So, some lucky bandits ended up killing two PCs in my play by post Kingmaker game. One was downed in the first round and asked to be coup de graced to remake, the other got slain in one shot from Happs on a lucky crit.
The bard looks like she's about to drop, and the swashbuckler might not make it if he doesn't run or get lucky himself.
... What should I do if it ends in a TPK? Common sense says to start over from scratch with new characters, but that's very daunting in the play by post format. If I send them out as a new charter party to follow up on the second, the bandits would definitely be using Oleg's as a shiny new base, and there definitely wouldn't be anything recognizable left of Oleg. Any ideas?
Rewind as a 1st level(or so) mercy ruling. As long as the group wasn't being super-silly in tactics and it is mostly bad dice, it would be easier just to restart the encounter.
1) Survivors go back to Restov to recruit more members.
2) Extra PCs arrive with Kesten (good idea Lee).
3) The Swordlords send another group. The Greenbelt was their lowest priority IIRC and the PCs considered the most expendable. In any case, it's not like they're out anything - they weren't even paying the PCs until the job's done.
You are the DM, and as such, it's your job to make the game fun for you and the players.
If rolling new characters is a problem for you (and it clearly is one for the players), just make sure the TPK doesn't take place.
My suggestion: tweak the timeline and have Kesten Garess and his soldiers arrive right away on horseback in the middle of the fight. They can then dispatch the bandits (with Happs escaping for an extra twist?) and save the PC's ass, who are in debt.
The PCs who are already dead 'beyond healing' can be replaced by newly-arrived members of Kesten's group.