Burnt Offerings: "Monster in the Closet" (Spoilers)

[DanTheS]

Does the goblin in the closet have to kill the dad? The sister seems to blame the heroes, but gives them no way of preventing it. Is there a reason for this?

[Tangent101]

It's basically there so that the players don't get swelled heads. They realize that while they're heroes... they can't save everyone. Sometimes they get there too late. In short it's just for drama and atmosphere. You can always skip it if you like. And I understand one campaign had the dad still alive and gnawed upon while living... which is even more horrifying when you consider it. ^^;;

[DanTheS]

Since the Seven Deadly Sins are a theme inthis path, I was thinking the sister might be a good tie-in for Wrath. Your take on it puts the sin of Pride on the players, though... and an argument could be made that the father brings his doom on himself through Sloth, I suppose.

Regardless, I don't like the idea of the PCs getting there too late to do anything AND taking the blame from the sister. I might have them arrive as the dad has the runty little savage cornered, play it for laughs... then have his throat slit, to the PCs shock. With some swift healing they might be able to save him, but only if they can drive off his attacker. If they fail in this, THEN the sister's scorn can be heaped on, and deservedly so. For 1st level PCs and/or new players, this might be a good spotlight on "stabilize the dying" rules.

[Christopher Mathieu]

That also depends on the party composition. A celestial sorcerer can instantly stabilize with a touch, so it would depend on how fast they can get him away from the goblin.

[Matthew Morris]

A celestial sorcerer might be able to heal at range if the dad is good aligned :-)

I do think tying it into pride is a good thing. You also might give the party the sadist's choice. 'fudge' the initiative so the goblin goes right after one party member, and the dad hits -con right after that. So you can have whomever rolled highest make the choice. Does he attack the goblin and let the dad die, or does he let the goblin get away and save the dad?

[Misroi]

You know your players better than anyone else, Dan. If you don't think they'll take kindly to this particular story, then by all means, adjust it so that you can give them the best play experience possible. Some groups want to always be Big Damn Heroes; some have no problem with being villified by the people they protect like Spider-Man. While Burnt Offerings skews more to the former, this vignette skews to the latter.

I kinda like the scene, mostly because it's a believable reaction from the woman. Grief is a powerful emotion, and people work through it differently than others. She's upset that her brother is dead, and can't blame the dead goblin. She's casting about for someone who she can point to being at fault for this, so she has to blame the next best thing - the party that was too late to save him. It's definitely a good RP scene. How does the party handle this? Do they get defensive and yell back at her? Do they slump their shoulders and take it? Do they apologize and try to help her work through her grief? There's a lot of ways it can go.

That said, your decision to make it play out as a moral decision is interesting as well. What motivates the party? Saving someone's life or killing a goblin? Matthew's refinement is interesting as well - my only problem is that it forces one PC to make a decision for the rest of the party. Maybe a better solution would be to create a chase for the PCs. If nobody stops to stabilize the father, then he dies - however, that means there's one less person chasing the goblin, and it might get away to wreak more havoc before it's killed.

[Tangent101]

There's one other thing to consider: have him dying... and as they turn him over notice his face is mostly gone. Gnawed away. So. Do you heal him, knowing the magic will not restore his face and leave him mutilated? Or do you let him pass away and accept you let him die... but that it might actually be for the best.

But then, I'm evil. ^^;;

[DanTheS]

Tangent101 wrote:

There's one other thing to consider: have him dying... and as they turn him over notice his face is mostly gone. Gnawed away. So. Do you heal him, knowing the magic will not restore his face and leave him mutilated? Or do you let him pass away and accept you let him die... but that it might actually be for the best.

But then, I'm evil. ^^;;

Jeez, & the kid was having nightmares Before!

[Tangent101]

Mind you, this is in the game. When you pull his body out of the hole you find his face was gnawed away by the goblin (who cut the guy's throat when he went after the goblin in the hole). So the nightmares are there anyway. And you're just modifying it slightly so the characters have a choice to make: let him die... or let him live mutilated and very likely in pain for the rest of his life?

Most players will just heal him without thinking it out, by the way. After all, you don't normally think of missing bits when you heal someone.

[DanTheS]

Misroi wrote:

You know your players better than anyone else, Dan. If you don't think they'll take kindly to this particular story, then by all means, adjust it so that you can give them the best play experience possible. Some groups want to always be Big Damn Heroes; some have no problem with being villified by the people they protect like Spider-Man. While Burnt Offerings skews more to the former, this vignette skews to the latter.

I kinda like the scene, mostly because it's a believable reaction from the woman. Grief is a powerful emotion, and people work through it differently than others. She's upset that her brother is dead, and can't blame the dead goblin. She's casting about for someone who she can point to being at fault for this, so she has to blame the next best thing - the party that was too late to save him. It's definitely a good RP scene. How does the party handle this? Do they get defensive and yell back at her? Do they slump their shoulders and take it? Do they apologize and try to help her work through her grief? There's a lot of ways it can go.

That said, your decision to make it play out as a moral decision is interesting as well. What motivates the party? Saving someone's life or killing a goblin? Matthew's refinement is interesting as well - my only problem is that it forces one PC to make a decision for the rest of the party. Maybe a better solution would be to create a chase for the PCs. If nobody stops to stabilize the father, then he dies - however, that means there's one less person chasing the goblin, and it might get away to wreak more havoc before it's killed.

These are all good points, especially in treating the sister's reaction as a meaningful scene in itself. When I read it it seemed almost like an afterthought. My critique is that the negative outcome was unavoidable as written; no matter what the PCs do, the father's death and the sister's hostility is a foregone conclusion.

Your take on it though is an RP challenge; how will the PCs respond to this adversity.This I like, but even moreso if they brought it on themselves.