehow make that available to them; for example, if the equipment has not yet been unloaded, he could make sure the wagon is in a place they can get to it quickly.
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RPG Superstar Season 9 Top 16, RPG Superstar 2015 Top 32
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Would Dovan really want to torture the PC, or since it's another, better equipped fighter, send Auchs down there to beat 'im up and make him scream? If your group did what ours did and killed Dovan without talking to him first, they'd never know that Auchs was too stupid to start things on his own initiative.
The PC is tied up in the basement stripped of all his gear, so he has to escape his bonds before he can fight back if he is beaten. However I never said Auches was going to beat him for no reason. Dovan is sadistic enough to want to torture for entertainment, but Akiros is honorable enough not to let him. Auches would be there as a deterrent, a big guy with a club will make anyone think twice about escaping while he is there.
Kressle doesn't care, but from her backstory it is clear she likes to caue others pain. I don't think she would resort to torture, but I do think she would stick around for a short time to mess with the fighter. This would also give me a chance to pass on small amounts of information, as she wouldn't be smart enough to know how to keep her mouth shut.
Yeah, I think the equipment thing is a good idea. The party has a good amount on them, but I thunk they left some tools that would be useful.
In your story, even more than in the base assumptions of how things go down at the Stag Lord's Fort, Akiros is the wild card that you, as the GM, hold. You get to decide how to play him and when. For me, a lot would depend on whether he thinks the PCs represent a bonafide threat to Staggy or not. If he does, I can see him taking bold action to free the fighter (perhaps killing Dovan and framing poor dimwitted Auchs, for example) and collaborating with him to make the fort more vulnerable to PC attack. If the PCS don't impress him, he might be more likely to write the fighter off and wait for a better opportunity to turn on Staggy. In short, the way Akiros is written, he is a perfect tool for you, as the GM, to use in whatever way you see fit to both be credible and make for awesome gaming.
You have also introduced a second wild card in the form of Kressle, who was not assumed to be anywhere near the fort when the PCs got there. She, as a wildly unpredictable psychopath, could be used in a wide variety of ways. amd how you use her may depend on the history and relationships that have built up between she and the other PCs over the time she has spent with them, weighed against her history with the Stag Lord and his minions. Her basic character is pretty warped and evil, though, so I don't see her acting altruistically. Just about anything else from her is possible, though, ranging from seducing the Stag Lord, getting him falling down drunk and then slitting his throat in his sleep before declaring herself the new Bandit Queen to torturing the fighter to death for fun and giggles and using her knowledge of the party to make their task much harder.
So you have tons of options. Choose the ones that make the most sense to you and that you think will be the most fun for you and your group. Good luck with it!