So I have been running through my mind how to handle Harrigan with out just flat out saying to the players. If you try to kill Harrigan you will die. How have others handled IN CHARACTER messages to let the characters or players know that survival is only achievable if one waits for the proper time. I am playing with many of the same players that will be in my Skull and Shackles campaign and they are definatly the "storm the castle" type.
I am trying to come up with ideas that let them know they are out classed (for now) without saying look the AP assumes that this is how things go so just try and go along and I promise you will get the opportunity to have fun later.
Well, I fortunately have players that are somewhat cautious so I had a little time to show just how much of a tough guy he is. In particular, he's the meanest, toughest guy on the ship, so by showing how tough some of his underlings are, the PCs were able to deduce a fair amount regarding his ability without having to rely on saying things out of character.
In particular, I had Peppery use some magic early on. If you have some excuse to let her cast some 3rd level spell, they'll know (somewhat metagaming, I suppose) that she needs to be at least 6th level. Knowing that she served Harrigan was enough for them to decide against trying to attack him.
If you need more examples, it wouldn't be hard to make an event where Kipper, Patch, Plugg or Scourge got into some sort of combat. Single-handedly, they should be able to deal with any crew member on deck. You may even let Plugg use his tidewater cutlass to show what kind of magic he has at his disposal.
I would think any reasonble group of PCs would think twice about taking on a group of NPCs that are at least 3 or 4 levels higher and outnumber them 2 to 1.
LOL. You would think. I am a player in Curse of the Crimson Throne now before the end of the first book there was talk of storming the castle and diposing the monarch.
LOL. You would think. I am a player in Curse of the Crimson Throne now before the end of the first book there was talk of storming the castle and diposing the monarch.
Ha.
Well, all things being equal, Harrigan can't afford to kill off his entire crew, so if they start acting up he'll just have to put them in their place - maybe killing one or two but not them all.
Heck, in my game, the barbarian was keelhauled for killing Tam and after surviving, Plugg put his magic manacles on him to keep him in line. Command at DC 25 neuters the toughest PC before any fight even begins. Naturally, if he's seen without wearing his new manacles, he'll just be killed on the spot. So, although escape is technically not too hard, there are severe consequences.
Maybe I'm just lucky to have reasonable players. Of course, playing online (PbP) gives them a lot more time to consider the wisdom of their actions so that may also have something to do with it.
My players' PCs know because the officers, even Plugg, is scared of Harrigan. The only one that isn't is Peppery Longfarthing. I think that scares them even more.
Him emerging from the cabin on Man's Promise with a still-beating human heart in his hand has reinforced the image. They won't be interested in taking on Harrigan for some time to come.
M
Yeah it would have been a short trilogy if Luke tried to fight Vader at their first meeting. LOL.
I just need to figure out how to subtly put the fear of god in them.
I just need to figure out how to subtly put the fear of god in them.
Don't be subtle about it. Have him tear an NPC to pieces somewhere the PC's can see, and emphasize that none of them have ever seen a fighter this scary before, have him shrug off wounds that would kill a lesser man etc. Make some comments if the martial characters ask like 'in your estimation you're completely outmatched by this guy.'
Terraneaux- that is likely the direction I was going I want the message to be IN CHARACTER not subtle. As opposed to warning them OUT OF CHARACTER don't do it. In our current campaign many in character warnings seem ignored by several. At least once a session storming the castle comes up literally.
|
Remember that Harrigan is so far beyond them he can beat them without killing them. He can grab a cat and beat them all unconscious and keep them alive just to torment them longer, ordering Plugg to make their job as miserable as possible. He can lock them in the bilge each night saying, "Good night. Good work. Sleep well. I'll most likely kill you in the morning."
So if they are determined to be stupid, let them. The consequences don't have to be fatal.
Had not thought of that Sabe. Thank you.
Make up a fairly tough NPC who is among the fellow press-ganged, have him pick a fight with the PCs to show how tough he is, then have Harrigan show up and turn that NPC into paste.
