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I'm an advocate of helping the PCs have their way, and now its come back to bite me. The PCs have accepted a mission to retrieve a stolen artifact from a drow city- and now that they've been there for a few minutes, they want to free the slaves- as many as possible. Not just release them to the underdark- but outright bringing them to the surface. They have probably 3-4 hours before someone realizes they're intruders and do something about it. Its your typical Menzoberranzan wannabe city with Pathfinder drow (not as tough as 3.5 counterparts). The PCs are 10th, have a rogue/magus/arcane trickster, a blaster sorcerer/dragon disciple, a switch-hitter ranger, a greatsword paladin and a lucerne hammer paladin. I should have seen this coming, but having just caught wind of this intent, going to have to improvise tonight. The only idea I got was to find the slaves quite willing to go, but due to their mix of race and whatnot, are unwilling to cooperate, and rather than having the adventurers take a whole band of slaves, have to pick a handful else they succumb to in-fighting.
The hook that brought them here in the first place was the help of a wizard who, through scrying, located the artifact and the opportune moment to strike. A duel between the elite of the house holding the artifact and a rival will make an opening of an hour that the PCs can use to get in and out with little alarm. The wizard sent the PCs since the drow discovered his scrying and now watch him, but not the PCs. This artifact is important to the players to advance the story, and it is time-dependent. If they leave the slaves behind for now, it will be months (in game and out) before they will likely be able to come back, which means some of those slaves will have died. I don't want the PCs to have a road of dead slaves behind them, and I would like to avoid the "this is a bad idea" approach. Suggestions?
Edit: Perhaps a little deus-ex machina is in order? I try to avoid it like the plague, but if they bump into an agent of freedom while they move through the city, perhaps...?
Have word of the escape attempt get out and turn into a general riot. Possibly the PCs had the luck to arrive during a famine or period of political instability.
Set fires. Have gangs Drow and non-Drow roaming around using the riots to attack their political opponents. Armed ex-slaves attacking anything in sight. Bandits using the confusion to raid the city.
Use the situation to block the PCs escape routes and guide them where you want them to go. Namely, right next to the artifact they're supposed to be recovering.
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Is the Artifact World Ending? If so explain to your PCs that if they miss the Hour slotted to get it, then not only will these slaves parish but humanity has they know it will be destroyed. I once had the main Paladin of a group have a vision/foreshadow of what the world would look like if he/group failed in their quest.
The Idea of taking a few slaves out might work. I know as a GM you never want to tells PCs no you can't do that but their are always ways to get them to your way of think. Just might be hard, take a lot of brain power or maybe even divine intervention. :-)
GOOD LUCK! I feel your pain!
Have them meet up with a resistance leader of the slaves. He/she doesn't want the pc's help as it is poorly planned and undermanned. The resistance has a plan and if there is a breakout now the drow overseers will tighten up security, maybe make the resistance plan fail. More slaves will die. Even with the best will in the world the PCs cant expect to rescue ALL the slaves. Simple attrition on the way to the surface will kill a few. Maybe meeting the resistance leader is enough to convince them that this is not over and that they can help, but not by being the heroes, but by being a supplier of weapons, or to ready the surface powers for when they make their move.
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Is the Artifact World Ending?
More or less- it will be very helpful in averting disaster. Its not THE way to make things right, so they could fail the mission and still save the good people. It'll just make that goal considerably harder.
But I got some inspiration from that- one of the slave folk could be an enslaved oracle/cleric/paladin who has had dreams about the PCs coming to take the artifact. At the same time, the slaves have been whispering about escaping (moreso than usual), and the oracle/cleric/paladin actually wants the PCs to help him convince them to NOT escape, since it would mean certain doom for them as a whole. As he predicts, some of the slaves begin rioting while the PCs are there. The PCs can then help the oracle/cleric/paladin calm his fellow slaves, or aid them in escaping- either way, he wants to stay unless all is lost. He was, of course, the leader of the resistance- but it got out of his hands. In the meantime, of course... the stubborn drow elite will have their duel, one way or another... (dun-dun-DUN)
Man, I love roleplaying.
