Having a problem in my RotRL campaign.
My characters are on the way to Xin Shalast. They've just left the Vekker's cabin...
I have one character that wants to constantly retreat to safety or teleport back to sandpoint/magnimar over and over again for a variety or reasons.
I keep stressing how close Karzoug is to returning but this player keeps acting like he has all the time in the world. And he basically wears down the other players until he follows them.
I try to solve this in game by having consequences. For instance, after the giant raid on sandpoint he talked the rest of the party into waiting weeks before heading to Joegenfist.
So I had a second, much more devastating raid on the town...
I'm having the giants occupy large portions of variisa currently, building seige equipment and outposts in preparation for karzoug's imminent return. Shaleleu has had to recruit a band of guerilla fighters to try to keep the giants at bay...all because of this player's lazy attitude...
I'm getting so fed up with this I'm considering having Karzoug return and enslave the entire region, but I thought I'd ask your opinion...
How should I escalate this in a way that teaches him a lesson?
No. Safe. Havens.
The party is directly opposing a Runelord. Play Karzoug smart and have him send agents to deal with the party directly. Attack their so-called safe houses. Take down valuable allies. Reign down terror and destruction on things they hold dear. Finally, start assassinating party members - starting with the lazy one.
Get the message across that there is NO safe place from Karzoug at this point and there is but one path to follow - finishing off Karzoug before he finishes off the party.
If that doesn't instill a sense of urgency, you might want a word with the Player - running an AP does require some agreement amongst participants to, y'know, follow the AP. If he's not on-board with that, maybe he needs to sit the rest of the AP out (turn his guy into a NPC or DMPC) and finish with the players that DO want to follow the plot of the AP.
September was a long time ago in gamer-years. :) This is probably too late, but for anyone with a similar issue and looking for advice.. here goes:
Is the player in question someone more used to computer RPGs? If so, he may be meta-gaming the "speed of plot". Encounters are written so that the PCs arrive at just the right moment, no matter how long that takes. That gives CRPG players (and some tabletop players as well) the feeling that as long as they don't reach the encounter, it will be "frozen in time" and waiting for them when they get there.
I view the Adventure sites and Encounters as "how things are until the PCs interact in some way". That interaction can be indirect.. for example, if there is supposed to be (or it can be assumed there is) communication between sites (messengers going back and forth, for example), once the PCs alert the first site, any others that communicate with it will find out.
So "once the ant-hill has been kicked over" (in other words, any site or connected group of sites have been interacted with), logical/reasonable consequences should apply. Keep in mind how sharp the minds of the enemies are, though (Goblins won't have elaborate responses, but someone smarter leading them will).
So, all that being said, it is up to you when Karzoug appears.
If Karzoug is able to leave the Eye of Avarice, that's "Karzoug Wins" in most ways, and his plans move forward as in "What if Karzoug Wins?".
If you feel like you have given sufficient hints that time was running out, then there is nothing wrong with calling that "Karzoug Wins because the other team failed to show".
That they are teleporting back to "safety" suggests to me that they are also teleporting FROM safety TO their last successful encounter, or something like that. Maybe next time, they should pop up in a camp of giants investigating the situation. Or they may find that there are now wave after wave of refugees seeking to occupy their "safe havens"... Riddleport has fallen to the giants so that Karzoug can reclaim the Cyphergate is one scenario. Although, keep in mind that, as written, Karzoug suddenly becomes less of a problem than the OTHER things that are released when he is.
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also, heck, xin shalast is a place out of sync with regular time/space.
teleport might not work. it also might work in fun (for the DM) ways! explore the space.
You teleport... into LENG! You teleport... and some of you come out ... weird! you teleport... and nothing happens! you teleport, and the EYE OF KARZOUG OPENS IN THE SKY WHILE A MIGHTY VOICE ANNOUNCES 'THEY ARE HERE'! AND A HOST OF RUNE GIANTS APPEAR!
a pc wants to break the game to not have fun, then ruin his day. he's trying to spoil the fun. so have fun right back at him.
Hi - I find the best way to stop this kind of metagaming is to have a Sage or the PC's own researches tell the PCs and the players "You have 3 weeks until the Eye of Terror Opens" (or similar) - set a deadline and stick to it. If they fail, they fail.