I don't know if you've considered switching Harrigan's stats, but a lot of people thought they left a little to be desired, so here's my modified version (I feel like I'm always plugging this, hehe):
He can use Dazzling Display and take 10 on the intimidate check (due to his rogue talent) to demoralize people for SEVERAL rounds. Since he is a Rogue (Thug), if he demoralizes someone for 4+ rounds (which, as I said, he can do automatically against everyone on the Wormwood without even having to roll), he can instead switch it to panicked for one round.
So the PCs approach the lightly armored captain spoiling for a fight. He smiles, pulls out a wicked looking shortsword (yep, no shield or anything, just a shortsword. And he'll STILL kick your ass), and waves it around a bit. All of the PCs wet themselves and run away in a panic. Harrigan laughs and sheathes his sword.
"But, but, I don't want to run away!" Um, it's a fear effect, you are panicked, no save.
If they are still dumb enough to fight him, have him smoke one and keelhaul him.
If the rest of your players are still dumb enough to want to fight him, well, they better have a lot of backup characters ready. ;-)
A GM friend (who just started a month ago) had the crew do "combat practise" to assess the fighting talents of the newbies.
Loudmouth monk character did kick some ass, bragged about it. Harrigan stepped in "to show how thing are done on this boat".... the tripped the monk, let him get up, then feint + tripped him again... then stomped "hard" on him while he was down. Actually put the monks into negatives on the first kick.
Seemed to get the message over. Group-internal talk seems to have shifted from "how to mutiny" to "how to get away from this ship"
My own world : I have always played a "there will be dragons" set-up, so players usually are pretty careful around obviously powerful NPCs. But that takes some years to actually setup^^
|
A GM friend (who just started a month ago) had the crew do "combat practise" to assess the fighting talents of the newbies.
Loudmouth monk character did kick some ass, bragged about it. Harrigan stepped in "to show how thing are done on this boat".... the tripped the monk, let him get up, then feint + tripped him again... then stomped "hard" on him while he was down. Actually put the monks into negatives on the first kick.
Seemed to get the message over. Group-internal talk seems to have shifted from "how to mutiny" to "how to get away from this ship"
My own world : I have always played a "there will be dragons" set-up, so players usually are pretty careful around obviously powerful NPCs. But that takes some years to actually setup^^
Had something similar go down in my first session.
The oread monk of the empty hand was running a fight club on the ship. Harrigan didn't mind so much, but Plugg convinced him that the rock man was looking to undermine the captain's authority; after all, the captain's supposed to be the toughest man on the ship, not some lowly swab.
That got Harrigan involved. The next night the oread started up, his first challenger was none other than Harrigan himself. Using him as he was written up in chapter 5, the fight barely lasted two rounds:
Harrigan's +9 modifier ensured that he went first. I had already played up the size of the man (reinforced by showing my players his picture). This time I focused on his speed and timing, taking my cues from Wulfgar of the Forgotten Realms as I described his movements, the interplay of his muscles, etc. Getting the drop on the oread enabled him to add 6d6 in sneak attack damage to his d3 unarmed strike and he hit all three times (landing the hits wasn't an issue, even with the nonproficiency penalty). I rolled the damage and it ended up being enough to outright kill the character. Not wanting to do that, I described it as he precisely hit points on the oread's body to take advantage of the pain withdrawal reflex to involuntarily force reactions from the monk that Harrigan took advantage of, and reduced him to exactly 0 hit points in nonlethal damage, putting the monk in the staggered condition, which I described as being punch drunk. I then explained to the player that he couldn't take a full attack action (no flurry), was limited to either a move action or standard action, but could still take free, swift, and immediate actions. He held his action to attack just before Harrigan on the following round.
Round 2: The monk waited for Harrigan to make his move, motioning for him to come on in. The captain came in and the oread took his shot, but just couldn't hit Harrigan's AC. Harrigan slipped the jab, came in behind him, grappled the monk and choke him out (4 points of nonlethal damage rendered the monk unconscious). The captain then looked to the others standing around and told them the swab was a credit to his crew but that no one was tougher than him before letting the monk go. The last thing that the oread saw as he hit the deck and before it all went dark was Plugg standing over him, smiling evilly from ear to ear.
Needless to say, the monk's player is looking forward to a rematch in the future.
That's funny I was thinking o adding a fight night like the boxing nights from Battlestar Galactica.