Congratulations on a most troublesome band of PCs, may you continue to enjoy their hijinks. Such a group will force you to new vistas and excellence as a GM!
Let them free the slaves. Of course some of them are going to want to attempt revenge, make some kind of mischief. that of course escalates (during the duel of course) suddenly there is slave revolt mayhem going on. Now the situation is completely out of control. The PCs have to use the chaos to get the artifact and get out alive, and with as many terrified, weeping, screaming, hysterical slaves as possible.
This way they gave it their all, and have to find a way to make the best of the now bad situation, and it should be a lot of fun. Heck you could even incorporate the "Chase" mechanic in so many ways. PCs have to hold off the angry slavers long enough for the slaves to get through the escape route to the tunnels, or river or whatever. Then have to outrun the pursuit themselves.
just my ideas
Great ideas. Got these NPCs put together, and a chase grid. The crafty merchant is a great opportunity to use a Cousin Vinny accent. Thanks for the input!
I hope you come back and post what you do and how they handle it
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The players (all disguised as drow) set up camp near the target house, and sent the rogue through town to gather more information with the ranger shadowing as backup. Knowing the challenger to be a crafty sort, she goes and finds the elite drow issuing the duel to the house that holds the artifact. Then she challenges him to an immediate match using wit, the stakes: if she wins, they help the PCs run off with their prize, or she and the PCs steal for him if she looses. The drow decides to make the condition be an giant spider egg-snatching contest from a hatchery to a spot ~60' away within 2 minutes, no interference. Situational house ruled that they could spend 10 feet of movement to drop all carried eggs safely and keep running the rest of the distance in a straight line, and a successful sunder = broken egg. Using only web and frostbite, she just barely wins and keeps maintaining her disguise. With wounds healed for both, he promises his support to her. But then they force her to stay with them and the ranger goes to get help...
Meanwhile, the slave oracle contacted the PCs at camp to share his story including knowledge of the merchant. After short discussion, they agree to help him after putting the oracle through a zone of truth. Knowing the PC's objective himself, he pledges to help them in return. The PCs go to the merchant, who gives his side of the story and then accepts payment regarding the barges. When they return to camp to find the ranger waiting for them, they head off to rescue the rogue in short order. But they don't find her in time- the window of opportunity for the artifact starts ticking. The PCs rush to the noble's house with the artifact, finding the oracle with a few others waiting for them. They retrieve the Black Font, eating damage from traps without the rogue's help (the rogue player controls the oracle in the meantime).
Outside, word of the soon-to-be escape riles up other slaves and riots break out. The drow elite have their duel regardless. The winner is the one that does more damage than the other against the monsters each house brings to the duel. They first go against a minotaur, trying to get it to do more damage the other contestant rather than kill it quickly. Then the poor rogue is pitted as their second opponent. She uses their animosity to the point that she gets sneak attacks in by flanking- and wins by taking down the drow that her captor challenged. Declaring victory by default, the challenger congratulates the rogue for her viciousness and honors his agreement.
The PCs are reunited just outside the house in the midst of growing chaos. With slaves in tow of the PCs, the drow elite interprets the slaves as 'the prize' due to paladin ranting. Dispite protests from the dragon disciple and ranger, the group proceeds with the aid of the drow elite to the hidden barges, and see the slaves with the oracle off. Unsurprisingly, the drow tries to swipe the Font off the players, and succeeds. His clerics give him a blessing of fervor and freedom of movement in the surprise round, then slow down the PCs with summoned monsters as he runs back to the city. The dragon disciple gives chase in dragon form while the rest fight. Got to use the chase mechanic, but going BACK to the city, not away!
The party takes only a few rounds to handle the summoned creatures, using a haste to catch up. The disciple bombards the drow noble with evocation until his freedom wears out, then snatches him in a grapple just back in the city. The game's getting late, so we wrap it up with the dragon PC holding him as the others come to back him up.
Quite satisfied with this one - would've been rough without those ideas!
well played! Love it, can't wait to hear how it ends up in the end.
glad to have helped