Alright, so we've just done our 2nd session of Kingmaker and while I know it's early and we're still level 1 with plenty of time to explore, I feel like my fellow party members are just bull-rushing straight towards the main mission objectives and ignoring exploring the hexes almost entirely.
Rest assured I will talk to them (if just in character) but I was looking for advice and possibly reasons to set the main mission aside for a little while and exploring the wilderness.
Example: Our first game, we defended Oleg's as expected (quite handily I might add) and we set off into a hex. Second session we get attacked by a spider, kill that and then immediately headed towards Kressle's camp and defeat them (Handily as well, but through luck rolls), capturing Kressle and one other now nearly dead bandit.
I feel like the way the party is going about things, that they will try to go after this Stag Lord which we've been hinted that is very powerful, even while still level 1. So thus, I'm looking for good arguments (in game preferably) to persuade them to explore (train in) other hexes until we're ready for this Stag Lord guy.
Granted I can't say that things won't change if NPCs give us other things to do and I'm sure the DM will guide us away until he thinks we at least have a fighting chance, but I'd like to help the DM out by utilizing my character to guide them to do some training/exploring. Besides the, "I don't think we can take this guy." because they'd probably thoroughly disagree.
This is a pretty common problem for the first book of Kingmaker; there's a breed of player, the same kind of players that I had, that will burn their way to the Stag Lord whether they're ready for him or not. The book gives good reasons to go for him immediately, and not a lot of reasons not to -- A DM that isn't paying attention and adjusting for it might have the encounter almost right off the bat.
If the characters are greedy, play on the greed. Argue that killing the leader might cause the bandits to disperse, and with them, all of the stolen goods that you would have been able to liberate. The same also works for characters that are very justice-oriented. However, you might expect a counter-argument that the Stag Lord might flee when too many of his men have been dispatched.
You could call it a war of attrition: Eliminating his allies in the field one by one, until he's left unsupported in his camp. If his big group of bandits are such a menace to the area, it's only reasonable to want to approach the assault tactically instead of wading through a regiment of cutthroats. That argument might appeal to stealth and tactics-minded characters.
If they've taken a shining to Oleg, why don't you suggest the grim possibility that nearby bandits might strike at the fort while you're adventuring deep into the Narlmarches? It would be a shame to run off some random direction in the woods, leaving the bandits nextdoor to come a-knocking when you're three days out.
Of course, you could talk to your GM; he may or may not also be interested in delaying the Stag Lord encounter until a little bit later. He might be interested in sprinkling bandit encounters around Oleg's to confirm your suspicions.
Friendly advice ... these Adventure Path forums really tend not to be very player-friendly, spoiler-wise. I remember last year when somebody talked about the big bad guy for the AP in the thread title. Though if you've already played through or GMed this AP then by all means ignore.
Thanks for the suggestions everyone.
@ Touc - If I weren't going to be with said group, I'd be ok with it. I would strong arm them if they decided by majority to go towards the stag lord, I'd probably just stay a few hundred feet away from his camp or whatever after dropping some buffs on them.
@ Troubleshooter - Some really good advice. I do like the war of attrition, but I'd have to figure out if he even has others out in the field worth getting rid of. Oleg might work, if not just because currently he's the only source of safe rest, food and being one of the only local merchants we currently are aware of.
@ Othniel Edden - Will do, we also have a "treasure map" so I might be able to try to persuaded them to check it out.
@ Blargney - I like this, I'll wait and see what comes up side mission wise that I could use.
Thanks again everyone, some really good advice.
One of the reasons my players havent gone after the Stag Lord yet is that they came up with a plan which relies on the help of one of the NPCs - and they won't get that until they've completed his quest (I replaced the listed reward with him agreeing to what they wanted). So they at least have to do a bit of exploring to find what they need for that quest.
So that would be my advice for achieving what you want in character: come up with a plan to take down the Stag Lord which relies on resources you don't yet have, and see if your DM buys into it.
IF you're DM is any good you won't have to deal with that, there will be other quests/distractions that are more achievable and plenty rewarding he will likely pull out for your crew. Don't sweat it so much you're the player, it's your job to figure out how to throw monkey wrenches not fix 'em!
|
Two comments...
1) Remind everyone in your game, GM included, that you don't have to hurry through this AP. It is a sandbox, so for much of it, there are no "timers to save the world before it goes boom". You don't have to launch yourself headlong at anything in order to succeed. In fact, many GMs that have expanded on this AP have put LOTs of time into foreshadowing, dropping info and clues. By rushing, you may be charging right into the lion's mouth so to speak.
2) If the players want to rush, well that is okay too. This particular AP is really about the players, and letting them do what they want rather than railroading or coaching them. Epic victories are only epic if they seem unwinnable when you start.
However, this is one of the few adventures written by Paizo where there are some level inappropriate things you can encounter. In other words, the kid gloves are off, and you are not prevented from getting in way over your head in the sandbox. Hopefully your GM will throw an encounter or two at your group that is stronger than them before you get to the Staglord, just to show that there is stuff out there that can eat you for breakfast if you aren't careful.
Yep. I've had those encounters about three times. Great fun.
'Course, then there's getting to the next book and rolling critters that are about 5 CRs below the party's level, and trying to decide if I'm going to run the dice as they lie.
Sometimes in life, the monsters take one look at the PCs and run away too.
Well, I will make sure not to push them either way. I think I'll just wait and see how it goes down. Since we haven't explored much, we'll have to go through some sort of enemies on the way to Stag Lord anyways I'm sure.
Thanks for the advice everyone. I'll take whatever comes my way and I guess we'll see how things go down.